Groceries are getting harder to come by in the age of COVID-19, so imagine my surprise when I came across a 1/2 pound container of crab at the grocery store.
Time for crab cakes! I haven’t made them in years, but I’ve got all the ingredients to make crab cake sliders and I’m going for it. Lots of steps involved.
Step 1: Make my slider sauce. I decide on a variation of a remoulade. I mix together 1/4 cup mayonnaise, juice of half a lemon, 1 tbsp lemon rind from the jar of preserved lemon that sits patiently like a friend in my fridge, 1 tbsp chopped capers, a few dashes of worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp dijon, a dash of smoky paprika, salt and pepper to taste. It goes into the fridge so those flavours meld.
Step 2: Make a slaw to go on top of my sliders. Out comes the mandoline so I can thinly shred fennel (1 cup), red cabbage (1 cup), and julienne one apple. Pretty.
Step 3: Make a vinaigrette for the slaw. I’m going to echo the flavours in my lemony remoulade by making a lemon vinaigrette consisting of juice of 1 lemon, 1 tsp dijon, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 1 tbsp of minced fresh ginger. In goes the vinaigrette so those flavours can meld in the fridge. Nice, bright, sunny flavours.
Step 3: Make my crab cakes. Now there are three versions of your basic crab cake recipe: one incorporates crushed Ritz crackers into the crab mix, another incorporates dried bread crumbs instead, and another calls for fresh breadcrumbs. I’m going in a slightly different direction.
I take inspiration from Alison Roman’s excellent cookbook Dining In. She has a fresh breadcrumb recipe to beat all breadcrumb recipes. In my food processor, I blitz 4 pieces of crustless white bread until crumbly. I toss those into a well-oiled pan at medium high heat (I used about 1/4 cup olive oil) and, towards the end, add a minced clove of garlic.
Keep tossing those breadcrumbs until they’re golden and crispy. You can use these on salads or soup toppings, but I’m going to incorporate this delicious mixture into my crab cake.
In a bowl, I crack one egg and whisk it. I add a few glugs of worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp dijon, 1 tbsp mayonnaise, 1/2 pound of crab, and about 1/2 cup of the special breadcrumb mixture.
Gently mix it all together. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop 6 crab cakes on a baking tray lined with silicone or parchment paper.
Cover with plastic wrap and pop that in the fridge for about 1/2 hour.
Step #5: Fry the crab cakes. Into a pan goes a neutral oil at medium-high heat. Dredge your crab cakes in panko crumbs for extra crunch and pop them into the pan, cooking until they’re golden brown on both sides.
Crab cakes are ready to plate. Butter your slider buns and toast them under the broiler.
The remoulade goes down on the bottom bun. Top that with the crab cake and a mound of slaw. And that’s what I’m talking about. It’s a study in contrasts: the toasted garlicky breadcrumbs play well with the crab; the slaw gives visual and textural sharpness; the toasted brioche buns are rich and buttery; and that remoulade stands out, bite for bite.
— Trish Hennessy
A Year in Sandwiches 