Crab Dip

"No man is a failure who is enjoying life." - William Feather

So... My Dad's 60th birthday is coming up and it's a huge deal! Since I go see my parents every two weeks, meal planning for his birthday dinner is an even bigger deal than when I was younger. I have the pressure of cooking for them since I don't see them that often as well as the pressure of celebrating his big 6-0. When it comes to the main meal, he's relatively easy to please since he loves meat, so I'll probably end up cooking a beef platter accompanied by a salad or some kind of rice or pasta dish. Now, when it comes to appetizers, he can be a real hit-or-miss kind of man. He can love something just as much as he can hate something, and when I mention trying out something new, you can be sure to see a raised eyebrow on his face. He can be pretty finicky when it comes to seafood so that's why I decided to tackle the challenge of finding a great, light, and easy-to-make seafood appetizer that I know my Dad would approve of. This recipe ended up being just that! The flavor of the crab meat was brought out by the onion, lemon, and dill which ended up making it taste fresh and crisp. It also was a great way to make something with crab since we don't usually eat it often. I went with pairing the dip with crackers since my Dad likes getting his fingers dirty sometimes like a 5 year old, but if you want to class up this recipe, you can try using the dip to make Crab Tartlets (the variation recipe is going to be all the way at the bottom of this post).

Crab Dip
adapted from: New Cook Book 14th Edition by Better Homes and Gardens

*makes: 10 servings*

"Serve this flavorful dip with crackers or spoon it into purchased phyllo shells."

Ingredients:
6 oz canned fancy white crabmeat, drained and flaked
1/2 cup real mayonnaise
1/2 cup all natural sour cream
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 tsp dried dillweed
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon juice
several dashes bottled hot sauce
salt
pure ground black pepper
unsalted tops premium saltine crackers

Directions:
1) In a medium bowl stir together crabmeat, mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, dillweed, lemon zest, lemon juice, and hot sauce. Season dip to taste with salt and black pepper.
2) Transfer dip to a serving bowl. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours. Serve with crackers.



Crab Tartlets

[same ingredients as above]
30 miniature phyllo dough shells

Prepare as above in Step 1. Place the phyllo dough shells on a large baking sheet. Spoon dip into shells. Bake in a 350F oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until heated through.