One Great . . . mustard sauce recipe with cold seafood

A supermarket near my house has started running Friday afternoon seafood specials. Not cheap, mind you, but I'm willing to spend a few dollars for something really good in the shellfish category.

My husband and I both have strong Florida roots, so it was a shock when we birthed a child who had an absolute aversion to anything encased in a shell. If he didn't look so much like me, I'd think there was a switch at the hospital. I keep thinking he'll come around, but he's grown now and still won't look at a shrimp.

Since he's out of the house at the moment, we've been grabbing the chance to catch up on our seafood. So when I saw a sign announcing a shipment of stone crabs arriving on Friday afternoon, we were ready to snap up enough of them for two.

Here's the trick on stone crabs: You have to serve them cold. If you try to heat them, they may spoil and get an awful ammonia smell. Since they are chilled, you can't dip them in melted butter and lemon, the way you would with most crab. Instead, you need a sauce that works cold and highlights their sweetness.

Enter mustard sauce. It's an adaptation of the dipping sauce served at the famous Joe's Stone Crab in Miami, and it ran many years ago in one of the "Desperation Dinners" books by Alicia Ross and Beverly Mills. It's really simple. In fact, if you ever find yourself at the beach and you need something easy to dress up a shrimp salad or smoked fish -- even chicken salad -- you can almost always make a version from the barest cupboard.

Cold-Seafood Mustard Sauce

Makes 3/4 cup.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Colman's dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon A-1 steak sauce
1 tablespoon cream or half-and-half

Whisk all the ingredients together. Chill for 30 minutes or so if you have time. Serve with cold seafood.