Tempt the Taste Buds with Imperial!

After your last crab reaches a mallet and cracker, gather up your shells and look for impressive ones that you can rinse and use as a serving dish for crab imperial. If you’re presenting an “Everything Crab Dinner,” go to the max. I’m guessing all the jumbo meat enjoyed a hot butter dip, so reach in the fridge for the fresh jumbo that you scored from the crab house. Now, you may get tempted to simply start eating the huge chunks from the tub, so gather up your will power and begin mixing up an “Eastern Shore Imperial.” 

Gather up your ingredients: 4 crab shells, 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, 1 tsp. oat flour, 2 tbsp. dry sherry, ½ cup mayonnaise, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, ½ cup whole milk, ½ tsp. Worcestershire Sauce, 1 tsp. dried minced onion, 1 tsp. Old Bay. 

Get Mixing. Sautee butter in a saucepan and once melted, stir in milk and flour. Constantly stir while cooking at low heat. Turn the heat up and introduce the onion. Stir until “fluffy” and remove from the heat. All in all, this should take about 3 minutes. 

Make an impressive sauce! Stir in the mayonnaise, sherry, and Worcestershire Sauce. Spice it up and set aside. 

Sauté the crabmeat. At this point you may want to use olive oil to sauté the crab meat, but many continue with the butter theme. In a medium sized skillet, prepare the pan with your choice and introduce the crab meat. Cook until golden brown, but carefully turn the meat over to ensure the large pieces stay just as beautiful! 

Get baking. Add the creamy sauce to the crabmeat and combine fully. Then spoon equal portions into the crab shells and bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 325 degrees F. Some crab enthusiasts enjoy their favorite cheese sprinkled on top of the meat or even a dusting of more Old Bay. Be creative and make the best imperial this side of the Bay Bridge!