Crab Cakes?

13 years ago

Appears I've recovered from my hangover enough to do something with a mess of crab left over from Xmas Eve. Crab cakes, that is.

I test made a couple of variants yesterday, with and without cheese, more and less egg, onions or garlic or both or neither. The recipe we liked the most was very simple.

- chop up about 2 cups of bread in food processor

- add 1/2 onion, minced fine, the zest from 2 lemons, a good amount of cayenne pepper, plus salt and black pepper

- beat 1 egg and mix all together with a bit of oil

- take 2 oz shredded crab and 1 oz of this bread-egg mixture, mix and form a 3 oz crabby patty

- fry in plenty of hot oil, until golden, the patty will firm up as it is cooked

- serve with some greenery - parsley or scallions

I'd like to hear how you make your crab cakes? Do you pan fry or deep fry? Anyone use cheese successfully? How about variations using other seafood - shrimp? Lobster? Fish?

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Comments (13)

Claire Buoyant
13 years ago
I pan fry and like the addition of finely diced red bell peppers with a little dijon and mayo instead of egg for my binder. Cheese? Wouldn't dream of it.
sffog
13 years ago
i pan fry in clarified butter,the bread is mixed with mayo, and worcestershire sauce and a little old bay, lemon juice, dijon and trinity of onions, celery, red or green (or both)
bell pepper all diced fine ,never cheese.i like the crab on the lumpy side so i don't over mix, i had a shrimp and crab mixture cake at ?elliots in seattle, that was very good.remoulade sauce goes well with crab cakes
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Asparagus! Have I got an asparagus recipe for you. I made this for DD when she was recovering from a broken jaw and needed soft foods. It was delish and a dish that I will make for company! It is even good the next day. I regret that the recipe looks long and complicated. It is not complicated at all. Asparagus Souffle from Simply Recipes INGREDIENTS 1 lb asparagus spears, bottom ends trimmed and discarded, thick spears peeled, spears cut into 1-inch pieces Salt 1/4 cup chopped shallots 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon dried 4 Tbsp unsalted butter 1/2 cup finely ground dry bread crumbs 3 Tbsp cake flour (can substitute all purpose flour) 1 1/4 cup whole milk 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg Pinch dry ground mustard Pinch ground cumin Pinch ground ginger Freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (can substitute Parmesan, but frankly I prefer the Gruyere) 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten 5 egg whites 6 8-ounce ramekins METHOD 1 Blanch asparagus for 2 minutes in boiling salted water (1 teaspoon of salt for every quart of water). Drain. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Set aside to let cool. 2 Melt 1 Tbsp butter in saucepan on medium heat. Add shallots, garlic, and thyme. Cook gently until soft, do not let brown. About 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. 3 Puree asparagus and shallot mixture in a blender. Measure out 1 1/4 cup of puree. 4 Butter 6 8-ounce ramekins. Coat well with the bread crumbs, reserving any leftover bread crumbs. 5 Make a thick bechamel sauce. Over medium-low heat, melt 3 Tbsp butter in a medium sized saucepan. Add the cake flour and whisk to completely incorporate the flour into the butter, continue to stir for a couple of minutes. Do not let brown. Very slowly, add the milk to the mixture, little by little, whisking constantly. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt, the nutmeg, cumin, mustard, ginger, and some fresh ground black pepper. Lower the heat to low and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the mixture from sticking to the pan. 6 After 15 minutes, remove the bechamel from the heat and stir in the cheese. Transfer the bechamel and the asparagus mixture to a large mixing bowl (if you have a mixing bowl with a pour lip on the side, use it, it will make it easier to pour out later). Taste the mixture and adjust the seasonings. The souffle base should be well-seasoned. Stir in the egg yolks until well combined. At this point you can make ahead the souffle mixture. Refrigerate to store for up to two days. Return to room temperature before proceeding. 7 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 8 Prepare to make a water bath (a bain marie). Have ready a 9x12 baking dish with at least 2 inch sides. Put on a kettle of water to boil. 9 Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and using a mixer, beat the egg whites to firm but soft, almost stiff, peaks. (Make sure there are no traces of egg yolk or shell in your egg whites before starting.) Do not over-beat. Over-beating results in stiff peaks that are dry, somewhat reminiscent of styrofoam. Use a rubber spatula to first fold in one quarter of the beaten egg whites into the asparagus mixture, then the remaining three-quarters. Use a light touch to keep from deflating the egg whites. 10 Fill ramekins with the mixture up to a quarter-inch from the top. If you want, sprinkle leftover bread crumbs on top. Place the ramekins in the bain marie baking dish. Place baking dish on the middle rack in the oven. Pour boiling water into the baking dish around the ramekins until the water comes up halfway the sides of the ramekins. 11 Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degreesF, reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and bake for about 15 minutes more, until puffed up and golden brown. Don't open the oven door until the souffle is just about done, or it may fall. You can serve the souffles immediately or you can serve them later. To proceed for serving them later, let the souffles sit in the bain marie for 15 minutes. Then use run a sharp knife around the edges and invert the individual souffles to a buttered baking sheet. Cool to room temperature, wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Return to room temperature before re-baking. Heat oven to 400 degrees F, bake the souffles on a buttered baking sheet, not in ramekins, for 7-8 minutes, and serve. Yield: Makes 6 individual souffles.
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This is how my Grandmother made them. GENTLY pick thru crab to check for shell or cartlidge. Finely diced onions and green/red bell peppers... guess ya could spice it up with a touch of something hot. Generous shake of Old Bay. One beaten egg... beat it up a bit first so you don't have to rough up the crab lumps. Blob of mayo and some bread crumbs. Hers were always very LOW on fillers... lots of crab. Mix gently, form into balls and refrigerate till ready to cook. She didn't bake hers. Form chilled balls into patties, into beaten egg, then into seasoned bread crumbs. Then into cast iron skillet with BACON GREASE till browned. YUMMY! I like to give mixture a glug of hot sauce... don't think Nana ever had that in her house?? Also like homemade cocktail sauce... ketchup, lemon juice and enough horseradish to make it almost pink!
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I made these tonight and really liked the flavor of them. The teaspoon of Old Bay, and the hot sauce, gives them a nice "zing". I ended up frying them in a little bit of canola oil and butter instead of baking them. I really wanted to bake them, but I'd made 2 apple and 1 lemon meringue pie in my oven Thursday night. The apple pies leaked and I need to clean the oven before I use it again. Thanks for the recipe. I think it's going to replace my old standby!
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Who are "we" and why are "we" presenting recipes? Here is a link that might be useful: Looks like her business
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hawk307
13 years ago
Hi John:
I have been adding cooked Shrimp to the Crabmeat.
Taste is still there and is a lot cheaper.
Here is my recipe:

LouÃ¯Â¿Â½s - Crab and Shrimp cakes

Ingredients
1/3 cup each of chopped Onions, Peppers and Celery, micro waved 2 minutes.
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
2 teasp. Parsley Flakes
1 teasp. Garlic Powder
2 teasp. Parmesan Cheese
1 /2 teasp. Old Bay Seasoning

Mix the first 6 items , add
3 teasp. Mayo
3/4 teasp. Mustard
3/4 cup cooked Shrimp, chopped medium
2 - 6 oz. cans of White Crab Meat
1 large egg , beaten.

Made 5 cakes
Placed on Oiled aluminum foil in a cookie tin.
Baked at 350 deg. For 30 minutes,
basted with butter and baked 10 minutes more,until they were slightly browned.

They were good with Creamy Italian Dressing
LOU
John Liu
Original Author
13 years ago
Had some friends over for brunch, made a nice meal of buttered and toasted bagel slices with lox, onions, capers, and cream cheese, plus crab cakes with a couple of different sauces, mimosas and coffee. How civilized.

Then I went outside and finished torquing down a CV joint, and also replaced half of the parking brake shoes on the 911.

"Cause I'm a man's man, darn it.

Then it started raining, and I downed tools and scampered inside where its dry and warm, and begged SWMBO for hot chocolate.

'Cause I'm a girly man's man, whimper.

Interesting seeing your variations on crab cakes. I still have a mess of crab left, so I think I'll try some of these. Cheese didn't work for me, but maybe a milder cheese would have be okay. I like the idea of a binder other than egg. Shrimp would be a great extender, if I weren't dogged by the problem of Too Much Crab. Maybe I'll make a Crab Chowder. Seriously, there's three pounds of steamed crab sitting in the refrigerator, not getting any fresher.
Claire Buoyant
13 years ago
Ahemmmm, I may be the only gal here that knows a CV joint isn't something you smoke (Constant Velocity joint-it's a car thing) Also, a 911 is a Porsche.

Just saying... :-)
John Liu
Original Author
13 years ago
In my world, a CV joint is an invention of the devil, and a 911 is a big blue piece of lawn art - that eats CV joints.

OK, off to make some Post-Christmas Crab Chowder!
jojoco
13 years ago
I drove an older 911 once. Think I was passed by a john deere mower. And not the ride on type.
lindac
13 years ago
Uck! Uck!!....no cheese in my crab cakes....maybe in a crab quiche.....and no shrimp in my crab cakes....then it becomes "seafood patties"...may as well add some surimi carb....which I really don't mind....but then it's not crab cakes.
Crab cakes are crab, preferably fresh or frozen not canned, fresh bread crumbs, all bound with a heavy white sauce and seasoned with a splash of dry sherry and pan fried in butter.
Served with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
More crab than bread....no onions nor old bay, but a small sprinkle of cayenne is really good.
Linda C
John Liu
Original Author
13 years ago
Crab chowder - good stuff. Still need to use up a pound of crab, before it turns to cat food.

jojoco - old cars are slow, even old Porsches. Today's cars have crazy horsepower by yesterday's standards.
lindac
13 years ago
Crab quiche...
Pie shell...grated cheese....gruyere or Jarlesberg, or mozzerella or a mix...some chopped green onion.
Mix egg and whole milk, or light cream...ratio of 1 egg per half cup of milk...a tablespoon of cream cheese per egg is a good addition...dash of worchestershire...couple of tablespoons of drys herry...salt to taste.
put a good handful of cheese in the bottom of a raw pies hell, add the crab...as much as you have...and the onions...and pour over the molk/egg mixture to fill the dish.
bake 425 for 10 to 12 minutes, turn oven down to 350 and continue to bake until set...about another 30 to 50 minutes, depending on the sice of your pie.
Linda C
marys1000
13 years ago
Are you guys using canned crab?
sffog
13 years ago
thank you for posting the crab quiche recipe, my son loves quiche, i think that's for lunch today.
John Liu
Original Author
13 years ago
I'm using fresh. We had cracked crab for Xmas Eve, these are the left-overs. Canned has a different texture. I've made crab cakes w/ canned too.

Crab Cakes?

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Claire Buoyant

sffog

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