Welcome to the new year! As your resident food obsessive, I look forward to reading about and experimenting with all of the recipes and dishes you all bring to the group for 2021, and we’re kicking the year off with one of my favorite things: Shellfish.  What’s your best shrimp recipe? How do you cook with clams and oysters when you’re preparing them at home? Do you have a go-to preparation for mussels or scallops? Let us know!

I’ll kick things off with a couple of tried-and-true recipes from Colonel Mustard’s kitchen (well, I got these from my mother and my ex-boyfriend’s mother, but they’re mine now, suckers)!

Crab Puffs

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. crabmeat, washed and drained
• 1 jar Old English cheese
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 6 English muffins

Directions:

1) Soften the butter and mix well with the cheese.

2) Add the salts and the mayonnaise. Mix well.

3) Add the crabmeat and stir.

4) Split the muffins and lightly toast. Allow to cool.

5) Divide the crab mixture among the 12 muffin halves, and cut into fourths.

6) Broil until bubbly and lightly browned.

Notes:

-As noted, the original recipe has you cut the muffins into fourths in Step #5. I find them easier to cut after they’ve been broiled in Step #6, so do whichever works best for you.

-The crab mixture can be made ahead of time and refrigerated if need be.

Crab Imperial

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. crabmeat
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 chopped green pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350° F. Wash and drain the crabmeat, then mix with all the other ingredients.

2) Divide the mixture into oven-safe containers (shell base, ramekins, etc.).

3) Bake for 15 minutes and serve.