Maryland Crab Cakes With Sun Dried Tomato Aioli Food

PERFECT MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Trim the crusts from the bread; discard, or reserve for another use. Tear the remaining bread into little pieces (about 20 pieces per slice); handle the bread lightly, so the pieces remain fluffy and don't flatten out. Place the bread pieces in a bowl, and sprinkle them with the wine; toss lightly to distribute the wine evenly.
• Pick over the backfin and the jumbo lump crabmeat to remove any bits of shell. In a large mixing bowl, toss together the backfin and jumbo lump crabmeat. Season to taste with salt and with Maryland crab seasoning. Add the soaked bread, beaten eggs, lemon juice, and melted butter; toss lightly, making sure to keep the crab lumps whole. Add the mayonnaise, and toss the mixture gently with your hands, distributing the mayonnaise evenly. Taste again for seasoning, if desired (if you don't want to taste raw egg, you can saute a bit of the mixture in butter). For even better flavor, allow the mixture to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.
• When you are ready to cook, place a large, heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat; the pan should have enough room for 3 crab cakes. Add enough lard and vegetable oil (in fifty-fifty production) to create a 1-inch depth of oil. When the oil is medium-hot, quickly shape 1/2 the crab mixture with your hands into 3 cakes, each roughly the size and shape of a large hamburger. Gently place the cakes in the oil, making sure to preserve their shapes. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the cakes are golden on one side. Flip them carefully with a spatula, and fry on the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. After about 8 minutes, the cakes should be golden brown on all sides and heated through (you want the pieces of bread inside to virtually disappear). Remove the cakes from the pan, and place them on paper towels. Repeat and make 3 more cakes with the remaining mixture.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES, THE REAL DEAL

Steps:

• Mix first 6 ingredients in a large bowl.
• CAREFULLY fold in crabmeat by hand into well blended ingredients, so as not to break up crab lumps.
• Add bread crumbs and, using hands, blend all ingredients -- still taking care to not break up lumps.
• Carefully form into 10 slightly flattened cakes.
• Refrigerate cakes several hours or overnight.
• Prepare by either frying in olive oil or butter, or broiling.
• Note: Frying in electric skillet in a little olive oil and butter for several minutes per side works very well for me.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES I

Steps:

• Pick the crab meat to remove any remaining pieces of shell.
• Pick bread into small pieces and place in medium-size bowl with crabmeat. Add egg, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and Old Bay seasoning ™. Mix ingredients by hand to avoid overworking the crabmeat, you want to keep the lumps of meat as much as possible. Form into patties; this should make 6 good-size cakes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet, then fry cakes for about 4 minutes each side or until brown crust forms on both sides of the crab cake.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Gently mix, by hand, crabmeat, scallions, herb, Old Bay, bread crumbs, and mayonnaise in medium bowl, being careful not to break up crab lumps. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Carefully fold in egg with rubber spatula until mixture just clings together.
• Divide crab mixture into four portions and shape each into a fat, round cake, about 3 inches across and 1 1/2-inches high. Arrange on baking sheet lined with waxed paper; cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes. (Can refrigerate up to 24 hours.).
• Put flour on plate or in pie tin. Lightly dredge crab cakes. Heat oil in large, preferably nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Gently lay chilled crab cakes in skillet; pan-fry until outsides are crisp and browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serve hot,.
• Chef's Notes.
• Use a *very* delicate hand when mixing. You don't want to break up the crab meat.
• Use the bare minimum of filler necessary to just hold the cakes together. These are Crab Cakes, not crab flavoured bread cakes!
• You can broil them rather than fry. In that case, omit the flour dusting. Be very careful when turning. You don't want them to fall apart.

CRAB CAKES FROM MARYLAND GOVERNOR'S KITCHEN

Steps:

• Pick through crab meat twice to remove cartilage or shell. Try not to break up lumps of Backfin. Keep crabmeat chilled during process by putting ice cubes in a large mixing bowl then placing a slightly smaller bowl inside to hold the picked meat. After the first picking, feel for missed cartilage while returning crab meat to the crab meat container. Chill crab meat until ready to mix.
• Put saltine crackers in a mini-food processor and process to a fine crumb. Alternatively, tear slices of bread into small pieces and put in mixing bowl.
• Add regular mayonnaise and yellow mustard to mixing bowl. For the Eastern Shore purists, the addition of Old Bay seasoning is controversial, but Baltimore residents won't call it a crab cake without some; one teaspoon adds a subtle taste.
• Beat egg whites until stiff, then fold into filler mixture.
• Gently fold in reserved crab meat.
• Make 4 to 6 cakes, pressed gently together. Chill covered in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to set cakes.
• Fill frying pan to 1/4-inch with canola oil. Heat canola oil to 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Gently place crab cakes in oil and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Use spatula (and fork, if necessary) to carefully turn crab cakes. Fry for another 2-3 minutes.
• Drain oil from crab cakes on paper towels, then serve hot with some saltine crackers on the side.
• TO BROIL: Since these crab cakes have the minimum amount of filler required to hold them together, you may broil them on a lightly oiled baking sheet (1 tablespoon oil) 4-6 inches away from the heat source until golden brown. If you use low-calorie mayonnaise, this would be the preferred way to cook the cakes.
• TO MICROWAVE: Only use 1/2 tablespoon of oil to brush on a large flat plate. Microwave plate for 2 minutes on HIGH to heat oil. Place cakes on plate and microwave for 7 minutes on HIGH.

BAKED MARYLAND LUMP CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
• Combine bread crumbs, baking powder, parsley, mustard powder, pepper, and seafood seasoning; set aside. Stir together mayonnaise, butter, Worcestershire, and egg product until smooth. Fold in crab meat, then fold in bread crumb mixture until well blended.
• Shape mixture into 12 crab cakes, about 3/4 inch thick, and place onto prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the crab cakes over, and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until nicely browned.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Process crackers in food processor until finely ground.
• Dry crabmeat well with paper towels.
• Using rubber spatula, gently combine crabmeat, 1/4 c cracker crumbs, scallions, melted butter, mayonnaise, egg yolk, mustard hot sauce and Old Bay in a large bowl.
• Divide mixture into 4 equal portions and shape into tight, mounded cakes. Press top of each cake in remaining crumbs.
• Transfer crumb side down to a large plate and refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours.
• Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat broiler. Grease an 8" square area in center of rimmed baking sheet with softened butter.
• Transfer crab cakes to prepared baking sheet, crumb side down. Broil until crab cakes are golden brown, 12-15 minutes.
• Serve with lemon wedges.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES WITH BASIL AIOLI

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix crabmeat, onion, crushed crackers, eggs, mayonnaise and seasonings.
• Gently mix everything together and shape into crab cakes.
• Saute cakes in a little oil for about five minutes on each side or until golden brown.
• To prepare aioli, place egg yolks, garlic and basil in a blender.
• Start the blender and slowly add oil.
• When thoroughly mixed and creamy, add salt and lemon juice and if you want it hot and spicy the option red pepper or cayenne.
• Serve the aioli on the side as a dipping sauce.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATO AIOLI

Steps:

• For the crab cakes: Heat oil in large skillet and add the scallions, celery and red pepper dice. Saute for 4-5 minutes until vegetables are barely tender.
• Remove from heat, transfer to a plate and let cool.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the egg and whisk in the Old Bay, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper and parsley.
• Add the cooled vegetable mixture and stir to mix.
• Add crab meat and 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs and stir gently to mix, be careful not to break up the crab meat.
• Scoop about one-half cup of the mixture for each cake and shape them. Use extra crumbs to coat the outside if cakes are too moist.
• Arrange on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
• When ready to cook, melt shortening in a skillet over medium heat. Put crab cakes in 3-4 at a time and saute until golden brown, no longer than 3 minutes per side.
• To make the aioli simply add the sun-dried tomatoes and the mayonnaise together and stir well to mix.
• Taste for additional seasoning (salt and pepper) and refrigerate until ready to serve.