Maryland Girl Crab Dip

As previously mentioned on this blog, I grew up in Maryland. My uncle Pete was an avid fisherman with whom I spent many summer days fishing and crabbing. Crabs are an expensive proposition, unless you catch them yourself. He used to crab three days a week from May through October. By the end of the crabbing season we were so "crabbed out" that we used to give them away by the bag full to the mailman, the men on the trash truck and our neighbors. In addition to the grand tradition of eating them on a table covered in newspaper, my aunt would also come up with a thousand uses for crab in recipes. Crab Imperial, Crab Soup, Crab Cakes and Crab Dip were some frequent choices. I always loved her crab dip but given the circumstances under which I moved out of the house, I never got a chance to get most of her recipes. 

Ryan was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Virginia so crabs were not a part of his childhood as they were mine. When I wanted to share a tradition of mine with my husband and his family I had to try to reconstruct Mimi's crab dip. I think I came pretty close with my take on it but I did make it a little more my style. Also, because we don't go crabbing and purchasing crabs in Northern Virginia requires a bank loan, my recipe utilizes *gasp* canned crab meat. It is a sin by Maryland standards but almost as good as the real thing.

What you need:

2 (6 ounce) cans of crab meat
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of Mayo
3 Tablespoons of mustard
1 Tablespoon of Old Bay Seasoning
1 Teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1 Teaspoon of soy sauce or worcestershire sauce
1 Cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. Combine cream cheese, mustard, mayo and soy/worcestershire sauce. Mix until well combined and creamy.

2. Stir in crab meat, 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese and Old Bay Seasoning

3. Bake in an oven safe serving dish at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until slightly brown.

4. Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese on top and bake another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the dip is bubbly.

The best way to serve this dip is with crusty bread, pretzels or saltine crackers