Maryland Crabcakes
As the waters of the Gulf of Mexico begin to warm every spring Louisiana Blue Point Crab season is in full swing. Succulent lump crabmeat can be found in seafood markets throughout the Bayou State at reduced prices however even as the price drops due to availability it is still rather expensive. A great way to stretch your lump crab and enjoy a great dish is to prepare some crab cakes. This recipe for crab cakes was developed up the East Coast where crab can be found in similar abundance. It utilizes fresh lump crabmeat but uses fillers such as eggs, mayonnaise and breadcrumbs to help stretch the costly main ingredient. I always prefer to use fresh crabmeat, frozen is just not as good. When crabmeat is frozen ice crystals form during the freezing process. Upon defrosting the ice crystals cut through the meat. This is the reason why frozen crabmeat has a tendency to shred. A technique used to minimize the shredding process is to defrost the crabmeat slowly under refrigeration not under running water. The faster you defrost the meat, the more abruptly the ice crystals cut through the meat, therefore the more shredding you have. You can also reduce the cost of the dish by cutting the amount of lump crab used in the recipe and use a back-fin white crabmeat or claw crabmeat. I prefer to spend the money and enjoy my lumps.

Maryland Style Crab Cake

Ingredients:

2 T unsalted butter ¼ cup minced onion 2 T minced green bell pepper 2 T minced red bell pepper 2 T minced celery 1 T minced garlic 1 egg, lightly beaten ¼ cup mayonnaise 2 T Creole or Coarse Ground mustard

2 T minced parsley 2 T minced green onion 1 t Pat's Spice Blend ½ t dried Thyme Leaves ½ t hot sauce 1 pound lump crabmeat ½ cup packed fresh breadcrumbs 2 T plus 2 cups plain bread crumbs Vegetable Oil for deep-frying

 

Directions:
1. Heat butter in a sauté pan, add onion, green & red bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from stove place in bowl and allow mixture to cool.
2. To the onion mixture, add egg, mayonnaise, Creole mustard, parsley, green onion, Pat's Spice Blend, Thyme Leaves, lump crabmeat and stir carefully to avoid breaking up lumps until blended.
3. Stir in fresh breadcrumbs and 2 T plain breadcrumbs place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Place remaining 2 cups of breadcrumbs in a bowl. Remove stuffing from refrigerator and shape stuffing into 10 individual cakes dust in bread crumbs place on plate and refrigerate for additional 30 minute.
5. Heat vegetable oil for frying and carefully drop crab cakes in oil and cook until golden brown.

Yield 10 Appetizer portions or 5 entrees portions



Chef Patrick Mould
Louisiana Culinary Enterprises, Inc
http://louisianaschoolofcooking.com
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