Text 3549, 98 rader
Skriven 2008-03-08 10:41:01 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: CRAWDADS  80308
=======================
 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to Glen Jamieson <=-

 JW*>They are just 1/2 inch up here which why I don't harvest them. As I
 GJ> Why not?
 JW> The inverse square law. Compared to a 2 inch crawdad, a half inch
 JW> one has 1/4 the length, 1/16 the surface area (shell) and only 1/64
 JW> the volume (and weight) of meat, making them 64 times as much work
 JW> to shell or 4 times as "shelly" if you don't bother.

I was not considering shelling them, but eating them whole, like the
tiny dried prawns you buy in your local Asian grocery, but Dale has
pointed out that the crawdads have a thicker shell than the prawns.  If
you have lots of them available you could experiment with ways to
soften the shells, perhaps with a vinegar soak.

Regarding your mathematical reasoning, if the thickness of the shell
remained in the same proportion to other linear measurements, the ratio
of meat to shell of the 1/2" littlies would be 1/16 that of the 2"
crawdads, not 1/4, which is why I would not bother de-shelling them, at
least not by hand.
 
 GJ> Baleen whales do it easily.
 JW> They have nothing better to do.

But they don't shell them.
 
 FAB> Well you could always get a large fish tank and warm the water some to
 FAB> see if they will get up to eatin size.   <G>
 GJ> I wonder if they would, or whether your littlies are a different
 GJ> species?
 JW> I believe they are all the same species. They gradually get smaller
 JW> from Louisiana to Ontario to the arctic as the year round average
 JW> water temperature decreases.

Interesting, as some other marine animals grow bigger in colder waters.

 JW> What is the first item in your local marine food chain?
 JW> Same as any place on the globe: plankton, then zoo-plankton then the
 JW> little copepods.

So are there enough of these little crawdads to make them worthwhile
harvesting if you could process them to edibility?

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Oyster and Sea Urchin Stew
 Categories: Shellfish, Stews, Caviar, Oysters
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
     16    Oysters in the shell
      8    Sea urchins, or
    1/2 c  Sea urchin roe
      1 bn Spinach; leaves
      1 ts Fresh lemon juice
      5 tb Heavy cream
           Salt and white pepper
      2 ts Fresh chives or parsley,
           Finely chopped
 
  Shuck the oysters into a bowl and refrigerate. Discard the shells.
  Cut into the top of the sea urchins and then around the sides with a
  strong pair of scissors. Carefully spoon out the orange or yellow roe
  and reserve it in a small bowl in the refrigerator. If you're serving
  the stew in the sea urchin shells, scrub them thoroughly and dry them
  in a 200 degree oven.
  
  Blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water for 30 seconds, rinse them
  in a colander under cold running water, squeeze out the excess water
  and reserve. Warm the oysters in their liquid in a saucepan over
  medium heat until the liquid barely begins to simmer at the edge of
  the pan and the oysters begin to curl around the edges, about 3
  minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the hot oysters to a clean
  kitchen towel or clean napkin so any grit will pull off the oysters
  and cling to the towel. Strain the oyster-cooking liquid through a
  fine strainer into a clean saucepan.
  
  Add the lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of the heavy cream to the oyster
  liquid and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, until the mixture has
  the consistency of cold heavy cream. Meanwhile, simmer the remaining
  tablespoon of cream in a small pan until it thickens. Season with
  salt and pepper and add the spinach. Stir for a minute over medium
  heat to heat the spinach. Arrange the spinach in a small mound in the
  center of each soup plate or sea urchin shell.
  
  Gently stir the chives, oysters and sea urchin roe into the oyster
  sauce and heat gently--without boiling--for about 30 seconds. Arrange
  the oysters and roe around and over the spinach. Make sure everyone
  gets 4 oysters. Spoon over the sauce. Serve immediately.
  
  Recipe Courtesy of James Peterson Source: TASTE SHOW From: Lori Lee
 
MMMMM
 

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 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)