Recipe: Maryland Crab Cakes

Way back when this was a brand new blog, I posted my recipe for crab cakes. On Monday, after eating crab cakes at my house on Mother's Day, my sister emailed me for the recipe. I sent her the link to that long ago post, but had to add tons of comments - I've tweaked the recipe a lot over the past few years.

So here it is, in all its current glory.

Kit's Crab Cakes

(makes 6 crab cakes, which serves about 3 people)

( takes about 30 minutes of active cooking/prep time, including picking through the crab,

but requires AT LEAST 5 hours of refrigeration)

Ingredients
- 1 lb lump locally caught crabmeat, picked over for shells (Local crab is more expensive, but it is much, MUCH better.)
- 1/2 cup panko
- 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
- 1-1 1/2 tbls. Old Bay (If you like spicy and salty, go heavier. If you don't, use a little less.)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise
- The juice of 1/4 of a lemon
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- Olive oil
- Butter

Directions

1. Using a fork the panko, dry mustard and Old Bay together in a small bowl.

2. In another, larger bowl, mix the egg, mayonnaise, lemon juice and Worcestershire, stirring with a fork or whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.

3. Fold in the dry ingredients and mix until everything is completely combined.

4. Using a large spoon, fold in the crabmeat, until everything is evenly coated.

5. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions. Form each portion into a round ball and place on a cookie sheet.

6. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours and preferably overnight. Whenever I refrigerate for less than 5 hours, the cakes completely fall apart in the pan.

7. When it's time to cook, start by preheating the oven to 300 degrees.

8. In a large frying pan, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 pat of butter over medium heat.

9. Once the pan is hot, carefully add the crab cakes, without crowding them in the pan.

10. Cook until they are crispy and a warm brown color on the bottom - probably 3 to 5 minutes. (This may vary, depending on your pans. Mine run hot and I cook for about 3 minutes.)

11. Using a spatula, carefully flip the cakes, trying your best not to lose any bits of crab, and cook until brown on the other side, another 3 to 5 minutes.

12. Once the crab cakes are brown on both sides, transfer them back to the cookie sheet and place them in the oven to heat through, about 5-10 minutes.

Sometimes I turn the oven off after about 5 minutes and just let the crab cakes sit there, while I finish up the rest of dinner. So far, they haven't dried out.

Serve with lemon slices and cocktail sauce (mine is a simple combination of ketchup, a shake of Worcestershire, a squeeze of lemon, and enough horseradish to turn the ketchup pink).

And enjoy!