Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Crab cakes

Okanagancook

By Okanagancook
in Cooking

 Share

Recommended Posts

Okanagancook

Okanagancook

Posted
Posted

We are getting live crab tomorrow and will have leftover meat for crab cakes.  I understand one wants only just enough fillers (bread crumbs.) to make them hold together. 
 

what is your best crab cake recipe?  Please and thank you.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Have you made it?

In the comments section a couple of people had trouble with the amount of liquid in the recipe.

 Yes. Came out well though its been ages since I made it.  I probably tweaked various things. I'm kind of seat-of -the -pants in the kitchen.

 

Now that you mention it, a pint of cream seems a lot. 

 

IIRC he served it with a delicate mustard cream sauce.

 

I'll check his cookbook (gotta find it) and see if it is the same as the FN  recipe

 

Edited by gfweb (log)
  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 Yes. Came out well though its been ages since I made it.  I probably tweaked various things. I'm kind of seat-of -the -pants in the kitchen.

 

Now that you mention it, a pint of cream seems a lot. 

 

IIRC he served it with a delicate mustard cream sauce.

 

I'll check his cookbook (gotta find it) and see if it is the same as the FN  recipe

 

 

Link to cookbook?

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, gfweb said:

https://smile.amazon.com/Georges-Perrier-Bec-fin-Recipes-George/dp/0762401702/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VFWMI81SUGZY&keywords=georges+perrier+le+bec+fin&qid=1644639348&sprefix=george+perrier+le+bec+fin%2Caps%2C1397&sr=8-1

 

Price has gone up...

 

Indeed, that is more than is in my bank account.  If it's still available when I receive my Social Security check I will seriously consider.  I only dined at Le Bec Fin once but oh so memorable.

 

  • Like 1

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted

While that Le Bec-Fin recipe certainly must taste good, I think it hardly qualifies as a good old Maryland-style crab cake. Like this one...

 

IMG_6122.thumb.jpeg.e7921d8916996a773ea95876f2eff0bd.jpeg

 

Mine are similar to this (but I like to add an egg)...

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
  • Delicious 1

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Indeed, that is more than is in my bank account.  If it's still available when I receive my Social Security check I will seriously consider.  I only dined at Le Bec Fin once but oh so memorable.

 

 

Its $20 on ebay

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, weinoo said:

Oh shit, I just realized - Jacques stole the avocado idea from me!!

Ha! Crab and avocado are a great combo. In the early days of Eleven Madison, just after the conversion from a bistro, (and long before the prices rose into the stratosphere) they did an awesome crab rolled in a tube of avocado. I think there's a YouTube video showing Humm making it.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
liamsaunt

liamsaunt

Posted
Posted

I like to keep my crab cakes really simple.  Instead of using a shrimp mousse as a binder, I make the cakes in the morning and then leave them in the fridge all day to firm up.  They are still quite delicate when I cook them, but they do stay together.  I use as little binder as possible, and barely dust the cakes with flour before pan frying them.  I also use a 50-50 mix of canola oil and butter to cook them.

 

Here is a simple recipe from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook that is one of my go to recipes when I want a traditional style crab cake. (I hope it is OK to post these images here, but please delete if not).  I usually make a lemon-dill aioli to serve with them, but the English mustard sauce Jasper suggests here is also good.

 

 

IMG_9756.thumb.jpg.393d58e86bbb7e20b8f90dc584d47821.jpg

 

IMG_9757.thumb.jpg.f87924a9ad0c4b9b8792a4229e2365a5.jpg

 

 

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

Here is a simple recipe from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook that is one of my go to recipes when I want a traditional style crab cake. (I hope it is OK to post these images here, but please delete if not).

 

Pretty close to the crab cake I made above.  But as Jacques suggests, I think fresh bread crumbs work better than dried ones.  And since I've recently received a bunch of nice herbs and spices from Burlap & Barrel, I leave out the old bay and work some good dried spices in instead.  Thrown together in the morning, as you suggest, and cooked later in the day.

 

Not that it matters, but I've always likes Jasper's restaurants. And Faidley's rocks...or at least did.

(Latest prices on jumbo lump are inspiring - $65 a pound for me! They're a treat, that means.)

  • Like 2

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Okanagancook

Okanagancook

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Well, thank you all for responding with such a plethora of crab cake ideas.  Also some excellent sauce suggestions which I had not thought of.  The shrimp/cream binder idea cooked in a ring mould is interesting.  Definitely over the top.   The cakes I have made in the past need some jazzing up after looking at these recipes.  I think we had the avocado wrapped crab at a cooking competition a few years ago…it was spectacular.

Thanks again.🥰

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Pretty close to the crab cake I made above.  But as Jacques suggests, I think fresh bread crumbs work better than dried ones.  And since I've recently received a bunch of nice herbs and spices from Burlap & Barrel, I leave out the old bay and work some good dried spices in instead.  Thrown together in the morning, as you suggest, and cooked later in the day.

 

Not that it matters, but I've always likes Jasper's restaurants. And Faidley's rocks...or at least did.

(Latest prices on jumbo lump are inspiring - $65 a pound for me! They're a treat, that means.)

My guide for crab cakes is this: use almost nothing but crab. Bind with the least possible amount of stuff you can get away with, the plainer the better. Crab, a touch of mayo, scallions and minimal amount of bread crumbs. Not a fan of Old Bay.

 

Also not that it matters,  I grew up on Manhattan clam chowder. Recipes for chowder are heavily stacked in favor of New England style, but Jasper White has a great recipe for Manhattan.  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kim Shook

Kim Shook

Posted
Posted

I have a couple of recipes that I go to.  This one is bare bones Eastern Shore almost nothing but crab.  It's delicious.  This one is a little more refined and has more ingredients.  I was raised going to the Eastern Shore and Baltimore and I love Old Bay.  The smell and flavor tell me I'm about to have one of the best meals of my life.  I don't mind adding a pinch to crabcakes, but I wouldn't overdo it.  I think you could make any of the suggested recipes and have great crabcakes.  I agree with @liamsaunt - make them ahead of time and let them firm up in the fridge.  Saltine or soda crackers are the traditional 'binder' and don't let anyone talk you into adding bell peppers or onions in your crabcakes!  They just don't belong.  

 

If you are looking for something to use up crabmeat and want something a little different than cakes, you might want to try this elegant and sublime small plate.  

  • Thanks 2

Kim

Kim's Cookbook

What Fresh Hell is This?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

Saltine or soda crackers are the traditional 'binder'

 

This is the binder I generally use (I did want to try the fresh bread crumbs, and they worked well).

 

We had very good friends who for years lived in Arnold; our visits there always meant a dinner at Cantler's. (And maybe even a stop at one of the places on Kent Island on the drive home!)

  • Delicious 1

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kim Shook

Kim Shook

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

This is the binder I generally use (I did want to try the fresh bread crumbs, and they worked well).

 

We had very good friends who for years lived in Arnold; our visits there always meant a dinner at Cantler's. (And maybe even a stop at one of the places on Kent Island on the drive home!)

My parents lived in Edgewater - about 20 minutes away from Cantler's - when I was in college.  I remember going there with them.  We were crazy for crabs and they loved living in the middle of crab country!  When I was in HS, we had a little place on Chincoteague Island and on Friday nights, Momma and I knew we'd won when @Ted Fairhead turned into the parking lot of Fisherman's Inn at Kent Narrows.  I remember it as a shack when I was a little girl, but by the time I was in HS, it was "fancy" and my traditional order was crab-stuffed jumbo shrimp with a Creme de Menthe parfait for dessert - ultimate swank!  😁

  • Like 2

Kim

Kim's Cookbook

What Fresh Hell is This?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Okanagancook

Okanagancook

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted


image.thumb.jpeg.778712ace321782f4a603cf8e7f14b9f.jpeg

Here they are.  We only had 8 oz or 213 grams of crab left after we pigged out on the freshly cooked ones.  
This what I did.

213 g crab

2 chopped scallions…they were small

1/2 beaten egg…30 g

2 tablespoons mayo

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 

1 tablespoon fine toasted bread crumbs

1 teaspoon Old Bay

1 teaspoon lemon juice

salt and pepper.

 

They were 81 grams each…four of them.  Just enough bread crumbs to bind them.  I put some panko crumbs on the outside before frying them gently in butter.

 

Served with a dip of mayo, sour cream, chipotle, cilantro and lime juice.  Rested in the fridge before frying.

 

Thank you all…this combo is a keeper for us.

 

 

 

 

image.jpeg

  • Like 5
  • Delicious 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
On 2/12/2022 at 7:06 AM, weinoo said:

Oh shit, I just realized - Jacques stole the avocado idea from me!!

 

And Jacques penned the forward for Georges Perrier's recipe collection.  I can't speak for the Le Bec-fin crab cakes,* however unlike Jacques' ice cream, the ice cream I enjoyed at Le Bec-fin was not served in heated little metal cups.

 

 

*though the Le Bec-fin fish course was exquisite.

 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...