I love seafood dips at any time of year, whether the weather is hot or cold. The simple art of scooping up a morsel of delicious dip on some toast, corn chips or crispy tortilla wedges is just so satisfying to the taste buds.

In hot weather - keep the seafood dip chilled and refreshing. If the weather shows signs of a chill, why not take the seafood dip up a notch and serve it warm. The following recipes can be served warm and chilled respectively.

This is one of the simplest dips imaginable to prepare. Crab can be substituted for the prawns in this recipe, or you can use both: what luxury. The salsa that you choose is your personal choice with regards to the chilli content.

1 large jar of salsa

250g green prawns, peeled and deveined (or 250g crab meat)

1-2 green shallots, thinly sliced

1 cup grated cheese

(1) After you have peeled and deveined the prawns, cut them into three or four pieces. Tip the salsa into a small saucepan and heat gently.

(2) Add the green prawns and the finely sliced shallots to the salsa. Continue to cook gently until the prawns are just pink.

(3) Put the grated cheese into the saucepan with the salsa and prawns, and continue to cook until the cheese has just melted.

(4) Tip the dip into a serving bowl and serve warm with an assortment of crisps and biscuits for scooping purposes. How easy is that?

This dip is a layer of delicious crab dip alternated with a layer of savoury cream cheese. It is delicious served with either chips or vegetable crudités.

500g cream cheese, softened to room temperature

500g crab meat

2 green shallots, thinly sliced

1-2 teaspoons prepared horseradish

juice of one lemon

1-2 semi dried tomatoes finely chopped

1 teaspoon paprika

(1) Divide the cream cheese into half. To one half of the cream cheese, add the crab meat, half of the sliced green shallots, horseradish and half the lemon juice. Stir gently, to combine well.

(2) Spread half of the crab mixture over the bottom of a serving dish. Pop the serving dish into the fridge while you prepare the next layer.

(3) Using the other half of the cream cheese, add the remaining sliced green shallots, lemon juice, the chopped semi dried tomatoes and the paprika. Stir well to combine.

(4) Remove the serving dish from the fridge and spread half of the cream cheese layer over the crab layer. Pop the serving dish back into the fridge for about five minutes to firm up.

(5) Take the dish out of the fridge and repeat with the remaining crab layer and cream cheese layer. You will finish up with four layers of delicious dip.

(6) Refrigerate the dip can until you are ready to serve.

The seafood used in this recipe was supplied by Princess Charlotte Seafoods phone (07) 3256 9175.