Got crabs?!

I currently live in the crab capital of the world. Ok, maybe not the world, but sometimes it feels like it because Maryland is famous for their crabs and I HATE (most) crab meat. I was born and grew up in the suburbs of Philly: The soft pretzel capital of the world. When we moved here, we noticed that pretty much every restaurant that offers pub fare has a "Crab Pretzel" on their menu. After tasting different versions, I've found that I can actually stomach crab meat, but only if it's smothered in cream cheese and on top of a soft pretzel. I decided to crock WAY outside of my comfort zone and attempt to recreate one for restaurant week.

Here's what I did:

"Pretzel Bread" (6 quart pot)

~1 1/4 c water
~3 1/2 c wheat flour
~1 t salt
~1 egg yolk
~1 T vegetable oil
~1 t lemon juice
~2 T sugar
~1/8 t pepper
~1 pkt active dry yeast (that expired 7 months ago. Oops)

Mix all ingredients.
Knead for 5 minutes
Form pretzel.

~egg white
~1 t sea salt

Brush pretzel with egg white.
Sprinkle sea salt on top of pretzel.
Place pretzel in greased 6 quart crock pot.
Cover and cook on high for an hour.

"Hot Crab Dip" (3.5 quart pot)

(While that is crocking...)
~8 oz Philly cream cheese, cubed
~1/4 c heavy whipping cream

Mix ingredients in small CorningWare dish.
Place in 3.5 quart crock pot on high for 45 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Carefully remove CorningWare dish and mix in the following ingredients:

~6 oz canned crab meat
~8 t dried onion flakes
~1 1/2 t dried parsley
~1 t onion powder
~1 t celery seed
~1/2 t salt
~1/2 t sugar
~1/4 t pepper
~1/8 t yellow mustard
~1/2 c parmesan cheese
~1 t Worcestershire sauce
~1 clove garlic, minced
~1/2 t lemon juice

Spoon mixture over pretzel.
Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes.

~1/4 c mexican blend cheese, shredded

Sprinkle cheese on top of crab dip.
Cover and cook on high for 15 more minutes.

8 servings.

This was alright, but it had a handful of problems. The recipe I used for the pretzel part was actually called pretzel bread and it was bread-ier than it should've been. I'm not entirely sure a proper soft pretzel can be done in a crock pot. I'd be willing to try again if I find the right recipe. I am a Philly girl, so it'd have to be a GOOD soft pretzel recipe. I chose the pretzel bread recipe because I had all of the ingredients in my pantry. I should've known better. Also, the crab mixture was off somehow. I feel like it was missing something, but I don't know what, exactly. My other half said Old Bay, but I don't like Old Bay, so I don't think that was it. I also halved the quantity of crab from the original recipe and it was still a bit too crabby for my taste buds. I wish I liked crab. It would've made things so much easier...and tastier.

This is the end of "Restaurant Week". I hope you had as much fun as I did. We're heading out of town again, so I won't be back to crocking until Monday. 'Til then!