Lessons in Leftovers: Hot Corn Crab Artichoke Dip

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by yinzerella

Lordy, lordy, my darlings. It has been so long. Way too long. Brian is so ashamed by my lack of attention to Dinner is Served! that he can’t even show his face.

In my defense, I started a new job at the beginning of May and it requires a lot more of my attention than my former one. So I’ve been busy.

And on top of it my parents were in town this weekend for a visit so I didn’t have a spare moment to write. But! It is thanks to their trip to Baltimore that I have a recipe to share with you now.

On Friday evening we dined at my favorite restaurant in town, a joint called The Prime Rib. It’s a swanky, old school, fancy schmancy steakhouse with a 3-piece jazz band and a leopard-print carpet. I just think it’s the cat’s pajamas.

The food is great. And they give you a lot of it–pieces of beef as big as my head–a lot of it. So needless to say, there were leftovers. Copious amounts of leftovers. The restaurant gave me every single last bit to take home–2 massive pieces of prime rib, crab cakes, corn, grilled artichoke hearts, and potato skins (both white and sweet).

So my goal this week is to eat every morsel from my Prime Rib feast and get as many meals out of it as possible. For my first meal I made lunch using the leftover Maryland crab cakes.

I definitely was starting with good ingredients–does the photo do it justice? Do you see the massive lumps of crabmeat there?

I have found that crab cakes don’t heat up terribly well–they need to be remolded if you want any sort of semblance of a patty, so I decided to turn it into a hot crab dip.

To the crab cake (which was already so rich and decadent), I added just enough mayo and cream cheese to make it a dip-like consistency (probably about 1/4 cup cream cheese and 1/4 cup mayo). And followed that with a healthy dose of Old Bay. Typically, at this point I would just throw some Parmesan cheese on that and toss it in the oven.

But I went one step further and I chopped up the grilled artichoke hearts and added that, along with the corn, to the dip. My thinking was that crab-artichoke dip already exists and corn-crab chowder is a favorite of mine. Why not combine the 2?

Once blended, in lieu of boring ol’ Parmesan I topped it with yummy shredded horseradish cheddar (new item at the Safeway) and baked it for about 25 minutes.

Damn. This was good. Like I said, I was starting out with really fab ingredients. But I do have to pat myself on the back. I think that adding the bits of artichoke and corn was pretty crafty.

Peeking into the picture is a new lemon-colored Pyrex loaf pan that my mum bought me over the weekend. I can’t wait to use it.

The corn and the crab were both so sweet! And the horseradish cheddar gave it the tiniest bite–which was a good contrast to the sweetness I think that Parmesan would’ve been too salty, which is another reason I am glad I went with the cheddar. The artichokes really didn’t make a difference taste-wise  but gave the dip some heft and texture. I think that a small amount of cooked red pepper (not jarred pimento!) would be a nice addition to this as well. It really would be a corn-crab chowder inspired dip.

Overall, this was a winner. Dip is a great way to utilize your leftover crab–that is if you ever find yourself with any!

So one lunch down. I’ll have the rest of the dip with some Triscuits for lunch tomorrow.

I want you all to know that this also happened over the weekend:

I always joke with the cat (like he can understand English), that it’s a good thing he’s pretty because he’s not terribly bright. Well, lo and behold! Brian figured out how to open his food bin! That’s just what a 20 pound cat needs–more carbs.

I’ll be back soon to share with you what I’ve done with the leftover beef.

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yinzerella

0 thoughts on “Lessons in Leftovers: Hot Corn Crab Artichoke Dip”

  1. I think you should start writing down all of your new recipes on little 3X5 cards, and maybe someday, in fifty years or so…someone can do a “blog” (or, whatever it would be called in the future) on all of your creative dishes. Congrats on the new job! AND… Cats steal your breath at night. that’s why they have such bad breath!

  2. Artichoke is just about the most ancient green vegetables harvested for medical related variables. Throughout time it has been used as treatments for quite a few illnesses for example blood disorders, joint pain, kidney troubles, snakebites in addition to edema. During the olden days of Rome and Greek, the globe artichoke was used as an aphrodisiac regarding sexual well-being and consequently, occasionally set aside just for men to eat. During these times it was in addition thought to be a helpful benefit to the digestive system and it was only for the privileged elite.,

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  3. That crab dip looks delish. I’m not a huge crab person, but I do love me some crab dip.

    Also, Brian kind of reminds me of Henri:

      1. for sure! but wait, he doesn’t have thumbs does he? My friend has a cat that literally has thumbs…looks like he’s wearing freaking mittens! Thumbs may mean he could open it…

  6. I’m sorry, I loved your post mostly for your cat! OHHHHHHH gorgeous. And so part of your life, all that’s going on! I woke up this morning not from scratching the carpet or meowing but from a deep dark sleep, I slowly came to consciousness with purring in my ear. I do believe it is my cat’s way of waking me. They are all so individual! 🙂

    Like they say (that know you) congrats on your job. That’s great.
    Noeleen
    http://www.VodkaWasMyMuse.wordpress.com/www.WordsFallFromMyEyes.wordpress.com

  8. that looks extremely tasty and quite beautiful! nicely done, young lady. can’t wait to see what you do with all of that prime rib that we couldn’t eat. glad you’re back to the blog!!!!

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