From Tom’s Big Dinners (Morrow, 2003)

Makes 8 to10 servings

• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon seeded and minced sweet red cherry pepper (from a jar of vinegar packed sweet cherry peppers)
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
• 1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped
• 3/4 pound fresh Dungeness crabmeat, picked over for bits of shell and cartilage with claw meat and large pieces of crab left whole
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2  lemon
• Top-quality purchased potato chips

In a large bowl, whisk the tomato paste and the honey together until smooth.  Whisk in the mayonnaise, chives, lemon juice, cherry pepper, zest, horseradish, and Tabasco.  Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the egg.  Add the crabmeat to the bowl and toss it with the dressing.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

To serve, set a bowl of crab dip on a large platter and surround it with potato chips for dipping.