I posted our crab cake recipe before, but I did a little adjusting
of the ingredients and particularly of the technique. Making
these, the technique is probably more important than the
ingredients, but the results are something we enjoy. Over the
years, we've had many crab cakes, and I really enjoy them. With
that in mind, I decided to see if I could come up with a recipe of
our own that improved on the things we enjoyed most, such as
flavor and particularly the texture of the cakes. This is the
result of many trials and errors. Enjoy.

By the way, I wonder how they'd taste if I substituted salmon for
the crab portion. Any thoughts?

Crab Cakes- makes 4-6 patties1/3 cup grated Cheddar
1/3 cup Panko- a tad more might be needed to get consistency (see
below)
4 heaping tbsp grated or finely chopped sweet yellow onion
3 heaping tbsp grated or finely chopped celery
3 heaping tbsp grated or finely chopped red bell pepper
1/3 grated jalapeno to taste- no seeds
1 heaping tsp salt
1 heaping tsp medium grind black pepper
3 medium or large eggs, whole
6 oz small, cooked shrimp
6 oz Blue crab lump meat

Also needed later: about 1 cup Panko for breading, 6-8 pats
butter, 4-6 tbsp olive or canola oil

---------------
Grate onion, pepper, celery, jalapeno and combine. Drain for 5
minutes Set aside in large mixing bowl

Combine Panko, Cheddar, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly but
gently by hand to not pulverize Panko. Set aside.

Rinse and drain the cooked shrimp, set aside.

Drain but do not rinse the lump blue crab meat.

Combine eggs and shrimp in food processor, grate to slush. (Do
NOT add crab.)

In mixing bowl, combine the grated vegetables, shrimp/egg mixture
and dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly by hand, adding Panko if
needed to obtain a very wet, but consistent mixture, that will
just hold its shape when patted out. Add blue crab, hand kneed
gently to mix well, but retain lumps.

Place ½" Panko on a plate or sheet, smoothed out. Divide the
crab cake mixture into about 5-6 parts using a 1/3 cup measure.
Working one at a time, flatten the crab cake out into a 4" patty
using very firm pressure to eliminate any voids. Place the patty
onto the Panko and using a spatula, shape the edges into right
angles. Dust the top with additional Panko, patting gently to get
both sides to adhere. Don't try for a full coating: just a good
coating on the top and bottom.

With practice, quickly slide the spatula under the soft crab cake
and gently move it to a baking sheet, reshaping the edges if
needed. Try to not reform the entire crab cake, since the
additional Panko from the coating will cause it to dry out and it
may crack where "repaired." Repeat the process with the
remaining cakes.

Place formed and coated crab cakes on a baking sheet, cover and
refrigerate for > 1 hour to firm up.

Place 2 pats of butter in large frying pan and add 2 tbsp olive or
Canola oil over medium heat. Gentle bubbling of the oil is a good
indicator. Too much heat will burn the coating and any cheese.
You want to cook the crab cakes all the way through, so a
low-medium frying temperature is important.

Gently remove 2-3 chilled crab cakes from the baking sheet using a
thin spatula and gently place in frying pan. Cook about 3-5
minutes per side, being careful to not go beyond golden brown.
Gently slide spatula under cakes, turn them and complete the
frying. After turning, tap the tops to judge when done in middle.
The goal is a medium dark golden color to the outside, but cooked
all the way through after flipping.

Gently place finished cakes on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

The crab cakes can be frozen and vacuum packed in individual
Foodsaver bags. They are fine as a stand-alone entrée or in a
sandwich. To serve when frozen, microwave IN the Foodsaver bag
for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes to merely reheat.

Serve with sauce on the side. See below:


Sauce: Cocktail Sauce: 4 tbsp catsup, 2 tbsp grated
horseradish, ½ tsp celery salt, 1 tsp
lemon juice

Hollandaise: 3-4 egg yolks, ½ stick melted butter, ½ tsp salt, ½
tsp white pepper, 1 to 1-1/2 tbsp lemon juice. Note: adjust
quantity of butter to equal quantity of egg yolk.
Place egg yolks in narrow, vertical, glass, such as
a water glass. Microwave the butter until boiling. While
frantically whipping the egg yolk with a fork, dribble in the hot,
melted butter very, very slowly to temper and not cook the yolk.
When fully incorporated, add salt, white pepper and lemon juice.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tartar Sauce: 1/3 cup Kraft mayonnaise, 3 heaping tbsp grated
onion, 2 heaping
tbsp grated dill pickle, 2 tbsp lightly mashed
capers.

Remoulade Sauce: ¼ cup Thousand Island salad dressing, 2 tbsp
slaw dressing, 2-3 dashes Worcestershire, dash cayenne to taste



--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

<Sunny> wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 12:36:18 -0800, "Nonny" >
> wrote:
>
>>I posted our crab cake recipe before, but I did a little
>>adjusting
>>of the ingredients and particularly of the technique.
>
>
> Nonny,
> Here's my recipe. I'm a Maryland native and everyone has their
> secret
> recipe, but we like it crabby and simple. Note 2 lbs of
> crabmeat to 2
> slices of bread. Must be handled VERY carefully.
>
> 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
> 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
> 2 tablespoon Old Bay
> 1 tablespoon lemon juice
> 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
> 1 teaspoon freshly chopped parsley leaves
> 2 eggs, beaten
> 1 pound lump or backfin crabmeat
> 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat
> 2 slices white bread, crusts removed and torn into small pieces
> 1/4 cup unsalted butter, as needed
>
> Whisk together the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
> Remove any bits of shell from the crab, transfer to a large bowl
> and
> toss gently with the bread. Spoon the wet mix over the crabmeat
> and
> gently fold until just combined. Allow the mixture to rest in
> the
> fridger for 10 - 20 minutes.
> Shape the mixture into 8 even-sized cakes. Chill the crab cakes
> for
> at least 30 minutes or up to overnight to firm up.
> Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
> Working in
> batches, fry the crab cakes, turning once, until golden brown
> and
> heated through.
>
> Regards,
> Lou


--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

<Sunny> wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 12:36:18 -0800, "Nonny" >
> wrote:
>
>>I posted our crab cake recipe before, but I did a little
>>adjusting
>>of the ingredients and particularly of the technique.
>
>
> Nonny,
> Here's my recipe. I'm a Maryland native and everyone has their
> secret
> recipe, but we like it crabby and simple. Note 2 lbs of
> crabmeat to 2
> slices of bread. Must be handled VERY carefully.
>
That sounds somewhat similar to what our friend in Havre de Grace
makes. Wow, it it good and I suspect that yours would be just as
welcome on my plate. Thanks.
--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

On 2/13/2010 4:15 PM, Sunny wrote:
> On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 12:36:18 -0800, > wrote:
>
>> I posted our crab cake recipe before, but I did a little adjusting
>> of the ingredients and particularly of the technique.
>
>
> Nonny,
> Here's my recipe. I'm a Maryland native and everyone has their secret
> recipe, but we like it crabby and simple. Note 2 lbs of crabmeat to 2
> slices of bread. Must be handled VERY carefully.
>
> 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
> 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
> 2 tablespoon Old Bay
> 1 tablespoon lemon juice
> 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
> 1 teaspoon freshly chopped parsley leaves
> 2 eggs, beaten
> 1 pound lump or backfin crabmeat
> 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat
> 2 slices white bread, crusts removed and torn into small pieces
> 1/4 cup unsalted butter, as needed
>
> Whisk together the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
> Remove any bits of shell from the crab, transfer to a large bowl and
> toss gently with the bread. Spoon the wet mix over the crabmeat and
> gently fold until just combined. Allow the mixture to rest in the
> fridger for 10 - 20 minutes.
> Shape the mixture into 8 even-sized cakes. Chill the crab cakes for
> at least 30 minutes or up to overnight to firm up.
> Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in
> batches, fry the crab cakes, turning once, until golden brown and
> heated through.
>
> Regards,
> Lou
Can you run the bread through the blender for fine crumbs or is that too
much and is there a favorite Dijon that you buy?

--
piedmont, The Practical BBQ'r

http://sites.google.com/site/thepracticalbbqr/

(mawil55)

<Sunny> wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:47:05 -0500, Sunny <Sunny> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>You know, I think your recipe would be GREAT with salmon. In
>>fact,
>>I'll test it this week. Thanks.
>
>
> Nonny, tried your recipe with salmon fillets cut into cubes.
> the
> flavor was right on the money, but I made the cubes too big. I
> wonder
> if cooked then flaked salmon would provide a better texture?

It would be worth a try, but what about using a potato masher
fairly lightly on a cooked piece? An alternative might be to put
the salmon (raw) into the food processor with the eggs (for
liquid) and give it a buzz. That's what I do with the shrimp. If
you do it briefly, it might slice the raw salmon into
appropriate-sized pieces.

I'm sure you scraped off the fat after removing the skin. . . at
least that's what I do here. We grill salmon almost weekly, and
love it. Albertson's and Smith's both get 3 shipments a week of
fresh salmon, so we're pretty well set. The farm raised variety
is around $7/#, which is pretty inexpensive considering that it's
about 100% edible.

BTW, I bet that the salmon version would go great with creamed
peas. That's what my Mom used to do with her salmon coquettes.

--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.