Crab Cakes with Garlic Aioli

By henwiller

An undeniably delicious recipe, it's my go to for crab cakes. It's all very tasty but the garlic aioli is what makes this dish so amazing!

Ingredients

• GARLIC AIOLI:
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated and divided
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel, finely grated
• 4 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped and divided
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• Large pinch of cayenne pepper
• 6-8 ounces fresh lump crabmeat, picked over, patted dry, coarsely shredded
• 1 1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pans
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chives, freshly chopped (optional)

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from sniffsniffhooray.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cook's note: If you follow the recipe completely, they turn out rather soupy and hard to work with. I’ve adapted the recipe to what I did to make it not so soupy)

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in medium bowl until smooth. Add 1/4 cup Parmesan and egg; beat to blend. Beat in sour cream, lemon peels, 4 teaspoons chopped chives, coarse salt, and cayenne pepper. Fold in crabmeat and 1/2 cup of panko. This can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Toss remaining panko, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and 2 tablespoons chopped chives in small bowl. Drizzle 1/4 cup melted butter over, tossing with fork until evenly moistened. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon portions of of the chilled crab mixture in the panko-Parmesan mixture, and pan-fry the crab cakes in a skillet of melted butter set over medium-high heat.

This aioli is amazing. I can only imagine the endless possibilities of what you can spread this on. It makes quite a bit, so feel free to half accordingly.

Mince garlic and make into paste using the side of your knife. Hint: to make this go faster add a bit of salt to the garlic and continue mashing with the side of your knife.

Place the paste in a large bowl and add: the sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and oil. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fold in the chives. Give it a final taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.