Sherry Johns Favorite Crabcakes Recipes

THE BEST CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• For the crab cakes: Gently fold together the crabmeat, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, chives, Dijon mustard, seafood seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper and the juice and zest of one lemon in a large bowl. Refrigerate the crab mixture for 15 minutes to firm up; this allows the breadcrumbs to absorb some of the liquid, helping the crab cakes bind together.
• Meanwhile, make the tartar sauce: Combine the mayonnaise, dill pickles, capers, chives, zest and juice of 1 lemon in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Scoop heaping half cups of the crab mixture and pat into 2 1/2-inch wide patties. Lightly press them together so they do not fall apart while cooking. You should have 8 patties.
• Heat 3 tablespoons unsalted butter and 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the crab cakes to the pan and cook until golden, about 2 minutes, then flip using a flat metal spatula. Continue to cook until lightly golden, about 1 1/2 minutes then transfer the pan to the oven. Cook until the crab cakes are completely heated through, about 10 minutes.
• Serve the crab cakes with the tartar sauce and lemon wedges.

CRAB CAKES II

Steps:

• In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine crabmeat, egg, mayonnaise, mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.
• In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil to a high heat. Roll heaping spoonfuls on the crab mixture in the crackers, then place the ball in the hot oil. Flatten lightly with a spatula so that the crab cake is 1/2 inch thick. Fry the crab cakes, flipping to ensure both sides get browned.

BEST EVER CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, mayonnaise, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, tarragon, and scallions. Gently stir in crabmeat, being careful not to break up meat. Gradually mix in cracker crumbs, adding until desired consistency is achieved.
• Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. Form crab mixture into 4 patties. Place patties in skillet, and cook until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes on each side.

MINI CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Mix together crabmeat, egg, 1/3 cup yogurt, red pepper, green onion, lemon zest fresh cracked pepper, and 1/2 cup breadcrumbs.
• Form mini crab cakes using a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop, and coat the crab cakes in remaining breadcrumbs, placing them onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Spray lightly with cooking spray.
• Bake in a 400 degrees F preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden.
• Mix remaining yogurt, lemon juice, chopped parsley and basil. Season with cracked black pepper. Serve sauce with crab cakes.

CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Dry crab meat with paper towels. With your hands, gently mix crab meat with lemon juice, vidalia onion, pinch of salt and pepper and sprinkle in Old Bay seasoning. Mix in egg and about 1/2 stack or maybe more of crushed Ritz cracker crumbs. I don't like too much breading. It is the sweet crabmeat I want to taste.
• Form into 8 patties. They will be hard to hold together so you might make 8 scoops onto a cookie sheet and shape as desired with you your hand. Put in freezer uncovered on a cookie sheet and freeze for 20-30 minutes.
• Heat vegetable oil on high in a large skillet until hot. Using a spatula, slip crab cakes into skillet. When golden on one side, turn with spatula, and maybe a fork to help in the process so as not to burn yourself, until golden on the other side. Turn only once. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and immediately serve with fresh lemon slices, cocktail or tartar sauce.

CRAB CAKES - AIR FRYER VERSION

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion and celery until it starts to soften, but not brown - about 2 minutes.
• Combine the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, egg, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in sautéed onions and celery. Gently fold in the lump crabmeat and 2 tablespoons of panko breadcrumbs. Stir carefully so you don't break up all the crab pieces.
• Pre-heat the air fryer to 400ºF.
• Place the ½ cup of panko breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Divide the crab mixture into 4 portions and shape each portion into a round patty. Dredge the crab patties in the breadcrumbs, coating both sides as well as the edges with the crumbs.
• Air-fry the crab cakes for 5 minutes. Using a flat spatula, gently turn the cakes over and air-fry for another 5 minutes. Serve the crab cakes with tartar sauce or cocktail sauce, or dress it up with the suggestion below.

CRAB QUICHE

Steps:

• Make pastry:
• Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 3 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out mixture onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a 4-inch disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll out dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin and fit into pie plate. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under pastry and press against rim of pie plate to reinforce edge. Decoratively crimp edge and lightly prick bottom and side of shell with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until pastry is pale golden along rim and set underneath foil, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom and side are pale golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool completely in pie plate on a rack, about 20 minutes.
• Make filling:
• If using crab leg, hack through shell with a large heavy knife and cut meat into 1/2-inch pieces. Discard shell.
• Whisk together eggs, cream, herbs, seafood seasoning, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then stir in cheeses and crabmeat.
• Pour into prebaked crust and bake until filling puffs and is no longer wobbly in center when quiche is gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool in pie plate on rack 15 minutes.

CHEF JOHN'S CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Mix saltine crackers, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, seafood seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, egg, salt, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl.
• Stir in crabmeat until mixture is combined but still chunky. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Sprinkle breadcrumbs on a plate.
• Shape chilled crab mixture into 4 small thick patties; coat completely with bread crumbs.
• Melt butter in a skillet over medium-heat; cook crab cakes until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.

SHERRY JOHN'S FAVORITE CRABCAKES

Steps:

• Combine all ingedients in a large bowl (don't get carried away with bread crumbs, just enough to hold cakes together). Make into patties and fry in butter -- for lower fat use cooking spray.