Recipe by John McReynolds

Roasted Moroccan Spiced Dungeness Crab
Serves six
The legendary food writer James Beard proclaimed Dungeness crab to be the Pacific’s greatest blessing. For me, it would not be New Year’s Eve without this local treasure. I prefer live crabs that I boil myself, but fresh-cooked is fine.
3 cooked Dungeness crabs, cleaned and cracked, about 2 pounds each
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons Moroccan spice mixture (1 tablespoon ground coriander, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 tablespoon sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne)
1 cinnamon stick
2 lemons, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Pre-heat oven to 400° F. In a medium pan, slowly cook the onions, fennel and garlic with the olive oil for 5 minutes or until softened. In a large roasting pan, toss together the crab, salt, cooked vegetables, lemons, cinnamon stick and spices. Roast 15 minutes uncovered.
Remove from oven to stovetop and pour stock and wine into pan. Reduce for 1 minute over high heat. Add butter and herbs. Toss well to make sure each piece of crab is well coated. Serve on a large platter with plenty of wet napkins and bowls for the shells. The roasting will make the shells brittle, but have a few crab crackers on hand just in case.