Crabcake Recipe

Who knows what direction a blog will take? I have always thought that recipes and cooking would be a part of my blog.  It’s my love!  It turns out that one of my readers asked for and was missing the crab cakes at our restaurant. Since I am not cooking for the masses anymore,  I figured I would teach a man/woman to fish and give everyone the recipe. Yes…. I checked… and crab meat is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium  “good alternatives” list. How about some caper mayonnaise to go with them?

This recipe makes approximately eight 3 ½  ounce cakes.  (There is no typo.  You need a can of jumbo lump AND a can of lump crab meat.)

Crab Cakes

1 pound  fresh jumbo lump crab meat, drained
1 pound fresh lump crab meat, drained
1 large stalk celery, minced
½ red pepper, minced
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon fresh dill finely, chopped
½ teaspoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 to 1 ½ cups unseasoned bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Saute celery and red pepper  in  one tablespoon of oil over medium heat until translucent.  Cool these vegetables and in a medium bowl combine remaining ingredients except breadcrumbs. Mix together lightly. Add 1 cup bread crumbs and fold together with crab mixture mixing only to combine. If mixture feels wet add more crumbs. The idea is to add enough crumbs so that the cakes stick together but are not “bready.” Add salt and pepper to taste.  Be careful with the salt.  Salt permeates the crab very quickly.

Let the mixture stand in a refrigerator for about one hour.  Form into balls and then flatten bottom and top to form a “puck”. (This exposes more of the cake to the bottom of the pan when sauteing.)  Pour remaining oil into saute pan and heat to medium/hot .  The oil should be hot the cake.  Turn the cakes  and repeat.  Sauteeing should take about 8 minutes total  but use your judgment on browning .  The cakes should be about ¾ the size of a cup measure in diameter.  The small size of the cakes ensures that when the  cakes are brown, they will also be warm in the center.

Caper Mayonnaise
1 cup mayonaisse
1 tablespoon  capers, chopped fine
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon  fresh parsley, chopped fine
pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and mix well.  Serve a dollop with crab cakes.

Notes: Serve a smaller cake as an hors d’ oeuvres. Use as a seafood stuffing or even a dip mixed with 1/2 pound of softened cream cheese.

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