Maryland Crab Soup

One of the best parts of a Maryland summer is crabs and one of my favorite activities is sitting around a table picking them with friends. You can't beat the satisfaction of cracking one open and pulling out every last piece of meat you can get with your hands covered in Old Bay while talking about anything and nothing with some of your favorite people. It's a thing only a true Marylander can understand.

When it isn't possible to pick fresh crabs, there's an abundance of things you can make at home to satisfy the craving. I personally could eat a crab cake every single day of my life and never get sick of it. This time though I wanted to make one of my dad's favorites, Maryland Crab Soup.

I spent a fair amount of time looking for a recipe that came from either a Marylander or a local restaurant to stay as authentic as possible. For example, no offense to my mom's family in New England, but they've butchered crab cakes so I was sticking with my end of the country. However, if you want the best lobster roll, fried clams, or New England Clam Chowder you've ever had they've got you covered.

The recipe I found is entitled Charlie's Maryland-Style Crab Soup and is a mixture of recipes from several Chesapeake Bay cookbooks and the blogger's husband's own personal touches.

You will need:

1.5 - 2 cups celery, sliced
1.5 - 2 cups carrots, cut in small pieces
1 medium onion, diced
3 cups potato, diced in small pieces with skin on
1 28oz can of whole tomatoes, with juices/water
Corn, peas, lima beans, green beans (if you like)
14.5oz can of beef broth
1/2 lb of beef bone (I used 2 neck bones)
1 lb of crab (at least), lump and claw
2+ tbsp of Old Bay
1 tbsp dried parsley
2-3 bay leaves
Sea salt and fresh black pepper
2 tbsp of olive oil or canola oil (preferably something flavorless)

To start, prep all of your vegetables. This can be done the night before or the day of depending on how much time you have.

Next, heat the olive oil in a large soup pot (I used my cast iron Dutch oven) and add the beef bones. Once the bones start to sizzle, add in the celery, carrots, and onion and saute until they start to become translucent and the meat becomes slightly browned around the edges.

Cover the mixture with water, no more than one half inch above the meat and veggies. Add in the bay leaves and most of the parsley and lightly salt. Turn up the heat so that it comes to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While your stock is simmering parboil your potatoes. Place them in a pot of cold water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium for about 5 minutes. Remove and drain.

When your stock is done cooking add in the can of tomatoes and the can of beef broth, then dump in a heaping tablespoon of Old Bay. Add in the corn and potatoes and any other veggies you'd like as well as try to break up the tomatoes while they're cooking. Bring the heat up to just under a boil. Let this cook for about 15 minutes.

Add in the crab, then another tablespoon of Old Bay, more parsley, and black pepper. Let the soup cook for another 30 minutes or so, stirring often. Remove the beef bones and taste test before serving to make sure you have enough seasoning.

Maryland Crab Soup is often spicy but no one in this house likes things too hot so I took care to put enough seasoning in so that you could taste it but prevented it from having too much bite. It ended up being a major hit! I had two large tupperware containers of it stored in the fridge and when I came home from hanging out with friends one of them was already gone! I really felt like this recipe had the authentic taste to it I was looking for and both my parents agreed. I think it's going to be made a lot this summer :)