(Click PHOTO to enlarge and then back arrow to return to original size).

Hi everyone,

Well, I’m back from vacation.

Bob and I spent a lovely 10 days celebrating his 60^th Birthday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Even though I live on Long Island, NY and my home is not too far from the beaches, there is something so different and calming about staying in a home on the beach and falling asleep to the sound of the waves and waking up to a spectacular view of the sunrise over the ocean. Bob thoroughly enjoyed his relaxing birthday.

In addition to the days on the beach, whenever I visit Myrtle Beach, I always enjoy one of my favorite soups. I know, hot soup in the summer, but this soup is very popular on the South Carolina coast and it is “She Crab Soup”. I just love it.

Bob and I drove from Myrtle Beach to spend a day in Charleston, South Carolina; where She Crab soup is the city’s signature dish. 

We read about a restaurant on Yelp that has won awards for it’s She Crab soup and off we went to sample this award winning soup. The soup is a combination of cream, crab-meat, a splash of sherry and female crab red orange roe (eggs). A cross between a bisque and a chowder.

We arrived at 82 Queen Restaurant and had a very nice dinner (including the soup), while watching all the horse drawn carriages pass by the restaurant.

Here are a few pics from our day in Charleston, SC and the “award winning” She Crab Soup.

82 Queen Courtyard…

Love the horse drawn carriages…

The award winning “She Crab” soup… with roe

The roe just takes the soup over the top with a fantastic flavor, but roe is not harvested all over the nation in an effort to preserve the supply of crabs and it is very hard to come by in some areas.

When I first tasted this soup many years ago on a trip to Myrtle Beach and fell in love with it, it contained the roe. Now a lot of restaurants aren’t adding it, but the basic recipe is still fantastic on its own.

One of the waitresses told me that two crumbled hard-boiled egg yolks can be substituted for the ¼ cup roe needed for the traditional recipe to give it the right texture.

This year, back in Myrtle Beach, I was fortunate enough to get a recipe from one of the local chefs for “She Crab Soup” and I have to share it with you.

I made this soup when we got home (with a little tweaking of course).

She Crab Soup

By Chef Heidi Vukov 

Owner of Croissants Bistro & Bakery

Ingredients:

¼ lb. butter

¼ cup flour

2 cups small diced celery

2 cups diced onion

½ cup sherry

2 quarts heavy cream

½ tsp nutmeg

1 lb. lump crab-meat (fresh is best)

Salt & pepper to taste

COOKS NOTES: I tweaked this recipe by adding,

2 crumbled hard-boiled egg yolks

½ tsp. Hungarian paprika

Chives (for garnish)

Directions:

1. In a large pot over high heat, melt butter and add flour, mixing well. Cook until a blonde roux is formed. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the celery and onions and cook until the onions are translucent. Deglaze the pot with sherry….Move to a double boiler.
2. Add heavy cream*. Bring to a boil. Add nutmeg

*(I added the crumbled egg yolks and paprika with the cream)

3. Gently fold in the crab-meat.
4. Thin with additional cream if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.

COOKS NOTE: I garnished with chives and fresh crab-meat.

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I hope you give it a try.

We are still in vacation mode so we are going down to the beach tonight with some of my “She Crab soup” and biscuits and have a relaxing night on the beach.

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By the way, the birthday boy is the ultimate NY Yankees baseball fan so I had to get him the ultimate NY Yankee Stadium birthday cake for his 60th Birthday!

 (The cake is also from Croissants Bistro & Bakery).

If I lived in Myrtle Beach I would eat there every day….just delicious.

Here is a pic of the cake… had to show you, almost too pretty to cut.

and the filling…marble cake with peanut butter & chocolate mousse.

Two of Bob’s favorites.

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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

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