Hey Paul I am from Maryland and I grew eating a family created recipe called Fried Hard Crabs and Gravy . My mom would have the crab man break the backs off the crabs live saving the inside of the shell. She then clean the gills or as we called them the deadmans. Then using the same flour mixture as used for fried chicken she would flour those crabs and fry them like she fried chicken. Then in a dutch oven she would create a gravy using flour leftover grease from frying the crabs and the inside of the backs of the crab shell. then she returned the fried crabs back into the dutch oven to smother with the gravy. While the crabs smothered she would make hot yeast rolls. There is nothing better then eating a plate of Fried Hard Crabs and Gravy with a hot roll to dip and dunk in the gravy. A quick story the best man from my wedding was dying from cancer. One thing he requested before he left this earth was to sample my mothers famous crabs and gravy. My mother granted that request he was so over taken by this dish that he has survied cancer and became a Pastor . Bless Your Heart, Sara Reid

By Sara Reid on August 16, 2012

On Paula's show, she mentions that her grandmother fried crabs like this, though she was not aware of many other people who used the same method. My mother did it in a similar way on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay in Jubilee City! Rosemary

By Rosemary Rogers on January 02, 2011