Crab Cakes

Hi everyone!  Happy Friday!  As promised, today, I'm sharing with you a recipe for crab cakes!  Let's get to it!

In my house, we don't eat crab.  Sure, we'll eat salmon and shrimp sometimes, but that's about it for seafood.  But as I mentioned in Monday's post (linked above), my parents went to Oregon over the summer.  They went because my Dad's side of the family was having a family reunion for my Dad, his parents, his siblings, and their spouses (no kids allowed 😉).  One of the activities that my parents and some of the other their did was crabbing.  This means they literally went out on boats and caught crabs fresh out of the salty Oregon sea.

Like fish, crabs take some preparation before they can be eaten.  So when my family returned to their vacation home after crabbing, they sat around the table, chatting and catching up with one another while plucking shell pieces out the crab.  Talk about labor-intensive 😅!

When my parents came home from their Oregon trip, they brought home great memories but also crab meat!  We stored this meat in the freezer until we would make crab cakes.  Then, one day, my family and I made crab cakes!  Making crab cakes is similar to how one would make salmon patties; both use eggs and breadcrumbs for structural integrity and both are also filled with celery and parsley for fresh, bright flavor.  Parallels can also be drawn between the cooking methods of both of these seafood items; a pan fry in oil yields delicious patties with crisp tops and bottoms 😋.

And while these crab cakes are flavorful all on their own, they are especially tasty when served with a creamy tartar sauce, fresh lemon juice, and crusty sourdough bread.  Add a simple green salad or pan-fried zucchini and you've got yourself a meal that will transport you in your mind to New England itself.

I used this recipe to bring you today's recipe.

That's all for now.  Don't forget to follow me on Instagram!  I look forward to posting again on Monday 😊.

Crab Cakes

• 2 large eggs
• 2.5 T. mayonnaise
• 1.5 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 finely diced celery
• 3 T. finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 pound lump crab meat
• 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• Vegetable oil, for cooking

1.  In a large bowl, combine the eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, celery, and parsley, mixing well.

2.  Add the crab meat (make sure there are no shell pieces or hard, sharp cartilage) and panko, folding them in gently with a rubber spatula, being careful to not shred the meat.

3.  Divide the mixture into 1/2 -cup cakes.

4.  Preheat a sauté pan to medium heat and coat generously with vegetable oil.

5.  When the oil is hot, add the crab cakes to the pan, cooking until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.  Be careful; the oil may splatter!

6.  Enjoy!  These are best eaten right away.