When the $25 worth of crab meat came into this house I knew there was no way any of it would go to waste, even though I purchased too much at one time last Sunday at Mandeville Seafood. I have had to schedule the consumption of all of this premium seafood - letting it become “seafoody” is not an option.
We grilled salmon (which reminds me I have to top a salad with that today although I was planning to have some of the crab and corn soup), pan-fried snapper, chargrilled oysters, and made crab cakes.
It has long been a fantasy of mine to serve beautiful and delicious mini crabcakes at some party. It has never happened, so I made it happen this week. It was really just my intention to make crabmeat Ravigote with the crabmeat, but I was unimpressed with the results. As I mentioned in the beginning of this piece, $25 lb crabmeat does not go to waste. It had to be repurposed. I added some egg and grated some stale Reising’s bread from the weekend into breadcrumbs.
I tossed this all together and rolled the small balls of crab mixture into the breadcrumbs, careful not to flatten them. Each crab cake was about an inch in diameter and an inch high.
They went into a hot skillet with melted butter. Because I think it’s really important not to overwork a crabcake mixture, it was really hard to turn these when it was time to turn them. They were stuck to the pan. I used a fork but needed an assist from a spoon, rolling them gently onto the spoon. It’s a delicate nuance to sense when the crabcake is brown on the bottom and not black. Most of them were brown.
I placed them on a serving platter with a bed of mixed greens, and drizzled remoulade sauce on them and around them. Absent guests for the mythical party, Tom and I ate them all, but I want to be clear, not at one sitting. Tom ate his right off the serving plate. With all the dishwashing going on around here, I didn’t object.
½ pint lump crabmeat (jumbo lump not necessary)
½ cup mayo
1 tsp dill
1 tsp tarragon
Dash of Tabasco
Coarse ground black pepper to taste
1 egg for egg wash
2 cups breadcrumbs
2 Tbs butter
Combine all ingredients except 1 cup of the breadcrumbs
Form balls of this mixture and roll in the remaining breadcrumbs.
Heat skillet on medium and melt the butter.
Shape into crabcakes and place carefully in the pan. Turn gently using a spoon to assist.
