Today I Ate Like A King (Crab)

      Wow, where to start on this one...Okay, so today I was thinking about my DC weekend trip and it got me thinking of other memorable adventures I've been on throughout my 22 years on this planet. I've never left the country except for America's hat (ohhhhh Canadaaa), never had that backpacking trip throughout Europe (Katie), or had a wild spring break in Mexico. This does not mean, however, that I have not had plenty of fond memories on family vacations; as a child I got both my dad and mom on separate occasions to dive into a pool in Myrtle Beach fully clothed to save my life-preserverless self from sinking to the bottom of the deep end. One trip that particularly grabbed my attention was a trip I took last year by myself to San Francisco to visit a close friend. I remembered seeing celebrity chefs such as Tyler Florance, and Bobby Flay make Cioppino--a classic San Francisco fisherman's stew with clams, crab meat, muscles, shrimp, etc. I never made it before so I figured I'd give it a whirl.
      This week is going to be a particularly stressful week coming up with 2 exams, group meetings/projects to work on, and another culinary application to submit. I figured, since I had some time today, I would try an replicate the famous Cioppino, and eat like a king before "the fit hits the shan". Overall it came out pretty okay, but the stew could have been a little thicker; it was more of a broth when I chowed down, still scrumptious though. Here's some photos I took with my little digital cannon camera:

I added King Crab legs to the recipe b/c I can

A few other things: If you add in the crab legs, you'll need a nut cracker or lobster cracker to crack the legs. Just crack each segment of the leg then take a sharp paring knife and cut down the leg and remove all the succulent crab meat. You can dip it in melted clarified butter or as is. Recipe for this dish after the jump. Time to relax, drink a glass of wine and do some laundry. Cheers.