Recipe - Crab Cakes

Happy New Year Sisters!

Cooking and eating go hand-in-hand with the holidays, and a fair amount of both has been taking place at our house of late.  We've indulged in our usual Christmas traditions, such as Egg Rolls, Stuffed Mushrooms, Snack Mix, and Twice Baked Potatoes, and on Christmas Day, Grandma showed up with everyone's favorite Fudgy Ice Cream Dessert.  My freezer full of homemade Orange Rolls may have taken the better part of a Saturday to make a couple of weeks ago, but they sure simplified breakfast for a houseful of people!

By Sunday most of our gang had dispersed to spend time with their in-laws, so we broke out the Prime Rib. This is a yearly treat for us, and a bit too pricey to serve 12 people (as opposed to the 6 of us still around by Sunday).  As it was roasting after church, my remaining daughter, Jessame, came up with the idea that we should try our hand at Crab Cakes, so she started scouring the Internet for recipes.  I had around 2.75 lbs of Santola King Crab Legs in the freezer, which I purchased several months ago. (It's $8.99/lb this week at Smith's).  I pulled it out and begin to steam it (which only takes a few minutes) while she created a recipe for Crab Cakes out of several she found, using ingredients we had on hand.

Both of us had only tasted Crab Cakes one other time--at a fancy seafood restaurant, and we just hoped ours would taste somewhat the same.  We cracked the crab legs, removed the meat, mixed it with the other ingredients, fried them in butter and olive oil, then served them hot to everyone as an appetizer while the Prime Rib was finishing up.  I hope it is not immodest for me to say (since Jessame came up with the recipe) that our Crab Cakes were so delicious we couldn't believe it, rivaling the restaurant ones, and we can't wait to make them again.  The whole family loved them, and since Crab is on sale this week, you can try them for New Years!  See our photos and easy instructions below.

Crab Cakes

2.5 to 3 lbs of King Crab Legs OR 1 to 1.5 lbs Lump Crab Meat*
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice, fresh or bottled
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (ground in blender or food processor from white bread or rolls)
2 to 3 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves OR 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 Tablespoons butter
1 - 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Lemon Wedges for serving if desired
*NOTE:  If you decide to use Lump Crab, I believe you need to pick through it for any shell fragments.  I have never purchased this, so I'm not sure about the cost comparison with buying Crab Legs.  I think it comes frozen only--ask your meat department worker.  If you are able to buy King Crab legs for $8.99/lb like this week at Smith's, I think that's the best choice.

Place frozen Crab Legs on cookie sheet, add 1/2 cup water, and cover well with foil.  Cook at 400 degrees for a few minutes, just until thawed and warm (frozen crab legs are already fully cooked).  Break the legs apart and crack open with scissors or kitchen shears, being careful not to get any little pieces of crab shell into the meat.  This isn't hard, but takes some time and patience (and maybe a few poked fingers!)

Crack apart and cut open the shells using kitchen shears.  Pick out all the meat.  

In medium sized bowl, whisk the egg, mayo, mustard if desired, Old Bay Seasoning, lemon, and Worcestershire. 

 Fold in the crab meat.  

 Fold in the crumbs gently--do not mush.

 Last, add the parsley.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the crab mixture into as many cakes as you want.  We made 12, since there were 6 of us.

Form these into patties.

Heat butter and olive oil in large skillet.  

Fry the cakes in the hot oil on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until browned and crispy and firm.

  Do not over cook, but make sure they are set and be careful to not break them when turning.

Crab Cake Sauce

I made my sauce out of just a few ingredients:  Mayo, Cocktail sauce, lemon, and dill weed.  After we ate it, I decided it would benefit from a few drops of Tabasco sauce as well--you can make it as spicy as you'd like or leave this out entirely.  I don't have the porportions down--just add enough cocktail sauce to the mayo to make it pink, and a teaspoon or so of lemon, then the Tabasco to taste.  It should be great.

NOTE:  So that I don't have to mix up some more sauce just to take another photo, please be aware that I goofed and placed parsley flakes in this photo instead of dill weed!  Don't let my mix-up throw you off--the ingredients are mayo, cocktail sauce, lemon juice, and dill weed--NOT parsley flakes!