Traditional holiday recipes are a funny fare: They are dishes served only once a year at a festive occasion. Yes, it seems almost sacrilegious to serve those special foods at non-holiday times of the year. So if I actually had the nerve to prepare my great grandmother’s Crabmeat Casserole for an occurrence that were not Christmas Eve, I wouldn’t dare tell Mom or my sisters; and I would be a little worried that Grandma might be admonishing me from heaven. That is why, since I’m sharing it here with you all, I had to make a few modern updates for my version of Wasabi Crab Casserole!
My grandmother, as well as Mom baked individual casserole servings in giant scallop shells. So when I was a little girl, even though I didn’t particularly care for this dish, I always asked for some so I could eat off of the super special real seashell. (As a girl from land-locked Montana cattle ranch, this was as close as I ever got to eating anything from the sea inside any sort of shell!)
As I mentioned Crabmeat Casserole was always served Christmas Eve alongside sweet white zinfandel with a variety of cheese, crackers, sausage and crudité: Carrot sticks, celery sticks, pickled beets and dill pickles. These were served on the fun card party tin snack plates seen below. I have a tall stack of Grandma’s snack plates now and love to use them instead of paper plates at any sort of party. They’re so festive! As is this simple crab casserole; serve it on a buffet table with other appetizers – or as a first course to a special meal.
Wasabi Crab Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon butter, divided
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup 1% milk
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- Juice of 1/2 lemon, about 2 tablespoons
- 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoons wasabi paste
- 1 can crab meat
- 4 hardboiled eggs
- 1 cup toasted cubed whole grain white sandwich bread
- 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Melt butter in saucepan, whisk in flour, salt and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Whisk in mustard, lemon juice, wasabi until smooth.
- Gently stir in crab meat, eggs and toasted bread. Pour into buttered casserole dish or individual casserole cups.
- Melt remaining 1 teaspoon butter and stir in panko breadcrumbs; sprinkle on top of casserole. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes until golden brown. (If top is not getting golden, broil for a few minutes, but watch closely.)
Tony Chen
Wednesday 12th of February 2020
Thanks for sharing the awesome recipe, it's so strange how our entires lives can be so connected to food. And I would really love to try out this recipe tonight :D
Anna
Sunday 25th of June 2017
Until a few days ago I was under the impression wasabi was for sushi only. But when I tasted it as a variation of a traditional Swedish dish I fell in love. Now I'm out browsing for more recipes with wasabi in it ;-)
Serena Ball
Sunday 25th of June 2017
Anna, I just returned from Stockholm! I fell in love with Swedish breads. Please tell me which traditional dish you tasted with wasabi! Thanks for visiting and I hope you love the combination of crab and wasabi in my family's traditional dish.
aunt bonnie
Thursday 20th of December 2012
Great presentation Serena, I loved those little serving plates too, glad you are making good use of them. You did, however, forget one of the main food groups when you listed the other aminities, BLACK OLIVES..... especially seved on ones finger tips when one is below the age of 10 :) :) :)