Crab Newberg

Crab Newberg is old-school elegance that never goes out of style. Luscious, silky, and unapologetically rich.

A buttery roux gets loosened with half-and-half, milk, and dry sherry, then thickened with beaten egg yolks until the sauce coats the back of a spoon like velvet. Fold in a full pound of sweet crab meat and you’ve got something that belongs on fine china, even if you’re eating it on the couch.

The microwave method here is surprisingly foolproof and keeps the sauce from scorching, which is the number one thing that goes wrong with Newberg on the stovetop.

Spoon it over toast points or into puff pastry shells for a presentation that’ll have people thinking you trained in Paris.

Pro Tips

• Temper the egg yolks slowly by stirring a small spoonful of the hot sauce into them first. Dump them straight into the pot and you’ll get scrambled eggs in cream sauce.
• Use dry sherry, not cooking sherry. Cooking sherry is loaded with salt and tastes nothing like the real thing.
• Lump crab meat is worth the splurge here since the sauce is so simple that the crab is truly the star.
• This reheats gently over low heat, but the sauce will thicken as it sits. Add a splash of cream to loosen it back up.