Crab Cakes

Burekaboy introduced me to a cute little monkey that makes a wicked potato latke. Not to be outdone by a monkey, even though he is a cute little bugger, I have to show you the crab cakes I made last weekend. I do not include step by step photos in order to preserve my culinary edge, can't be having the monkey making better crab cakes than me!

Three of the five crab cakes the recipe below yields.

½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup chopped fresh chives
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp seafood seasoning blend
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (not weapons grade)
1 ¾ pounds lump crabmeat, picked over
5 cups fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil

Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Stir in crab. Add 2 cups breadcrumbs, mix well. Season with black pepper. Place remaining 3 cups breadcrumbs in medium bowl. Using scant ¼ cupful for each, shape crab mixture into patties. Drop into breadcrumbs; turn to coat, pressing crumbs to adhere. Arrange cakes on baking sheet. (Can be made 6 hours ahead, cover and chill). Melt half of butter and half of oil in heavy large skillet over medium high heat. Add half of crab cakes. Saute until heated through and golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Arrange on platter. Repeat with remaining butter, oil, and crab cakes. Garnish with lemon. Makes 20.

The recipe above is probably from Gourmet magazine. A few notes: Five crab cakes cost me $20 in crab meat alone (from an expensive grocery store, but still). I got five crab cakes out of this dosage of crab. So if I understand my maths correctly, to get the yield advised by Gourmet then just imagine each of my crab cakes divided by four. Which makes it a crab drop rather than a crab cake, in my book. Also do not use weapons grade cayenne pepper. I made this mistake and I could barely taste the crab. I used store bought bread crumbs (don't tell the monkey; he would have made his own).