If you search for Memorial Day history online or in your local library, you will learn about a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. It’s the holiday celebrated every year by school age children who know it as the end of school – the last Monday of May. And, it’s the beginning of the summer as well. Hooray!

Yet those who fought for our Nation and lost their closest friends or family members remember the holiday in a different way. And these veterans will tell you that PTSD or “ Post Tramatic Stress Disorder” is a condition that many returning combat Vets likely know too well, regardless of the war in which they fought.

The Vietnam war is my Memorial Day memory. My father rarely if ever talked about WW II which he fought in the Pacific. I didn’t serve in any wars but wrote a book about Vietnam Vets and Their Families. It was an eye opener for me. I learned about families who lost their loved ones in Vietnam and others who suffered losing their returning brothers and sisters to suicide—over 50,000. Learning about these tragedies made me appreciate even more the hardship experienced by everyone touched by war and the sacrifices they experienced.

Memorial Day and the memories they evoke are best experienced, I believe, with friends and family. Many ethnic groups share such experiences together including Italian and Irish people. The Jewish tradition is to hold 7 day mourning periods after the death of a loved one which they call “Sitting Shiva” when friends and family visit while bringing food and drink. Of course the loss of loved ones is never forgotten, nor felt to have occurred that long ago. But sharing the memory of the departed over food and drink is one of the best ways to cope with our loss, at least initially.

The better the meal, the more pleasant it is for everyone. And Memorial Day coincides with Soft Shell Crab season from mid April to early June. Ideally they are fresh and alive when you find them and have the clean smell of sea mist. It’s also interesting to note that Soft Shell Crabs are actually Blue Shell Crabs the rest of the year until they shed their hard shells. Their delicate soft shells can be entirely eaten after snipping off the nose of the crab and removing the lungs underneath their shells. But most fish mongers will do this for you if you ask.

Here are two different versions – Saute, Livornese Style or NYC Pan Roast Style, both of which are wonderful.

Recipe #1 Sauteed Soft Shell Crab, Livornese Style
Serves 2-4

Ingredients
4 – 8 Soft Shell Crabs, alive, fresh in season.
¼ cup Progresso bread crumbs
Juice of 1 whole lemon
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 cloves, garlic
2 tbsp small capers
2 tbsp plum tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp large green olives, thinly sliced
2 Shallots, diced
3 ounces butter
¼ cup, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 rounded tbsp parsley, diced
¼ cup dry white wine or Vermouth

1- Add half the olive oil, lemon juice, zest, capers and shallots to a large skillet at medium heat and saute for 4-5 minutes until shallots are soft but not brown.
2- Add the remainder of the oil, half the butter, tomatoes, olive sliced and all the breadcrumbs to the pan at medium heat for 3-4 minutes. This melange of ingredients will be somewhat moist by now.
3. Add 3-4 crabs to the same pan with the rest of the butter. Cook at medium to high heat turning once until crabs begin to brown and become a bit crispy on the edges.
4. Add the parsley and white wine or vermouth and reduce the heat to a medium – light simmer for an additional 3-4 minutes. Turn again using a spatula, and remove.
5. Repeat the process if you are cooking an additional 3-4 crabs. If the crabs are served by themselves you will want to serve 2 crabs per person. With additional side dishes, like basmati rice, vegetarian quinoa, roasted fennel or cole slaw for example, 1 crab per person may be sufficient.
6. Garnish with fresh or sauteed slices of lemon. Salt is unnecessary. But a quick shake of cayenne pepper on each crab introduces some nice heat.

Recipe #2 Pan Roast Soft Shell Crabs, Serves 2-4
Variation of NYC Grand Central Oyster Bar recipe as prepared
with Blue Point Oysters by Executive Chef Sandy Ingber

Here’s a recipe for Soft Shell Crab Pan Roast that draws from the historic NYC Grand Central Oyster Bar pan roast recipe that uses Blue Point Oysters – over 200 a day. The version here is clearly different but no less delicious. The total time to cook the crab stew is only 3 – 3¼ minutes.

The pan used to cook the Pan Roast at the NYC Grand Central Oyster Bar is key to the recipe as well. It’s made with a stainless steel steam-jacketed kettle. This pan is similar to a double boiler, with steam being released in between an outer steel wall and an inner steel wall that hold the contents of the pan. While the steam jacketed kettle is ideal, a simple double boiler will do the trick almost as well.

Ingredients
4 cups clam base or juice if base is not available
1 cup half and half
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 Soft Shell crabs, each cleaned and cut into quarters
2 tsp Celery salt
3-4 dashes of worcester sauce
1-2 dashes of tomato based chile sauce
1 tsp paprika

1- First add the clam juice and the butter.
2- When that comes to a boil, add the Soft Shell Crabs- one crab cut into quarters in each bowl.
3- When about half way done (1½ minutes), add the paprika, celery salt and Worcestershire sauce.
4- The pan is shaken(ideally turned upside down and back again), and then the chile sauce is added.
5- Shortly before the crabs are completely cooked, the half and half is added.
6- In the meanwhile, a soup bowl is prepped with a piece of white toast that’s been cut into triangles. The finished crabs are removed from the stew and placed directly on top of the toast.
7- After the half and half is added, the stew must not be allowed
to boil or the dish will break. To prevent this from happening, the liquid from the dish is poured directly over the crabs and the toast which are off the heat.
8- Finally and briskly add a bit of paprika along with oyster crackers. Then the dish is served immediately.

Remember, the entire dish is completely done in no more than 3¼ minutes, tops. So you can comfortably consume each section of the crabs and the Pan Roast placed in your bowl without further cooking. Enjoy!