First-Try Crab Cakes

Stevie B., the head chef at the restaurant that I worked at in Colorado, was amazing. No matter what he made, I would devour it without question, and he was always willing to answer my culinary questions, of which there were many. He made these amazing, flaky crabcakes, which quickly became my boyfriend's favorite thing to order.  Alas, I never asked our chef how to prepare them, and so came about last night's experiment!

I looked to my second-favorite chef, Tyler Florence, and found his recipe for Crab Cakes. They looked incredible, and the fact that I didn't have quite enough real crab meat didn't seem to be an issue, as I supplemented the rest with imitation crab meat (It's still fish!). Besides, since I wasn't sure what I was doing, I figured spending $3 on fake crab instead of $15 on the real deal would be excusable. I used my food processor to chop up the meat, and I used dried breadcrumbs instead of fresh. I also added a bit of Old Bay seasoning and Paprika, just to add some extra flavor. Not too much though, as Old Bay can get pretty salty! With about 10 ounces of total crab meat, I made about 5 large patties and set them in the fridge for 45 minutes (I got distracted by wine) to set. I cooked them for about 4 minutes on each side, but must have had my heat too high, because they came out a bit burned.

 

 

The flavor of these crab cakes were fantastic though, and we ate them despite the slight torching. They had a nice, mild crab flavor, and were well seasoned, although they were a bit chewy for my taste (perhaps because they were essentially seared?) Plus, the Garlic Aioli that was included in the recipe was delicious and super easy to make. Not to be discouraged, next time I think I will use fresh bread crumbs, and maybe use Panko to coat these cakes to create that flakiness that we so love from back home. There is much more research to be done! If you have any suggestions for my next attempt, please post them!