Alaskan King Crab Legs and Bacon Wrapped Scallops

Aaron and I aren’t all that big into Valentine’s Day anymore. This has a lot to do with the fact that our anniversary is February 2 and his birthday is the week following V-Day (February 21). So we celebrate love an awful lot in such a short month. Well, we do every month. Not the point.

ANYWAY, Alaskan king crab legs were on sale and we had to get them. It’s ALASKAN KING CRAB. I don’t feel like I need to say much more than that. We decided to get a pound and a half and then pick up some sea scallops from Sheridan’s (which has an amazing meat and seafood counter. You should check it out if you’re in the Portland area). When we were in Juneau this past winter, Aaron made bacon wrapped scallops and his mom’s place and they were fantastic, especially since he had never done them before. For a fancy V-Day dinner, they seemed like a good idea. And they were!

Steamed King Crab Legs and Bacon Wrapped Scallops by Becca and Aaron:

1½ lb. Alaskan king crab legs
6 large size sea scallops, gently rinsed
6 pieces of bacon (turkey bacon can work, but it crisps faster, so it’d be a bit more difficult)
Thyme
Rosemary
2-3 garlic cloves, cut in half
¼ c. butter, melted
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Mashed potatoes

Place bacon in a medium skillet and cook until slightly crispy. It should be mostly cooked, but still flexible. Reserve the bacon fat in the skillet.


Wrap the scallops with the bacon and skewer with toothpicks to hold in place. Set aside.

Boil water in a large pot with thyme, rosemary and garlic. If you have a steamer tray, this next part is easy. I had to rig on up, so it was a little harder, but still worked even though I had to cut the legs in half. Add legs to steamer tray or rigged up steamer tray and cover. Steam for about seven minutes, or until you can smell the delicious crab aroma. Crab legs are generally already cooked once when you get them. They do this on the fishing vessel to preserve the supreme freshness and delciousness that is Alaskan king crab. So don’t overcook!

While the crab legs are steaming, reheat the bacon skillet. Place the scallops in the skillet and cook until translucent, flipping a couple of times. Scallops cook really quickly and get tough, so watch it.


Serve crab legs and scallops with melted butter mixed with the minced garlic, mashed potatoes, and lemon wedges.

This was a ridiculously fantastic dinner. The only issue we had was that we don’t have crab crackers, so we had to cut all of our legs open with kitchen scissors, which takes a bit of time. Still, though, worth it. Alaskan king crab is so good and I wish it were always available and not super expensive.

I recommend topping off your evening with a viewing of Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride.