Surprise! Alaskan King Crab!

My other half came home with a wonderful surprise for me, a 6 1/2 pound ALASKAN KING CRAB!!! He certainly knows the way to my heart.
This is not a normal event at my house. He is much more likely to come home with a bag of something processed than a treasure from the sea. We're also not usually so indulgent. I have to admit, I was a little intimidated. I've never prepared crab. Actually I've only eaten it a handful of times.
What to do with all that sweet meat...I tend to like good ingredients prepared as simply as possible so I decided to steam the legs, eat it with a little lemon and clarified butter and ponder the fate of the remaining meat.

After doing a little research, I learned that crab is almost always cooked and frozen on the boat! All that is really needed is to reheat it.
Bring about 2 inches of water to a boil in a large pot,reduce to a simmer, added the legs and steamed them for 4 to 5 minutes. Who knew something this delicious was also this fast and simple!

We tried a couple different ways of cracking the shell. It was not an easy task due to the spikes. First I tried a nut cracker, but it didn't work too well. I ended up using the prong of a fork to break through the shell. My fork ended up a little bent, but it was undoubtedly worth it!