Maryland Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes are a weakness of mine!

 Love them....but I never make them at home.  Maybe because I have to drive 20 miles for fresh, lump crab meat.   Tonight I decided to give it whirl.  This blog makes me want to try new things to cook...so that's great for my family.  However, the hips are feeling it because I can't eat crab cakes without tartar sauce (another weakness).  I don't mean tartar sauce out of the jar, I mean the real stuff (there is no comparison).  Once you make the homemade version (and see how easy it is) you won't go back!  I got the crab cake recipe from the blog Once Upon A Chef but I made some modifications. The tartar sauce is just a concoction of mine I've been making for years...hope you like it and give it a whirl yourself!

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

2-1/2 tablespoons Hellman's Mayonnaise

1-1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 egg

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

2 green onions, chopped

1-1/2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 pound lump crab meat (if using jumbo lump crab meat, break it up slightly)

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

2-3 cups Panko breadcrumbs (for coating crab cakes)

Blend first 7 ingredients in a large bowl.  Add crab meat and breadcrumbs and blend well.  Divide and roll into 6 balls.  Take each individual ball and squeeze the ingredients together and form into a patty.  The crab cakes are very fragile and fall apart easily, so you will need to use a light touch from here on out.  Take each crab cake and lightly dredge in bowl of remaining breadcrumbs.  Place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with wax paper.  When all the crab cakes are formed and on the cookie sheet, place sheet in freezer until you are ready to cook them.  

Take a large, fry pan and pour enough oil in to bring it up to about a 1/4 of an inch on the sides.  Make sure oil is hot because the crab cakes will cool it down when you place them in and that will cause the cakes to absorb too much oil.  They may splatter when cooking so be prepared for that.  Cook the crab cakes until golden brown, approximately 5-7 minutes on each side.

Take out of pan and place on a paper towel lined dish to absorb any extra oil.  Remove and place on serving dish.

Serve immediately with homemade tartar sauce.

TARTAR SAUCE

1 cup of  Hellman's mayonnaise

1/4 cup of diced onion

2 heaping tablespoons of dill relish (or you can chop some dill pickles)

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

(All of these measurements are approximate because I never measure, I just keep adding this and that until it tastes like I want it to...sorry! Next time I will measure but I think this is pretty close!)

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

ENJOY!