Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes displayed with Dijon Mustard and Chives. (Photo AMayberry)

Our Italian seafood dinner for Christmas Eve was a success! Though we didn't due the traditional 7 courses of fish (or more) since there were only 5 of us present, it was still a culinary experience that was enjoyed by all.

I had the pleasure of creating the appetizer courses. One, was a delightful bruschetta-style shrimp. It consisted of a small slice of day-old french baguette topped with a small, shaved slice of fresh parmesan cheese. Then comes the shrimp, sauteed in a splash of olive oil with a little fresh pepper. Top it all off with a warmed mixture of plum tomatoes (de-seeded), garlic, fresh basil, spinach and green onion. They were a little messy, mainly due to the fact that the shrimp was slightly too big for the diameter of the baguette .... a minor issue that I can easily remedy by either using smaller shrimp, or slicing the shimp and adding it to the rest of the mixture so that it would be similar to a cevíche. More of a change in the delivery, not the flavor.

But surely, the star of the first course were the crab cakes ... Crabby Patties as Sponge Bob would call them. I started with a recipe that I found in our Princess Cruises cook book (purchased on our Honeymoon) and made a few minor changes to make this dish a little less fattening and a lot more budget friendly. For starters, the recipe called to brown the crab cakes in melted butter. Since I am not Paula Dean, I opted to bake them until heated through instead. Still delicious, still crispy on the outside, but not dripping (literally) with calories of fat. The biggest "swap" was the use of imitation crab. For any crab cake purists out there, I apologize! But this swap made the dish much more pocket-book friendly, and also saved me a LOT of time and effort from cracking my own crab legs ... and perhaps saved my sweet husband a big ... no ... HUGE mess in the kitchen.

For the crab mixture itself, I started with 2 lbs of the imitation crab (flake style). Note ... next time, I would start with the shredded or salad style to make it easier to bind into the cake form. I then added 1 cup of plain bread crumbs, 1/2 c of FAT FREE Mayo, 2 eggs, 1/3 c chopped chives, 1 teaspoon of Worchestershire Sauce, 6 dashes (plus a few) of Tabasco Sauce, salt and pepper, 2 T of Dijon Mustard. I mixed all of this together in a large bowl and let the flavors marinade for a couple of hours in the fridge.

While I was preparing the mixture, I realized that my choice to make Chicken Parmesan the night before left me a little short on breadcrumbs for the outside of the crab cakes. DOH! But, I had some original Fiber One cereal in the pantry and threw it in my food processor to make some quick bread crumbs. FYI ... Fiber One cereal makes outstanding bread crumbs if you're looking for that nice crunch that will not get soggy on your jalapeño poppers!

But back to the crab cakes at hand ... The recipe said it would make 12 cakes. Uh ..... right. More like 2 and a half dozen. But we made a good meatball sized cake. So they were perhaps a little small? Or perhaps it was because I started with the 2 lbs of actual crab meat, not crab meat plus shell. (sigh) ANYWAY .... so we took the crab cakes, rolled them in the Fiber One bread crumbs and baked them on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees until heated through. We went for about 12-15 minutes. I might try between 15 and 20 next time for a little extra crunch on the outside.

The flavor was very pleasant. Very fresh ... and yet the dijon mustard has a nice punch. They were delicious by themselves, but might also be well-served with a little tartar sauce. The fancy-schmancy version calls for a tomato compote and some other decorative plate sauce. But since these were meant to be the opening act for the main event (a tasty Cioppino -- Italian Seafood Soup) I opted to go for plain. Though next time I may go with a light tartar sauce and swap the mustard for a little wasabi sauce. These would go splendidly with a fresh Chardonnay or a flute of Bubbly --- cold Sake if I go the wasabi route.

Next blog, I'll be covering the dessert course from La Vigilia di Natale ... Holy Moly Cannoli Cones. (A Hungry Girl recipe that is fun for all).

Until then,
Buon Appetito!