- [Announcer] This program was funded in part by The Forest at Duke, a retirement community in the heart of Durham, North Carolina.

With more than 350 residents, The Forest at Duke presents residents with ongoing opportunities to keep growing.

- Coming up on "The Key Ingredient," it's ocean-fresh crabs galore.

We'll make old fashioned devil crab, [cheerful music] and a warm crab dip that's sure to be the hit of your next party.

We join my friend Tia Clark for a rollicking good time on the dock, as she shows us how to fish for crab.

Oh, they're so strong!

And we cook along with chefs Oscar Johnson and Darryl Cooper as they share their chili crab recipe that showcases culinary traditions from around the world.

- Slide it on down.

- How easy that is.

- See how easy that is?

- I'll be darned.

That's next.

I'm Sheri Castle.

I write cookbooks, I write for food magazines, I cook, I teach, and I collect stories.

And my favorite stories are the ones behind our best loved home recipes.

That smells good.

You think bears are gonna come?

- Probably out here.

- [Sheri] Oh, that's awesome.

I will go out and explore from the ground up.

The best ingredients that go into some of our most beloved family recipes.

It's all about the food, the flavors, and finding the key ingredient.

[cheerful music] Today we're headed dockside to meet Tia Clark, a lifelong Charlestonian with Gullah Geechee roots who grew up near the water, but didn't embrace these cultural riches until after a career refresh.

These days, Tia joyfully shares her passion for crabbing and environmental sustainability with all sorts of visitors, including first timers like me.

- Hey, Sheri.

- I made it.

I appreciate you setting up the world's best weather.

That's a nice touch.

- You know, I've got Mother Nature on speed dial so I hit her up and dialed it up for you.

- [Sheri] So whatcha doing?

- Well, I'm getting our last line set out right now and in a few minutes we're gonna do some necking.

But, Sheri, don't look at me like that.

Not like that, okay, I'm a married woman.

No necking out here on this dock.

- Let me make a guess, is it 'cause people used to use chicken necks as bait?

- That's absolutely right.

- I like it.

I like it.

- That is absolutely why.

- I'm gonna learn the lingo.

I'm so excited, I've never done this in my life.

I'm from the opposite end of the state, and the water is a mystery to me so I'm so excited about this.

- Oh, I'm so excited to share this with you today.

Cool.

You ready?

- I'm ready.

- All right, let's do it.

- All right.

- Crabs like a nice, cool, moist environment.

So I've got two burlaps, one for them to sit on and the other one that's gonna cover them up.

You wanna go first?

- No, I want you to go first.

[laughs] - You got it, all right.

See if we got one in here.

So I'm gonna grab this line and then just start pulling, hand over hand, just pull up as steady as you can.

Hey!

- Oh, look at that!

You got one.

You got one.

- Look at that.

That is a beautiful blue crab.

- Oh my god.

- Look at that.

- They don't call him blue for nothing, that color is amazing.

- Isn't it?

It is stunning.

- And he's gonna go in your burlap nest here.

- Well, first off, we're gonna have to measure it.

because you can't keep every crab that you catch.

- What are the limits?

- Five inches from point to point, the width of the carapace.

So we're gonna have to measure this crab.

I don't actually have a ruler right here, but what I have is, this is a five inch regulation blue crab.

I had tattooed on my leg, so I got the ruler right here for us.

- That is great art and that is dedication to your craft, man.

I love that.

- I don't play around.

All right, so the first thing I'm gonna do is get this crab out of the basket.

Lemme cut back over this side.

I'm gonna help it out.

They have two claws, but they can't just reach behind them.

- Oh, okay, that's good intel.

Cannot reach behind them.

- And there are the eyes, so don't come from the front, don't come from the top.

So I'm gonna get behind this crab, get my dominant hand, and I'm kind of sneaking up.

Like normally, you see those claws come up?

- Yeah, boy.

- Yeah, so you can't just take your hand and go straight down, you want get right to that middle and push that crab flat.

They have two claws, you're gonna need two hands.

So both thumbs are here, index fingers are going wide.

So at the same time, I'm gonna pull these claws in back towards me.

I'm gonna bring in my middle finger and add it next to my index on that claw.

Pull that claw all the way out, get those fingers on the top and the bottom, and then you can pick your crab up just like that.

- I believe everything you said, and I think it's easier to fold a fitted sheet, I swear, that is not, wow.

- [Tia] First thing we need to do is make sure that this thing makes the cut.

That's the legal point.

So I think we got about a six inch crab here.

- Amazing.

- I know.

So when we do that, we're just gonna lift the top burlap.

rest it on the bottom, put another one on top.

That's gonna keep her nice and cool.

- And that crabs wonderin', "What in the world?"

- Well, she's like, "I'm headed to the pot," and she's not happy about it.

You know, we just broke up a family, probably a family reunion down there, Sheri.

But guess what?

I just did it, it's your turn now.

- All right, okay.

[whimsical music] - Hit it.

- Okay.

- Yep, just like that, keep going, keep going, keep.

Oh, that's another big one there, come on.

Oh, is it coming?

Is it coming?

- Yeah.

Look at that!

- You know, when it came out of the water, I thought I'd lost it, it just shaked.

Ooh, it is a big ol' big one.

- That is a big 'un, look at that chicken thigh.

- Yeah, he's been nibbling some skin.

- So I'm gonna let it out and then I'm gonna get, oh boy.

I'm gonna get behind her.

Back it up, little girl, okay.

Ho ho, was that a good clap?

- [Sheri] Yeah, that was a clap.

- [Tia] They did all right.

So we got this.

- Okay.

- [Tia] You're doing it, a little bit closer.

And go.

Push forward.

Good job.

Good job.

- Good lord, that's.

And where are we going with this?

- We're gonna measure it, right there.

Yeah, We gotta go measure it, see if it's legal.

They can't scratch their backs.

They can't reach behind them with those claws.

I got you, I got you.

Good job.

Good job.

Look at you, you're like a pro?

Wait, you wanna take our rap album cover first?

- Yeah.

- Put your right- - Gonna need a lesson on that too.

Okay.

[chuckles] - Just like that.

- Okay.

- All right, now you gonna make like a serious face.

All right, there we go.

- So tell me how you got into crabbing.

- This saved my life.

I worked in food and beverage for 20 years and I lived a very unhealthy life.

And I told one of my cousins what was going on and he said, "You should come crabbing with me," as a way to get active.

And I was still not sure, like I'd never been crabbing, so I didn't know what was to come.

That was the first day that I ever caught and cooked my food ever in my life.

- I had the time of my life, you know, I've not been on the water a lot, but I can tell you absolutely it's the best day on the water I've ever had.

- Oh man, I love to hear that.

- Cannot thank you enough.

Learned so much, got a new buddy out of the deal.

- I know, Virgo sisters.

- That's right, now you're stuck with me.

Now I know where you are, I can come find you again.

- Well, listen, I don't mind being friends with people that can cook, I just don't come to your house.

You can catch me up in the mountains, I'll come see you.

- That sounds good.

All right, you wanna walk me in?

- Let's do it, come on.

- All right.

- [Tia] Let's head on out.

[upbeat music] - So today I am making devil crab, which has been one of my favorite crab recipes my whole life.

So the base of a devil crab starts with some sauteed vegetables, and I'm gonna cook those in butter.

And to that I'm gonna add three things.

The first is some finely diced sweet red bell pepper.

And the reason I diced it so small is so that it will cook and fit in perfectly with the texture of the crab that comes later.

And then we have some crunchy celery.

And then this is a little bit of finely chopped scallion, what some of us call green onions.

That's all that goes in now, except for a little pinch of salt, which is going to encourage these vegetables to release their juices and start turning tender.

So just let this hang out and then we'll be ready to add the rest of the stuff.

So now I'm gonna finish this filling and I'm gonna start with an ingredient that's part of the reason we call this devil crab.

This is good yellow mustard.

So in addition to that mustard, I just put in plenty of black pepper and some good cayenne for a bit of that devilish kick.

And now I have some mayo.

So this is bound a little bit like a crab salad, just so it'll hold its shape in those shells.

And then I have grated hard cooked egg.

Now some recipes call for raw egg, but traditional recipes for this dish, which has been around for a long time, call for these grated hard cooked eggs and that's exactly what I did.

So I wanna stir this in and then next for some flavor and a little bit of salt and lots of tradition, are crushed salty cracker crumbs.

They make a great instant bread crumb and it's very common in old fashioned recipes like this.

And it works and tastes great.

And then for another boost of flavor, we're gonna put in Worcestershire sauce.

And just that quickly, we have the base that is ready for the star ingredient, crab meat.

This is lump crab meat.

Now I purchased this chilled and ready to use, and it has been cooked because they actually steam the crabs to pick the meat.

And you'll notice that I am being careful with this crab meat.

Those lumps are beautiful things and we paid a premium to get them.

So you don't wanna stir so vigorously that you are breaking that up.

And already this is ready to go in our crab shells.

So now I'm gonna fill my crab shells.

Yes, we are using perfectly cleaned, gorgeous crab shells as our baking vessel.

Now you're going to be able to find these in a lot of the seafood markets that sell fresh crab.

And look what we're doing.

We're just taking our filling and mounding it up inside these shells.

Now if for some reason you can't find these shells, fear not, just use a shallow baking dish or a ramekin, it'll taste just as good.

Won't look as cute, but it will taste fantastic.

So that's it, we are just going to fill these shells and I am placing these on a parchment lined baking sheet to make it easy to move them in and out of the oven.

I love how this looks.

You know, you could just about eat this as crab salad, but when they turn golden brown in the oven.

I often make these instead of crab cakes because the flavor and the texture are similar, but there's less breading and you get that beautiful crab meat flavor, comes shining through.

I have here some more cracker crumbs.

We talked about the beauty of cracker crumbs.

So that is just melted butter.

Stir those crumbs until it's coated with that butter.

And then with a spoon, or what I do, my fingers, look what we're doing here.

We're putting that final little crowning touch on each one of our deviled crabs.

And voila, just like this, we have our stuffed crab shells ready to go in the oven.

Oh my, would you look at this.

Are they not delightful?

They're golden brown on top, they're gently warmed through, and I must take a bite.

Look, crabs even provide their own helper handle over to the plate.

I'm gonna take a tiny bit of fresh lemon, 'cause we know how good a little bit of citrus is with seafood.

And let me take a bite.

I can see the crab meat in there, that lump, those golden crumbs, those devilish spices.

Mm.

Guys, that is so good.

The crab is coming through, but it's interesting.

This recipe belongs in your collection of great crab dishes.

Devil crab, it's a keeper.

[cheerful music] Oscar Johnson and Darryl Cooper draw inspiration for their seafood recipes from family traditions, African-American culinary history, and global ingredients.

They are known for creating new taste memories by putting their fresh spin on time-honored dishes.

[jazzy music] So, Oscar, Coop, I've been waiting on this for so long.

Ever since I met you guys at a seafood event a couple of years ago, like I have got to bring them over and cook together.

And today is the day.

- Today's the day.

- Tell me what we're making.

- Well today we're making our variation of an Asian dish called the chili crab.

Out of blue crab and we're making our sauce out of a West African inspired tomato based sauce that's also spicy with a lot of chilies and a specific ingredient called dawa dawa.

- All right, so we got some boiling water, crabs in a bucket or a bowl.

This is just a real quick cook.

Nothing more than five minutes, just until those shells get nice and pink or red.

And then we'll be ready to shock 'em in some ice water to stop the cooking process.

- Okay, and that's why we've got our ice water here.

So what do you think?

Let's take a look.

- Let's take a look at 'em.

- Bright red.

- Beautiful.

We are gonna stop this cooking process immediately.

- And you know, that whole cooking and the magic of ice water stops that cooking instantly.

'cause you're gonna cook these again, right, so you don't wanna overdo it at this point.

So they're gonna chill and then we're gonna get ready and you're gonna show me how to clean 'em, right?

- Yep, we're gonna show you how to bust 'em down.

- All right.

[cheerful music] We have before us our four cooked crabs and you're gonna show me how to break these apart, right?

- Mhnm.

- I've never done this.

I'm so curious.

Where do we begin?

- All right, I'm gonna take one of these beautiful crabs right here.

What I like to do is I like to take this piece with the point.

- Are you kidding me?

- Right here, yep.

you got the point right here.

- Yes.

- Slide it on down.

- Look how easy that is.

- See how easy that is?

- I'll be darned.

- Take that off, right, take your thumb, or whatever dominant hand you are, slide it right on the top.

- All right.

- Hear that crunch?

- All right.

- And pull up.

- [Sheri] Well, would you look at that?

- Now, we're gonna save the shells.

We're also gonna save- - Save the shells and.

- Then save whatever juice is in there.

If there's a gill that falls off in there, you can take that, throw that away.

- We don't want that part, but we want those shells 'cause shells have flavor, right?

- Then from here, usually I just crack this in half, just like this.

That's it, yeah, easier to work.

- All right, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna do the rest of these and then onto the spice mix.

- Yep.

Chili paste.

- Okay.

Chili paste.

- Let's do it.

- All right, let's get busy.

[cheerful music] So this is gonna be the chili paste that gives the chili to the chili crab, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- Yes ma'am.

- All right, I see some things I recognize, I see some things I don't.

Tell me what we're putting in this food processor.

- So we've got some rehydrated guajillo chilies.

So we just simply just put those in some warm water to soak.

- And that's a really mild heat, almost a fruity heat.

This one I recognize.

- Yep, those are scallops, and you can certainly use yellow onion for this as well.

You got some minced garlic.

- All right, good, fresh garlic.

And then ginger?

- Yep, you got some ginger.

- [Sheri] And then what is this?

- [Oscar] You got scotch bonnet pepper.

- Ooh, now that's where some heat's coming from in this, right?

Now this one, friends, what do we have here?

- So we have dawa dawa, AKA fermented locust bean.

- Fermented locust bean.

- Locust bean seed.

- And then this, we're gonna put the lid on here and we're just gonna process this until it's a smooth paste.

- Yep.

Beautiful.

- [Sheri] There is nothing but flavor in there.

- [Daryl] Oh yeah.

- All right, looks like next stage we're gonna take that wonderful paste we just made and make a sauce.

- So we're gonna start with our fermented or our shrimp paste.

- And you're going to put it in the pan and just re bloom it?

What are we doing here?

- So we're just gonna toast it a little bit.

So like I said, we're just building a little fine here.

And then we'll add the palm oil in next.

- Palm oil.

Okay.

Palm oil.

May I put that in there for you?

- Yep, that'd be perfect.

- Okay.

- Whoo, got it going now.

- Oh yeah.

- [Sheri] What goes next, friend?

- So we'll go in with the chili paste that we have created.

- Oh, and this is the thing we just made.

- Yep.

- All right.

- And so we're cooking with some high heat.

We got this wok here, so we're doing a little bit of Afro Chesapeake cuisine right now.

Because this next ingredient, we're gonna throw in some beer to kind of deglaze the situation.

Going back to how we like to cook those crabs and do the crab boils and having that cheap beer that we talked about.

- Yeah, it's the nice trashy beer that goes well with crabs but you don't want it, that you drink just to get you there.

- So what that's doing, it looks to me, is that sizzling, we're almost deglazing.

- Mm-hmm.

- All right.

Look at that, that is really, really building up.

- Well next we are gonna go in with our tomato puree.

All right, and lastly we're gonna do our chili sauce.

So we're gonna go ahead with our water.

- All of this?

- We'll use about half of that.

- [Sheri] So you are adding enough more liquid to give just some volume for our crab, right?

- Yep.

That's it.

- Okay.

- [Oscar] And this next part is the best part.

- And I love that you're adding the shells.

'cause like we said, shells have flavor.

- Yep, so I'm gonna go ahead with all these crabs.

- They just all go in at once.

- All go in at once.

Don't be shy.

- And now I can see why you're using a wok, that high heat, room for all this to go in.

- So we want to just get a good little stir so we get all of this coated and then we're just gonna let it simmer for a little bit, just so we get all that flavor into those shells.

Because you do eat this dish with your hands.

So we're gonna finish our sauce here with a little acid.

So we got some rice wine vinegar.

And then we're gonna just let that continue to let that cook out a little bit.

And I'm gonna pass this right over to your, partner.

- Come on down.

- Can you reach?

- Yep.

- [Sheri] So this is when all those solids come out, right?

- Yes, ma'am, everything that's crab come out.

- And so look at those shells, how pretty they are.

We've stuck with a theme here, haven't we?

- [Daryl] We're so saucy.

- [Oscar] All right, we're gonna put this back on the heat and we're just gonna add our egg.

And we have one beaten egg here.

And this is just the thickener, like this is just to kind of bring everything together, give it the body that we're looking for.

- And look at that, smooth as silk.

- Yep, and we are just gonna pour it right on over.

Look at that, it's like a gravy almost.

- It looks like the most beautiful, delicious, well flavored tomato gravy I have ever seen.

- [Daryl] So we have cilantro and you have green onions, a little garnish at the end.

- Oh, this is an amazing, amazing, beautiful dish.

And I have learned so much.

- Thank you so much for having us.

[cheerful music] - So you know when you go to a party or over at to friend's house and you know there's gonna be snacks and you kind of case the joint to see which thing makes you the happiest.

Or for me that is gonna be some sort of a dip, which is why today I'm sharing my warm crab dip recipe with you.

It is so easy, it comes together in one bowl.

Let me show you how.

[soft music] I'm gonna start with some creamy things in the bottom of the bowl.

This first thing is creme fresh, and then I've got a little bit of mayo and then some seasoning.

This is mustard, Dijon mustard.

lemon zest, that shiny outside part of a good fresh lemon, and some seafood seasoning, an Old Bay style of seafood seasoning that we know always goes great with crab.

And I'm gonna stir this part together to make sure that those dried spices get mixed in with everything.

Some good, good grinds of cracked black pepper and some salt.

And then this is fresh parsley, chopped scallions.

And this is finely chopped roasted red pepper.

I love that sweetness, that savory quality that goes in there, plus more good color.

And some cheese.

This is Gruyere, my go-to cheese when I want something that melts beautifully, it's gonna bring this together just right.

And look, here we go, and stir up all of this pretty stuff together.

And then crab meat, of course.

Now this is precooked refrigerated fresh crab.

And that's what you want for this recipe.

This is lump crab meat.

Don't use the crab that comes in a can.

The texture's not gonna be what you want in this dip.

This deserves fresh crab.

And now all I have to do is to fold it together and I am taking just enough stirring to make the crab get coated and all of those good seasonings.

So all I need to do is add a couple more things and get this ready for the oven.

I'm gonna transfer our crab mixture into a baking dish.

Now I like to use a shallow baking dish to give plenty of surface area for the dipping and for the good stuff that's gonna go on top.

So let me smooth this out just a little bit.

And then I have three simple things to finish this up.

And the first thing is a little bit more of that Old Bay seafood seasoning.

Now there's some salt in this, there's some other spices.

So you wanna put a good even dusting, but not too much.

Then we have some more of that delicious, freshly shredded Gruyere cheese, and then a light layer of Parmesan.

Parmesan on top of something turns brown and a little stretchy and completely delicious.

Sprinkle it all the way over.

And this is gonna go into a warm oven until the filling gets warm and that cheese gets nice and golden.

And then we're gonna want something to eat this with.

Now it's good enough to use a spoon, but it's more fun if you use some freshly made crunchy crostini, and that's what we're gonna do next.

I wanna show you how to make crostini, those wonderful little crisp toast bites, because they are the perfect thing for a warm rich dip like the crab dip, it's easy.

Just buy yourself a baguette, a good crusty baguette, and then cut little slices.

You want more or less the same thickness, but you don't have to get too obsessed with it.

I want you to arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Then take some oil and a nice soft brush and give each one a little dab of oil.

And then when I'm making crostini that's going to be with something savory I love to season them a little bit with some pepper and a good sprinkling of salt.

There you go.

Just that easy.

I'm gonna put these in a 375 degree oven.

That temperature is gonna give them time to get crisp all the way through while they get golden brown on top.

And these should be ready about the time our dip comes outta the oven.

It'll be just right.

Would you look at this?

How pretty is this?

Golden brown and bubbly dip, crisp and golden crostini, glass of wine, this is a party even if this is all you serve.

I cannot wait to taste this.

Got those beautiful pieces of crab, that just right seasoning.

Let me try it.

Oh my goodness, you can taste that sweet lump crab meat.

Got that just right seasoning, the crispness of that crostini, the just right little cheese pull moment.

You know what, this crab did right.

Toast.

Here's to you, crab.

[cheerful music] [cheerful music], So when we buy refrigerated fresh crab for our recipes, it comes in different grades and they each have their own attributes.

This first one here is jumbo lump crab meat and it is the prime cut and it's delicate and white and sweet and when the looks of the crab meat matter as much as the taste, that's the one we often use.

Now next to that is lump crab meat, and it too is lumpy, although not as large as those big prime pieces.

Now in the middle we have back fin.

And if you notice, the pieces of crab are getting a little bit smaller, but this is a great all purpose crab.

It's got good flavor, it's got a good price point, and it works in a range of recipes.

And our next one is called special.

Special are small, flaky pieces from the body of the crab.

And when you're making something where the texture doesn't matter a lot, it can be a great choice.

Now this last one looks really different and this is called claw.

And even though the pieces are smaller and the color is darker and it's considered the lowest grade, it actually has the most robust, strong crab flavor.

So when you're shopping, remember your grades, think about how you're going to use it, and how it's gonna look and you'll pick out the one that is just right, [cheerful music] whether you catch them yourself or pick them up at the market, fresh crab is a delicious way to bring a taste of the seaside to your next recipe.

- Female crabs release on average two to 3 million eggs every single time they reproduced.

- No kidding.

- No kidding.

- Do they do that, how often?

- A few times throughout their very short lifespan.

So they can do it like two or three times.

- You've been busy.

[Tia laughs] [bright music] - [Announcer] This program was funded in part by the Forest at Duke, a retirement community in the heart of Durham, North Carolina.

With more than 350 residents, the Forest at Duke presents residents with ongoing opportunities to keep growing.