Crab Dip

Many people have asked for this recipe over the years. It's a breeze to make, freezes well, and it always the first thing gone at holiday parties. The secret to this dish is the "blue crab" crabmeat, you want to source the finest possible. In the summer months I look for fresh crabmeat from Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, or Louisiana, but in winter months domestic pasteurized crabmeat is wonderful (this is a refrigerated canned product, not something you would find on a grocery store shelf). If you cannot source locally you can purchase online at Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes & More.

1lb jumbo lump crab blue crabmeat
8 oz cream cheese softened
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup sour cream
¼ cup grated cheddar cheese
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tsp horseradish
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix all ingredients except crab meat in a small bowl or food processor until well combined. Put crabmeat in a larger bowl and gently dry off. Gently fold wet mixture into crabmeat folding until just combined. Do not overmix as the crabmeat will break apart. The consistency should be fairly thick but spreadable. If needed, add a bit more mayonnaise.

Put in small baking dish and bake at 375F until bubbly and slightly brown on top, about 30-35 minutes.

Variations: Decrease crabmeat to 3/4 pound and substitute 1/2 can chopped artichoke hearts or artichoke bottoms, or substitute 1 very large Vidalia onion for some of crabmeat and all of the chopped onion.

Not interested in making dip? You can try our Artichoke Gruyere Dip from Mackenzie Limited. It's the next best thing to making your own.

Welcome to The Inside Dish!

Eating for a living is hard work! You may find that hard to believe, but it’s true. There are some days that I open newly arrived samples with a sense of dread—am I really in the mood to test garlic peanut butter today? I’ve had stuffed quail for breakfast and French toast for dinner, all in the name of finding the best of the best. And while you would think that more expensive foods would be of higher quality, that’s not always the case. In my test kitchen, we have our share of surprises, laughter, disappointment, and utter shock on some of the foods that we encounter.

My main focus is Mackenzie Limited, a gourmet-food catalog that seeks out “the world’s finest foods.” Over the past 12 years, we’ve tested thousands of different products (13,000 or so by the last count), selecting only a dozen or so for each new issue of the catalog. For a multitude of reasons, many interesting, unique, high-quality product just don’t make the cut. And while I’ve always been extremely proud of the foods we select, it’s the ones we don’t that I always want to talk about. Now I can.

So what can you expect? Anything related to good food. One day I may discuss the best bagels in New York (H&H, and soon I'll tell you how to order them online!), while the next day I talk about Thanksgiving or other entertaining ideas. I’ll do some features on budget gourmet finds. There will be recipes. And links to great sites where you can buy gifts or treat yourself to amazing mail order finds that I guarantee you'd never find on your own. You'll even read about my favorite picks from Trader Joe’s, some of which come from the very same suppliers that supply the fancy catalogs (and at 1/3 the price).

So welcome to my blog. And bon appétit!