Give me crab, give me grits, and give me cheese.  Give me them all together and you have today’s recipe, which makes for a perfect appetizer for your home cooked Valentine’s Day dinner.  It seems upscale with the crab, but it is down home style cooking with the addition of grits.  This recipe takes over an hour, but you can prep the grits the day before and fold in the crab, then bake when ready to serve.  

16 ounces crab meat (mixture of lump blue and claw)

2 cups chicken stock

1 Cup with stone-ground grits

4 TBSP butter 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Salt and Pepper

Zest of 1 large lemon

Juice of 1 lemon

2 TBSP Old Bay Seasoning

2 TBSP Tabasco Sauce

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 TBSP Old Bay seasoning

Preheat oven to 350

For grits:

In a nonstick pot, combine chicken broth and grits

Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly 

Turn to medium-low heat and stir in butter

Reduce liquid by half

Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and seasonings

Add heavy cream in three to four additions, stirring occasionally

When liquid is reduced, stir in salt and pepper to taste and tabasco

(Should take about 35 -45 minutes)

For dip:

Place grits in bowl and fold in crabmeat

Stir in half of the cheese

Place in an oven-safe baking dish and sprinkle with remainder of cheese

Bake for 45 minutes

Serve with your favorite crackers and veggies of choice

Have a recipe suggestion to serve up for Valentine’s Day?!  Leave it in the comments below or email me at ashley@newsforchews.com.  

Stay hungry…