Crab Cakes

I love crab cakes! To me they are quite the gift. Husband and I make these for dinner and are delighted to have crab cake sandwiches the next day. This recipe has been a trial and error experiment. We liked and disliked things about every recipe we tried. Finally, I combined the things we loved and tossed out the things we didn't. We think what's left is yummy!

I don't use lots of bread crumbs. I like to taste the crab. For the crunch we like on the outside, we roll the cakes in panko after forming them. Therefore, make the crab cakes early enough to give them time to firm up in the fridge before cooking them or they will fall apart.

Crab Cakes

Olive oil

1 small onion, finely minced

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely minced

1 lb lump crab

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 large egg white

about 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (you will use 1/2 cup in crab cakes and 1/2 cup outside the crab cake)

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion, garlic and red pepper until they begin to caramelize. Dump that into a large bowl and fold in crab meat, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, egg white, lime juice,cayenne, salt, pepper and cilantro. Mix just until well blended. Shape the mixture into 8 fat crab cakes. Roll cakes in extra breadcrumbs. Put on a plate, cover and refrigerate until chilled. Heat a skillet with about 3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Cook crab cakes about 4 minutes on each side, or until they are nice and crisp.

We usually serve them with a Chile Mayonnaise. In a small bowl, combine the following:

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 of a chipotle chili in adobe sauce, chopped

zest and juice of 1/2 of a lime

a few chopped cilantro leaves