Black Pepper Dungeness Crab

Living in the Pacific Northwest gave us a true appreciation for the absolute freshest seafood and one of our favorites is Dungeness crab.  We would either trap the crabs ourselves or go to Pike Place market or Uwajimaya's, buy the crabs live, clean, and then cook them in a salt solution (equivalent salinity to ocean water) with added spices and herbs.  Dipped in melted, clarified butter, there is not much better feasting.  Fulltime RVing rather limits our ability to get fresh Dungeness, but we recently found some frozen in a local market and couldn't resist trying them.  

We decided to try to duplicate a recipe that we used to enjoy at Christine Keff's restaurant, Flying Fish. While not quite the same flavor, this sweeter version of Black Pepper Dungeness Crab is very good and since it did not involve all that butter dipping it is probably healthier!!