Crab Cakes

Yield: 6 crab cakes

Prep time:  45 minutes

Total time: 1 hr

Ingredients

1 lb crab meat
1 green onion (scallion), diced
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 egg
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp lemon zest
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Old Bay
½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp melted butter

Directions

1. Combine all wet ingredients (mayonnaise, egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce) in a bowl. 
2. In a separate, large bowl, season crab meat with cayenne pepper and Old Bay. Add green onion, parsley, lemon zest, and garlic to the crab. Use a rubber spatula to fold vegetables in.
3. Add wet ingredients and fold into crab mixture. Add panko, and fold in until just combined. 
4. Let crab mixture chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. 
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a pan with foil and grease with oil or butter.
6. Using a ½ cup measuring cup, portion and form crab cakes; place on greased pan.
7. Cook crab cakes for 10 minutes. 
8. Brush crab cake tops with melted butter, then cook an additional 5 minutes.
9. Remove and serve immediately.

Recipe Tips

• To fold ingredients, you are basically lifting and turning so a mixture can combine well. It is a more delicate way of combining ingredients. You want to be careful when working with crab meat; over mixing or mixing too roughly breaks up the crab meat. 
• There are many different variations of Old Bay. Feel free to use your favorite. I have used both Hot flavored and Lemon Pepper flavored Old Bay in this recipe, and was satisfied with both results. 
• This is probably the only recipe where I didn’t say to salt to taste. You do not want to overseason this dish. Allow the crab flavor to shine through by not overwhelming it with a bunch of seasonings. 
• I recommend using backfin, special, or lump crab meat for this recipe.