Sunday Dinner: Baked Crab Dip with Chardonnay

We’ve been on a bit of seafood kick lately. Cioppino, crab cakes, shrimp tempura, lobster bisque … it seems no sea creature is safe around us right now.

Courtney had some left over crab meat from a recent carnivorous aquatic feast and was looking for something quick, easy and tasty to use it up.

Humming and hawing over what we could do, we remembered a favourite appetizer from Hopgood’s Foodliner – hot crab dip with Triscuits. Warm, cheesy, melty and full of umami goodness. So we set out to replicate it.

The following recipe takes most of its cues from Martha Stewart, who got it from Emeril, but we added a little Wine Sisters flash, just because we can. And you can, too. Throw in extra spice, swap the crab for lobster, or, if you care to get your Healthy Wino on, you can use reduced fat versions of the cheese and mayo – though we personally don’t recommend it, because we think the fat is just replaced with sugar, sodium and freaky chemicals, but whatever tickles your fancy. And who doesn’t like to have their fancy tickled on a Sunday night?

The Wine Sisters Baked Crab Dip

(Inspired by Hopgood’s, with support from Martha, who borrowed it from Emeril)

Makes approx 6 cups

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
• 1 diced jalepeno, seeds and ribs removed (optional)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 lb cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2-3 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 minced green onions
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 lb crabmeat, picked through for shells and cartilage
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Triscuits

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
3. Add onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, garlic, salt, and Bay Seasoning. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes or so.
4. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Using a stand mixer or food processor, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, parsley, scallions, lemon juice, blending til smooth.
6. Add cream cheese mixture to a large bowl and blend in cooled vegetables and crabmeat. Transfer to a 1-quart baking dish. (We used individual 2-cup cast iron Dutch ovens for a prettier presentation).
7. In a small bowl, mix together panko and melted butter; stir to combine. Spread breadcrumbs over dip and bake until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
8. Serve with Triscuits and big glasses of wine.

The Wine Sisters’ Pairing

This is a full flavoured appetizer that demands a bold wine to stand up to it: rich crab, creamy mayo and heavy cream cheese work well with Chardonnays with a judicious use of oak. The wine is full bodied and weighty enough to hold its own with the unctuous dip, and Chard’s tropical fruit flavours  and spicy notes compliment the salty, creamy flavours of the food.

We enjoyed it with Laguna Ranch Vineyard Chardonnay from California’s Russian River Valley, but it’s current inventory at the LCBO stands at only a dozen bottles or so, so instead try:

Sonoma Cutrer Russian River Ranches Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, California 2010 $26.95 Vintages 608653