Mamma makes Anne's Crab Cakes

Oh yes, Christmas food rocks my world!  So does my mom, who is always willing to try something new.  Our holiday traditional food typically consists of stuffed shells (pasta shells stuffed with ricotta and spinach and covered in homemade sauce), lobster tails, and steak...jealous?  This year my dear mother wanted to try something new, so instead of lobster she made crab cakes from scratch.  She used her friend Anne's recipe.  Anne is a Maryland native and bonafide crab connoisseur, so the fact that she would give us her recipe is both and honor and very intimidating all at the same time.

Now, I'm going to give you the recipe as we interpreted it (feel free to not tell Anne that we altered the recipe, should you ever run into her).  My mom thinks every recipe calls for too much seasoning, so we used less than the recipe called for, so if you love salt, take it up a notch.

Maryland Crab Cakes
Makes 9 appetizer size cakes

Ingredients:

5-7 Saltine Crackers
1 tablespoon of Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 lb of chunked crab meat

1/6 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon of Tabasco

1 tablespoon of fresh Italian parsley

Preparation:

Begin by chopping the crackers in a food processor until the texture of bread crumbs and out in a large mixing bowl.  Add the Old Bay Seasoning and the crab meat and gently mix with a fork.  Put in the fridge to chill while preparing the wet ingredients.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the mayo, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, Tabasco and parsley. 

Gradually (and gently) add just enough of the wet ingredients to the crab mixture that you are able to form small cakes.  Form the cakes and set aside.

To cook the crab cakes, melt about a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and cook the cakes until golden brown on each side.

Serve with a tepenade, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, chutney, or really anything else that suits your fancy.

Tips:

If you are feeling industrious, you can use a fresh crab, boil that baby, and then break it open and dig out your own crab meat.  However, I can tell you that this is a lot of work.  So unless you are looking for the experience of cracking open a crab, just by chunked meat at the grocery store.  Drain out any liquid before using.

Be careful not to apply too much pressure to the crab by squeezing it.  You want to handle the crab meat gently and pull it apart with a fork if necessary, rather than your fingers.  This will keep the meat light and unbruised.

Any cracker will do.  Anne would die if she knew that we used Saltines, but the crab cakes still tasted great!

You can prepare the crab cakes the day before and then store them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.  I wouldn't keep them uncooked in the fridge for more than a day.