Crabbies

I've had my eye on Paula Deen's "crabbies" recipe for awhile.  I love both crab and cheese, and I saw her make these on one of her shows and I knew I wanted to try these out sometime.  Luckily, I had some frozen leftover king crab meat that I wanted to use up.  I had been planning on making seafood enchiladas with these leftovers, but then I remembered these crabbies, and they seemed really easy to make so I decided to make these instead for us to eat on the 4th of July as an appetizer to go with our smoked ribs.

Did I mention that king crab legs are probably my favorite food?  Yes, I like crab legs much better than lobster (although I definitely won't turn down a lobster dinner either!).  I love the sweetness and flavor of the crab meat, and I like the texture better than lobster or shrimp.  Whenever I buy king crab to make at home, I buy a pound and a half per person and make steamed crab legs with some garlic butter for dipping (I'm getting hungry just thinking about this right now).  Then, if we have any leftovers, I will get all of the meat out of the shells and freeze for later.

So I had the crab meat already, plus I had most of the other ingredients on hand, but when I went to the grocery store I needed to get a jar of Kraft Old English Cheese Spread that the recipe calls for.  I actually worked at Kraft Foods for over two and a half years (I used to work in finance and accounting), and I still remember exactly where they kept the Old English in the company store that I visited at least once each day to break up the work day, but I couldn't find it at my grocery store so instead I bought an 8 ounce container of Kaukauna cheese spread (I bought the sharp cheddar lite flavor) which worked out great. 

This recipe is courtesy of Paula Deen, but I did adjust it a bit so below is the recipe I made which turned out really yummy.  I will totally be making these again whenever I have some leftover king crab meat.  These are also great to keep in the freezer because all you have to do is pop them in the oven for 15 minutes and you'll have some great appetizers ready to go!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chopped crab meat (Paula Deen's recipe says to use 8 ounces good white crabmeat)
1 (8 ounce) jar Kaukauna lite cheddar cheese spread (Paula's recommends a 5 oz. jar of Kraft Old English....I think any cheddar cheese spread would work with this recipe)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 stick of butter, softenened (did you expect any less butter in a Paula Deen recipe?)
Dash hot sauce or cayenne pepper (I used Frank's Red Hot Sauce)
12 english muffin halves, toasted (I just toasted these in my toaster for a few minutes before spreading the crab mixture on top)
Chopped Chives, for garnish (Paula uses Italian Parsley)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine crab, cheese spread, mayonnaise, garlic powder, old bay seasoning, butter and hot sauce. Divide mixture evenly over bread rounds and spread. Stick these in the freezer for about 15 minutes to harden (you don't have to do this, but it makes them easier to cut into wedges).  Cut each round into quarters and place on a greased baking sheet (if freezing, do so at this point and add a few extra minutes when baking later on). Bake until topping is heated through and golden brown on top, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with chives. Serve hot.