Annapolis, MD (Sept. 13, 2010) – Christine Dryden of Georgetown, Del. won Grand Prize and First Place in the Main Dish category at the National Hard Crab Derby\u2019s cooking contest in Crisfield, Md.\u00a0 Her dish, Crab & Fresh Corn Gratin highlighted the tastiness of the fresh crab meat and seasonally fresh corn.\u00a0 It was a mixture of crab meat, fresh corn off the cob seasonings, baked in a shell, topped with breadcrumbs, butter and more crab meat and served with a roasted red pepper sauce.<\/p>\n
In the appetizer category, Bobbie Willis of Crisfield won first place for her Capt. Bobbie\u2019s Crab Bloody Mary.\u00a0 Madeline Hall of Salisbury took home first place in the soup category for her Creamy Four Cheese Blue Crab Soup.\u00a0 Jo Dryden, Christine\u2019s mother, received first place in the crab cake division for her Perky Crab Cakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations to all of the competitors and the winners of the National Hard Crab Derby\u2019s cooking contest,\u201d said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance.\u00a0 \u201cThis year, Maryland crab is plentiful and these recipes give us new, delicious recipes to share the bounty with family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty contestants competed in four categories.\u00a0 The Annual National Hard Crab Derby & Fair\u2019s Cooking Contest is sponsored by the Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s Seafood Marketing & Aquaculture Development Program.\u00a0 The recipes may be requested from the Crisfield Chamber of Commerce, 800-782-2500.<\/p>\n
Crab & Fresh Corn Gratin
\nGrand Prize and First Place in Main Dish Category
\nChristine Dryden, Georgetown, Delaware<\/p>\n
Corn mixture ingredients:
\n2 ears fresh sweet corn
\n3 cups cream
\n1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
\n1 teaspoon sea salt
\n\u00bc teaspoon cayenne
\n\u00bc teaspoon celery seeds
\n\u00bd pound Maryland Blue Crab Meat (directions below)<\/p>\n
For the Gratin:
\n\u00bd pound Maryland Blue Crab Meat
\n1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
\n3 tablespoons (1\/4 inch slices) cold butter
\n1 cup Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, recipe follows<\/p>\n
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:
\n2 slices thick bread, crust removed
\n3 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and seeded
\n1 jar roasted red peppers (12 ounces), drained
\n2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves
\n3 tablespoons garlic, minced
\n\u00bd cup light olive oil
\nSea salt, dash, to taste
\nFreshly ground pepper, to taste<\/p>\n
Sauce:\u00a0 Place the slices of bread in a small bowl and cover with cold water.\u00a0 Drain the bread, squeeze gently, and place in processor with jalapenos, peppers, basil and garlic.\u00a0 Process to a coarse puree. Drizzle in the oil with the machine running.\u00a0 Season with salt and pepper and transfer to bowl to use immediately. Can be made ahead and refrigerated in sealed container for up to 5 days.\u00a0 If chilled, heat before using.\u00a0 Makes about 2 cups.<\/p>\n
Directions:
\nFor the corn, shuck the ears and cut kernels from the cobs carefully with a sharp knife.\u00a0 Set kernels and the corncobs aside separately.\u00a0 Bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil, add the corn kernels, and cook for 4 minutes.\u00a0 Drain in a colander and set aside.\u00a0 In a large pot combine the cream, shallots, and the corncobs.\u00a0 Bring to a boil and reduce the heat so the cream just simmers:\u00a0 cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring to keep the cobs from sticking and scorching, or until the cream is reduced by half.\u00a0 Remove the corncobs and set aside on plate to cool enough to handle.\u00a0 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.\u00a0 Scrape corncobs with the back of a knife to remove all of the corn pulp and the cream that is clinging to them.\u00a0 This will be a paste, return this to the pot with the reduced cream and discard the corncobs.\u00a0 Season this corn mixture with salt, cayenne, and celery seeds.\u00a0 Gently stir in the crab meat.<\/p>\n
For the gratin, divide the mixture into 6-8 gratin dishes or spread into a large casserole.\u00a0 Sprinkle the remaining crab meat and breadcrumbs over gratin and dot with the butter pieces.\u00a0 Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until bubbly and browned on top.
\nDrizzle with roasted pepper sauce.\u00a0 Serve hot!!!<\/p>\n
###<\/p>\n
Photos available:<\/p>\n
1. Christine Dryden, grand prize winner at the National Hard Crab Derby\u2019s cooking contest in Crisfield, Md.\u00a0 Her Crab & Fresh Corn Gratin recipe also took first place in the Main Dish category.<\/p>\n
2. Crab & Fresh Corn Gratin recipe from Christine Dryden of Georgetown, Del. wins grand prize and first place in the Main Dish category at the National Hard Crab Derby\u2019s cooking contest in Crisfield, Md.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Annapolis, MD (Sept. 13, 2010) – Christine Dryden of Georgetown, Del. won Grand Prize and First Place in the Main Dish category at the National Hard Crab Derby\u2019s cooking contest in Crisfield, Md.\u00a0 Her dish, Crab & Fresh Corn Gratin highlighted the tastiness of the fresh crab meat and seasonally fresh corn.\u00a0 It was a Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2016,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions\/2016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}