How to make the best crab cake dinner ever
May 13, 2010 5:18 PM   Subscribe

[CrabCakeFilter] Help me improve the menu for a rapidly expanding welcome home dinner

My aunt recently got home from the hospital, and I offered to make a crab cake dinner as a welcome home gift. My first attempt at cooking them was last weekend for my girlfriend, and went great! This recipe is what I used before and will use this weekend as well. There are many people coming over to wish her well now (probably 8, 15 tops), and I'd like to feed them too.

Previously, I used fancy-pants crab meat like this (kept near the fresh seafood), which worked out great. However, it's a bit expensive, and I was thinking about using canned meat like this (kept near the canned tuna), at least partially. The brands I would use will probably be different, depending on what I can find. Is the canned meat any good? What do I look for? What would be a good ratio to super-fancy to out-of-a-can to have a tasty, reasonably priced cake?

I was kinda dissatisfied with how crispy my cakes turned out last weekend. How do I make flawlessly crispy cakes?

And finally, what are two great sides to go with them? Broccoli or asparagus with rice? Something more creative? I've recently started to like cooking and experimenting, so unique ideas are great. Most are family after all, so they have to pretend to like the dinner even if I screw it up.

Thanks!
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated to Food & Drink (16 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
For the side dish, I think asparagus risotto would be perfect.
posted by mmmbacon at 5:41 PM on May 13, 2010


There is absolutely no problem using canned crab meat. You should soak it in very cold water and rinse it off, then gently squeeze or pat dry before using it.
posted by contessa at 5:55 PM on May 13, 2010


Best answer: I would go with broccoli (with just a little bit of lemon juice added...it's amazing how much of a difference it makes!) and a potato of some sort. I love crab cakes with broccoli and smashed potatoes- just mashed potatoes with some skin left on, but I know it's an acquired taste for some people. I personally don't like eating rice with crab cakes...the two textures in the same meal are funny to me, but it may just be me.

And I've made crab cakes before with canned meat and they turned out fine. I wouldn't make them with a mixture of canned and fresh, though- I would be worried that the differing moisture between the two, even with the canned stuff patted dry, would make it cook unevenly.
posted by kro at 5:58 PM on May 13, 2010


This is a pretty good question. I can't help you out with the canned crab/versus "fresh," but I'd buy a can and give it a try and adjust accordingly. Filler would help to save on money. I also saute brunoised onion and red bell pepper to help fill out the crab cakes- might be worth thinking about.

As for a nice crunchy outside, I'd go with some panko on the outside and saute in butter.

Sides are a little tougher, but I'd go with like a roasted corn salad with maybe some avocados, fingerling potatoes, pole beans, and halved cherry tomatoes served warm dressed with a little mayo/pimentone smoked paprika/apple cider vinegar combo just to coat.
posted by TheBones at 6:02 PM on May 13, 2010


We use canned crabmeat we get from Trader Joe's, and it's pretty good. If you have a TJs near you, check it out (it's refrigerated).

Put more breadcrumbs in than you think you'll need to make them crispy. We add green onions, too. Our secret ingredient is wasabi mayonnaise, which really binds the cakes together but lets them get crunchy on the outside (or do you prefer them softer?)

Sides: bok choy tossed in soy sauce or asparagus with just lemon and pepper.
posted by vickyverky at 6:11 PM on May 13, 2010


Canned meat is totally fine. If you want to make sure that it's light and cripsy, use as little egg and crumbs as possible as a binder and fry in very hot oil (smoking). The crab is already cooked, all you need to do is make sure that the little bit of egg that you are using is fully cooked and that the cake is hot and browned.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 6:27 PM on May 13, 2010


I love corn with crabcakes. Get whole ears, pull down the husks and remove the silk, brush with a combination of soy sauce, paprika, and a little oil or butter. Pull the husks back up and chuck them in the oven. They'll be smoky and salty and sweet, and the husks will prevent everything from burning. You could also make some sort of avocado salad, with halved cherry tomatoes, crunchy cabbage, bell pepper, lemon juice, a little oil, salt & pepper, and some kind of green herb that would work with the crab cakes (I see your recipe has parsley).
posted by Mizu at 7:25 PM on May 13, 2010


Best answer: Twice baked potatoes can be made ahead of time, and baked for the second time just before serving. You don't need a recipe. Bake some potatoes at 400 F and cool a bit. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, mash up with some sour cream and butter, add bacon bits and chives. Mound back in the potato skins and top with some grated cheese.

Asparagus is in season. If you go with it, get the skinniest spears you can find. Lately, I've been steaming it, squeezing on some lemon juice, drizzling on a tiny bit of toasted sesame oil, and sprinkling with black sesame seeds, or toasted white ones.

Oh, corn sounds good, too. I just grilled a bunch of corn, zucchini, yellow squash and poblano pepper last weekend. We had them separately, but I thought they'd be good eaten together, too.
posted by zinfandel at 7:44 PM on May 13, 2010


Instead of buying pre-separated meat, is it at all possible to buy whole, live crab? It's totally easy to get the meat out, and (can - depending on where you are, and the season) end up being less expensive than the canned stuff. In addition to your run-of-the-mill crackers, a good pair of drop-forged steel kitchen scissors will tear through that crab while leaving the maximum of intact meat. In addition to the claws and legs, there's a ton of meat in the "armpit" area, and isn't hard to get out once you figure out the anatomy.

If you steam the crabs, you can probably recruit some of the juices to make your crab cakes even more flavourful.

Totally, go for the skinny asparagus, but there are also too skinny ones - to me, they have a poorer flavour. I saute them just briefly (in vegetable oil, a sprinkle of salt after they go in) so they stay crisp, but still cooked. A peanut sauce, say from Lee Kum Kee is great lightly zig-zagged over the spears. (This particular one will pour a lot easier if you're warmed the bottle).
posted by porpoise at 8:33 PM on May 13, 2010


Best answer: For traditional Maryland sides to your crabcakes, go for hush puppies (bonus: you can use the same fryer oil), corn-on-the-cob, grilled asparagus, and a good tomato salad.

Man. Now I'm homesick.
posted by juniperesque at 9:01 PM on May 13, 2010


Instead of buying pre-separated meat, is it at all possible to buy whole, live crab?

If you've never steamed and picked crabs before, you do not want to be doing this for the first time when you're under the gun to cook for a dozen or so people. Stick to buying prepicked meat. If the meat tastes tinny or fishy, soak it for 10-15 minutes in a 50-50 mix of ice water and cold milk.

Echoing all the folks suggesting corn as a side. I like the ideas of the corn/tomato/avocado salads or a corn/black bean salad. Corn on the cob, three-bean salad, vinaigrette-based slaw or potato salad are pretty traditional sides here. A couscous or bulgur salad would also be nice. (Crab cakes are summer food to me, so hot, heavy starches like baked potato don't really seem to work.)
posted by weebil at 9:26 PM on May 13, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'm still torn between broccoli and asparagus, but corn is a good idea. Alas, I'm allergic to avocado, but otherwise those would probably be good suggestions too. And I am most definitely going to teach myself how to make hush puppies! Great idea!
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 9:28 PM on May 13, 2010


Speaking as a Marylander, it just isn't a crab feast without corn-on-the-cob and good cole-slaw.
posted by bardic at 12:42 AM on May 14, 2010


For flawlessly crispy cakes, do what the pros do and get the cake almost as crispy as you like and then finish them in the oven for a couple of minutes on med-high heat.

Instead of frying (so old-school!) do them under the broiler from start to finish. Broiling time would varying according to your oven.

Although I like Old Bay, there is a nice alternative called "Crabby Dirt" which supposedly has 50% less salt but you can't really tell the difference.
posted by jaimystery at 7:59 AM on May 14, 2010


There's a bunch of great suggestions in here. I think I'm going to try a roasted corn salad next time we cook crab cakes, that sounds delicious.

When we make them, we always use home-made bread crumbs from overly-toasted whole wheat bread. We keep the bread crumbs coarse to add a little body to the filling and we chill the mixture for a few hours before we use it. When the cakes are fried, this results in a very crispy outside and a succulent inside that gives easily as you bite into it. Takes me back 15 years to my grandparents' house every time I eat them (granddad was a fisherman/shrimper/crabber by trade, and granny was a fantastic cook). And I agree with vickyverky, green onions go wonderfully in crab cakes.

It's a shame you're allergic to avocados, because guacamole is the perfect spread for a crab cake sandwich. Much better, imo, than tarter sauce or plain mayonnaise. When we don't go for that we usually just make a simple cocktail sauce out of ketchup, lime juice, and horseradish, or just douse them in worcestershire sauce.

Damn, now I'm hungry.
posted by kryptondog at 1:22 PM on May 14, 2010


The best crab cakes I ever had were from David Rosengarten's recipe. Using little torn-up pieces of bread instead of bread crumbs, and mixing it very lightly keeps them from getting heavy, and they crisp up nice.
posted by fixer at 5:52 PM on May 14, 2010


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