Brocolli Cheddar Soup (Panera Copycat Recipe)

Whenever I eat at Panera, I always order the same thing - a "you pick two" with half of a frontega chicken panini and brocolli cheddar soup.  I really never get anything different because whenever I do, I'm always mad at myself afterwards for not getting my "usual." 

So needless to say, I love Panera's brocolli cheddar soup.  I actually worked at Panera for a summer when I was in high school and I could get all the brocolli cheddar soup I wanted for free!  When I saw a copycat recipe in the Food Network Magazine, I decided I would try to recreate one of my favorite soups at home.

This recipe was pretty easy to make with not too many ingredients, and it was really good.  It didn't quite have the same taste as Panera's brocolli cheddar soup, but it was similiar and very tasty.  This is definitely one that I will be making again.  It doesn't make a huge amount so if you want a big pot of soup you should double the recipe.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 7-inch sourdough bread boules (round loaves) - I just served these in a normal bowl w/ bread on the side
4 cups broccoli florets (about 1 head)
1 large carrot, diced
2 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated sharp white and yellow cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook until golden, 3 to 4 minutes, then gradually whisk in the half-and-half until smooth. Add the chicken broth, bay leaves and nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the bread bowls: Using a sharp knife, cut a circle into the top of each loaf, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Remove the bread top, then hollow out the middle with a fork or your fingers, leaving a thick bread shell.

Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth; you'll still have flecks of carrot and broccoli. Return to the pot. (I pureed the soup in the pot with an immersion blender - be careful not to overdo it if you want any brocolli chunks)

Add the cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted. Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick. Ladle into the bread bowls and garnish with cheese.

Pigs in a Blanket

I have always loved pigs in a blanket.  They're perfect bite-sized snacks, and they're super simple to make.  I made this for lunch on a Saturday, and they really hit the spot.  This isn't really a recipe, but here's how I make them:

Ingredients:

16 little smokies (I always buy the small package)

1 tube of pillsbury refrigerated crescents

2-3 slices of cheddar cheese (or any cheese works good)

ketchup, for dipping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut each crescent triangle in half (you can also cut into thirds if you want less bread around each mini hot dog).  Place a small piece of cheese and a sausage on each crescent half and roll up.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Homemade Salsa

I'm always looking for good homemade salsa recipes because homemade is soooooo much better than jarred salsa.  I decided to try out this recipe, from Annie's Eats (which by the way has so many great recipes and pictures!).  This salsa tasted really fresh and had quite a kick to it.  It made a ton so next time I'll probably half the recipe. 

Ingredients:

2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and very coarsely chopped

4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes (I drained the liquid first)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. cumin
1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (this will be spicy so if you're not into spicy I would cut this down to 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime
 
Directions:
 
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all other ingredients to the food processor.
 
Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it only took me a few pulses to get everything combined). Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

Lobster Dinner

Back around Christmas, our grocery store had a great sale on some 5 oz. lobster tails so I decided to pick up a few and stick them in the freezer for another time.  A couple weeks ago, we decided it was time for a "fancy" dinner so I pulled out these lobster tails. 

I think this is the first time I've ever made lobster tails at home, and they turned out pretty good, but I have to say that they weren't quite as good as I had hoped.  They were a little tougher than the lobster I've had at restaurants, but I think that had to do with the quality of the lobster tails.  I liked the way I seasoned and cooked the lobster tail, but I think I'll stick to lobster in restaurants unless I'm going to spend more money and buy some really high quality lobster tails.  These were pretty small lobster tails so I served them with a side of pasta, salad, and breadsticks.

Ingredients:

2 (5 oz.) lobster tails

1 stick of butter

1 tablespoon minced garlic

salt, pepper, and old bay seasoning, to taste

Directions:

Place lobster tails on a baking sheet.  Using scissors, but the top side of the lobster shells lengthwise.  Carefully pull  the shells apart lightly to expose the meat.

Melt the butter and garlic together in the microwave.  Season the uncooked lobster meat with salt, pepper, and old bay seasoning.  Pour half of the butter over the seasoned lobster tails.

Broil the lobster tails in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until lobster meat is opaque.  Serve with the remaining melted garlic butter.

Beer Bread

Let me just start by saying, this beer bread is REALLY good!  I don't think I've actually ever made beer bread before, but we had some good beer in the house and this recipe looked so easy and quick so I decided to make it on a whim.  This is a quick bread so it uses baking powder instead of yeast, which was great because I checked my yeast in the fridge and of course it was expired.

I will say that I had my doubts when I first put it into the oven because it looked too buttery (you pour butter on top before you bake) and I wasn't sure if it would really rise up and be big and fluffy, but sure enough when the timer went off, I opened the oven and it looked perfect :)  It tasted perfect too - the flavor of the beer was subtle, and it was so moist.  You should serve it hot out of the oven because that's when it will taste the best.  I did have a little leftover the next day and it was okay, but not even close to how it tasted the night before.  I found this recipe on another fabulous blog called Erza Pound Cake.  Try this - you won't be dissapointed!

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer (I used a bottle of Goose Island Honkers Ale - use the good stuff, I don't think miller or bud would cut it in this recipe)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, grated (I added this to the original recipe to make it a little cheesy)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the beer and the butter.

Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer into the bowl with the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Pour half of the melted butter into a loaf pan, then spoon the batter into the pan, then pour the other half of the butter on top of the batter.  Slide a baking sheet onto a lower rack to catch any butter that might overflow (I thought about skipping this because I didn't think I would need it, but a little butter did overflow so definitely put the pan underneath).

Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown, and serve immediately.

Pork & Shrimp Egg Rolls

To go along with the orange chicken that I made for dinner, I decided to make some homemade egg rolls.  I've been wanting to make homemade egg rolls for awhile because the frozen kind just doesn't cut it for me.  Kevin loves egg rolls so I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

These turned out great!  I will say that it did take me quite a bit of time to make these since you have to roll up each invidual egg roll, (we ended up not eating dinner that night until 9ish instead of 8 like I had planned) but if you have the time it's worth it.  I think my first time making egg rolls was a success.  My only advice is to buy extra egg roll wrappers if you have never made egg rolls before because I tore quite a few of them in the beginning.  It took me awhile to get the rolling down (and you have to be very gentle otherwise the wrappers will tear open), but eventually I got the hang of it. 

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com, and it ended up making about 30ish big egg rolls so I fried up 8 and froze the rest for later (which I would suggest doing - this recipe is definitely a process so you want to make a bunch while you're doing the work so that you can eat these over several meals).

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package wonton wrappers (I bought 2 packages of big eggroll wrappers.....each had 21 wrappers so I definitely needed 2 or else I would have had extra filling)

1 pound lean ground beef (I used ground pork instead)
1 pound shrimp - peeled, deveined and coarsely chopped
5 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 pound bean sprouts
2 green onions
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium head cabbage, finely shredded (I just bought a bag of coleslaw mix to make it easier)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon MSG (I omitted, but I seasoned the filling with salt & pepper)
1 cup vegetable oil
Sweet and Sour Sauce, for serving

Directions:

1.  Place cabbage, bean sprouts, celery, and green onions in a large wok and stir fry over a high heat until vegetables cook down. Mix in shrimp, stir fry until cooked (I actually cooked the shrimp seperately to make sure I didn't overcook them.  Then I added into the mixture at the same time as the ground pork).

2.  In a large skillet, brown ground pork. Drain grease and add the meat to the vegetable and shrimp mixture. Continue to fry over a high heat; add oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and salt & pepper. When well blended, remove mixture from heat.

3.  Place a tablespoon of the meat and seafood mixture (or more, depending on how large your egg roll wrappers are) into the center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold the wonton skin over to make a package of the meat mixture inside, and seal the skin closed by dipping your finger in a little water and pressing the ends together (the back of the egg roll wrapper package had instructions for how to roll the egg rolls up).  If you are freezing some of the eggrolls, freeze them on a baking sheet at this time and then move to a ziploc bag once they are frozen.

4.  Fry the wontons in 1/4 inch of vegetable oil until golden brown (if you are frying up the frozen ones, just go ahead and fry them from frozen and just fry a few extra minutes).  Serve with sweet and sour sauce.

Orange Chicken

Lately, I've been having cravings for chinese food.  I used to always order take-out instead of cooking it myself, but ever since I made sweet and sour chicken that turned out really great, I decided to try to make some orange chicken at home.  I found this recipe on a great blog called, What's Cookin, Chicago?  The recipe is originally from the cookbook, Cooking at Home with America's Test Kitchen. 

Overall, I really liked this meal.  I really liked the flavor of using chicken thighs instead of chicken breast in this recipe.....I just think the thigh meat is a little more flavorful and juicy.  The sauce was really good and easy to make.  The only thing that I would do differently next time is to brown the chicken a little longer in the oil to make it crispier and more golden brown.

Ingredients:

Marinade and Sauce-

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skineless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (I used regular chicken broth)
3/4 cup juice, 1 1/2 teaspoons grated zest and 8 strips orange peel (each about 2" long by 1/2" wide) from 2 oranges (it took me 3 oranges to get enough juice and peel)
6 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup darn brown sugar (I used light brown sugar because that's what I had on hand)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 cayenne
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
8 small whole dried red chiles (optional - I omitted)

Coating and Frying oil-
3 large egg whites
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
3 cups peanut oil

Directions:

For the Marinade and Sauce-
Place the chicken in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag; set aside. Combine the chicken broth, orange juice, grated zest, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and cayenne in a large saucepan (I used a 2 quart saucepan); whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved. Measure out 3/4 cup of the mixture and pour into the bag with the chicken; press out as much air as possible and seal the bag, making sure that all the pieces are coated with the marinade. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes, but no longer.

Bring the remaining mixture in the saucepan to a boil over high heat. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water and whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and translucent, about 1 minute. Off the heat, stir in the orange peel and chiles, if using; set the sauce aside.

For the Coating-
Place the egg whites in a pie plate, and using a fork, beat until frothy. In a second pie plate, whisk together the cornstarch, baking soda and cayenne until combined. Drain the chicken in a colander or large mesh stainer; thoroughly pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place half of the chicken pieces in the egg whites and turn to coat; transfer the pieces to the cornstarch mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the dredged chicken pieces on a wire rack set over a baking sheet; repeat with the remaining chicken.

To Fry the Chicken-
Heat the oil in an 11-to 12-inch dutch oven or staight sided saute pan with at least a 3 quart capacity over high heat until the oil reaches 350 degrees on an instant read or deep fry thermometer. Carefully place half of the chicken in the oil; fry to golden brown, about 5 minutes, turning each piece with tongs halfway through cooking (next time I'll fry a bit longer than 5 minutes to get a good golden brown color). Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Return the oil to 350 degrees and repeat with the remaining chicken.

To Serve-
Reheat the sauce over medium heat until it simmers, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and gently toss until evenly coated and heated through. Serve immediately.

Parmesan Chicken

I've always loved cooking, but I think I really got into cooking a few years ago after I got addicted to watching the food network.  I know everyone has their favorite food network chefs, but I would have to say one of my very favorites is Ina Garten (in case you're wondering, my other two favorites are Paula Deen and Tyler Florence).  Ina makes so many great recipes, and a lot of them are pretty simple.

I've been making Ina's parmesan chicken recipe (not to be confused with chicken parmesan) for a year or so.  It uses the same simple breading technique that I always use when frying up chicken breasts, and the cold salad greens with the lemony vinaigrette on top goes perfectly with the warm crispy chicken.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded out to about 1/4 inch thick

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs (I use panko and season it with salt & pepper)
Lemon zest from one of the lemons that you are using for the dressing below
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter (I always buy salted butter)
Good olive oil
Salad greens for 4, washed and spun dry (I usually use a mix of baby spinach and spring mix)

Lemon Vinaigrette-
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Whisk together all of the lemon vinaigrette ingredients and set aside.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs, lemon zest, and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. First, season the chicken generously on both sides with salt and pepper.  Next, coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan (and I also shave a few strips of parmesan on top as well).

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Between being super busy with school last week and getting over a bad cold this week, it's been too long since I updated my blog :(  But I'm back with lots of things to post so I'll post a couple of recipes for the next few days just so that I can get all caught up. 

Anyways, this cheesy potato casserole is a great side dish that I make when I'm craving potatoes, but I'm not in the mood for my go-to mashed potatoes or twice baked potatoes.  It's also a great do-ahead dish that would be perfect for when you have guests over (it makes a whole 9x13 pan full of potatoes).  I use this recipe from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I loooove cheese so I used a little extra)
chopped chives to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray one 9x13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, butter, salt, pepper, onions, soup, sour cream, and cheese. Gently mix and pour into prepared pan or dish. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Sprinkle some chopped chives on top when you're serving.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Here in Chicago, there's snow everywhere right now.  Our dog, Windy, is having an absolute blast playing fetch out in the snow!  In fact, when I opened the door to our deck so that I could take this picture outside in the sunlight, Windy immediately ran out and rolled all around in the 5 inches of snow that has accumulated out there.

Even though Windy is loving this, I didn't want to go out and run a bunch of errands until the roads get cleaned up a little more so I decided I would bake cookies this afternoon.  I decided to make these chocolate crinkle cookies, and they turned out really fudgy, sugary, and delicious.  I used this recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I actually used 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup melted butter)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours (or you can also stick in the freezer for about 45 minutes).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets (this dough is pretty sticky so I found that the easiest way to do this was to scoop the amount of dough you want with a spoon and drop it into the powdered sugar without touching it.  Then, it's much easier to roll into a ball since it's coated with the powdered sugar).

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Eggnog French Toast

Growing up, I never really liked eggnog.....well, I can't really say for sure that I didn't like it because I was picky back then so I don't remember ever actually trying it.  I think I was turned off by the thick texture, and I thought the name of it didn't sound very good to me.

Fast forward to today and (luckily) I'm not very picky at all so I decided to give it a shot and buy a carton of eggnog for the holidays to decide once and for all if I liked it or not.  Well, I tried it and the texture is a little different than what I'm used to, but I really liked the flavor a lot.  Although I will admit that I've been drinking a few sips at a time right out of the carton because I don't think I could drink a whole glass in one sitting since it's so rich.  There's something about the nutmeg in it that I really like.  I actually have been on a nutmeg kick lately so I'm going to have to find some more recipes to use nutmeg in. 

Anyways, we were running a little low on food the other day, and I decided we would have breakfast for dinner so that I could put off going to the grocery store one more day.  I saw someone post about eggnog french toast on a message board, and I knew I had plenty in the refrigerator so I decided that would be perfect!  Most of the recipes I found were overnight recipes, but I did find this recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ that I adapted for our dinner tonight.  This one was definitely a hit and I will be making it again next year during eggnog season :)  I would definitely recommend using thick slices of bread for this.  The flavor was amazing and even those who don't like to drink eggnog would like this french toast.

Ingredients:

1 loaf bread, sliced into thick slices (I actually had some Rhode's bread dough in the freezer so I baked this up and sliced the bread into 6 really thick slices.  After slicing, I let the bread sit out for an hour to dry it out a bit so that it wouldn't fall apart when I dipped it in the eggnog mixture.)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups eggnog

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon nutmeg

butter for greasing pan (I added more butter between each batch so I probably used 3-4 tablespoons)

powdered sugar and syrup, for serving

Directions:

1. Whisk together the eggs. eggnog, vanilla, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl until well blended.  Pour the mixture into a shallow dish (I used a glass pie pan).

2.  Preheat a large skillet over medium heat and grease the skillet with butter.

3. Dip one slice of bread at a time into the eggnog mixture, being sure to coat each side of the bread thoroughly (but be careful not to leave it in there too long otherwise your bread will get too soggy and fall apart).

4. Place the prepared bread slices into the preheated skillet, and cook, turning once, until golden brown on each side. I would recommend adding more butter to the pan for each batch you make.  Place cooked slices on a serving plate and cover with foil (I kept the plate warm in a 200 degree oven) to keep warm until all French toast is cooked. Serve immediately with powdered sugar and syrup.

Italian Meatloaf

Now that it's wintertime, I've been craving some of my favorite comfort foods like chicken noodles and dumplings, bread pudding, and the italian meatloaf that I made the other night.  I'm still working on finding a traditional meatloaf recipe that I love, but this italian meatloaf is great (sorry, the picture above isn't the prettiest).  I found this recipe a few years ago from Michael Chiarello.  My mom makes a really good italian meatloaf too so sometime I'll have to make her recipe and compare the two.  I always serve this italian meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and some fresh bread.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter or EVOO

1 red pepper, seeded, small diced
1 small onion, diced (I used a half of a medium sized yellow onion)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound ground beef
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used italian style bread crumbs)
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (always use fresh cracked pepper!)
1 to 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter or oil in a saute pan over medium heat and add the peppers, onions and garlic. Saute until just soft, remove to a plate and cool.

When the peppers and onions are cool, combine all of the remaining ingredients together except for the marinara. Pack the meat mixture into an oiled loaf pan, if you do not have a loaf pan, form the meat mixture into a loaf shape on an oiled oven tray or baking dish. Top with the marinara making sure to spread evenly over the top.

Bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees F in the middle of the meatloaf. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese, and then slice and serve.

Steamed King Crab Legs - Our Christmas Dinner

For Christmas this year, we stayed in Chicago and celebrated with Kevin's mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve (I think there were 30-40 people there and they made tons of beef tenderloin and cold water lobster tails.....so good!).  Kevin's dad's side decided to celebrate in January so we ended up with just the two of us on Christmas day.

We started the morning off with a nice breakfast of bananas foster waffles, and then we headed to Navy Pier to see Avatar in Imax 3-D.  The movie was really cool, and I hope all movies move towards being in 3-D :)  Anyways, after that we just had a relaxing afternoon, and then we had king crab legs for our Christmas dinner.

King crab legs are probably my favorite seafood to eat.  They're a little pricey so we can't have them all of the time, but they are perfect for a special occasion dinner.  King crab legs are super easy to prepare.....trust me, you can't mess these up.  You don't need a recipe for these, but here's how I prepare mine:

Ingredients:

king crab legs, thawed (I think 1 pound to 1 1/2 pounds per person is recommended - we always go on the upper end so that we have a little leftover for crabcakes or crab rangoon so I bought a little over 3 pounds)

a tablespoon or so of Old Bay seasoning

butter, for dipping (I melted a stick of butter)

a lemon (optional - to squeeze over the crab meat)

Directions:

In a large stock pot, bring about 2 inches of water mixed with your old bay seasoning to a boil.

Put your crab legs in the pot, cover with a lid, and steam for 8 to 10 minutes (until warmed through), then drain the water out of the bottom of the pot.

Serve crab legs with melted butter and lemon wedges, and make sure you have a few pairs of scissors to cut the shells off.

These crab legs were really good, and we served them with Lana's salad (which I substituted some feta cheese instead of cottage cheese and added some chopped apples) and some baked goat cheese (served with breadsticks).  I hope everyone had a great holiday season!