Maryland Crab Cakes with Quick Tartar Sauce

The most important thing when you’re making crab cakes is to use fresh, good quality lump crab meat. I get mine at Whole Foods, which can be expensive, but one pound is enough to make six generous crab cakes, which feeds my family of four easily. Or, if you live in the DC area (and are willing to make the trek into the city), you can find great quality, inexpensive crab meat at the Maine Avenue fish market.

Ingredients

For the Crab Cakes

• 2 large eggs
• 2-1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup finely diced celery, from one stalk
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 pound lump crab meat (see note below)
• 1/2 cup panko

Vegetable or canola oil, for cooking

For the Quick Tartar Sauce

• 1 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
• 1-1/2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon minced red onion
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

For the Crab Cakes

1. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Combine the eggs, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, celery, and parsley in a large bowl and mix well. Add the crab meat (be sure to check the meat for any hard and sharp cartilage) and panko; gently fold mixture together until just combined, being careful not to shred the crab meat. Shape into 6 crab cakes (about ½ cup each) and place on prepared baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat a large nonstick pan to medium heat and coat with canola oil. When oil is hot, place crab cakes in pan and cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side. Be careful as oil may splatter. Serve immediately with tartar sauce or a squeeze of lemon.

For the Quick Tartar Sauce

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Note: If you can only find jumbo lump crab meat, you may need to break the pieces up a bit. If the clumps are too large, the crab cakes won't hold together well.

Note: The nutritional information is for the crab cakes only.

Source:onceuponachef.com

Share this post