Crab Cakes

Apparently, it is Dungeness crab season in San Francisco! Yippee!  Unfortunately, I do not live anywhere close to the west coast but my friend Michelle does.  So while everyone else is focusing on stuffing, mashers, turkey and cranberry recipes, I chose to make these at Michelle's request.

When I post my recipes, I am always terrified that I mistakenly left out an ingredient or listed an incorrect quantity.  Don't get me wrong... I try to double check everything and I'm 99% sure that all of my posts are accurate but sometimes I am enjoying a glass of wine (or two or three) or am dead tired while composing them.

Luckily, I have Michelle to cover my tracks.  She has been on a roll lately.  So far, she has made my Thai Coconut Curry Soup, Sesame Seared Ahi Tuna, and Beer Biscuits and Sausage Gravy and I'm thrilled to report back that each one was a success!  Sigh of relief over here.  So when she told me that San Francisco is just spilling over with Dungeness crab and that she needed a good crab cake recipe, I was more than happy to oblige.

Matt told me that these are the best crab cakes he has ever had.  We were headed over to my mother's last night and he refused to let me bring the leftovers to her house (for everyone to try) because he wanted them all for himself.  They are filled with lump crab meat but have just enough filler to hold together.  So Michelle, we dearly miss you here in the C-L-E but this one's for you.  Time to get crabby with your San Francisco self!

Just a rough chop is needed on everything that goes in the processor.  First the bread.

 Red pepper

 Onion

 Parsley

 Garlic

 Pulse until everything resembles fine bread crumbs

 Next, add the lemon zest

 Then the mayo, mustard and Old Bay

 And finally, the egg.  This is your base for the crab cakes.  Now it's time to get crabby :)

 I used two different types of crab; regular and jumbo lump

 First I add the regular crab so it is evenly dispersed through the mixture

 Just like that

 Gently fold the lump in.  This stuff is like gold and you don't want to over work it and break up the lumps.

 Now you are ready to form your patties

 Place in preheated pan and brown them up

 Flip and then place them on the sheet pan once done.  Work in small batches.  You will need room to flip these and you don't want them to break.  They are delicate little suckers. Place in oven to finish baking.

 Time to make the sauce.  To the mayo, add some lemon juice then some Sriracha, garlic and salt and pepper.

Crab Cakes
4 slices white bread
2 cheeks of a red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1/4 onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 lemon, zested
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon old bay seasoning
6 1/2 ounces regular crab meat
10 ounces jumbo lump crab meat
pinch of each salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of each butter and olive oil to fry crab cakes.

Place the bread, red pepper, onion, parsley and garlic in a food processor.  Pulse until fine bread crumbs form.  Add mixture to a large mixing bowl.  Zest a lemon and add zest to crumbs.  Next, add mayo, mustard and Old Bay and mix until combined.  Add egg and do the same.  First add the regular meat and mix until evenly distributed through mixture.  Finally add lump crab, salt and pepper and then gently fold into bread crumb mixture, being extra careful not to break up the lumps of crab.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.  Put butter and oil in a large saute pan and place over medium high heat.  Form cakes to a size of your choice. Place in the pan, being sure not to crowd the pan and allowing yourself room to flip.  Brown on both sides then transfer to baking sheet.  Once all crab cakes are browned, place pan in oven and cook for at least 10 minutes.  Turn off oven and keep them in there to keep warm until ready to serve.

Lemon Sriracha Aioli 
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of each salt and pepper

In a small bowl, mix together mayo, lemon juice, Sriracha, garlic and salt and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop on each crab cake and garnish with some fresh parsley and lemon wedges.