Crab Louie from food & wine

201105-r-crab-louie

DRESSING
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper

SALAD
3/4 pound asparagus
Two 6-ounce romaine hearts, cut crosswise 1/2 inch thick
One 6-ounce seedless cucumber, thinly sliced or cut into spears
4 large radishes, thinly sliced
4 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges (optional)
4 hard-cooked eggs, cut into wedges
1 pound crabmeat, preferably Dungeness

In a bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the ketchup, relish, lemon juice, garlic, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and chili powder and season with salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the asparagus until just tender, 3 minutes. Drain and cool.
Arrange the romaine, cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, eggs and asparagus on a platter. Top with large chunks of the crabmeat and serve, passing the dressing at the table.

Crab cakes with spicy avocado sauce from epicurious.com

Japanese bread crumbs, called panko , give these cakes a light, crisp coating. Panko is sold at Asian markets and can often be found in the seafood section of large supermarkets. But if it’s unavailable, plain dry bread crumbs are an acceptable substitute.

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For sauce
1/2 ripe medium California avocado, pitted and peeled
1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 fresh jalapeño or serrano chile (including seeds), stemmed and quartered lengthwise
1/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk

For crab cakes
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over and coarsely shredded
3 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup minced fresh chives
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Make sauce:
Pulse avocado with mayonnaise, lime juice, salt, sugar, and one fourth of chile in a food processor until chile is finely chopped. Add milk and purée until smooth. Add more chile if desired, processing until smooth. Transfer sauce to a bowl and chill, covered.

Make crab cakes:
Stir together crabmeat, mayonnaise, chives, lemon juice, mustard, pepper, and 1 tablespoon panko in a large bowl until blended well, then chill, covered.

Melt butter in a medium nonstick skillet over moderate heat, then cook garlic, stirring, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add herbes de Provence, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons panko and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer crumbs to a plate to cool. Discard garlic.

Divide crabmeat mixture into 4 mounds on a sheet of wax paper. Form 1 mound into a patty, then carefully turn patty in crumb mixture to coat top and bottom. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with remaining 3 mounds, then sprinkle remaining crumbs on top of crab cakes. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes. Serve crab cakes with sauce.

Crab Cakes “ Zephyrs End

Our favorite crab cakes are served at O’Leary’s Seafood Restaurant in Annapolis, MD, second choice are served at Zephyrs End, our house. Recipe was found in the Washington Post, a contest to determine the best crab cakes in the area, Kimberley’s recipe came in third behind two restaurant’s take out cakes. I’ve changed the recipe to suit our tastes; will include the original following my version.

16 oz crabmeat, we buy the tins at Costco
3-4 slices white bread with crust
1 egg
¼ c. mayo
dash Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp or so lemon juice
½ to 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Old Bay Seasoning

Carefully sort through the crabmeat for pieces of shell, being careful not to smoosh the meat. In a food processor, process the bread into breadcrumbs. In a large bowl whisk the egg than add miracle whip, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper to taste, and a good sprinkle of Old Bay.

Place about three quarters of the breadcrumbs atop the crabmeat. Carefully pour the wet mixture on top of the crabmeat. Gently incorporate the mixture. Add more breadcrumbs as necessary you want everything to hold together just right. You can use remaining breadcrumbs, if there are any as a coating.

Form the mixture into 6-8 balls, patting them slightly with your hands. If desired use the remaining bread crumbs to coat the outside of the cakes. Set the cakes on a tray and allow to rest for about an hour in the frig.

Heat a large skillet with butter. When hot carefully place the cakes in the pan, trying to keep them separated. Gently shake the pan so the cakes don’t stick to it. Quickly saute them till golden on each side. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6-8 crab cakes

Crab Cakes Kimberley Taylor

8 ounces lump blue crab
8 ounces back fin blue crabmeat
5-8 slices firm white bread, crust removed
2 eggs
dash Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
handful of fresh parsley, minced
bunch of chives, snipped
4 tbsp clarified butter

Carefully sort through the crabmeat for pieces of shell, being careful not to smoosh the meat. In a food processor, process the bread into breadcrumbs. In a large bowl whisk the eggs and whisk in the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste. Place about ½ of the breadcrumb mixture atop the crabmeat. Carefully pour about ½ of the egg mixture atop that. Gently incorporate the mixture. If you like your crab cakes wet, add more of the egg mixture. If you like them dry, add more breadcrumbs. The goal is to get everything holding together nicely, without being too wet or dry. Save the remaining crumbs for the coating.

Now add the parsley and chives, blending lightly.

Form the mixture into 6-8 balls, patting them slightly with your hands (used about ½ to ¾ c of the crab mix for each cake). Use the remaining crumbs to liberally coat the outside of the cakes, and then set them on a tray to rest. Refrigerate for at least an hour, but overnight is great.

Heat a large skillet with butter. When hot carefully place the cakes in the pan, trying to keep them separated. Gently shake the pan so the cakes don’t stick to it. Quickly saute them till golden on each side. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6-8 crab cakes