Weekend Cooking...Crabby Crab Cakes

Ok, the crabcakes are not really crabby.
But I have a Crabby Crab tee shirt that the Bro and Sil brought back for me from a trip to Maryland once and crabcakes always make me think of that shirt.
In fact, these are delicious crabcakes, that held together in their pan frying and developed a nice crispy exterior and were moist and so delightfully crab filled inside.

You know, I thought I had posted a crab cake recipe here before, but it seems not.
So when I went to the supermarket and saw that lovely fresh crabmeat, on sale, I knew I had to have it but did not foresee a Weekend Cooking post in their crabby future. But when I got home and went looking for my recipe...no post!
So I consulted my recipe file.
And found I have 3 or 4 different recipes!
What to do?

 

Well, I have one, from Cook's Illustrated, their newest "Best Crab Cake" recipe. But it involves making a shrimp mousseline as a binder..and honestly that seemed like a little too much trouble that day. No, we were going a little more basic.
OK, it was another Cook's Illustrated recipe...but I made a couple of small changes.
I always add a bit of Worcestershire sauce...just because. The egg addition was not something I usually make, but it worked like a charm. As did the refrigerating, which I think is KEY to getting them stay together nicely.And they did.

Maryland Crab Cakes
makes 4 cakes

"The amount of bread crumbs you add will depend on the moistness of the crabmeat. Start with the smallest amount, adjust the seasonings, then add the egg. If the cakes won't bind at this point, add more bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon at a time. If you can't find fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, pasteurized crabmeat, though not as good, is a decent substitute."

• 1 pound jumbo lump crab
• 4 scallions, green parts only, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 4 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
• 2-4 tablespoons dry fine bread crumbs (I used Panko crumbs)
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup flour, for dredging
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying

 

1. Gently mix the crabmeat, scallions, herb, Old Bay, 2 tablespoons bread crumbs, Worcestershire and mayonnaise in a medium bowl, being careful not to break up the lumps of crab. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Carefully fold in the egg with a rubber spatula until the mixture just clings together. Add more crumbs if necessary.

2. Divide the crab mixture into four portions and shape each into a fat, round cake, about 3 inches across and 1½ inches high. Arrange the cakes on a baking sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper; cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes. (The crab cakes can be refrigerated up to 24 hours.)

3. Put the flour on a plate or in a pie tin. Lightly dredge the crab cakes in the flour. Heat the oil in a large, preferably nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Gently place chilled crab cakes in the skillet; pan-fry until the outsides are crisp and browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serve immediately with lemon wedges or dipping sauce.

Ok, these are very good crabcakes, but what really put these over the top was this sauce, which I just loved! Really, really good, in my humble opinion. GOOD!

 

 

Creamy Dipping Sauce
makes 1/2 cup

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons minced chipolte chiles
• 1 teaspoon lime juice (I used lemon and added the zest of 1 lemon as well)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro

 Oh, I loved this sauce! A little spicy, the lemon, the garlic...Way, way better in my mind than tartar sauce, although my SIL, the world's biggest tartar sauce fan would, no doubt disagree. But she is wrong!

 

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This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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