We came home from a recent trip to Chincoteague Island, Va. with a pound of back fin crab meat. We used part of it to make a delicious crab bisque. The other part we used to make these awesome Crab Stuffed Mushroom Caps. They make a delightful tapa or appetizer to serve at your next get together. 
Back fin is the middle grade of crab meat. It’s a great choice for most crab recipes. The pieces are large enough to see them, and the flavor will stand up to delicate sauces and seasonings. The choicest grade is called Jumbo Lump which is large whole pieces of meat from the swimming fins. Most at home cooks would not use this meat for recipes (unless she picked it herself) as it’s very expensive. There are only two jumbo lumps per crab, and sometimes they are broken during extraction. The next grade is Lump and consists of broken bits of jumbo lump and large pieces of meat from the body cavity. It’s great for crab cakes and dishes where seeing large pieces is desirable. 
The grades below back fin are Special, which consists of the small pieces from the body cavity and Claw which is the dark meat from the limbs of the crab. Special and Claw meat are great for using in recipes where a heavy sauce or other strong tasting ingredient might overpower the crab. The claw meat, especially, has a nice sweet flavor that stands up for itself. When buying your crab, as opposed to “picking” it yourself, look for pasteurized meat and freeze it if you can’t use it by the expiration date. Once opened or thawed, use the meat within a day or two. (References: How to Choose Crabmeat; Pasteurized Crab Meat; Blue Crab Nutrition Facts). 
Since we’re going to use our crab as a stuffing for mushrooms, make sure you purchase large ones. I bought a full pound of button mushrooms and selected the largest ones, about eleven or twelve. Remove the stems and save them for another use along with any mushrooms you don’t need. Use a spoon to scrape out the gills and make a cup to hold the crab.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound crab meat picked through, shells removed
- 1 pound button mushrooms large ones sorted out, gills and stems removed
- 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil or mix
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder more or less
- 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay more or less
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- juice of half a lemon
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450.
- Heat the olive oil and/or butter in a large skillet.
- Add the mushroom caps and stir to cover.
- Heat slightly to soften the caps.
- Remove to an oven proof pan or casserole dish, set aside.
- Add the crab to the skillet, and season with the garlic powder, Old Bay, Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper. Add more butter or olive oil if needed.
- Stir in the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and lemon juice.
- Fill the mushroom caps with the crab mixture.
- Place in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes until heated through and the bread crumbs begin to brown.
We enjoyed our crab stuffed mushroom caps with a little bread and a glass of our favorite hard cider. Enjoy!
This recipe has been featured at the Tasty Tuesday link up party! Come check it out and grab a Featured button here!
Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again next week!
My husband would flip for these. We are big seafood fans. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Simple Supper Tuesday.
These look yummy! I love seafood, especially crabs so I’ll definitely try this recipe. 🙂
By the way, thanks for linking up with Let’s Get Real Party!
This looks delicious! I would love for you share it on my Tasty Tuesday recipe link up here! Everything gets pinned and I would love to have you!
Thanks for the invitation, Stephanie. I’ll check it out 🙂
I’m finally getting around to pinning last week’s link-ups! We would have a house divided with this recipe–half would love it, and half would hate it! Thanks for linking up with the Tasty Tuesday’s Link-up. I have pinned your post to the Tasty’s Tuesday’s Pinterest Board!
Thanks for pinning, Tammy!
I’ve also pinned this to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest board! 🙂 Thanks for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party!
These look fantastic! What a wonderful combination of flavors. I love crab and mushrooms! Thanks for linking this to the In and Out of th eKitchen Link Party!
I am featuring this tomorrow on my Tasty Tuesday blog hop. I’d love if you’d stop by and link up again. Make sure you grab a featured button!
Julia @ Mini Van Dreams
Thank you so much! See you tomorrow 🙂
This looks so easy!
Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!
Your recipe looks fantastic!! Thanks for bringing it to the Four Seasons Blog Hop~ Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines
I love any type of seafood (okay, scallops not so much) But these look heavenly!
Oh my, these look soo yummy–crab and mushrooms together:) Pinned. found at cast party wed. Have a great week.
tapas are among my fave things to eat, esp on date night 🙂 these crab stuffed mushrooms look beyond good! Wish I had one, guess I’ll just have to PIN them! CH=hecking these out from win’d down Wednesday!
Cathy