Crab Cakes!

So Maryland is all about their crab cakes, am I right? Crab cakes are an amazing entree that is sure to please everyone. After my fabulous feature on SITS, so many people were looking for my crab cake recipe! I can't blame them, these will make you famous. Everyone will want the recipe, you will be a crab cake making legend with your friends and family!

This recipe is a little labor intensive, but I PROMISE, it is so worth it. Also if you don't have leeks or tarragon, don't fret. We leave them out sometimes and the crab cakes still taste great! Those are super fancy ingredients that I don't usually have on hand, but if you are making this dish to impress some one I would make the extra effort to go grab them. It just gives the crab cake a little extra depth. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! Also, if you have a great remoulade recipe, I would serve the crab cake with that sauce too. I love having several sauce options for dipping my crab cake in!

*This picture was taken from myrecipes.com (I haven't made these in a while, but I wanted to get the recipe up for you)
Maryland Style Crab Cakes

Ingredients for Crab Cake:

• ½ pound of crab meat, all shells removed (Costco has a great price on crab meat!)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• ½ red bell pepper, finely minced
• 1 small leek, white portion only, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon tarragon, rough chopped
• 2 tablespoons parsley, rough chopped
• ¼ cup of mayonnaise
• ½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the breading:

• 1 cup of flour
• 2 eggs, beaten well
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon of Old Bay seasoning
• Grapeseed oil for shallow frying
• It is important to use grapeseed oil because it has a high smoking point

For Tartar sauce:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup sweet pickle, minced
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon chives, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all crab cake ingredients, adding just enough breadcrumbs to bind the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Form the mixture into golf ball size balls and flatten into a disc.
2. Place flour, eggs, breadcrumbs and Old Bay in separate shallow bowls. With each individually portioned crab cake:
a. Dredge entire cake in flour, ensuring tat there is a light even coating but no excess.
b. Submerge in egg, coating in both sides.
c. Coat evenly on all sided with breadcrumbs
3. Heat a saute pan over medium heat and add the oil. Saute cakes until breading has turned golden brown and crunchy, about 5 minutes per side. Serve immediately with the tartar sauce.