Crabby Crab Cakes

One of my favorite things in the world are crab cakes.  I love them any which way - on their own, in salads, in a sandwich, or even as a replacement for the ham in eggs benedict which I highly recommend.  If they are on the menu, I order them.  I am equally enamored by the sauce that accompanies the crab cake.  The sauce can take a so-so crab cake and send it over the top.  There are many recipes for crab cakes, so I won't proclaim this to be the best recipe for crab cakes, but it does to come close - at least in my book.  These crab cakes are crabby (hence the name); you can really taste the crab as they are only lightly seasoned.   They are moist and substantial.  You can definitely use them as your main meal, but you can also make them small for little appetizers.  They are easy to make and you can mix and form them ahead of time and keep them refrigerated until you are ready to cook them.  However, if you do have any leftovers (doesn't happen often in my house), they are great leftover served warm or cold.

I hate to admit it but I am a sauce person.  You either are or you aren't.  I love a good sauce and probably have a tendency to use too much, but it tastes so good!  I have to say a few words about the sauce I made to go with the crab cakes.  Normally I make a tartar sauce out of mayo, sweet relish, capers and maybe a little mustard.  But a while back, I was visiting my brother and my sister-in-law was making fish sandwiches for us.  She showed me the tartar sauce recipe and I turned my nose up a bit because it had horseradish in it and I'm not a big fan of horseradish (one of the few foods I don't like).  However, she whipped this recipe up and my brother told me how good it was.  My curiosity got the better of me and I tentatively tasted the slightly pink sauce.  He was right.  It was really good.  Needless to say, it is now my favorite tartar sauce recipe.  It is really tangy, not sweet and it goes really well with these crab cakes.

If you're a crab cake fan like I am, give these a try.  I'd love to hear your comments.  Feel free to experiment and add any other seasonings or vegetables to them.  And be sure to use your favorite tartar sauce recipe, or if you don't have one, try this one.  I promise you can't taste the horseradish!

Crabby Crab Cakes

2/3 cup mayonnaise

5 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped, fresh parsley

2 1/2 cups saltine crackers

2 1bs. lump crab meat

Mix all the ingredients together.  Mix lightly so you keep some large chunks of crab in each cake.  Form into 4oz. patties or smaller ones if you like.  Put in the refrigerator for at least one hour or in freezer if you're in a hurry for 20 minutes.  When ready to cook, lightly coat each cake with flour (remove any excess).  Fry the cakes in a mixture of olive oil (about 3-4 tablespoons) and butter (1/2 stick) until golden brown. As you can see from my picture above my butter had started to turn brown.  No problem it will only add more flavor.  Serve with tartar sauce.  Makes 12 cakes.

Tartar Sauce (by Sunny Anderson)  

1 cup mayonnaise

1 lemon, juiced

3 teaspoons prepared horseradish

2 teaspoons hot sauce

2 teaspoons dill relish

pinch of salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate until use.

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