I *love* crab cakes. Love them. There is a restaurant in Indy, The Oceanaire, that has the absolute best crab cake I have ever had anywhere. In fact, I think that is my favorite food ever. So, it is understandable that I have been slightly intimidated by the thought of making crab cakes at home. Today we were on the north side of Indy at The Fresh Market and I decided to take advantage of the fact that they actually have real, good quality crab meat and go for it. I am so glad I finally tried these. Of course they don’t compare to those from The Oceanaire, but I didn’t expect them to. They were really, really good though and definitely better than I thought I could do at home. I just wanted a simple meal so I served these with Caesar salad and pieces of baguette left over from making the crab cakes. This was a wonderful dinner! Below is the recipe from Williams Sonoma with original dimensions. I made a half batch which ended up making five large cakes.
Crab Cakes
Ingredients:
3 or 4 slices French or Italian bread
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
¼ cup minced green onions
1 lb. fresh cooked lump crabmeat
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. salt
cayenne pepper, to taste
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
lemon wedges, for serving
Directions:
Remove the crusts from the bread and discard. Cut or tear the bread into small pieces and put into a food processor fitted with the metal blade or into a blender. Pulse a few times to make coarse crumbs; you should have about 2 cups. Place the crumbs in a large bowl and set aside.
In a small sauté pan over low heat, melt 1 Tbs. of the butter. Add the green onions and sauté until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the onions to the bread crumbs along with the crabmeat and parsley. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream and eggs until well blended. Whisk in the lemon juice, mustard, salt and cayenne pepper. Slowly add to the crab mixture, stirring continuously so the bread crumbs are evenly moistened. Form into 8 or 12 oval or round cakes about 1 inch thick. Put the flour on a plate or on a piece of waxed paper. Lightly and evenly coat each crab cake with the flour, shaking off any excess.
In a large sauté pan or fry pan over medium-high heat, melt the remaining 2 Tbs. butter with the vegetable oil. When hot, fry the cakes in batches, turning once, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a warmed plate and keep warm until all the cakes are cooked. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
