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.

Salmon, Smashed Sweet Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts

 

Ingredients:

Salmon fillets

2 TBSP Vegetable oil

Salt

Pepper

Lemon

2 cups Brussels Spouts

1/2 apple chopped

1/4 cup Pancetta diced

1 TBSP Brown Sugar

1 TBSP Olive oil 

Salt 

Pepper

2 cups Sweet Potatoes chopped

2 TBSP butter

1 TBSP honey

Salt

1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Directions:

Salmon:

Coat salmon fillets with vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper.  Sear over high heat for a few minutes on both sides.

Brussels Spouts:

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Cut stems off brussels sprouts and cut them in half.  Remove and discard the loose leaves.  Coat with olive oil, mix in pancetta, apples and brown sugar, and season with salt and pepper.  Place in roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes or until the edges of the brussels spouts are nice and crispy. 

Mashed Sweet Potatoes:

Cube the sweet potatoes and boil in salted water until soft.  Drain the water and place back in the pot.  Add the butter, honey and cayenne pepper and puree with an immersion blender or a fork if you like it chunkier.  Salt to taste.