Hot Crab Melt

Every time I post a recipe with Crab in it, I think about my Uncle Perry and our summer trips to Mitchum Creek!

Taken from my post on July 8th, 2010... "Soft Shelled Crabs from Mitchum Creek"

Uncle Perry... The Old Man of the Sea

"I always loved going to Uncle Perry's in the summertime. He lived in Topping, Virginia on Mitchum Creek. We would get up early in the morning, pack a lunch, and go fishing. I loved fishing with Uncle Perry. ( Helping gather bait... watching the crabs in the bucket blowing bubbles... watching Daddy on the front of the boat trying to scoop up the peelers on top of the water with the dip net... watching Uncle Perry cut up bait... Mama getting so tired from catching fish, but she wouldn’t quit. She’d just hook them then call Daddy to reel them in...) When we got in we would clean the fish and then get cleaned up ourselves. Usually, we kids could get in a good scavenger hunt before supper. Going through the crab boxes... pulling Periwinkles off the weeds by the water... playing on Uncle Perry’s boat... watching the hummingbirds from the porch... Grandmama having to walk so slow with the feeder because the hummingbirds would come to feed as soon as she opened the front door... Later that night we all came out on the porch to eat supper. In the usual family tradition, there was always mounds of food. Grandmama’s fried oyster fritters, fresh fried fish, fried chicken, Aunt Vashti’s pan fried squash, plates of tomatoes and cucumbers, biscuits and much, much more. And, of course, if Daddy had gotten a couple of peelers, we had soft shell crabs too! Uncle Perry was sitting at the head of the table, to my left. As usual we all over-ate. We sat for a rather long time talking about the day and the ones that got away. I noticed Uncle Perry push back his chair to stand. He leaned forward several times pushing his hands against the seat of the chair. But, he did not stand. After a moment, he smiled and looked over at me. He leaned over to me and said, “It’s awfully embarrassing after eating that much, trying and trying to get up, and you can't. And then you find out that your thumb’s in your hip pocket!”

Hot Crab Melt

6 oz Crab Meat
¼ cup Tartar Sauce
2 T Celery, finely chopped
2 T Bell Pepper, finely chopped
1 t Lemon Juice
2 English Muffins, Split and Toasted
4 slices American Cheese

Combine all ingredients except muffins and cheese. Mix well. Place spread on muffin halves. Bake at 350 for five minutes. Top with cheese and bake 5 minutes longer.

Notes: “Great with shrimp too!” (Mama's favorite :-)