(Photos: Paul Brown)
Emails like this just make my day. Paul "AKA Chilebrown" Brown sent in a delicious looking crab cake recipe using Survival Spice™, which as I've noted before, adds wonderfully to the flavor of crab, accentuating the sweetness of the meat and adding succulence with a little zip.
If you're not fortunate enough to have access to fresh lump crabmeat, using a mix of 1/2 lump and 1/2 shredded is a good substitute. It's important to be gentle when mixing these, so you don't break up your expensive lump crab meat, and as Paul noted, giving them time in the refrigerator to set up before cooking them will help keep them together.
Paul, you rock. Here's his recipe:
Chilebrown's Rockin' Crab Cakes
Living in the Bay Area has some perks that just cannot be beat. The only thing is, traffic cancels all these perks. One thing I look forward to each year is crab season. I am 10 minutes away from a market that sells live Dungeness Crabs. Today I paid 2.49/pd. It is incredible how cheap and fresh they are. I have been cooking and shelling them for awhile, so it is no problem to whip out a pound of fresh crab meat. Tonight, I thought I would make some 'Rockin Crab Cakes' spiced up with 'Survival Spice'.
1 1/2 pds lump crab meat
1 stalk of celery (finely chopped)
1/3 cup and 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 green onion (finely chopped)
1 1/2t survival spice
pinch salt
1 egg
1/2 cup mayonaisse
olive oil and butter for frying
Mix crab, bread crumbs, celery, green onion,egg, 1/2 teaspoon of survival spice, pinch of salt,
Mix gently until mixture holds together. You can add more mayonaisse if not sticking together.
Take reserve bread crumbs and a teaspoon of survival spice. Mix together and place on wax paper. Form crab mixture into 1/4 cup ball. Flatten on bread crumb mixture. Turn over and coat other side. You can wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for a couple hours if desired.
Coat the bottom of a fry pan liberally with a mixture of butter and olive oil. Fry on one side over medium high heat for a couple of minutes until brown crust appears. Flip over. The object is to form a crust and heat the center. Be careful not to overcook because they are gentle.
Enjoy! Peace. Paul
YEAH !!! I want some. I'm stuck at work watching your images dance around on my screen (low blood sugar).
I think I'm going to do a split pea soup tonight with lard and fresh smoked hocks.
Biggles
Those look SO good. I'm totally craving crab cakes now...
Meg/Biggles-
Chilebrown nailed it, and his pictures were terrific. He must be reading your blogs, because I'm no Ansel Adams, at least yet...
And Meg, I think you were the first one to tell me how good Survival Spice is on crab. You deserve a 'taste maker of the year" award!
Meg, I owe you...I can vouch for how great Survival Spice is on crab. Out of this world!!! I didn't realize the idea came from you. Thanks!