Etta’s New Crab Cakes

By raffterman

Ingredients

• 8 slices white sandwich bread
• 3 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. coarsely chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 Tbs. cider vinegar
• 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbs. coarsely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 Tbs. coarsely chopped onion
• 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 lb. fresh or pasteurized blue lump crabmeat, drained and picked clean of shell, or 1 lb. fresh Dungeness crabmeat (note: if you’re using Dungeness, squeeze the crabmeat lightly to remove excess liquid)
• 6 Tbs. unsalted butter
• Red-Eye Cocktail Sauce, for serving
• 4 lemon wedges

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from finecooking.com

Preparation

Step 1

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To make mini cakes, shape the crab cake mixture into 24 small cakes, about 1 heaping Tbs. each. Cook the crab cakes as directed in the recipe in batches of as many cakes as will fit comfortably in the skillet without crowding, and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Tear up the bread and pulse it in a food processor to make fine, soft crumbs (you should have about 3-1/2 cups). Pour the crumbs into a 9x13-inch (or similar-size) dish and mix in 3 Tbs. of the parsley.

In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, vinegar, mustard, bell pepper, onion, Tabasco, paprika, thyme, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, and the remaining 2 tsp. parsley. Pulse to finely mince the vegetables and combine all the ingredients. With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube until the mixture emulsifies and forms a thin mayonnaise.

Transfer the mayonnaise to a large bowl and stir in the sour cream. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the crabmeat, taking care not to break up the lumps. Pour the crab mixture onto a large rimmed baking sheet and portion it into eight equal mounds. Gently shape each mound into a patty about 3 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. (The mixture will be quite wet.)

Using a spatula to move the patties, lightly dredge each patty on both sides in the reserved breadcrumb mixture. Cover the crab cakes with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. (You can leave the cakes right in the pan of breadcrumbs and chill them as long as overnight.)

Heat the oven to 200°F. Heat 3 Tbs. of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the butter melts, add four crab cakes to the pan. Gently fry the crab cakes until they’re golden brown on both sides and heated through, turning just once with a spatula, about 4 min. per side. Transfer the cakes to a plate (don’t cover) and keep them warm in the oven. Wipe the skillet clean and cook the remaining crab cakes as above, using the remaining 3 Tbs. butter.

Make Ahead Tips

This is the second time I've made these. The flavour is great and I like the fact that apart from the crab (which I can have canned in the fridge for months), it's pretty much all pantry items. My husband is a huge crab-cake fan and absolutely loves it when I make these, but I find it frustrating that they fall apart so easily when I flip them in the skillet (and also when we're eating them). This time I added some bread crumbs to the crab mixture, to try to firm them up (as you would with hamburgers), but the result was the same - nice and firm out of the fridge, but so floppy in the skillet that they were a challenge to flip. Next time I might try chilling them for more than the hour suggested. Or use all the butter to fry - I used only 1 Tbsp each time, that might be the problem. Either way, I'll definitely make them again. I agree with other reviewers that you don't need that many breadcrumbs - a half-recipe would be enough.

Wonderful flavor if a bit messy to put together. Also there was probably 2 cups of breadcrumbs left over. I would like to try a little less butter next time as they were a little rich for me. I hope it works next time I make these delicious crab cakes.

These are incredible crab cakes. They are moist and full of crab. I have scooped the mixture right into the bread crumbs as well as putting it on a cookie sheet as suggested. Both worked. It was easier and less dishes to put it right into the bread. My guests request these now of me!

I tried twice to make these crab cakes. They look so lovely. It was a complete mess, total soup that I could not get to form a cake or fry, and I tried several things to get them to work. I was very disappointed.

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