Crab Cakes and More HOT weather

Well, the title says it all - and we are still under seige here in Riverside with temps in the high nineties, day after day.

But rather than whine, I will blog away about a subject dear to my heart (and Eddy's and Alex's and... and...), Crabcakes. Delicious, delicate, slightly spicy, very savory, wonderful crabcakes.

We had two Dungeness crabs from last week's trip to the 99 Ranch Market (more about that in a minute) which we steamed up on Saturday. The kids only eat the claws, so I always shell out the lump meat (which is not really that much work, considering the reward) and make crab cakes a day or two later.

For the meat from two large crabs I used 2 eggs, about 2 cups of soft bread crumbs (I made mine from english muffins), 1/4 cup grated onion, 1/4 cup fine-chopped celery, dashes of tobasco and worcester sauce, about a teaspoon of cajun-style seasoning (Old Bay works very well, too), and about 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper, and finally, about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of mayo and some good squeezes of fresh lemon juice.

You mix everything but the crab together first to avoid over-mixing when you add the crab. Then you gently fold in the crab. Next form patties with about 1/4 c. mixture each, and gently press them in more bread crumbs on each side. Put on a wax-lined cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

When you are ready to serve heat up some butter in a skillet - I've been using the electric skillet because it's so darn hot and that doesn't heat up the kitchen like the viking - and when it gets close to nut-brown start adding the crab cakes in. They will cook for about 3-4 minutes per side - until the crust is golden. Don't crowd them in the pan. Serve with lemon wedges and any other sauce you think you might like. I make a tartar sauce just like my Mom used to make - mayo, chopped onion, chopped dill pickles, garlic salt, a little dill-pickle juice and a little lemon juice. I try to make it ahead a little so that it has time to sit and let the flavors blend together.

I saw lots of interesting sauces on the internet - creamy mustard, spicy avacado, caper and mayo, but we keep coming back to the tried and true. Crab cakes are a bit of work, so we like to stick to what we know we're going to like. Eddy loves these leftover (when that happens) for breakfast the next day.