Instructions

1. Take the crab legs out of the freezer and set them in the refrigerator. Scrub the mussels with a nylon brush under cool running water and pull off the beards if attached.

2. Discard any mussels with damaged shells or those that didn't close when you touched them. Keep the mussels in the refrigerator while you get the other ingredients ready.

3. Simmer some dry white wine in a saucepan on the stove and reduce it to use as the cooking liquid, if desired. You can use fish stock or court bullion as an alternative.

4. Add the reduced wine or fish stock, vegetable stock or court bullion to the Crock-Pot. You can also cook the crab and mussels in water if you like.

5. Add all the ingredients to the Crock-Pot except the crabs and mussels. You can any ingredients you like. For example, if you want an easy, scaled-down version of bouillabaisse, add peeled stew tomatoes, white wine, chopped onions, garlic and fennel; if you want a basic mussel-and-crab steamer, add some butter, white wine and a couple minced shallots.

6. Cover the Crock-Pot and set it to High. Let everything heat up for about 2 hours. It takes that long for the Crock-Pot to reach its maximum temperature.

7. Add the mussels and crab legs to the Crock-Pot and cover. Cook the crab legs and mussels in the Crock-Pot for 30 minutes.

8. Transfer the crab and mussels to the serving dish and spoon the cooking liquid over them. Finish with chopped herbs and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Serve immediately.