Chunky Crab Cakes

Back in the day when Matthew was stationed on the USNS Arctic in New Jersey, I would make frequent trips from San Diego to visit him. The flight I took always had a layover in Atlanta before going onto Newark. I looked forward to arriving into the Atlanta airport because that was the only place that I was able to go to a pretty good restaurant with pretty good crab cakes: Phillips Seafood. And I always ordered the same order of crab cakes with the hush puppies and an iced tea. I know that there are probably better places in Maryland or Baltimore with incredible crab cakes, but the Phillips Seafood restaurant in ATL is the closes I've gotten to authentic style crab cakes. 

I have tried making crab cakes before but either there was too much of a mayonnaise flavor or too much of a fishy flavor because I wasn't using fresh crab meat. So after doing some experiments I've found that this recipe (which came by way of kevinsbrady.net) is probably my favorite. I did slightly alter it and I like to fry my crab cakes in ghee. I also I really like to serve them over a simple salad a little bit of a chipotle aioli on the side with them (I have to have a little bit of mayo somewhere, right?)

INGREDIENTS (makes 6 cakes)

• 1 lb. fresh lump crab meat, drained
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire
• 1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. dill weed
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

DIRECTIONS
 
In a large bowl, combine the egg, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, dill weed, salt and black pepper and mix well. Mix in 1/4 cup of the panko breadcrumbs, saving the remainder of the crumbs on a plate for coating the crab cakes. Add in the crab meat, and gently mix it in using a fork or spatula -- or better yet, your hands, coating the lumps with the mixture. Be careful not to pulverize the lumps when mixing - the idea is to keep the mixture chunky.

Place the mixing bowl with crab cake mixture in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes to firm it up. After refrigeration, drain off any excess liquid.

Gently press mixture into thick patties (slightly smaller than hamburgers) and lightly coat them using the remaining panko breadcrumbs. Don't compact the cakes; keep them a bit loose. Use just enough pressure to make the mixture hold together. Fry the cakes in butter or ghee at low to medium-low heat in an uncovered fry pan or griddle, turning when the first side is brown, about 5 minutes per side.

Serve immediately with slices of lemon, chipotle aioli or good tartar sauce. Mmmm..

Poorman's Crab Cakes

These tuna cakes take me back to a time when I was a little girl and I loved, just loved watching The Love Boat with my brothers--even though none of us understood English at the time! During those days, my mom had to feed three very hungry kids. But since money was a bit scarce, my mom made up recipes that were clever because she used ingredients that were always available and oftentimes cheap. I called these poor man's crab cakes because after I made them for Matt last night, he actually thought they were made out of crab and he preferred these to crab cakes. Can you believe it?

INGREDIENTS (makes 6 tuna cakes)

• 2 cans of tuna in water, drained
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 large eggs
• Pinch of salt
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp. flour
• Olive oil
• 8 oz. canned crushed tomatoes and its juice
• 1/4 tsp. Spike Seasoning or your favorite seasoning salt
• Steamed white rice, as a side

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl, combine first 8 ingredients and mix well. Place in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes. Start cooking your rice, if you haven't done so yet.

In a large skillet, heat about 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high. Mix the tuna mixture again (it will be a little watery) and divide into 6 equal parts and slightly flatten them into patties.

Once the oil begins to shimmer, add 3 tuna cakes and cook for 3 minutes. Flip cakes over and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Remove cakes and cover with foil to keep warm and finish cooking the remaining cakes, adding more olive oil to skillet, as needed.

Once the final batch is done, keep warm in foil. Add the crushed tomatoes to the same skillet and 1/4 teaspoon Spike seasoning and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Add all the cakes back into the skillet with tomato sauce and simmer one more minute. Remove from heat.

To serve, place two to three cakes in a plate, drizzled with some of the tomato sauce and with a side of cooked white rice. Mmmmm....thanks, mom!

Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes

Oh boy, eating healthy is really hard. I've been on a healthy food kick recently because I noticed there was way too much starch and bad carbs in our diet rather than healthy, high-protein foods. So, in an effort to be healthy, I made these crab cakes...yes, there is a little mayo (not too much), and a small amount of breadcrumbs. All in all, it was okay, although this is a type of dish that I'd rather eat a good seafood restaurant, like Peohe's.

INGREDIENTS (makes 8 crab cakes)

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 pound fresh jumbo lump crab meat

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the broiler.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, Old Bay seasoning, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, baking powder, mayonnaise, breadcrumbs and parsley. Then, gently fold in crabmeat (be careful not to break up the lumps). Shape into cakes and broil for 5 minutes.