Do you have a favorite recipe using Maryland Blue Crab?
If so, it may be a prize winner!
Enter it in the Derby Crab Cooking Contest held every year since 1964!
61st CRAB COOKING CONTEST
Contest Date- Friday, August 29, 2025, 9:00am
Somerset Intermediate School
Entry Deadline- Friday, August 22nd
Winners Receive a Plaque and a Cash Prize!
A panel of food experts will choose the most mouthwatering entries in the contest's FOUR categories: Appetizer, Soup/Salad, Main Dish, and Crab Cakes.
Judges will evaluate entries based on appearance, overall flavor, crab flavor, originality, texture, clear directions, ease of preparation, ease of serving, and appropriate use of crab meat.
The top three recipes in each group will receive a plaque and a cash prize, ranging from $50 to $100. From the four 1st Place winners, judges will select a Grand Prize winner who will receive an additional $100. The Best Presentation winner will also receive honors.
At the end of the judging, as the entrants finish cooking, their dishes go to the judges. At the end of judging, everyone gets to sample the dishes and pick their favorites.
The deadline for entries will be Friday, August 22, 2025.
More information can be obtained by calling the Crisfield Chamber office at 410-968-2500 or by sending an email to office@crisfieldchamberofcommerce.com.
60th CRAB COOKING CONTEST
2024 PRIZE WINNERS
Appetizers 1st - Daniel Albert, Crab & Potato Puppies
2nd - Amy Fossett, Herbed Crab Salad Avocado Toast
3rd - Shenna Ross, Jala At My Crab Dip
Main Dish 1st - Landon & Madeline Marut, Crabby Smash!
2nd - Amy Fossett, Crab Cake Club Sliders
3rd - Glenn Marshall, Crab Souffle
Crab Cakes 1st - Shenna Ross, Summer Salsa Crab Cakes
2nd - Raymond Lord, Hearts Ease Crab Cakes
3rd - Leon Fossett, It’s Greek to Me Crab Cakes
Soup/Salad 1st - June Lewis, Pasta Crab Salad
2nd - Leon Fossett, Blueberry Corn Crab Salad
3rd - G. Walker, Crab Stew
Best Presentation
Amy Fossett, Crab Cake Club Sliders
Grand Prize Winner
Shenna Ross, Summer Salsa Crab Cakes
Ingredients for Summer Salsa
½ cup fresh corn
Tomatoes, finely cut
Sweet Onions
1/4 cup cilantro
1 t sea salt
Smashed Avocado
Ingredients for the Crab Cake
One pound Maryland Blue crab Meat
One large egg beaten
½ cup panko bread crumbs
2 t Old Bay seasoning
1 t onion powder
1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ t black pepper
3 T butter melted
¼ t scotch bonnet sauce
½ t smoked paprika
In a pan over medium heat, sauté half a cup of fresh corn, finely cut tomatoes, sweet onions,
and 1/4 cup cilantro in a pan over 2 tablespoons of melted salted butter and finish with a toss
with a teaspoon of sea salt and smashed avocado. Set aside to top on the crab cake.
For the crab cake, mix in a medium size bowl one pound of blue Maryland lump crab meat, one
beaten large egg, half a cup of panko bread crumbs mixed with 2 teaspoons of old bay seasoning,
one teaspoon of onion powder, one tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of
black pepper, 3 tablespoons of melted butter 1/4 teaspoon of scotch bonnet sauce and 1/2
teaspoon of smoked paprika
Mix together then air fry for 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees.
Serve the salsa on top of the crab cake with shredded cheddar cheese on the side.
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The Crab Cooking Contest is supported by the Maryland Department of Agriculture Seafood Marketing Program.
2024 Grand Prize Winning Recipe
Summer Salsa Crab Cakes
(Crab Cakes)
Grand Prize Winner (Crab Cakes)
Shenna Ross
of Bowie, Maryland .
2024 Winners
Appetizer
Main Dish
Soups & Salads
June Lewis
Pasta Crab Salad
Best Presentation
Amy Fossett
Crab Cake Club Sliders
2023 Grand Prize Winning Recipe
Crazy Good Crab Quiche
(Main Dish)
Pre-baked single pie crust:
1 1⁄4 C flour
1⁄4 tsp salt
10 Tbsp unsalted butter
2-3 Tbsp ice water
Cube 10 TBSP cold unsalted butter and put in the fridge. In a food processor, use on/off button to mix 1 1/4 c flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Add the cubed butter and pulse until it looks like chunky sand, then add ice water, typically max of 2-3 Tbsp. Refrigerate dough for about an hour and up to a day. Preheat oven to 425. Roll out crust, fitting it to the pie pan, trimming and shaping the edge. (If you've forgotten to put the oven on at this point, put the pie pan with crust into the fridge. You want the dough to be cold when it goes into the oven.) Prick bottom several times with a fork, and then lay foil and dry beans or pie weights into the pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes - it should be light brown and set aside to cool.
Filling:
1 lb lump crab
5-6 eggs
2⁄3 C crème fraîche or heavy cream
1 C milk or half & half
8 oz gruyere cheese, grated
2-3 very thinly sliced green onions
1 tsp Old Bay
1⁄2 tsp Colman's Mustard, dry
1⁄4 tsp white pepper
Toss the crab meat with spices in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs, cream, and milk until blended, then blend in cheese using spatula, followed by seasoned crab and green onions. Pour mixture into prepared piecrust - use spatula to ensure crab, cheese, and green onions are evenly distributed. Bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes - it's done when you jiggle the dish and there are no ripples in the middle. Serve immediately.
Grand Prize Winner (Main Dish)
Christie Albert
of Raleigh, North Carolina.
2023 Winners
Appetizer
Sarah VanHoy
Savory Crab Dip
Crab Cakes
Jack Albert
Maryland Popper Crab Cakes
Soups & Salads
Leon Fossett
Summer Crab, Peach, Corn & Tomato Salad
Best Presentation
Amy Fossett
Crab Stuffed Soft Shell
2022 Grand Prize Winning Recipe
Sweet n' Spicy Crab Cakes
Ingredients:
1 lb. Maryland Blue Crab meat
12 Ritz crackers (finely crushed)
1 egg
2 tbs mayonnaise
1 tbs sweet and spicy mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp honey
1 tsp Old Bay
1 tsp sugar
1 baking powder
1 tbs parsley (chopped)
1/4 tsp horseradish
2 - 3 drops Zatarain’s shrimp and crab boil
2 - 3 drops Sriracha Hot Sauce
1 shake each garlic powder, oregano, cayenne red pepper
Finely crush Ritz crackers.
Add crackers to dry ingredients and mix
Mix wet and dry ingredients together
Fold in crab meat.
Form into six crab cakes and if possible refrigerate for at least an hour before frying or broiling.
Optional: Sprinkle some Japanese seasoned Panko crumbs on the surface of the crab cakes before frying or broiling. This will add a little extra flavor and a crunchiness to the crab cakes.
Sarah VanHoy - Salisbury, Maryland
Sweet n' Spicy Crab Cakes
2022 Winners
Appetizer
Terry Campuzano
Cheesy Crab Pinwheels
Main Dish
Jodi Jones Smith
Crab Avocado Toast
Soups & Salads
Jeanette Scofield
Watermelon Gazpacho with Crab Towers
2021 Grand Prize Winning Recipe
Asian Crab Balls
Appetizer
Ingredients:
1lb crabmeat
1 T minced bell pepper
1 T minced onion
¾ tsp. wet or dry mustard
½ to 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning (suit your taste)
3 dashes of soy sauce
½ tsp sesame oil
Fold these ingredients together gently.
White Sauce
2T Butter
2 T flour
1/3 cup milk
Cook over medium heat to make a smooth and creamy sauce. Pour
over crabmeat and mix gently.
Kim Todd
Crisfield, Maryland
In a small bowl, mix together:
½ cup (heaping) Panko Crumbs
½ (heaping coconut flakes
In another small bowl:
1 well beaten egg mixed with ¼ cup cold water
Make balls about the size of a quarter. Roll in panko and coconut mixture,
then in egg mixture, then in panko and coconut again. Fry in a deep fryer
or a pan on the stove with enough Crisco to cover the balls. Fry until
golden brown. Enjoy!
2021 Winners
2021 Winners
Crab Cakes
Main Dish
Soups & Salads
Best Presentation
Leon Fossett
Scampi Crab Cakes
Amy Fossett
Open Faced Green Tomato Crab Melt
June Lewis
Easy Summer Crab Salad
John Scofield
Crab Stuffed Pistolettes
From Crab Pot to Table Top Cookbook
50 Years of Winning Recipes from the National Hard Crab Derby
$17
Available at the Crisfield Chamber of Commerce Office at
906 W. Main Street, Crisfield, MD
Shipping available - call the office at 410-968-2500.
