Crab Cakes that I made!

Growing up in Baltimore, Chesapeake Bay blue crabs are kind of a religion.  I still remember the feeling of waking up at the crack of dawn on every beach vacation to go crabbing under the bridge with my dad, uncle, grandfather and brother.  We would bring the spoils back to the beach house and steam them up in a huge pot for the entire family to enjoy.  Any leftovers would go to making either crab cakes or crab soup for the following day.  This recipe is from my mom who knows her crab cakes (thanks mom!) and the crab meat is from a crab feast this past weekend (thanks dad!).
A note about crab meat.  Don't even bother to try this recipe unless you can find fresh lump crab meat.  The recipe relies on the flavor of the crab itself which is sweet and fantastic, and pasteurized crab meat doesn't have that same flavor at all.  It probably shouldn't even be called crab. 

Crab cakes with asparagus and Vino Verde from Portugal.

What they should look like after mixing and forming but before cooking.

The finished product.

Ingredients:
1 lbs of FRESH Crab meat (not pasteurized! trust me)
6 Saltine crackers crushed
1 Egg
2 TBSP Pancake mix
1/4 Cup Mayo
1 tsp Ground dry mustard
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Fresh Lemon juice
1/2 tsp Dry parsley
Butter

Directions:
Start by gently picking out all the shells from the crab meat.  Take care not to handle it too much and to let the large lumps of crab stay together.  This is very important.
Next place the oven rack towards the top of the oven and preheat the broiler to 500 degrees.
Combine the egg, mayonnaise, Old Bay, mustard, pancake mix, Worcestershire sauce, parsley and lemon juice in a bowl.  Very gently mix in the crab meat and crackers with you hands and form into cakes.  I prefer a lump shape to mine about 3 inches in diameter but you can do yours however you like.  Pan fry in about a TBSP of butter for 1-2 minutes then finish in the oven until golden brown.