Crabs in Red Gravy

Jane Lumpkin Clotiaux (originally from Lois Sawyer)
Yield: 8-12 servings*

I ate this for the first time at our neighbor, Lois Sawyer’s home, and it became a family favorite, except for Olin. He refused to take part, because in his words, “A man could starve to death trying to get filled up on crabs!” This became a frequent endeavor at any Clotiaux beach gathering. It was at one of these that Keith Ann devised the perfect “bib” for this meal — an entire trash bag with holes cut out for the head and arms — and just try to beat her to the table! The seasoning is a trial and error situation — season, taste and go from there. (Dec 1996)

About 4 dozen crabs, cleaned*
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
Salt
Ground red pepper
Pepper sauce

In a large pot, heat oil. Season crabs with seasonings and put in pot. Stir crabs gently until they turn pink.

Add chopped onions and garlic, mix and cook about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce and seasonings, and about 1 1/2 tomato-sauce cans of water. Cover and cook slowly until all seasonings begin to “marry” — about 10 minutes.

Mix about 4 Tbsp of flour with enough water to make a paste. Add to pot to thicken red gravy. Cook a little longer, until crab odor is throughout the house. Serve over hot cooked rice.

*In preparing this, we always ask people how many crabs they want to eat, e.g. 2, 6, 7, and then we buy however many the total was plus a few extras.