Baked Seafood Casserole

[Dreamwebber]

I saw this recipe in a cookbook and thought it sounded good...I am not the cook in the family but, where do you find Crab (not imitation) and lobster in this town? Not knowing anything about the stuff can you find it already taken out of the shell? Should I try the Fresh Market?

1 lb crab meat and lobster meat combined
1 lb cooked and deveined shrimp
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/4 cup minced onion
1-1/2 cups finely chopped celery
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Cups crushed potato chips
Paprika
Seasoning to taste
Mix ingredients all together as though making a seafood salad. Fill baking pan and completely cover with crushed potato chips. Sprinkle paprika and bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

[xterragirl]

Yum - is that a Paula Deen recipe Dreamy?

[cdojanet]

I've purchased it in the seafood section of Wal-Mart - just get the packages that say "not imitation".

[caterer]

Real Crab meat is available in almost every store..look in the refrigerated seafood section. Major brand is Phillips..couple of different types, lump is the best, back fin second and claw third.

Claw is very fishy and typically a dark meat. If you are budget conscious try mixing the lump with some back fin..you will get enough of the "good" crab flavor

Lobster meat is another story...especiall tail meat. We buy ours from a company out of atlanta and it runs about $38 per pound. You least expensive bet is really to buy a couple of the cheap tails in the freezer section, shell them, chop them and cook.

[Tookie]

That sounds pretty good Dreamy. I'll have to try that. If I can't find the lobster meat, I'll use shrimp or crawfish tails as a substitute.

[Dreamwebber]

I don't know if it is a Paula Deen recipe but, I wouldn't be surprised it was a loose recipe in a cajun recipe book that was just put there. Thanks for the info as I guess I have just never paid attention to the real deal. The only non imitation I ever noticed at Bi-Lo was in a can near the Sardines and tuna and canned seafood creeps me out for some reason....phobia I guess.

I would think crawfish too would be easier to come by (or cheaper) I might try that instead...only thing I don't like about crawfish is it can be kind of salty I don't know if that would change the flavor or not.

Caterer thank you for the info especially about the different brands.

I rarely ever shop at Wal-mart I might have to make a special trip to their seafood section

[cdojanet]

At Wal-Mart it is in blue tear-open bags in the refrigerated area with the fresh fish (as opposed to the freezer section). Crawfish might be good, but it would change the consistency of the dish since it is not flaky like crab or lobster. I made the Paula Deen casserole recipe several months ago and it turned out really well.

[caterer]

crawfish is much fishier as well.

the canned crab is not frozen..it is pasteurized. in the refrigerated section. usually dungeness but occasionally you can find some Phillips blue..always buy the blue if available and you can afford.

[Laura Rice]

;D It's only 9:30am and this thread is making me feel like I am starving to death!! I am going to be craving seafood all day now...

[Kordax]

Seafood vendors at the Outer Banks told me that you can freeze their fresh crab meat by removing the plastic lid on one pound crab containers, pour milk on the crab until it brims, re-attach the lid & freeze. It's worked for me & I've bought some great giant lump crabmeat on the cheap up there....

[Laura Rice]

Hey Kordax, how does it taste when you thaw it and drain off the milk? I have never heard of the milk thing before... With fish they always tell us to cover it with water.

[Dreamwebber]

I too am getting hungry Laura I am curious about the milk thing too. Well, off to find some crabmeat, shrimp and possible lobster.

[Laura Rice]

Let us know how it turns out Dreamy... It sounds scrumptious!!!

[Kordax]

Milk/crab/freezing -- perfectly.

[daworm]

Kordax, should that be whole milk? I'm wondering if it is the milkfat that keeps the fatty acids from leaching out of the crab the way they would if in water, and that is what keeps the crab tasting right. Perhaps skim or 2% might not work as well. True, or am I on crack?

[Kordax]

Worm, your take may be 100% right regarding the milk solids, but since we only have skim milk, that's what I used....

[Laura Rice]

Kordax,
Let us know how it tastes when you cook it...
I am interested to see if it works.

[Kordax]

Laura, the crab you purchase in containers is pre-cooked; they boil the crabs & pick out the meat before packaging it. I've made crab egg rolls, crab-based soups, crab cocktails all out of milk-frozen crab meat & to me, it's great tasting crab.

By the way, I'm spending Thanksgiving week at the Outer Banks -- if anyone wants me to get them some fresh packed crab meat, let me know....

[Dreamwebber]

Well, we just got a fresh market in Cleveland and I stopped in to check out their brands Caterer suggested I saw the lump, back fin, and claw. I think I will have to wait for pay day the 1 pnd needed was 22.00 and that was just one ingredient. I didn't mind paying 40 for the whole meal....not just two ingredients

[rossbilly]

I just got back from lunch, and this sounds SO much better - now I'm hungry all over again!

Though smaller than the Fresh Market in Chattanooga, the one in Cleveland is a welcome addition. We took our 2 youngest daughters there recently & they just drooled their way through the store. Oh - and each HAD to have their own little buggy. I could spend entire paychecks in there...

Let us know how the casserole turned out?

[Dreamwebber]

Well I am planning on picking up the ingredients for this weekend to try before Thanksgiving and possibly have leftovers to try for Thanksgiving. Who knows it might be a new dish for the holidays. Good to see another Clevelander on the board. Talk about mouthwatering....did you check out the dessert section?

[rossbilly]

Um, just want ya to know that my family was FORCED to enjoy a seafood feast last night for dinner. Barely made it in the door & was already orchestrating kids / ingredients / bakeware like a fiend! Boiled shrimp, pan-seared scallops, baked tilapia - mmmmmmmmmm! I had to make myself leave the table (can you tell I love seafood?)

Fresh market's dessert area is pretty awesome, but I think we fawned over the whole meat section even longer (kids were like "Dad. Dad? DAD! Close your mouth again & wipe your face, people are starting to stare!") It was nearly 9 p.m. & we hadn't even had dinner yet - pretty hard to control ourselves. We ended up devouring bread-bowl soups @ Panera just a few minutes later!

Oh hey - almost forgot - can you include a picture of the finished casserole? <grins>

[Dreamwebber]

Chris and I and some mutual friends got to together financially and splurged on this dish. Supplies cost basically 100.00 anyway....it was okay, better cold I might add then warm. I wouldn't waste my money on it again. If anyone wants to try it I would say add Old Bay seasoning.

It sorta reminded me of our seafood salad when I worked at Long John Silvers back when I was a teen....just fancier ingredients. Maybe like that it might be good on a bed of lettuce or something.

[Tookie]

Supplies cost basically 100.00




Guess I won't be trying this dish.