Hot Crab Dip in a Lemon-Garlic Baguette
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Hot Crab Dip is already amazing, but stuffing it into a Lemon-Garlic butter toasted baguette takes it straight into the stratosphere. Salting the bread with lemon salt is a key element to this recipe, so don't skip that step! It takes minimal effort to whip up the lemon salt and you'll have it on hand for all sorts of other dishes as well. It's worth it.
Author:
Serves: 10-15
Ingredients
Loaf Ingredients:
  • large loaf of Italian bread (I bought a poppyseeded one!)
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • lemon salt
Hot Crab Dip Ingredients:
  • 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, free of shells
  • 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese (spring for the good stuff!)
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (plus more shaved off for topping)
  • 1/4 cup green onions, minced (plus more for topping)
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used Tabasco)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Use a serrated knife to slice your loaf in half lengthwise and then pull out the innards, making a mostly hollow bread "boat" out of each side. Mix the melted butter and teaspoon of garlic and brush it over the loaves, concentrating on the sides that will be exposed while baking but not neglecting the center well. Sprinkle lemon salt over the bread (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon over each), again focusing on the sides. Set this aside.
  2. Gently mix all crab dip ingredients together in a large bowl. Remember when salting the mixture that your bread is salted, so go easy -- you can always add more lemon salt later as a finishing step if you find you need it. Spoon it into your prepared bread and bake for 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through and keeping an eye on your bread. Cover it with foil if it starts to burn (mine never did.) With around 10 minutes left, top the dip with Parmesan shavings. Pull it out of the oven, let it cool for around 10 minutes, top it with fresh green onions, and serve in slices.
Recipe by Willow Bird Baking at http://willowbirdbaking.com/2015/02/04/hot-crab-dip-lemon-garlic-baguette/