RECIPE: Big sale today on fresh backfin crab--REC: Crab Cakes with Tarragon Tartar Sauce...

RECIPE:

charlie

Well-known member
Crab Cakes

Serving Size: 6

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

4 large eggs, beaten lightly

6 tablespoons sour cream

1/4 cup parsley, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste

2 lbs. crab meat, lump, picked over

2 cups fresh bread crumbs

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Tarragon Tartar Sauce, (See Recipe) as an a

Lemon Wedges, as an accompaniment

In a bowl whisk together the butter, the eggs, the sour cream, the parsley, the lemon juice, the Worcestershire sauce, the paprika, the salt, and the cayenne and stir in the crab meat and the bread crumbs gently. Form 1/2-cup measures of the mixture into twelve 3/4-inch-thick cakes and transfer the crab cakes as they are formed to a baking sheet sprinkled with half the cornmeal. Sprinkle the crab cakes with the remaining cornmeal and chill them, covered with plastic wrap, for at least 1 hour or overnight. In a large heavy skillet heat the oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it sautÈ the crab cakes in batches, turning them once, for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until they are golden, transferring them as they are cooked to paper towels to drain. Keep the crab cakes warm on another baking sheet in a 200∞F. oven. Serve the crab cakes with the tarragon tartar sauce and the lemon wedges

Tarragon Tartar Sauce

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

3 shallots, minced

4 cornichons, minced

18 green olives, (preferable brine-cu

1 1/2 tablespoons tarragon leaves, fresh, minced

1 tablespoon cider vinegar, or to taste

Tabasco Sauce, to taste

In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, the shallots, the cornichons, the olives, the tarragon, the vinegar, and the Tabasco until the tartar sauce is combined well. (The sauce may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled).

Yield: "2 Cups"

 
I'll offer you my T&T crab cake recipe--less is more

1# crab--special or lump is what I prefer.
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 red bell pepper finely minced
2-3 TBS minced onion
Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, beaten
S&P
Mix all ingredients except crab. Fold in crabmeat gently. Form into balls a little larger than golf balls and flatten.
Heat butter in a saute pan. Saute crab cakes 4 minutes on a side.
Serve with remoulade sauce, srichacha mayo,

 
years ago when we were taking the kids all over to expose them to all sorts of wonderful things

we often made trips to San Francisco to the wharf area. There was a great restaurant there we loved going to for the ambiance, views and food. On time I ordered a crab sandwich. It had beautiful lump crab, caught that day and brought into the restaurant. Since San Francisco is also famous for their bread, the sandwich was also made with a beautiful bread baked that morning. There was so much bread wrapped around that crab, it was all I could taste.

I think with crab, less is definitely more. Anymore when we have crab, we pick it, dip it into our favorite condiment (in my case, it is fresh lemon juice,) and eat away. I have made crab cakes in the past and they can be wonderful, and a real treat.

By the way, being on the west coast we eat Dungeness crab. Where does Backfin crab come from? I have never heard of that type.

 
Yes, yours would be dungeness deliciousness. Ours here in the east are the blue crabs--

much smaller but with a wonderful "sweetness". Crabs are just NO fun to pick and it is no wonder the price for lump. Backfin is broken pieces of lump and smaller pieces from the crab. It is also quite good. Special is a mixture--and actually may be "backfin" just labelled "special".
One I will not use is claw here--too "fishy".

 
The crab on the east coast are called blue crab--a specialty of maryland--jumbo lump is the gold..

standard, but the backfin was very good---no shells.

When they molt, the shells become soft enough that the whole crab can be eaten either fried or sautéed.

 
Probably my favorite all over food. It happens around late April and May in the

carolinas and if we are at the beach it is feeding frenzy. Yum yum

 
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