Neen’s Stuffed Crab

Straight from the pages of The Shadows on the Teche cookbook from New Iberia, Louisiana, Neen's Stuffed Crab is made with fresh picked lump crab meat. It's rich and delicious.

 

From Susie Pharr in the Shadows on the Teche cookbook

This recipe is a tribute to extended family. My Aunt Nonnie, our lovely hostess for the weekend in New Iberia, was blessed with a wonderful sister-in-law named Susie Pharr. Susie’s reputation as a great cook, gracious hostess and generous friend is known far and wide. 

Sadly, we lost Susie to cancer a couple of years back but her legacy of recipes remains because she generously contributed to the Shadows on the Teche cookbook, even as she willingly shared her recipes with friends and family.  This recipe goes back even farther, as it came to her from her husband Mark’s Aunt Neen, who raised him. Passing on recipes is what family is all about.  Cooking together and eating together make that all the more special.  

Neen’s Stuffed Crab

My aunt follows the recipe exactly so she uses margarine but I substitute butter when I make this at home because I never buy margarine. You do you. 

Ingredients

2 medium onions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 medium bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 pound margarine 

3 stale or day-old hamburger buns

1 cup evaporated milk

2 eggs, beaten

2 pounds crabmeat

1 teaspoon Accent (Monosodium glutamate or MSG)

1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs (I like to use half panko half regular dried)

Butter for topping

Method

Sauté onions, garlic, celery and bell pepper in 1/2 pound margarine until very, very soft.

Crumble hamburger buns and add milk, let soak about one minute.

Add eggs to hamburger buns and milk. 

Add crabmeat to the sautéed seasonings and mix gently.  

Fresh picked, never frozen - it makes all the difference!

Add hamburger bun mixture and heat thoroughly.  

Season to taste.  This filling may be put into crab shells or into a casserole with bread crumbs on top. (Aunt Nonnie also got me to add a few pats of butter.) 

Bread crumbs going on.

My only contribution - the pats of butter.

Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Even before the meal itself, the best part of getting together with family is the opportunity to hear the old stories. We laughed until we cried at the foibles of family members as youngsters.  Unfortunately, I cannot share those stories because said relatives are now successful adults and would undoubtedly sue. :)