Crabby Crab Puffs

My first thought for this Improv Challenge was "uh oh". Of all the foods I eat, fish is really not one of them. There are a few I like, but I don't really enjoy preparing it myself. Then I remembered that we don't need to take the two Improv Challenge ingredients (fish and chips) quite so literally and a recipe idea immediately came to mind.

If you're not familiar with the Improv Challenge, it is a monthly challenge hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics where we have two ingredients to use. As previously stated, the ingredients don't need to be taken literally, as anything from salmon to goldfish crackers to Swedish fish candies and the chips can be of the potato variety or the chocolate/peanut butter/etc. variety.

I decided to stay pretty literal to the ingredients, using (shell)fish (crab) and (potato) chips. And then I couldn't resist coming up with a catchy name.

I don't expect that unless you live in Maryland or Pennsylvania that you'll be able to find the chips I used in this recipe. Utz is a snack distributor located in PA and one of the type of chips they have is called Crab Chips. They are your standard potato chip, but seasoned with Old Bay, which is what us Marylanders cover our crabs in. If you aren't able to find these chips and still wanted to try out the recipe, I'll list a substitution at the end of the recipe.

Crabby Crab Puffs
Source: A Cookaholic Wife Creation
Servings: 12-15 puffs
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Ingredients:

- 8 oz. crab meat, picked through for shells
- 1 slice bread
- 1 ½ tbsp. mayonnaise
- ½ tsp. mustard
- ½ tsp. parsley
- 1 ½ cups Utz Crab Chips, crushed

Directions:
1. Remove the crust from the bread. Break into tiny pieces and place into a medium sized bowl.
2. Add the mayonnaise, mustard and parsley to the bowl. Stir well to combine, then gently fold in the crab meat.
3. Roll the mixture into balls, about the size of a tablespoon and place on a plate.
4. Pour the crushed Crab Chips into a shallow dish. Roll each of the balls through the chips and return to the plate.
To Bake: Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick.
To Fry: Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Fry for 1 minute, turning over so all sides are cooked through.
5. Serve with optional tartar sauce. (Not the Grumpy Cat, recipe below)

Tatar Sauce:
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. sweet relish
½ tbsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

* Chip Substitute: Add 1 tbsp. Old Bay (or Cajun) seasoning to the crab mixture and use plain crushed potato chips.

Unfortunately the fried ones took on a burnt appearance, but this wasn't the case at all. The flavors were much more pronounced than in the baked version, but they were both tasty little puffs of crab.

Next month the ingredients are peaches and herbs. I'm already beginning to think of ideas!