Crab Cakes, need I say more?

I miss fresh crabs! As many of you know, I am a University of Maryland graduate (Fear the Turtle!). While living there, I developed a taste for blue crabs. In Maryland, crabs are steamed and dumped on a picnic table covered with butchers paper. The best part is the utensil selection. You have the standard knife and fork, but you are also supplied a mallet! What other cuisine in the world are you given a hammer to eat your meal!

Be forewarned…

Eating crabs in this fashion is not for the faint of heart. There will be considerable splatter, sickening crunching noises and perhaps a few adult beverages.

This is not the type of cuisine were you’ll wish to wear a dinner jacket (unless you have a very good drycleaner). I highly recommend wearing disposable clothing, such as a trash bag poncho!

Living in Colorado, it is near impossible to get fresh blue crabs. Unless you pay an arm and a leg or know an Admiral, who owes you a favor, attending the next Navy vs. Air Force Academy football game. The next best option is to make crab cakes.

Most supermarkets will have crab in 3 common forms; frozen, vacuum packed and canned. Frozen is great but you rarely find blue crabs. Vacuum packed is good, but the packages are small, expensive and sometimes contain no crab! The only option left is canned.

I am ok with that. The cans are usually lined so that you don’t have a metallic taste the crab is pasteurized to kill any bad nasties and pertinent information, expiration date, country of origin, etc., is clearly labeled.

A few things to watch for when buying seafood:

1. Freshness is key, check you expiration dates, harvest dates etc.

2. Where is the fish from? It should be clearly labeled or your fishmonger should know. Shellfish such as clams, oysters and mussels must come with a tag that states the waters of harvest, date of harvest, identification number of the harvester and must be kept on file by your fishmonger.

3. If buying frozen fish, buy it frozen. I stay away from product that is shipped frozen then thawed. I like to thaw the food myself just prior to cooking. See point 4.

4. Fresh or thawed fish must be on ice. Under perfect refrigeration sea creatures still age quickly. Placing the fish on ice in the refrigerator will buy you a little more time. Many of the restaurants I have worked either had a fish locker or we improvised with a perforated pan, filled with crushed ice, over another pan to collect the water. Be sure to drain the water, every now and then, to avoid floods.

Your typical crab cake recipe consists of crab, some type of vegetation (celery, onion, bell pepper etc.), eggs, mayonnaise, bread crumbs and a flavorful spice mix that comes in a yellow can with a red top.

This recipe is great but sometimes, you need a change.

Terry’s Crab Cakes: a study in what Terry had in the refrigerator and needed to use.

1 lb can crab

½ medium red onion, fine dice

2 stalks celery, fine dice

¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, fine dice

1 clove garlic, smashed and chopped

2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, shaved or grated

1 Tbsp. pesto, store bought is fine, that is what I used

1 each egg, beaten

1 Tbsp. mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. coconut flour, I had it on hand, substitute cornstarch or flour

pinch cayenne pepper

To Taste salt and pepper

Put everything but the crab and coconut flour in a bowl and mix to combine. Fold in the crab. Add the coconut flour a little at a time. You may need less or you may need more. You want the mixture to be wet but not dripping. Refrigerate for an hour before making the patties.

Cheese and Seafood…

There is a culinary law that states, “under pain of death, or the consternation of the chef, thou shall not pair cheese with seafood.” Yes, that means no cream cheese on your bagel with lox, definitely no creamy Alfredo sauce over your pasta with shrimp or lobster mac-n-cheese.

I think you know were I’m going here. For every culinary rule there is an exception. Hard cheeses like Parmesan can be treated like a seasoning. I will make that exception but don’t expect me to make you mussels fondue.

If you are planning on using the entire mix within the next day or so, only portion out what you need. Leave it loose but in a tightly sealed container. Any longer than the next day, portion them out and freeze the unused cakes.

I like a 1 to 2 ounce patty. The best way to achieve this is with a 1-ounce disher (it should have a 30 engraved on the sweeper). I like to scoop the mix fairly well rounded over so that I have about 1.5 ounces.

To shape the crab cake, I make an “Okay” sign with my index finger and thumb and shape the scoop of mix inside the “Okay” sign with my other hand. Another way is to use a ring mold or a cookie cutter and pack the mix in. If you are not concerned with perfectly shaped cakes you can always scoop the mixture into a hot non-stick sauté pan with a touch of olive oil and mash it down a bit with the bottom of a spatula.

This leads to the cooking. I like a nice sear on my crab cakes. I take non-stick sauté pan, like above, with a touch of olive oil and sauté one side for about 2 to 3 minutes, flip them over and place in a 350° oven for another 10 minutes.

I served these with a pesto aioli. Take equal parts mayonnaise and pesto, season with salt, pepper and squeeze of lemon juice and mix it all together.

The key point, I would like for you to take from this blog, is to try something different. Try a different technique, a new spice, or different flavor combinations. Chefs around the world are doing this every day. Why not you?

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~T