As an appetizer for our Super Bowl party, my boyfriend suggested we make crab cakes. Now, I'm not much of a seafood person at all, but I've always enjoyed crab cakes for the most part. As soon as I was certain that crab cakes were on our menu, I started searching far and wide for crab cake recipes. My boyfriend, on the other hand, said not to worry, and that he'd make it up as he went along. This is the thing that I admire most about my boyfriend- that he is capable of "winging it" when it comes to cooking. I, being incapable of such a feat, would have to read the recipe thoroughly and then follow it precisely. I hope to one day attain that magical "feel" for cooking.
First of course we needed the lump crab meat. We bought a total of 2 pounds of crab meat, and in my head I began calculating necessary amounts of ingredients to accompany this amount. My boyfriend, yet again, assured me that he'd be able to make these crab cakes sans recipe.
In the time it had taken me to precisely and finely chop 1/4 of a red bell pepper, my boyfriend had already prepared the majority of the crab cake mixture. I couldn't tell you what exactly all went into this mixture, nor the amounts, but it appeared to contain bread crumbs, Old Bay, Dijon mustard, seasonings, mayo possibly... I'm not even sure what else.
On the day of the Super Bowl we pulled out our crab cake mixture and began assembling. I noticed that it looked a little wet and didn't seem like it would stick together much. I suggested we add a handful more bread crumbs and also an egg (I noticed that most recipes online used egg, probably as a binder). So basically that was my entire contribution to these crab cakes (oh, and also the chopping of the bell pepper).
A dredging station was set up, complete with flour, eggs, and panko bread crumbs. (He found a huge jar of panko at Costco and insisted he must have it. I think it was really only because it had the words "Iron Chef" written on it.)
The crab cakes were prepared, set aside, and then fried in the pan (all of which, done by my lovely boyfriend).
These crab cakes were massive by the way (I wouldn't expect any less from my boyfriend, lol).
The outside was perfectly coated and had just the right amount of crunch, whereas the inside was moist and tender.
I really gotta hand it to you babe, you made one hell of a crab cake.
The dipping sauce that accompanied these crab cakes was just as delicious.
Now, of course, I can't let my boyfriend take all the credit for these- I was the one who suggested more bread crumbs and the egg! And of course, let us not forget who did the spectacular chopping of the bell pepper.
---RECIPE---
Made by my imaginative boyfriend. (Amounts are rough estimates. I made him recite the recipe to me about a week after he made these so he sort of forgot some things.)
ingredients for the crab cake:
2 pounds lump crab meat
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 tablespoon garlic powder
3 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
3 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard
A little lemon juice
A little sprinkle of parmesan cheese
1 egg
1+1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Enough mayo to combine
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped finely
Salt and pepper to taste
ingredients for frying the crab cakes:
flour
eggs, beated
panko bread crumbs
oil, for frying
directions:
1. Mix everything in a large bowl until fully combined.
2. Form 4 inch patties and place to the side.
3. Get 3 dishes ready- one for the flour, one for the egg, and one for the Panko breadcrumbs. Dip each crab cake in the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Set them aside.
4. Put some oil in a pan and cook crab cakes for a few minutes on each side.
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