About a year ago, a new fishmonger opened up in our neighborhood. Curious, and great seafood lovers, Matt and I decided to walk in.

Much to our pleasant surprise, it turned out that not only was our new fishmonger a great source of cooking information, but also a purveyor of the rarer fishy creatures of the sea.

While we haven’t quite made the plunge to try sea urchins, we did jump on the opportunity to cook soft shell crabs which we happened upon this weekend.

As it turns out, they’re very easy to make, as in basically you dredge them in milk, and then flour, and then you sear them for 4 minutes total.

Following Lisa’s advice, we went the simple route of lemon and butter and it was a perfect light summer dinner.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk (we used skim milk and turned out fine)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 small (4-inch-wide) live or already dressed soft-shelled crabs, cleaned (I didn’t want to deal with live crabs and our trusty fishmonger had them fresh)
• 1 cup Wondra or all-purpose flour (I used all-purpose and it was fine)
• 4 tablespoons clarified butter or ghee (we used ghee)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Combine milk, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish and soak crabs 5 minutes. Lift 1 crab out of milk, letting excess drip off, and dredge in flour.
2. Knock off excess flour and transfer to a tray.
3. Repeat with remaining crabs, arranging them in 1 layer as coated.
4. Heat clarified butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté crabs, upside down, 2 minutes.
5. Turn over and sauté until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes more.
6. Transfer crabs to a serving dish. Add butter pieces to skillet and cook until golden brown with a nutty aroma. Add lemon juice and parsley (mixture will bubble up) and remove from heat.
7. Season sauce with salt and pepper and drizzle over crabs. Serve with fingerling potatoes or a light green salad.

Adapted from Bon Appetit Soft-Shelled Crabs Meunière.