Old Bay Sherried Crab Dip

Happy OBtober!

Ok, that’s not a thing but maybe it should be. Maybe October should be Old Bay October. At least that’s what my pal Taryn over at Retro Food for Modern Times thinks. And I agree.

You guys know how much I love Old Bay. I write about it a lot. Well, since I write about it so much, Taryn (who lives in NZ) and Jenny of Silver Screen Suppers (who lives in the UK), have been extremely curious about this most magical of spices.

Because they can’t get it there.

So I sent them both little packets of Old Bay and some Maryland-themed cookbooks to give them some idea of what to do with the Old Bay when it arrived.

Well, Taryn apparently loved it. She made two dishes:

Old Bay Barbecued Corn and Prawn Tostadas

Old Bay Shrimp B(r)oil

Both of them look amazing! I want her to fly to Baltimore and make them for me. Especially the tostadas.

OK, so in the spirit of the season, I made an Old Bay dish, too! I had two lump crab cakes that were left over from an Orioles game at Camden Yards so I decided to turn them into one of Baltimore’s most Baltimore-y dishes–Crab Dip!

This was insanely simple. So I made some white sauce (Bechemel) seasoned with a touch of nutmeg. Into that I stirred in 1/2 brick of cream cheese, 2 tbsp mayo, Old Bay, and a shit ton of sherry. So much sherry.

I ended up with a very thick sauce that I gently folded the crab into:

I then topped it with some shredded cheddar cheese.

I bought these Herr’s Old Bay potato chips, thinking that they would be a great topping for this dip, but these chips are nowhere near as good as the Utz Crab Chip. The Herr’s ones were too vinegary. Utz FTW.

So instead I made a topping of Old Bay, breadcrumbs, melted butter, and Parmesan cheese.

That went into a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. And here it is!

This was great with some fresh baguette. Cheesy, creamy, crabby goodness.

The sherry made it just different enough from the normal crab dip that you find around these parts.

Please share with us your favorite Old Bay recipe! And be sure to check out Taryn’s dishes.