Oven-Roasted Dungeness Crab

Ingredients

• 0.3 cup butter ()
• 4.3 pounds dungeness crabs cleaned cooked
• 2 tablespoons parsley fresh divided chopped
• 2 tablespoons thyme leaves fresh divided chopped
• 2 tablespoons garlic minced
• 0.3 cup olive oil 
• 0.5 cup regular orange juice 
• 1 teaspoon regular orange peel finely grated
• 1.5 teaspoons pepper dried red crushed
• 1 tablespoon shallots minced

Equipment

• frying pan
• oven
• tongs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500°F. Melt butter with oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in garlic, shallot, and dried crushed red pepper.
2. Add crabs; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon chopped thyme and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley over crabs. Stir to combine.
4. Place skillet in oven and roast crabs until heated through, stirring once, about 12 minutes.
5. Using tongs, transfer crabs to platter.
6. Add orange juice and peel to same skillet; boil until sauce is reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over crabs.
7. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon thyme and 1 tablespoon parsley and serve.
8. These large crabs are prized for their sweet, tender meat. They're named for Dungeness, Washington, where they were first harvested commercially, but they are caught in the Pacific Ocean all the way from Alaska to Mexico.