Addictive sweet spicy crab (or chicken or shrimp) dip, salad, wrap, whatever, naturally gluten free.
First published August 2017.
I made this again for a friends 25th Anniversary open house last week with more of my gluten free dishes. Everything was eaten and only people that don't know my cooking were surprised food was gluten free. Plus my food was eaten before the wheat pizza, brownies or cup cakes. And wheat eaters asked for recipe, but it's basically naturally gluten free.
Just laughing with Sean on NH's ABC WMUR Cooks Corner
As I said on today's NH ABC WMUR's Cooks Corner, these are the same ingredients you buy in the store. And the crew said 'whatever' with my giving various ways of eating. Note that depending on which browser you use -Firefox, Chrome, Edge - the clip might not open.
And with Meghan and Harry visiting South Africa, this would be a great part of your Royal Wedding occasion. Also my cooking classes, dinner parties, girl's nights.
I'm going to turn this into a hot dip for a fondue. I used to make a shrimp fondue using Campbell's shrimp soup, so I thought let's make a safely gluten free version. I didn't want to buy one pound of shrimp just for 4-8 oz, and too often shrimp has freezer burn or develops it once bag is opened. So I'm trying using this dip as the base.
1 x 8 oz (250 g) cream cheese, softened - I use 'lite' but there is also a Greek Yogurt cream cheese, even lower fat and higher protein that goes well with savory but not sweet cheesecake.
1 x 6 oz (180g) can of decent crab meat, drained leaves only 4 oz (125g). It's even better with
8 oz drained crab. I normally buy the 1 lb solid pack crab, and freeze it in 4 oz portions. It tastes so much better than small cans, but is far more expensive per pound. A girlfriend told me that rinsing the cheaper crab makes a difference to taste. OR 1 x 12 oz can of chicken, frozen salad shrimp thawed, rinsed and patted dry, or same amount of gf rotisserie chicken finely shredded - you could use immersion blender.
2 large freshly roasted red peppers, skinned and deseeded. I don't know what this would taste like with jarred peppers. Freshly roasted red peppers are addictive and freeze well. In my store, a bag of red peppers is far cheaper than buying just one.
6 peppadew peppers (labeled mild not hot)- tiny red peppers from South Africa, in a sweet spicy marinade, labeled gluten free. Heat factor varies so you can always add more peppers. About $4 for 12 oz jar in my regular grocery store and keeps very well in fridge but you'll keep finding recipes to use them in. Each pepper is about size of distance to first knuckle on lady's thumb. This is the link to Amazon so you can see what to look for but far more expensive at Amazon than my local Market Basket NE chain grocery store.
2 tbsp (30ml) hot pepper jelly. I use Trappist brand , about $3 for 12 oz jar. Hot pepper jelly has a sweetness, jalapeňoes are mellowed by cooking and you don't get a chunk of raw pepper in your tooth. This link shows you jar of Trappist hot pepper jelly on Amazon at a terrible price compared to my local store, but you can read labels and know what to look for. Trappist is based in Ma, doesn't label gf, but is basically regular ingredients and friends with cd can also eat it with no reaction.
2 tbsp (30 ml) chopped fresh parsley
Green of about 4 thin green onions (spring onions), thinly scissored. Thick stemmed green onions have a much stronger raw onion flavor that overpowers.
2 tbsp (30 ml) chopped fresh basil or cilantro - optional
some garlic powder or smashed roasted garlic. Raw garlic is too overpowering.
salt and pepper to taste.
1. In 4 cup (1 ltr) microwave safe, bowl melt pepper jelly and stir in cream cheese until mixed.
2. Add peppadew peppers and roasted red pepper and roughly chop with immersion blender.
3. Add herbs and roughly chop with immersion blender.
4. Stir in crab, salt and pepper, mix well and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.
You could also chop pepper, herbs etc by hand for a chunkier blend or pulse in food processor.
You can serve this in a bowl with a spoon for serving onto chips. Make extra and serve hot over pasta or rice. Even mix with cold pasta for pasta salad.
wrap plus Tostitos scoops with dip.
I used a one tablespoon (15 ml) scoop to fill Tostitos scoops (labeled gluten free) and sprinkled with chopped chives. In pre gfd days I used Athena mini filo cups. This quantity filled about 30 scoops. Don't fill more than one hour in advance as scoop softens. They still taste good, but the crunch contrast disappears. I put flexible cold packs in outer chafing dish then put scoops in inner chafing dish to keep food cold. Humid day, contrast of air temperature and cold stainless steel did produce some moisture in chafing dish.
For day at the beach, I put this dip in tub in cooler with bags of Tostito scoops and sliced carrots, celery, and just spoon some onto Tostito scoops. Admit it, leftover sandwiches get tossed which is a waste of bread and filling. This mix in cooler was still cold at end of day. You can also spread some mayo on a wrap, top with finely shredded lettuce, carrots, cues and spread a line of dip across wrap, roll up, and roll each wrap in plastic wrap. Then you just unroll plastic wrap as you eat. Mayo helps stop wrap from getting soggy from salad.
Peppadew peppers:
Just note they now make an identical jar labeled Hot, has cayenne pepper added to sugared vinegar and I haven't tried them. I find the mild has nice flavor and a gentle bite of heat that is easily increased by using more in recipe.
comments on Amazon from buyers:
Stuff them with honey goat cheese for a fantastic appetizer. I stuffed them with pearl size mozzarella Try as a counterpoint when served with a meat dish or try with Montamore Cheese. Lovely...include it in any recipe. Delicious. These are great on/with everything. Excellent product especially when stuffed with goat cheese or feta cheese My all time favorite eating peppers. Sweet and spicy at the same time. Wonderful to use in cooking. I can't get enough of them. These are yummy peppers. There is nothing else like them. They have heat that is just a tad bit less than jalapenos, but they are sweet. Even the juice in the jar is great to use in recipes.
