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Crab Soup at Cross Street Market

Source of Recipe


From "Cooking with John Shields"



List of Ingredients



• 4 quarts water
  
• 5 cups peeled tomatoes or 2 cans (28 ounces each) tomatoes
  
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• ½ cup pearl barley
  
• ½ cup chopped parsley
  
• 1 Tbsp Chesapeake seasoning (Old Bay)
  
• 3 stalks celery, diced
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
  
• 2 ham hocks
  
• 1 beef bone
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  
• 8 live blue crabs, cleaned and quartered, backs reserved
  
• ½ head cabbage, chopped
  
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  
• 4 cups fresh or frozen mixed vegetables, such as diced carrots, cut-up green beans, corn kernels, shelled peas, and lima beans (in any combination)
  
• 2 pounds claw crab meat, picked over
  






Instructions



1. Combine the water, tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaves, barley, parsley, Chesapeake seasoning, celery, onion, ham hocks, beef bone, salt and pepper in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 hour.
   
   
2. Add the crabs and backs. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
   
   
3. Add the cabbage, potatoes and mixed vegetables. When the vegetables are tender, remove the ham hocks and pick the meat off the bone. Return the picked meat to the soup. Discard the bay leaves and backs. Add the claw meat and simmer 10 minutes longer. Serve at once.
   
   Serves 12 to 15