The Drunk Chefs Hometown Maryland Crab Cakes Recipes

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• If the crab meat is of Chesapeake Bay premium grade, no picking for shell is necessary. However, if of Gulf Coast, Carolina or Florida origin, pick over thoroughly and remove any shell fragments.
• In a medium bowl, blend dry ingredients. Add crab meat and wet ingredients and gently blend, using hands. Form into six cakes (adjust to larger or smaller cakes as desired, but note that cooking times will need to be adjusted accordingly).
• Broil on a buttered sheet pan for 6-10 minutes at 400 degrees until heated throughout or,.
• Saute in a cast iron skillet over medium heat using clarified butter for about 4 minutes/side, until golden brown.
• Serve, garnished with chopped parsley or green onion.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Pick through the meat carefully so that you don't lose the shape of the lumps and remove any shells you may find
• Mix together all ingredients except for crab and butter. Add in crab and mix well with your hands. Once mixed well (without losing the shape of the lump) Measure out 1/2 cup size mounds and form 5-6 medium-sized crab cakes. For crab balls In miniature measure 1 generous tablespoon and roll into a ball shape. Crab balls are a perfect party "pick-up" food. Note: if the meat isn't sticking together well enough, adjust bread crumbs if needed I find that if I am using my hands for the making of the cakes, I can dip my hand in the bread crumbs and use what sticks to my hand and that's just enough to hold it all together. On the other hand, if the meat is too dry, add a little mayo.
• I prefer to pan-fry these cakes over medium-high heat in a butter and olive oil combination. You may also choose to broil your crab cakes. Broiling takes more babysitting and if you lose track of your crab cakes you can burn them in the broiler. I don't like to risk burning the crab cakes.

BALTIMORE-STYLE CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Finely crush the saltine crackers in your hands and place in a large bowl. Add the crabmeat, reserving any crab juice in a separate small bowl.
• To the bowl with the crab juice, add the mayonnaise egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce; whisk until smooth. Season with black pepper.
• Gently fold the mayonnaise mixture into the crab and saltines. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Scoop the crab mixture into six patties, about 1 1/2-inches thick. Be careful not to handle the mixture too much.
• In a large skillet, heat the oil over moderately high heat until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook until deeply golden and heated through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the crab cakes to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

PERFECT MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Trim the crusts from the bread; discard, or reserve for another use. Tear the remaining bread into little pieces (about 20 pieces per slice); handle the bread lightly, so the pieces remain fluffy and don't flatten out. Place the bread pieces in a bowl, and sprinkle them with the wine; toss lightly to distribute the wine evenly.
• Pick over the backfin and the jumbo lump crabmeat to remove any bits of shell. In a large mixing bowl, toss together the backfin and jumbo lump crabmeat. Season to taste with salt and with Maryland crab seasoning. Add the soaked bread, beaten eggs, lemon juice, and melted butter; toss lightly, making sure to keep the crab lumps whole. Add the mayonnaise, and toss the mixture gently with your hands, distributing the mayonnaise evenly. Taste again for seasoning, if desired (if you don't want to taste raw egg, you can saute a bit of the mixture in butter). For even better flavor, allow the mixture to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.
• When you are ready to cook, place a large, heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat; the pan should have enough room for 3 crab cakes. Add enough lard and vegetable oil (in fifty-fifty production) to create a 1-inch depth of oil. When the oil is medium-hot, quickly shape 1/2 the crab mixture with your hands into 3 cakes, each roughly the size and shape of a large hamburger. Gently place the cakes in the oil, making sure to preserve their shapes. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the cakes are golden on one side. Flip them carefully with a spatula, and fry on the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. After about 8 minutes, the cakes should be golden brown on all sides and heated through (you want the pieces of bread inside to virtually disappear). Remove the cakes from the pan, and place them on paper towels. Repeat and make 3 more cakes with the remaining mixture.

THE DRUNK CHEF'S HOMETOWN MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Steps:

• Make these patties 1/2 hour to 1 hour before you want to cook them and let them set up in the fridge covered with a piece of plastic wrap.
• Note that the dried slices of bread ARE going into the mix while the bread crumbs ARE NOT. Right before frying- coat the cakes lightly with the breadcrumbs on each side.
• Gather all your ingredients and 2 large mixing bowls. If you have a large wooden spoon- use that; if not- put it on your shopping list. Mince your onion and chop your parsley. Chop your sliced bread up in small cubes. Beat your egg. Chop your claw meat into 1 square centimeter cubes (or just tear into pieces).
• In one bowl: mix onion, bread, and milk. Then add: mayo, dijon, worcestershire sauce, egg. Mix well.
• Make sure there's no moisture in your second bowl so the seasonings don't stick. In your second bowl: Place your crab meat in bowl. Season evenly with the black pepper, parsley, and Old Bay seasoning.
• Add the seasoned crab meat to the mixture in the first bowl and mix together gently. You paid extra for those big claw portions so don't go smashing them all up when your mixing.
• Form the mixture into crab cakes as big or as small as you like them and place them on something flat that can fit in the fridge ( I use a hard plastic cutting board). Spray the cutting board very lightly with cooking spray to keep the cakes from sticking while in the fridge. Cover with plastic and put in fridge for 1/2 - 1 hour.
• If you are frying your cakes (recommended) I would use Canola Oil in your pan. If you are broiling- I recommend coating the baking sheet with Olive Oil and also drizzling just a little Olive Oil over the tops of your cakes.
• Pour your breadcrumbs on a dinner plate and coat each side of your crab cakes lightly with them.
• Heat the Canola Oil in your pan over a medium-high heat. When the oil starts putting off a little smoke it should be ready. You want to hear a little sizzle when you drop your crab cakes in the pan- that's how you know your oil is at a good frying temperature.
• Once you have your crab cakes in the pan- give them a minute to just sit- undisturbed. After about a minute- gently start shaking your pan- you want to see some movement in the pan to ensure they're not burning. Make sure they're not cooking too fast- if you start to smell a burn coming on- lift the pan off the heat and flip the cakes- reduce heat and return pan to stove.
• The method I use for cooking a perfect crab cake is simple- my fingers. Tilt your pan just enough to move the oil down to one side of the pan- feel around the bottom of one of the cakes at the top of the pan. The cakes are ready to be flipped when they begin to crisp around the bottom edges. If you have more sensitive fingers (like normal people) just simply use a slotted spatula to lift the cakes out of the pan and look at the bottom of the cake- when it's nice and golden-brown you can flip them.
• Don't depend on a timer to cook when pan frying because that's not always reliable. Use your eyes and your fingers.
• Take a big dollop of Tar Tar sauce in the middle of a plate. Take a spoon and push down in the middle of the dollop and lightly spread in circles to make a perfect little bed for your crab cake. Place your crab cake on its bed and serve with your favorite sides.
• I'll add a recipe for Tar Tar sauce sometime soon. For now- just use your favorite.