Do you like crab? I sure do, yet I don’t get it – eat it – very often. Rarely, in fact. But this, oh, yes, I could eat this every so often. It takes some doing (i.e., there’s quite a bit of prep involved) but the result is succulent, sweet, ever-so tender and nearly falling apart with deliciousness.
I do hope all of you – since you’re foodies like I am – watch America’s Test Kitchen (the TV show). I have it automatically record on my Tivo, so I never miss a program. There have been many of them recording lately (more than one a week), and every single recipe they’ve made has been something I want to try. Which means I need to remember, the next time I’m at my computer, to go online to the TV series’ website to print it out. The website is different than the regular Cook’s Illustrated website. Why? Because you can get these recipes for free, whereas all the others are only available to subscribed members.
What I had in my refrigerator was one of those plastic “cans” of fresh crab, but they’re stabilized somehow and keep for quite awhile under refrigeration. You can get it at both Costco and Trader Joe’s. They’re one pound containers, with very little liquid. So, here’s the short-list of what has to be done:
- Toast the panko in a nonstick skillet until the crumbs get golden brown
- Soak the crab meat in milk for 30 minutes
- Chop up some raw shrimp which is added into the mixture
- Chop and cook some onion, celery and garlic
- Combine the drained crab and shrimp with the veggies, a little jot of cream, Dijon, hot pepper sauce and lemon juice, some seasonings and form into balls and let them rest, refrigerated, for awhile
- Gently – oh so gently – pat the toasted panko crumbs on both sides of each one
- Fry the very fragile crab cakes in some vegetable oil until golden brown, turning them with 2 spatulas and serve them immediately!
It took me about an hour to do all that prep, and when I got to the final part of frying, I had a tough time keeping the crab cakes in one piece. The instructions are clear – fry over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes with oil shimmering in the pan, turn them over (using 2 spatulas, mandatory), add a bit more oil, turn down the heat, and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes until they’re done. If you cook them long enough – and at the absolute perfect temp (whatever that is) the crumbs have turned a dark golden brown and they help hold the crab cakes together.
What there isn’t in these crab cakes is a stick of filler. No bread crumbs (the panko is just on the outside, none in the mixture), or eggs. Or flour. Nothing. So you can imagine how fragile they are. But I managed to get 5 of them to come out beautifully. The other two, not so much. But oh well, it didn’t make them taste any less delicious, so what does it matter, right? Be sure to use fresh crab, not canned. And be careful about how salty the crab is – crab meat from King crab legs are often quite salty. Soaking the crab in milk is a great step – moisture is provided and it takes away any kind of off-flavors that might be lurking in the shellfish.
What’s GOOD: the clean, fresh taste of the crab – no filler, just good flavor all around. And texture from the panko – gosh those panko crumbs do a great job providing texture. Be sure to serve these the moment they’re out of the pan – I mixed up a salad and already had it on the plate so it was easy to place the crab cakes next to it and whisk the plates to the table. Except for taking the picture you see at the top!
What’s NOT: if I had to complain about anything it would be the amount of prep. But then, some things do take awhile to prepare – you want good flavor? then sometimes it requires some elbow grease, like these did.
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Fresh Crab Cakes
Recipe By: America’s Test Kitchen TV show, Jan. 2013
Serving Size: 6
1 pound lump crab meat — picked over for shells
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
2 stalks celery ribs — chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove — peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 ounces shrimp — raw, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning — [I used Mural of Flavor fom Penzey’s]
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Notes: Fresh crab meat will make these crab cakes taste even better. With packaged crab, if the meat smells clean and fresh when you first open the package, skip steps 1 and 4 and simply blot away any excess liquid. I managed to get 7 crab cakes (recipe said it made 8). You throw out the milk, and you’ll use about 3/4 of the panko crumbs.
1. Place crab meat and milk in bowl, making sure crab is totally submerged. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place ¾ cup panko in small zipper-lock bag and finely crush with rolling pin. Transfer crushed panko to 10-inch nonstick skillet and add remaining ¾ cup panko. Toast over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. The finely ground panko will brown first, so keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. Transfer panko to shallow dish and stir in ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Wipe out skillet.
3. Pulse celery, onion, and garlic in food processor until finely chopped, 5 to 8 pulses, scraping down bowl as needed. Transfer vegetables to large bowl. Rinse processor bowl and blade and reserve. Melt butter in now-empty skillet over medium heat. Add chopped vegetables, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and all moisture has evaporated, 4 to 6 minutes. Return vegetables to large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Rinse out pan and wipe clean.
4. Strain crab meat through fine-mesh strainer, pressing firmly to remove milk but being careful not to break up lumps of crab meat.
5. Pulse shrimp in now-empty food processor until finely ground, 12 to 15 pulses, scraping down bowl as needed. Add cream and pulse to combine, 2 to 4 pulses, scraping down bowl as needed. Transfer shrimp puree to bowl with cooled vegetables. Add mustard, hot pepper sauce, lemon juice, and Old Bay seasoning; stir until well combined. Add crab meat and fold gently with rubber spatula, being careful not to overmix and break up lumps of crab meat. Divide mixture into 8 balls and firmly press into 1/2-inch-thick patties. Place cakes on rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Coat each cake in panko, firmly pressing to adhere crumbs to exterior. If they’re fragile, hold the crab cake in one hand and gently pat the crumbs onto the flat side, then turn it over carefully and repeat for the 2nd side. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Place 4 cakes in skillet and cook without moving them until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Using 2 spatulas, carefully flip cakes, add 1 tablespoon oil, reduce heat to medium-low, and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer cakes to platter. Wipe out skillet and repeat with remaining 4 cakes and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Serve immediately.
Per Serving (the numbers here seem very high to me – there is almost no oil used – you only use about 3/4 of the bread crumbs, so it’s off by that amount. Shrimp and crab aren’t high in calories. 1/4 cup of cream isn’t much divided up into 6-8 cakes, so I don’t understand, but this is what my recipe program says): 461 Calories; 18g Fat (37.1% calories from fat); 26g Protein; 44g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 112mg Cholesterol; 505mg Sodium.
Jerianne Hanks
said on March 16th, 2013:
Oh, YUM!!! Have you ever made Claim Jumper’s Potato Cakes? They’re so delish!!! How can anything not taste good with “Cake” in the title? 😀 Below are a couple of websites that vary a bit in the ingredients. I asked Claim Jumper waiter what the sauce was, and he said it is 1/2 Ranch Dressing and 1/2 their Mexican Salsa. Whatever it is, it is THE BEST! Do you put any kind of sauce on the Crab Cakes?
JH
Jerianne Hanks
said on March 16th, 2013:
I forgot to attach the websites for the Potato Cakes:
http://starlynxssecretrecipes.lefora.com/2009/01/04/claim-jumpers-cheese-potato-cakes/
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This gal changed up the sauce recipe somewhat:
http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2008/10/cheesy-potato-cakes.html
Thank, Jerianne. I’ll look at those. I rarely make potato cakes – not that I don’t LIKE them, but because I try hard to limit the white carbs we eat. May have to try these, though. . . carolyn t
Melissa
said on August 10th, 2013:
Thank you so much for the print of this! I will be making these next week for my husband’s birthday and I accidentally deleted the episode. Glad to have found you.
P.S. I did the calorie count and for 6 crab cakes, even using whole milk and heavy cream instead of subbing skim milk and half and half, and using all 4 tablespoons of oil, I came up with 1803 = 301 per cake. FYI.
Hi Melissa – I went back to my MasterCook recipe software to try to find the difference in calorie count. Nothing stood out to me about it – no odd measurements or ingredients, so I don’t know how these programs figure things. I’m glad to know if this is fewer calories – I can enjoy it more often in the future! Hope you enjoy them as much as we did . . . carolyn t
Brian
said on August 23rd, 2013:
I think the calorie count discrepancy comes from the serving size. The America’s test kitchen recipe lists a serving as 2 of the 8 cakes. So, TastingSpoons/ATK recipe says a serving has 461 calories which is 230.5 per crab cake. Melissa used whole milk in her calculation but, since you discard the milk, it doesn’t count. Melissa’s count of 301 per cake and ATK’s count of 230 is possible. My calorie count comes to 231 per cake, the same as ATK, which is 11 Weightwatcher points for 2 cakes. Meanwhile the crabcakes are great and thanks for the recipe.
Thank you so much for analyzing that one for me. If I’d spent time breaking down the recipe I’d probably have figured it out too. Thanks, Brian. . . carolyn t