Weekend Eats at the Jersey Shore - Crab Shack Brick, NJ

I love this time of year and I love eating outside on the patio - sans the annoying flies!  This weekend we enjoyed some local seafood - steamed crabs and grilled clams.  We got the crabs already steamed and seasoned from The Crab Shack in Brick, NJ.  The place is really a shack as its name implies but has some great local crabs and other seafood at reasonable prices.  I find it charming that you can dine at wooden tables right next to big bushels of live crabs!  We also picked up a couple of dozen little neck clans to grill up.  I love that the clams tell you when they are done.  Simply place them on a hot grill and once they open up, they are done - no guesswork involved.  Serve them with a little drawn butter and enjoy!  The crabs are a little messy and involve a little work, but are so good. 

I  also made homemade barbecued pulled pork sandwiches for the first time and they were just delicious.  I may insult Southerners who can make great traditional pulled pork but I was happy with the results.   I bought a boneless pork shoulder, brined it overnight (in a Ziploc), then seasoned it with a dry spice rub, popped it in  the crock pot with Emeril's wet mop sauce and after six hours on low we had perfect crumbly and delicious pork.  The weather was so hot, that it was nice to use the crock pot and not heat up the whole kitchen.  I mixed the pulled pork with Hoboken Eddie's barbecue sauce and served it on a roll topped with coleslaw.  As much as we had of the pork, it sure disappeared fast!  Delicious! 

The dry rub and brine solution are from the blog kevinandamanda.com.  Thank you!
Dry Rub
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 cup brown sugar

Brine Solution (I halved the recipe)

1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 qts cold water
1 1/2 tbsp dry rub mix
1 bay leaf