Every year my family hosts its annual Hors D’oeuvres night. We get together and everyone brings their signature seasonal dishes. This year i’m bringing a traditional Northwest favorite, crab dip.
I found a new recipe that incorporates innovative ingredients to make a thicker dip and allows the sweet meat of the crab to shine through.
Be sure to pay the extra money for fresh Dungeness crab. The canned stuff is too watery and not flavorful and will make your dish a bisque rather than a dip.
Also, many other recipes call for a mayonnaise or sour cream base but these tend to become too runny. This recipe suggests using a cream cheese base that has been mixed with milk to loosen the texture.
Finally, you may want to reconsider topping the final dish with bread crumbs. If your goal is to really accentuate the crab meat then don’t take away from the flavor by adding crumbs that can sometimes overpower the whole dip.
Try the recipe out!
Ingredients:
- 2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, softened and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3 tblspns from 1 lemon
- 2 tblspns minced onion
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce (Franks RedHod Original)
- 1 pound crabmeat (Dungeness is best)
- 2 tblspns minced fresh parsley
Directions:
Place oven rack in middle position in oven and heat to 475 degrees.
Grease shallow 2 quart baking dish
Whisk cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, onion, Worcestershire, mustard, Old Bay, and hot sauce together in a large bowl until smooth.
Gently fold in crab meat into bowl.
Transfer mix to greased baking dish and smooth top. Bake until browned which usually takes 20-25 minutes.
Sprinkle top with parsley before serving
If you have to drive, this dish is easily transported. Just pop it in the oven once at your party and re-heat for several minutes
Serve with toasted points or pita triangles