The Suburbanatrix

Not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty good at making crab cakes.  At least I’ve come up with what I think is a darn fine recipe.  Moist and crabby on the inside, and crunchy on the outside…  Mmmmm.  So when we went to a crab feed the other night, I couldn’t get these off my mind.  I cracked and picked out the meat of a bunch of extra legs, then quietly smuggled my booty (as in pirate…  well both actually) out of the door before the crab police would take it away.  Oh yeah! It’s on!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of lump crabmeat picked over to remove shell and cartilage
• 25 butter crackers, crushed
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 heaping tbsp chopped parsley or 1 tsp dried dill
• 1 egg
• 2-1/2 tbsps mayonnaise
• 1/2 to 1 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp spicy brown or stoneground mustard
• 1/4 tsp prepared horseradish
• 1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• canola or olive oil for frying (I use a little of each!)

Have I told you how much I adore crabmeat?? I have to take a moment…

My mouth

is watering.

Ok, I’m finished now. Let’s make some cakes!

Get a medium size bowl and dump in the butter cracker crumb, green onion, red bell pepper and parsley.

Mix together until it looks like this-

Looks purty already, and smells good to boot! Now add in the egg, mayonnaise, hot sauce, lemon juice, mustard, horseradish, Old Bay seasoning, onion and garlic powder.

Stir until completely combined.

It may look a little dryer that this and that’s fine!

Now gently, oh so gently stir in your crabmeat.

Wrap a sheet pan with parchment paper, and using a heaping 1/4 cupful at a time (an ice cream scoop will work wonders!), scoop out and form patties.

You should get anywhere from 6-8 regular sized patties. Once patties are formed, put the entire tray in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.  The wait is hard, but it is a really important step.

Heat up your oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan) until shimmering, but not smoking about 5 minutes. Using a spatula and pick up each patty and place in the panko bread crumbs.  Individually bread the top and bottom of each

and place into pan gently with flat spatula.

Brown over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown and center is cooked. Put the cooked crab cakes on a paper towel to drain for a minute or two, and serve!

Yum mmmmmmmmmm, I can’t resist…

Look at that crab!

Serve with lemon and tartar sauce, or a roasted red pepper aioli. Gotta go finish this up!