February 4, 2013

... Hot Crab Cheese Dip

Vacation.  It's a wonderful thing.  Especially when it's spent in sunny Florida at the end of January.  I don't know about you, but I say 78 degrees is way better than 8 any day.  We enjoyed the beautiful weather by cooking at our home away from home one night and made this recipe as an appetizer.  It was delicious and I'll definitely make it again... if only to remind me of warmer temps in the middle of winter.


Hot Crab Cheese Dip
serves 8

8 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons skim milk
4 scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 pound lump crab meat, flaked
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, skim milk, scallions, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce and garlic salt in a bowl and mix well.  Fold in the crab meat.

Spoon the crab meat mixture into a shallow 6-cup baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes or until light brown.  Let stand for 5 minutes and sprinkle with parsley.  Serve warm with tortilla chips.

Taylor's Notes:
To be honest, Mom made this.  All I did was bake it and eat it.  But, boy, was it delicious.  It probably didn't hurt that we ate it on the deck of the house we rented for our family vacation in Key Largo, Florida while overlooking the ocean and enjoying the sunset.  I mean, I'm sure it'd be just as good if you ate it in your living room.  In the middle of winter.  Really, I'm sure it would.  

If I remember correctly, Mom made this early in the day and kept it in the refrigerator while we were out playing.  We set it out about 20 minutes before sticking it in the oven to bake.  

I just realized - only by looking at the photo - that we (ahem, I) didn't add the parsley before serving.  Oops.  #garnishfail

Enjoy!

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