Ultimate Crab Dip

This holiday weekend, we had friends over for dinner. It was a great collaboration--my friend made a grilled vegetable salad (very yummy; essentially you grill the veggies you'd put on the salad, layer them on the lettuce and add an easy vinaigrette) and a white chocolate trifle (very yummy too!).

I made Chipolte Cherry Barbecue Sauce to go over some chicken that I had rubbed with a dry rub, put on the grill, and um, forgot about. They were CRISPY chicken breasts, LOL. Still good, but quite charred on the outside. I'm going to try the sauce with something else soon, and if it works out, will post the recipes.

One hit was Tyler Florence's Ultimate Crab Dip. I'd seen him make it on Tyler's Ultimate that morning, but didn't really pay attention to how. Just thought it looked good. But when I went to check the recipe on the Food Network, it had no directions, and according to the comments, the ingredients ratio was a bit off. So I fiddled with it myself, and here's what I did. The roasted tomatoes are a must--they add that last little bit of flavor that really pumps up the appetizer from just another crab dip and into something special. The garlic parsley crackers take an extra step too (and I recommend making double the amount) but people liked those so much, they ate just the crackers, LOL.

Ultimate Crab Dip (Shirley's Version)

For the Dip:

1/2 cup cream cheese (I used light)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

12 ounces lump crab meat (Note: I live in Indiana so I can't buy it fresh...sigh...so I used the Bumblebee Canned Lump Crab Meat and it worked out just as well)

2 tablespoons chopped chives

For the Crackers:

2 sleeves saltines (this is a doubled recipe)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick butter, melted

1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped fine

For the Tomatoes:

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (I used grape)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay the saltines on a cookie sheet, then in a small saucepan, melt the butter, add the garlic and parsley. Brush the butter mixture onto the saltines, then bake for about 6 minutes, until golden and crispy. When done, remove them to a platter. Toss the tomatoes with the vinegar and olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, then lay them on the baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes just begin to burst.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, cream the cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice. Fold in the crab meat and diced chives. Season with salt and pepper, and refrigerate until ready to use.

To eat, spread crab dip on a cracker, and top with a tomato.

Great recipe on all counts, IMO. I had a few leftover (like enough for five crackers, LOL) and it was just as great the next day for lunch ;-)

Shirley