west coast stuffing

Stuffing is arguably the best Thanksgiving dish. Why do we even bother with the rest? But I've never been turkey's biggest fan. And my first exposure to cranberry sauce was the canned jelly stuff. And I have a bad food memory of mashed potatoes (the box of dried flakes kind but it extends to all mashed potatoes now). So like... stuffing is kind of my best bet.
I like the kind with large chunks of bread and meat component and sweet component and herbs and broth. So come Friendsgiving, I decided to make one of those... but like... what about crab? What about Dungeness crab? It's so representative. And how convenient it is that it's also crab season on the west coast.

Recipe tested at Friendsgivings and refined at home with all the extra ingredients. I'm thankful for cornbread mix.

 Luke even arranged the 'maters after slicing them so carefully. Thankful for his tremendous help in the kitchen.

 Thankful that this crab was so easy to dismantle. From fridge to table in something like two hours.

  And it's thankful for all the tomatoes.

crab, corn, and cherry (tomato) stuffing

1 lovely Dungeness crab, meat dug out of shells and shells reserved for presentation... and stock (by the by, Whole Foods sells theirs already cooked)

150 g corn bread mix

1/2 c clam stock

2T butter

1 onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1/2 can corn

5 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
red pepper flakes
S and P to taste
butter to your heart's desire

-sautee onion and celery in butter to soften
-add corn, sautee some more
-add red pepper flakes and S/P
-take off heat and toss in crab meat
-meanwhile, mix clam stock with corn bread mix in shallow dish
-spoon crab mix over batter
-lay pretty tomatoes cut side up on top
-bake 20min at 350F
-garnish with shells because you can

Happy Thanksgiving from not-my-childhood-bed-because-my-brother-has-taken-it-over in NC