Maryland Crab Cakes

THE BITS
I was born and partially raised in Maryland. Bushels of steamed crabs coated in Old Bay poured over newspapers on the table in summer and crab cakes the rest of the year are essentials. Eating crabs is in our blood. One of the problems I've found with 90% of all restaurant-made crabcakes is the filler factor. No self-respecting Marylander would dare make crab cakes with this much filler! I realize that crab is not the cheapest shellfish in the world and harvesting the meat takes some effort, but if I'm paying $20+ for a crabcake dinner in a restaurant, there better be a big ratio of crab damn it!

My mom's recipe for crab cakes is almost entirely crab meat and the breadcrumbs are used only for binding and coating, not to stuff the cake! Granted, we do like onions and celery in our crabcakes for added flavor and crunch, but that's not really filler. I warn you, this is not the cheapest meal, but it's so delicious and rich and filling that 1lb of meat will make enough to satisfy an entire family.

You have to use LUMP crab meat for this. Don't get backfin or any other variety. It will not have the same effect and frankly will not taste as good. Lump crab meat allows for moist succulent crab cakes. Seriously, don't even bother with this recipe if you're not going to pony up for the meat. Obviously fresh is rarely an option so I highly recommend the Philips brand and if you're lucky enough to have a Costco or other bulk food club membership, 1 pound containers of lump crab meat usually run for under $20.

You should get 8 large crab cakes or about 24 silver dollar sized crab cake appetizers out of this recipe.

THE NIBBLES
Ingredients:
1 pound of lump crab meat.
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup mayo (don't go with light on this one, get the full fat variety)
1 egg
1-2 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning (there is no substitute for this)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
a pinch or two of Kosher Salt
4-5 grinds of Black Pepper
1 1/2 - 2 cups plain bread crumbs (panko is too course for this)
1 lemon (half for cakes, half for garnish)
vegetable or olive oil for pan frying

Dice your celery and onion and then throw them in a pan. Cook them until they've just begun to soften and the onions are just starting to become translucent. If you throw them into the crab cakes raw, they will be far too crunchy later on. Lay them out on a plate and put them in the fridge to cool. (Adding hot veggies to the mix later can cook the egg)

In a large bowl, combine the mayo, juice from half the lemon (start with half this amount and add more if you like it more tart), Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, and pepper. Mix together and taste it. Now is the time to adjust the flavoring if anything feels out of balance. Adjust if needed, then add the egg and combine until smooth.



Open and drain your can of crab meat. View the lumpy goodness of white crab flesh and savor the smell of goodness coming your way.

Dump the celery and onions and the oh so delicious crab meat into the bowl with the mayo and egg mixture. Stick your hands in there and toss everything around allowing some of those lumps to break down while coating everything with a nice layer of the mayo mixture. Why hands? Because using a fork or spoon is too rough and will break up too much of the meat. Invest in a box of latex gloves if you're too squeamish to use your hands.


Now add some (not much) of the bread crumbs to help soak up a little of that moisture because right now the crab mixture is a bit too wet. Add one tablespoon at a time until the mix just begins to bind. Do not add more than a 1/4 c of bread crumbs.

Put the bowl into the fridge and refrigerate for an hour. Yes my friend, an hour. This gives all the ingredients time to get together and do a little dance, make a little love, down tonight. It also makes for tighter crab cakes. (If you are making the smaller ones, only refrigerate for 20-30 minutes)

Now would be a good time to prepare your side dishes. This is when I made the Warm Potato Salad. (The Summer Salad was already in the fridge from the night before.) I've also served this with roasted red potatoes and Braised Brussel Sprouts. Something light and something starchy would be a good compliment to this. I'd avoid french fries or anything too heavy because the crab cakes will be quite rich.

*one hour passes*

Grab a plate or a wide shallow bowl and pour in your bread crumbs. Set a large pan on the burner and add about a 1/8 inch of oil. We're not deep frying here, just pan frying the outside and heating up the inside.

Time to get dirty again! Grab a handful of meat (large cakes) or about golfball sized amount (small cakes, form into a ball, roll in bread crumbs until coated, and then lightly smush flat into a burger patty shape. I said lightly, damn it! Don't get all Herculean on me or you'll ruin it. ***If they crumble apart the minute they're set down on the plate, you don't have enough bread crumbs in there. Stop what you're doing and add more then try to form about cake***Set on another plate while you form the rest of the meat into patties. By the time you're done with this, the pan should be ready.

This was my assembly station when I made the appetizer sized ones at my mom's house:


Set those crab cakes in the pan and listen as they sizzle and cool away! Cook for about 3-5 minutes or until you see this happening to the edges:



Flip over and cook another 3-5 minutes or until browned. You can always lift an edge up to see if they're browned yet or not.

Remove from pan and blot on paper towel quickly. Serve immediately with a wedge of lemon to sprinkle on top. No roumelade here, girls, just straight up crab cakes with a bit of lemon. Trust me... you won't need or want anything else.


(served with Warm Lemony Greek Potato Salad and Summer Salad)