January 6, 2025

Being “Crabby”
(…with J.O. Spice, that is)

J.O. Spice Company’s, Crab Seasoning

What state do you live in?  Does your state have a “state crustacean”?  Maryland does!
It is the blue crab, or known in scientific circles as, the Callinectes sapidus Rathbun.

The Blue Crab is the “state crustacean” of Maryland.
Top photo-live blue crab
Bottom photo-steamed blue crab

 Crab Cakes, and Steamed Crabs, and Crab Dip, Oh My!

Maryland is famous for its crab cakes, along with its steamed crabs, crab dip,
and crab soup (the tomato-based crab soup, the cream-based cream of crab soup,
and the mixture of both into a delectable delight called, half and half),
among other crabby epicurean delights .

Crab Cakes

Maryland crab cakes differ from those in other parts of the country.
What sets this Chesepeake variety apart, is the minimum use of fillers and breading, allowing the large, succulent pieces of crab meat to take center stage.
It has been said that,
“If you have never had a Maryland crab cake, then you have never had a REAL crab cake!”

What sets this Maryland crab cake apart, is the minimum use of fillers
and breading.

The Maryland crab cake consists of large, succulent pieces of crab meat.

Steamed Crabs

Steamed crabs are another Maryland crab specialty.
Getting to the sweet, tender crab meat requires “picking” the crab.
This art of “picking”is taught to Marylanders at a young age,
and passed along to Maryland transplants, like myself.
Crab picking, not only yields a delectable pile of sweet crab meat,
but serves as a social, bonding time.
It is a time where friendly conversation flows,
stress ceases for awhile, and even time slows down, for a bit.

A box of steamed crab is ready for picking.

With a table covered in crab/kraft paper, steamed crabs are often
dumped on the table for crab picking.

Crab picking, not only yields a delectable pile of sweet crab meat,
but serves as a social, bonding time.

Crab Dip

 I love a good crab dip!  Served warm, it can be paired with fresh vegetables, bread, or crackers.  It can, also be slathered on a large pretzel, and heated, for a hearty crab pretzel,
or on a chicken breast for a satisfying Chicken Chesepeake.

Served warm, crab dip can be paired with fresh vegetables, bread, or crackers.

Crab dip can be slathered on a large pretzel, and heated, for a hearty crab pretzel.

J.O. Spice Company

Speaking of crab dip, below is a recipe that my friend, Tyler, recently shared with me.
I am looking forward to trying it, soon!

My friend, Tyler, recently shared this crab dip recipe (below) with me.

J.O. Spice Crab Dip

Ingredients:

– 1 pound crab meat
– 2/3 cup mayo.
– 3 – 8oz. blocks of cream cheese
– 2 tbs. white wine for cooking
– 2 tbs. cooking sherry
– 2 tsp. prepared horseradish
– 2 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
– 2 tsp. J.O. #1 ALL PURPOSE SEAFOOD SEASONING plus a little extra to sprinkle on top when prepared!
– ½ tsp. garlic powder
– 1 tbs. parsley
– 1 tbs. dry chives

Cooking Directions:

Combine everything except crab meat, parsley, and chives. Cook over low constantly stirring until melted. Once melted add drained crab meat, parsley, and chives. Bake at 350 in oven until bubbly or in a crock pot to stay warm for a party! Sprinkle additional J.O. #1 on top for presentation. Serve with your favorite crackers, rolls, or French breads! ENJOY!

Note-I suggest locally-sourced crab meat, if possible.

For more J.O. Spice recipes, go here.

Tyler has strong ties to the Maryland crab industry.  He works for, and his family owns, J.O. Spice Company.  If you are not familiar with this spice, it is the spice used in preparing crabs by the majority of restaurants in Maryland.

Tyler, proudly displays an assortment of J.O. spices.

Tyler’s great grandparents, J.O.(James Ozzle) and Dot Strigle, started the
J.O. Spice Company in 1945, and it has continued to this day as a family-run business.

Read more about the interesting history of J.O. Spice, here.

Dirty Jobs

Mike Rowe, a Baltimore native, is familiar with eating crabs.
What he was not familiar with, until a Dirty Job episode, was the major role that
J. O. Spices plays in preparing the majority of crabs at restaurants in Maryland.
Check out this entertaining episode, where Mike visits J.O. Spice Company.
(Don’t worry, none of the spice packed that day was sold to the public! :O))

Dirty Jobs
Season 10, Episode 4
Streaming on MAX
More information about the episode is, here.

Tyler and Mike Rowe shown while recording the J.O. Spice episode.

For more information about J.O. Spice Company, and to shop their online store,
go here and here.

      

Thank you, Tyler, for all of your assistance with the writing of this blog post,
and sharing these spices with me!
I can’t wait to try them all!

Other Crabby Epicurean Delights

Okay, I admit it, I did not know where to stick these two crab epicurean delights within this post, so…I put them here.
I love cream of crab soup, and my friend, Nancy, shared this recipe with me.
I had planned to make it to share with you, but the grocery store where I was shopping, did not have local crab meat that day.
I will share the recipe with you now, and plan to make it soon.

Cream of Crab Soup

I love cream of crab soup!

 

Cream of Crab Soup via Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

1 pound jumbo lump crab meat
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon J. O. seasoning
1/4 cup (half a stick) salted butter
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

(My friend added an additional
2 cups half and half
2 cups 2% milk)

3 Tablespoon cornstarch
3 Tablespoons cold water(to mix with the cornstarch to make a paste)

Cooking Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except cornstarch and water, in the crockpot.

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

In small bowl combine cornstarch and water into a paste.

Add cornstarch paste to soup and cook on high for another 10-15 minutes, or til soup thickens.

Serve immediately with an extra sprinkle of J.O.seasoning.

Serve with bread, breadsticks , or crackers.

J.O. Bagels

 Another, epicurean delight, that is enjoyed by many, is the J.O. Bagel.
My daughter loves these, and when I visit her in Minnesota,
I often bring a few along.

J.O. Bagel from Kismet Cafe.

Kismet Cafe makes their bagels here, on site.

 

Crab-related Art

This beautiful stained glass crab
is on display at the
Baltimore Washington Airport.

Weighing in at 500 pounds, that’s a whole lot of crab meat! :O)

Photo courtesy of the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Read more about this mighty crab here, and here.

This colorful crab sign creation is by talented sign artist, Marty Mummert.

More Reading Fun

Read more about Marty Mummert, and family crab picking fun,
in a blog post from 2016, here.

And

Read more about Maryland crab cakes in a blog post from 2017, here.

Thank you for reading I’m Annette!
May your days be blessed, and your taste buds happy!

   

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Crab mallets, used for crab picking.