Crab Cakes Recipe w Fresh Crab
Crab Cakes Recipe w Fresh Crab
Your Nugget of Nutritional Info for this post:
Panko explodes out of the bread-box for today's...psyche! Crab is the feature of today's gustatory 411, of course, crustaceans out of Alaska, to be exact, and to be tangential--a pincher snapping a mere 6 claws instead of the usual 8 sported by these "spiders of the sea" (no Jessica, it isn't chicken)
Sure, it provides more salt than mermaids require, but it also turns you into jerky from the inside out, and who doesn't like jerky! Its cholesterol factor is as high as this crab is stone, too, but its low calorie count keeps another type of fat at bay..(in bay?) The kind you can see, too, so that's important, and it's certainly pricey enough to keep the "Code Blue's" to a minimum, so we won't worry about these unfortunate stowaways overly. (too late!)
A 10 gram serving of this special-occasional indulgence--the inside scoop of your average, robust leg—offers more than heart problems. It provides vitamins! Nutrients! Protein, and other common nouns in the "who cares" category, because, honestly, what health benefits I may or may not be reaping when reaping crab is the farthest thing from my mind when I get crackin'. Suffice to say, there's "a lot" of protein per serving, a "respectable amount" of essential fatty amino acids, and "enough" vitamins to "Wheel of Fortune" the word 'vitamins' together at least in part, if not entirety.
So, with 'adon't'—ado's little known counterpart--let's make some SpongeBob Specials!
The Results!
Dipping Sauce is listed here as a separate recipe
The Ingredients for the Crab Cakes
Recipe in Rebus:
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh, cooked crab legs
- 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs, free range & cage free
- 3 or 4 stalks celery, diced fine
- ¾ cup shallots, minced
- ½ cup green bell pepper, diced fine
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup Italian parsley
- 2 TBSP. dry mustard spice
- 1 TBSP. lo-so soy sauce
- 2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning, the kind for fish & poultry
- 2-4 TBSP. olive oil
- ¼ cup brandy
How to Do It:
- First, you'll prep your crab. It's advisable to ask the butcher to slice the shells lengthwise when you purchase them, otherwise, do this yourself right now. I usually grab a range of tools, as you can see from the first illustrative photo, including: meat mallet, shell cracker & a knife.
- Remove all flesh from the shells and shred into bite-size pieces, keeping a nice range of shreds to chunks. (just imagine how you'd like to find your crab!) Place in bowl, and place in the refrigerator for the time being.
- Moving on to the veggie prep. Remove ends from celery stalks, and slice each "plank" into about 4 thin strips. Then dice these fairly fine.
- I don't use a food processor for the shallots in this recipe to prevent the dice from becoming too watery. Mince shallots, bell pepper and garlic, keeping these items separate.
- I find it easiest to assemble a tray with the 4 items on them at this point. Celery, shallots, bell pepper & garlic--and head on over to the stove top.
- Into pan sizzling with olive oil, add the shallots first. Cook for a minute or two, and --->
- Add celery.
- Add bell pepper. Cook for another minute or two, but don't cook the crunch out of the veggies entirely!
- Add garlic, and just as soon as you hear the garlic sizzle---->
- Add @ ½ of the brandy to deglaze the pan. Let that cook off for a minute, mixing with spatula as it does so. Remove from heat, place in bowl & set aside for now.
- Crack 2 eggs into a separate bowl, and fork blend.
- Add the remaining brandy.
- Add the soy sauce.
- Add dry mustard spice, and blend vigorously. This tricky little spice wants to stay in unassimilated clumps, so be diligent.
- Add Old Bay Spice.
- Add minced parsley.
- Retrieve the reserved sauteed veggie mix (celery, shallos, bell & garlic) and add 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs.
- Add reserved, shredded crab. Mix this into a crumbly mixture.
- Combine the crymbly crab mixture with the egg mixture, and mix well. You're looking for a moist end result here, not too crumbly, as you are now going to flatten the cakes into a "bed" of Panko crumbs as you form them. The mixture should stick together well, but not have so much moisture it drips. If you feel it's too moist at this point, add a little of the reserved cup of Panko breadcrumbs.
- Rip off a rectangle of parchment paper and place on counter. On one half of the paper, distribute the remaining cup of Panko breadcrumbs into an even layer. Be sure to keep one side of the paper clear of crumbs, in order to place the cakes there as you go.
- Press crab cake mixture into a ¼ cup measure, and tap cup bottom to release mixture onto the breadcrumb bed.
- Very lightly, but with enough strength to flatten the cake into a patty that's about a half inch thick, press the cake into the Panko breadcrumbs. Be very light-handed here, since if too much adheres, the cakes won't stick together.
- Flip gently and repeat. Do this for all the cakes! Once assembled, it's VERY IMPORTANT to let them chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more. This helps them "set".
- Thereafter, cook over a medium-high heat, 2-3 minutes each side, remove and drain on paper towel. The recipe for the dipping sauce can be found right here at Charronschatter Hub Pages, at this URL: http://tinyurl.com/c63p2o7 (just copy and paste)
You must refrigerate the formed cakes for 1/2 hour
Once the cakes have has time to set, head on over to the stove-top. Heat pan to sizzling over medium-high heat, and cook cakes to golden brown, about 2-3 minutes each side.
Recipe in Rebus (cont.)
Great Buys on Amazon!
Serving Suggestion:
