Crab Cakes in Baltimore & Maryland

[Howie]

Kim WB,

It's really funny you should post this, because we felt the same way about having crab withdrawal two weekends ago, before we headed down to Baltimore for a wedding.

While not exactly what you're looking for (crab and beer joint), we ended up going to Mo's Crab & Pasta Factory in the Italian district of Baltimore (really close to the Inner Harbor). Great garlic crabs and baseball sized crab cakes that are so delicious--we had a great time and definitely got our crab fix the short time we were in the area.

Please report back, because I'd love to hear more suggestions for next timer we're down there.

Howie

[Peter B Wolf]

"Angelina's Restaurant" in Parkville for Crab Cakes. They have a Web site.

[vengroff]

People around this area get quite excited about crab cakes made from blue crabs. I want to find out what all the fuss is about.

Before I begin, I should admit the biases I'm coming in with. My wife is from Seattle, and that's where I learned to appreciate seafood. For me, Dungeness Crab has always been at the top of the crab heap. A sweet, tender 2-1/2 pounder is hard to beat. It's great in a number of ways, ranging from simply steamed to a gingery Thai preparation. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to give the blue a fair shake, but I do need some guidance.

So, where should I go to experience the best crabcakes? Can I get them right in and around DC, or do I need to take a day trip to Baltimore or elsewhere? What's the proper crab to bread to spice and herb ratio? Is Old Bay the only way to go, or are there other good flavors for blue crab? Perhaps the best crab cakes I ever had contained sambal and were coated with panko before frying. I assume this is not traditional.

Moving beyond cakes, do you enjoy eating blue crabs whole, or is that more about the experience of whacking them to bits with a mallet? And what about soft-shells?

Finally, once I've tasted what good crab cakes should be, where should I shop for crabs or crabmeat so that I can make my own?

[eatingwitheddie]

People around this area get quite excited about crab cakes made from blue crabs.  I want to find out what all the fuss is about.

BLUE CRABS VS. DUNGENESS CRABS

To discover what all the fuss is about go buy some fat live heavy blue crabs. Rinse and if necessary lightly scrub them under cold running water. Take care not to get bitten. Drop the crabs in rapidly boiling well-salted water that you have made almost as salty as seawater. Remove them after about 7-8 minutes, and let the crabs cool a bit, so that you can handle them without getting burned.

If you're near an Asian market go buy a couple of live Dungeness crabs, those fat 2 1/2 pounders if you can find them. Treat them the same way except cook them a little longer: maybe 12 minutes, more or less, depending on the size of your crabs.

Next crack each type open and taste them side-by-side. Best way to learn the difference. To my mind the blue crab is sweeter and frankly superior, but is way harder to eat. It's best bite is the back fin meat located in the front corners of the body, though I love the claws when they aren't overcooked. By contrast, the Dungeness crab has great leg meat, and plentiful meat in the body as well, but the claws while worth eating are on the stringy side. It too is seriously delicious, I just don't think the Dungeness has as much 'oceanic sweetness'. By the way I like to make seafood bisques and find that blue crabs are particularly good for this purpose, again better than the Dungeness, though I do like it when I combine the two.

At its best blue claw crabmeat is sweet, fresh, delicious and extremely expensive. So much labor is required to 'pick' those small crabs. It is also virtually NEVER as good as the meat of freshly cooked live blue crabs that I make at home. It is always way easier.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a crab lover and often purchase and cook both blue and Dungeness, which are readily available, live in NYC (not to mention live freshwater crabs from China).

Bottom line is: if you're a crab lover you're lucky to be living in the Delmarva area. Make the most of it!

By the way the really large blue crabs that can weigh a pound or more, the jumbos, virtually always males, rarely make it to markets outside the area. I see them in NYC only once every year or two. Look for them, they're much more expensive but have much more reward (meat).

Only buy live crabs as they deteriorate noticeably and immediately after they die.

[halland]

Blue Crabs are definately a slow food, but one that is definately worth all the work. MD crabcakes are good, but for the real experience whole crabs or a softshell sandwich are much more the way to go. With blues it really is about the experience of sitting at a newspaper covered table with a mound of crabs in front of you and at least one pitcher of ice cold beer in front of you. 2-3 hours later when you've eaten your fill, you'll find you are encrusted in Old Bay (the crab seasioning), a 1" area around your lips is burning, and your fingernails are burning as well.

You might also look at this link.

Also, given the price of crabs I'd expect to spend about $100 for the two of you. When I lived out there we'd regularly plan 1/4-1/3 bushel per person.

Hal

[Joe H]

The link supplied above is an excellent link. Angelina's was retired to the Baltimore Hall of Fame for both best crab cake and best crab imperial (which may be better).http://www.crabcake.com/ is Angelina's link. This includes their recipe. Respectfully but Ruth's recipe is not for a Maryland crab cake. It may be absolutely delicious but it is as different as what I might eat in Seattle. I've had crab cakes at the Dahlia Lounge but thought their's were truly distant from what is served in several Maryland seafood houses. (With all respect to the owner's Maryland heritage.)

There are at least six places that have great crab cakes: Angelina's, Jerry's Seafood in Lanham, MD ($32.00 crab bomb), Stoney's in Broome Island, MD (30 miles south of D. C. beltway; arguably one of the most atmospheric and best crab houses-you sit at tables on a floating barge), G & S in Linthicum, Captain Galley's in Crisfield and Ocean City and the Narrows Restaurant in Kent Narrows. There are many other places that are a step below this including the Prime Ribs in both D. C. and Baltimore, Bo Brooks, Obrycki's, etc. ANY RESTAURANT THAT CLAIMS TO HAVE GREAT CRAB CAKES MUST CHARGE A SMALL FORTUNE FOR THEM. There are no exceptions to this. Lump crab meat which is what this is all about costs a lot. If they don't charge for it then there's not much of in the crab cake-or crab imperial.

The best crab house title is often awarded to Jimmy Cantler's Riverside Inn just outside of Annapolis. It is partially outdoors and sits adjacent to a marina where you cracks crabs steamed with Old Bay (this is the ideal-Stony's is like this also as is the Crab Claw in St. Michael's). Often they'll have Jumbos which are becoming increasingly hard to find as well as incredibly expensive. Both they and Stony's use Maryland blue crabs in season as do a number of Baltimore crab houses. At Cantler's there is NOTHING else that is exemplery including surprisingly mediocre crab imperial, cream of crab soup, etc. But most people go there only to eat crabs and drink beer. Stoney's has seriously good sides along with great crab cakes (noted above) and very good cream of crab soup and cole slaw. Good pie, too. There are many other locally famous places including Robertson's in Pope's Creek.

In season Maryland blue crabs hot out of the pot are incredible, succulent, sweet, one of the best tastes you will ever experience. They are totally different from Dungeness or Alaskan King Crab. Cracking crabs for many is an acquired taste but the taste of what you are working for is the best of all.

[Suzanne F]

Getting back to crabCAKES: we always enjoyed the ones at Market Lunch in Eastern Market (7th & Pennsylvania SE). He Who Only Eats had them again there recently, and said they were still excellent (lots of crab, a tiny bit of binder; very light coating, if any).

We also had very good crabcakes at Bertha's Mussels (Fells Point, Baltimore) -- in fact, they were much better than the mussels.

And I still miss driving out to St. Michaels in the Fiat convertible to eat at The Crab Claw -- and not just for the drive. Although I did knock out my garbage disposal thingy with the shells of the leftovers we brought home.

[Beachfan]

In my mind, it isn't the blue crab that makes Chesapeake crab cakes the best. It's the religious fervor in which they believe in only lump crabmeat and no filler.

[Al_Dente]

By all means, run, do not walk, to Faidley's at the Lexington Market in Baltimore and get their premium crab cake. It'll run you about $15, but this baseball sized hunk of lump meat is incredible.

Lexington Market itself is worth a look for all the fresh seafood and produce. Plus, it isn't far from Camden Yards, so a killer crabcake is a great way to begin or end a day up there for a ballgame.

[elyhtak]

An avid eater of all types of crab, I love love love the blue crab. It is definitely far sweeter and more succulent than a dungeness crab, which is still flavorful in it's own right. I can attest to the crab cake at Obrecky's and Prime Rib as very good, but having not tried crab cakes at all the popular spots I cannot in good faith call either "the best". As for steamed blue crabs Obrecky's is good but my family and I like Harris's Crab House better. They carry the jumbo crabs, which, in terms of working for the meat, the return-on-investment is worth it even for those who do not know the fastest/easiest ways to get the meat out. Harris's cooks their crabs in a spicy salt-pepper style of seasoning although I think they also offer old bay. A dozen steaming hot jumbo blue crabs, a pitcher of beer, and a seat outside next to the water at Harris's is a great way to spend a summer evening.

[Cuoca]

Took a trip to the Eastern Shore over the weekend. At Joe H's recommendation, I tried the crab cakes at The Narrows in Kent Narrows (very easy to spot off the Kent Narrows exit from Route 50) and at The Captain's Galley in Crisfield (at the bitter end of Hwy 413).

Those at The Narrows were some of the best, if not the best, I've had. It seemed they had no filler at all; completely beautiful lump crab, broiled to a light brown and served with exceptional tartar sauce. $30 for two large cakes, accompanied by two sides. This restaurant, by the way, sits right on the water, with an area of the dining room open to the elements in warm weather. Nice atmosphere, attentive service, and creative menu items.

I liked the crab cakes at The Captain's Galley also and would order them again. However, they were slightly greasy and contained filler which seemed to be concentrated in the center. They were served with commercially-prepackaged tartar and cocktail sauce. I don't remember the exact price, but I know it was under $20 for two cakes that came with either two sides or one side and a trip to the salad/bread bar. This restaurant sits about 50 feet from the water and the ferry/dock area. It is a typical diner joint. Service was a little slow.

Anyway, wanted to thank Joe H for the suggestions. I'll most definitely be having the cakes at The Narrows again! Superb!

[Damian]

Lots of good information here. I grew up in DC but my family also has a house on the Eastern Shore. Catching and eating Chesapeake blue crabs is a hallmark of Summer, and a way of life.

For cakes, there are two authentic styles, broiled or fried - which to order or make is purely a matter of preference and most crab houses will make either style on request. In their best form, as others have explained, crabcakes simply are big portions of backfin lump meat that is left in its natural chunky state (not over-handled into a stringy mess), seasoned (Old Bay is a classic seasoning, but everyone's got a favorite recipe), and held together with minimal binder (most typically light egg and sparse fine breadcrumbs). These are then sauteed in butter, or lightly broiled, on both sides.

For picking crabs buy males only. Better flavor, and, without getting into the whole raging debate, generally better for the population. You can tell a female from a male by looking at the underside - females (sallys and sooks) have a triangular apron while males (jimmies) have a t-shaped abdomen.

There is no grading standard for crabs in the Bay, with "jumbos" in Virginia tending to be smaller than "jumbos" farther north in Maryland. If you ask for "Number One Jimmies," you will generally be given the jumbo category of male crabs that the purveyor sells (or as often happens now, unfortunately, you'll be told they're out but have No. 2's). Jumbos generally should be 6 inches or more across from "point to point," the widest part of the body. Any crab smaller than 5 inches is not worth eating and may be illegal. Mid-week is better than weekends for getting good crabs, early is better than late. Some places will let you reserve Number 1's in advance if you call in the morning or a day or two ahead or are flexible and simply say you'll take them whenever they come in.

Weight, not size is the main factor to judge how good they are. A bushel of No.1's in mid to late-July after the crabs have grown into their molts is a world of difference from No.1's in early to mid-June. I'd rather eat heavy "large" No. 2 crabs than light No.1 "jumbos" anyday.

It is a lot of work to eat hardshell blue crabs, and that's why its such an event. Good crabs, picnic tables, newspaper, mallets, knives, melted butter (some also like vinegar), cold beer, fresh Maryland "silver queen" white corn on the cob, and friends adds up to a few hours very well-spent by the water on a late summer afternoon. To cook them, steaming is better than boiling, use salted water or beer, vinegar, white wine or a combination, and sprinkle the crabs generously with Old Bay or your preferred seasoning just before putting the steampot over the boiling liquid - 20 minutes usually does it.

Here's the battle-tested method for picking crabs that I've honed over a lifetime of summers: Remove claws by twisting at the base, set aside. Turn crab on its back and use a knife to lift the "key," break it off at the base with fingers or knife. Turn crab back over so that the "face" is away from you and hook thumbs under the top shell at the rear in the hole left by the key. Press down on the back legs with fingers and simultaneously lift up with thumbs to gently pry off the top shell in one piece. Use knife to cut off the mandibles (face) and to scrape off gills (devil's fingers) and the organs out of the middle. After this, you'll have a fairly clean crab with two large sections of meat covered by white cartilage and the legs sticking off. Don't worry about a small residual of the green stuff; it's slightly bitter, but fine in small doses. Twist and break off all legs except the rear backfin swimmers (die-hards suck meat out of the legs). Break the crab into two halves lengthwise down the center (one backfin on each half). Gently squeeze one half a few times, by pressing the top and bottom together to break the cartilage and loosen the meat. When somewhat looser, twist the rear swimmer at the base and pull out of the body. This need not be done in one motion - do it slowly and with feel, pausing to break cartilage as you go if necessary. If you do it perfectly, you will extract most of the back of each crab half on the end of the backfin in a large clump of succulent meat- savor it, this is the best part! To offer one of these treats to someone else is the height of crab feast genrosity. Finish picking the rest of the half by dividing it on its hemisphere with fingers or knife if necessary (separating top and bottom) and picking out the meat. Repeat with the other half. Note, no mallets needed to this point and hammering away on the top shell with a mallet is the sure sign of an amateur.

For speed, some expert crab eaters will save all claws until the very end - they are not the best part anyway and are hardest to pick. If you see someone doing this, you are in the presence of a professional - stake a claim to some good crabs early, because they're going to go fast. It is not largesse when someone offers you a few of their saved-up claws towards the end of the feast, it is pity and guilt - don't be fooled. Also, it is generally bad etiquette to pick crabs out of the communal pile and weigh them in your hand to scout out the heavies. If you see someone doing this, chances are it's the same person saving up the claws for the end, and you're going to get stuck with the lights. Good natured ribbing usually cures this unethical practice. Of course, if you accidentally happen to pick up a crab or two when getting one for someone else, and can surreptitiously find a heavy or two by doing so - well then, you're halfway to native. Real experts can tell a heavy from a light just by looking at them - new looking white shells are light and ivory or rusty shells are the heavyweights. When you can do this, you are a master, indeed.

To pick the claws, turn over so that bottom is facing up. Place the sharp side of your knife on the bottom edge about half and inch back from the pincers. Use a wooden mallet to gently pound knife about halfway into the claw. Twist the knife to break the shell, then gently pound the remaining shell near the pincers and pick it away with your fingers (often grasping the pincers and twisting them apart at this stage will separate the shell). If done right, you'll be left with a "lollipop" of claw meat atop one or both pincers. Turn sideways, put it in your mouth and slide teeth down the inedible cartilage sheet in the middle to scrape off the meat. The halfway knife and mallet trick also works for the other segments (large "biceps" and the small "elbow").

[John W.]

Ok, had to do that! 

Seriously, when does the season start? We're going to be on the Eastern Shore June 25--any favorite places to recommend? Between Easton, Annapolis and DC?

thanks

Insider info - When I was living in Salisbury, MD, there was a place in Whitehaven called the Red Roost. A renovated chicken house with picnic tables running the whole length. Proper steamed crabs (dumped with style in front of you, fried chicken, crab cakes, cold draft beer in plastic mugs, steamed shrimp, and a parking lot full of pick-um-up trucks.

Very likely could not be open, but worth the visit if it is.

[rosebud]

My BIL is at the Washington Hilton with his GF and GF's boss. We are planning on going out to dinner tonight. Just found out that Boss wants crab cakes! Who has good ones in the Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan area? Pesce? Johnny's Half Shell! Need advice ASAP.

Thanks.

[bilrus]

This all seems very familiar. I'm having a sense of deja-vu. But I'll play along.

Not having been to Oceanaire, I'd put a vote in for Johnny's Half Shell.

I've also had very good cakes from Blacksalt (from the market and cooked at home) but that is not quite in the area you are looking for.

[Sthitch]

I belive that The Prime Rib has the best Crab Cakes in the city, and are the best I have ever eaten anywhere.

[Malawry]

I had the ones at Pesce fairly recently. They were good but not great--just not quite as packed with lump crab as I like. If you're near 1789 I recommend checking out their cakes. It's been a while since I had it, but I remember a truly outstanding jumbo-lump specimen with some kind of fennel slaw that rocked.

[rosebud]

Bilrus picked up on the fact that I wrote this same thing on another site. I was just desperate. This silly business came up out of the blue and at the last minute. You will NOT be surprised to learn that the whole evening went bust when the conventioneers decided to attend some evening program and eat at the hotel. Boss is leaving in the morning, so BIL and GF will have dinner as planned tomorrow--minus the crab cakes.

I thank everyone who responded so quickly--am I wrong in thinking that we have all been in the same spot with the out-of-towners? DH and I generally cook our own food at home and don't spend too many evenings eating out, so that I am not as immediately familiar with what's out there as many of you.

I'm so very grateful that I have this resource for help. I had completely forgotten about the seafood at the Prime Rib. I think the only time I every ate there was on election day in 1976, when one of my neighbors (who worked across the street from me) took me there for lunch. Because it was election day, no alcohol was served, but I had the best Crab Imperial I had even eaten that day.

I learned the lesson that if you want really good seafood, go to a steakhouse. This proved true in El Paso when I was forced to go to that fake "Australian" steakhouse chain and had some perfectly acceptable grilled salmon. Oh, and should I mention the scallops at Ray's the Steaks

Thanks again to all who responded. You people are just DELICIOUS

Barbara

[Joe H]

Bilrus picked up on the fact that I wrote this same thing on another site.  I was just desperate.  This silly business came up out of the blue and at the last minute.  You will NOT be surprised to learn that the whole evening went bust when the conventioneers decided to attend some evening program and eat at the hotel.  Boss is leaving in the morning, so BIL and GF will have dinner as planned tomorrow--minus the crab cakes.

I thank everyone who responded so quickly--am I wrong in thinking that we have all been in the same spot with the out-of-towners?  DH and I generally cook our own food at home and don't spend too many evenings eating out, so that I am not as immediately familiar with what's out there as many of you.

I'm so very grateful that I have this resource for help.  I had completely forgotten about the seafood at the Prime Rib.  I think the only time I every ate there was on election day in 1976, when one of my neighbors (who worked across the street from me) took me there for lunch.  Because it was election day, no alcohol was served, but I had the best Crab Imperial I had even eaten that day.

I learned the lesson that if you want really good seafood, go to a steakhouse.   This proved true in El Paso when I was forced to go to that fake "Australian" steakhouse chain and had some perfectly acceptable grilled salmon.  Oh, and should I mention the scallops at Ray's the Steaks

Thanks again to all who responded.  You people are just DELICIOUS

Barbara

←

Barbara, the reason the Prime Rib is so good is NOT that it's a steak house; rather that it's a Baltimore ("Bawlmer") steak house from the '60's! Both crab cakes and crab imperial as Bill and Steve Hitchcock noted are exemplery. They are UP to the Bawlmer standard. There is nowhere else in D. C. that has crab cakes or crab imperial on this level. In the suburbs you would have to go to Jerry's in Seabrook for better-but that is another story and another thread. In the meantime, with all due respect to Black Salt (yes, Black Salt), the Minneapolis founded Oceanaire, Johnny's Half Shell, etc. the Prime Rib really-REALLY has the best crab cakes in D. C.

By the way, the best tortilla soup that I've ever had was last summer at the Camino Real in El Paso. Also, serious Mexican across the border at Chihuahua Charlie's. We also need to talk about pistachios from Alamagordo which I still send away for three or four times a year.

Edited March 17, 2005 by Joe H (log)

[misscindy]

Barbara, the reason the Prime Rib is so good is NOT that it's a steak house; rather that it's a Baltimore ("Bawlmer") steak house from the '60's!  Both crab cakes and crab imperial as Bill and Steve Hitchcock noted are exemplery.  They are UP to the Bawlmer standard.  There is nowhere else in D. C. that has crab cakes or crab imperial on this level.  In the suburbs you would have to go to Jerry's in Seabrook for better-but that is another story and another thread.  In the meantime, with all due respect to Black Salt (yes, Black Salt), the Minneapolis founded Oceanaire, Johnny's Half Shell, etc. the Prime Rib really-REALLY has the best crab cakes in D. C.

←

Joe - you wrote what I was thinking. I love crab cakes but rarely order them out because a proper crab cake to me is a very specific thing and most places just don't make them "right."

[Joe H]

Barbara, the reason the Prime Rib is so good is NOT that it's a steak house; rather that it's a Baltimore ("Bawlmer") steak house from the '60's!  Both crab cakes and crab imperial as Bill and Steve Hitchcock noted are exemplery.  They are UP to the Bawlmer standard.  There is nowhere else in D. C. that has crab cakes or crab imperial on this level.  In the suburbs you would have to go to Jerry's in Seabrook for better-but that is another story and another thread.  In the meantime, with all due respect to Black Salt (yes, Black Salt), the Minneapolis founded Oceanaire, Johnny's Half Shell, etc. the Prime Rib really-REALLY has the best crab cakes in D. C.

←

Joe - you wrote what I was thinking. I love crab cakes but rarely order them out because a proper crab cake to me is a very specific thing and most places just don't make them "right."

←

My wife and I both have an obsession for crab cakes; there have also been several long threads on here about them. Many on here rave about G & M and Faidley's in the Lexington market both of which I have been to. In fact Faidley's has a fish sandwich similar to Benny's of Maine Avenue in the '50's that I actually prefer to their crab cake. But that, too, is another thread.

Baltimore has at least a half dozen or more places with excellent crab cakes (Angelina's, Bo Brooks, Obrycki's, G & M, Faidley's, The Prime Rib) along with the best crab cake I've ever had, the "non traditional" at Charleston. My wife prefers the crab cakes from The Cove in Crisfield, I prefer the Narrows in Kent Island. Captain's Galley, Suicide Bridge, Waterman's in Rock Hall, Stoney's in Broome Island, Tony's Riverhouse in Benedict all have crab cakes at least on the level of the Prime Rib. On another board, last summer, I reported on three or four weekend trips we made in search of the best crab cake.

[zoramargolis]

At the risk of being branded a heretic, I am a relative newbie to the mid-Atlantic region– going on nine years– I don't get all the excitement about crabcakes... It is so unusual to find crabmeat with much flavor. I've eaten and cooked a few that I thought were good, but do not inspire the passion I hear others express. Mostly, the crabcakes I've tasted have been boring and realtively tasteless.

Frankly, I also think hardshell steamed crabs are a huge investment of money, time and effort for a minimal return. And the softshells I've had always seem to taste primarily of frymeal and hot oil.

Most shrimp is tasteless, too...

Now, if you're talking scallops or lobster (on the coast of Maine, that is) I can work up some major enthusiasm.

OK, I'll duck for cover now. Hard to find tasty ducks, now that I mention it...

[MicBacchus]

I agree with misscindy -eating steamed crabs is not just about eating and getting filled up - it's about sitting, being with friends and enjoying life. There is a difference, tho, between crabs steamed at crab house and those steamed outside with a wood fire (done by those who catch them themselves via a trotline - my ex used to catch/sell crabs to supplement a teacher's salary). You'll never know how much better woodfired-steamed crabs are until you've tried them. My deceased uncle (who remembered Balto bars that offered free crabs just to get people to buy the beer) said that our wood-steamed ones were SO much better.

As for crabcakes, less is more. My mom was from KY but made the best-ever crabcakes - just some Old Bay, Worcestershire, mayo to bind and grated toast, then sauteed. I've eaten those at G&M (at Mom's insistance), but thought they were a bit bland. To a Marylander, crabs and crabcakes are a very personal issue.

[rosebud]

Well, isn't it interesting how a simple question can send folks off into different directions. . . but, then, we ARE talking food here.

So, let me tell you about my introduction to crab. It was in San Francisco in the 1950's when we lived on a little Army base at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge across the Bay from SF. My mother bought live Dungeness crabs at Fishermen's Wharf and brought them home and steamed them. Served with melted butter. What a revelation! I LOVED them. Later, when I lived in Monterey, I would order "cracked" crab and you order either a half or whole one, depending on how hungry you were. One of my favorite restaurants had french-fried crab legs. I was starving when I ordered that , at the the recommendation of my dining partner, and thought they were simply sublime.

Imagine my surprise when I moved to this part of the world and kept hearing about the wonderous nature of the Maryland crab and was served these tiny things which had been cooked in the this very spicy mixture. The effort it took to extract the meat was very annoying .

Anybody know where I can find live Dungeness crabs around here? You will have a life-long admirer for that information.

So, I have come up with a method of sorts. When I find crab meat on sale at the Safeway, I make 6 crab cakes out of a pound (and Boy! do I hate having to sift through all that to find the cartilage--the first time I made them I simply didn't believe that this step was necessary and served my future parents-in-law crab cakes that required the spitting out of cartilage ). I will cook four of them for DH and myself for dinner and with the other two I go to Whole Paycheck and get the boned trout and stuff each with the remaining crab mixture. Pierre Franey has a lovey recipe for what he calls "ginger butter sauce." It is actually a beurre blanc made with fresh ginger and, after all is strained, has fresh, chopped tomato in it. This is a summer dish, obviously.

I saute the fish and then take off the head, tail and skin and pour the sauce over them. I'll have you know that my late FIL declared it the best fish he had eaten in his life! (and this was a man who didn't hand out those kinds of compliments easily).

But even this can't compare to a freshly steamed Dungeness crab. It costs too much to fly to SF just to eat crab, however.

Favorite foods really have to do with memory, do they not?

Edited March 18, 2005 by rosebud (log)

[virtualchuta]

I will be driving from Richmond thru DC and Annapolis to New York City this week? Where is a good place to get Crab Cake on the Route?

Thanks.