Crab Imperial

We had a ton of steamed crabs for my birthday celebration and the extras we picked to have crabmeat in the freezer. I haven't had crab imperial since we lived in Maryland, but when I saw it on Tide and Thyme, I craved it instantly. I didn't use her recipe since I felt it was a bit too similar to crab dip and I wanted something a bit different. This recipe comes from Phillip's, which is also the source for my friend Lance's famous crab dip. The recipe read just like I remembered crab imperial from my childhood. My main memory of eating it was at Philip's in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, usually as my reward dinner for making straight A's...I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate a kid's success. Let's hope Miss F grows into loving crab as much as I do.

Crab Imperial

1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 egg
1 teaspoon Old Bay
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon melted butter
1 pound lump crabmeat

Imperial Sauce:
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons half and half
½ teaspoon Old Bay
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

4 ramekins for baking (or empty natural crab shells)
Pinch of Old Bay

Whisk together the parsley, lemon juice, egg, Old Bay, Worcestershire, mayonnaise and butter in a small dish. In a separate bowl, add the crab meat and pour the mixture over the crab meat. Fold together the crab gently to avoid breaking crab lump meat. Place ½ cup of the mix into each ramekin (or natural crab shell) and bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the imperial sauce. Top each ramekin (or natural crab shell) of crab imperial with imperial sauce and a pinch of Old Bay. Place under the broiler until golden brown.

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