one hundred and twenty-three

Late post today.  The power's been out for the last six plus hours, but it's back now... Just in time for me to tell you a story about shellfish.  And ovens.  Mostly shellfish.  Spoiler alert: the story ends with a recipe.

When Mr. N and I moved to Maryland, we learned just how big crab and crab accessories truly were amongst anyone with a stomach.  While my husband loves shellfish, I am not much of a fan.  Something about the briny fishness of it all really puts me off, so I tend to pass when a well meaning individual offers up one of their famous lobster rolls or clam bakes.

Then, one day I met a man named Mike.  We met at a party where I was armed with lime cookies and he with a baguette and an awesome hot dip of some sort.  After hovering over the dish for a few hours, I cornered him and asked what I had just devoured.  When I learned that it was crab dip, I didn't know if I should gag or shrug, so I opted for the latter of the two.

When later I asked Mike for the recipe, he gave the standard answer of someone who's prepared the same dish umpteen times, "Some cream cheese, some crab, some Old Bay..."  Figuring we would be in the DC area for a while yet, I never bothered to probe the issue further; yet here I am two years later living in New Jersey.  D'oh.

After a year or so of crabby cravings, I finally gave in and made my own version.  Like Bubby's chicken soup, it's not quite as good as when Mike makes it, but it's still something I'd make again.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll send Mike my recipe and have him cook it in lieu of his own.  You know, so he can see what crab dip is supposed to taste like.

Baked Crab Dip

 

2-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Sriracha

2-6 oz. cans white crab meat

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400*.

In an oven-safe serving dish, use a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream until fluffy and combined.  Add the Old Bay, Worcestershire, and Sriracha and mix until incorporated.  Fold in the crab meat and Parmesan cheese.  Smooth the surface of the dip, then sprinkle with more Old Bay.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the dip is hot and slightly browned-ish on top.

(Very scientific, I know.)