Serves: 4
Total Calories: 605

FOR THE TARTER SAUCE:
1 cup mayonnaise, good-quality
1 to 2 jalapeno chiles, , fresh or pickled, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard
1 tablespoon lime juice, fresh, or more to taste
1 tablespoon capers, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon chives, chopped fresh or trimmed scallion greens
1 tablespoon cornichon pickles, or other sour pickle
1 tablespoon tarragon, chopped fresh, or basil
salt, to taste (optional)
FOR THE CRABS:
1/2 cup butter, unsalted, melted, or olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh
12 soft-shell crabs, cleaned
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the grill to high.

2. Prepare the tartar sauce. Combine the mayonnaise, chiles, mustard, 1 tablespoon lime juice, the capers, chives, pickles, and tarragon in a small bowl and whisk thoroughly to mix. Taste for seasoning, adding salt or lime juice as necessary the mixture should be highly seasoned. Set aside until serving time (see Note).

3. Combine the melted butter and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Brush the crabs on both sides with some of the mixture and season generously with salt and pepper.

4. When ready to grill, oil the grill grate. Arrange the crabs on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until the shells are bright red, 3 to 6 minutes per side. Brush the crabs with the remaining butter mixture once or twice as they cook.

5. Transfer the crabs to serving plates or a platter and serve immediately, accompanied by the tartar sauce.

Serves 4 to 6

Note: The sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Refrigerate, covered.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 4
Total Calories: 605
Calories from Fat: 600

More Recipes from the The Barbecue Bible Cookbook:
Bahamian Grilled Conch
Balinese Prawn Sates / Sate' Udang
Emeril Lagasse's New Orleans-Style Barbecued Shrimp
Fernando's Grilled Cuttlefish With Macanese "Salsa"
Flaming Prawn
Grilled Clams With Colombo Butter
Grilled Mussels / Eclade
Grilled Octopus / Khtapothi Sti Skhara
Grilled Shrimp With Taratoor
Grilled Soft-Shell Crabs With Spicy Tartar Sauce
Grilled Spiny Lobster With Basil Butter
Grilled Squid Durban
Guadeloupen Grilled "Crayfish" With Curry Beurre Blanc
Gulf Coast Shrimp
Honey Sesame Shrimp "On The Barbie"
Latin Quarter Shrimp Kebabs
Morton Bay "Bugs" With Ginger-Mint Butter
Oysters With Horseradish Cream
Penganese Grilled Shrimp With Painfully Hot Salsa
Plantation Shrimp
Prawns With Ketjap Butter
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Scallop Kebabs With Pancetta, Lemon and Basil
Shrimp With Bahian Peanut Sauce
South African Grilled Rock Lobster
Spiny Lobster With Creole Sauce
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