| 06 March 2010
Posted in
Appetizers -
Seafood
Mis en Place:
The Crab Cakes
- 1 1/2 lb crab meat
- 1/2 cup of marinated Cara Mia Artichoke Hearts, small dice
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, small dice
- 1/4 cup chives, small dice
- 1/2 cup shallots, small dice
- 1/4 cup spinach, small dice
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 8 oz panko crumbs
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
The Cilantro Lime Avocado Spread
- 1 Avocado
- 1tbsp Sour Cream
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- Sea Salt
- Chopped cilantro
Preparation
Step 1: The Crab Cakes
Mix the red bell pepper, chives, shallots, and spinach in a bowl. Add salt + pepper, cayenne and strained artichoke hearts. Make sure that your crab meat is completely strained of any extra juices, and mix it into your bowl. Any extra juices will make it harder for your patties to stick together. Alternate mixing in 2 eggs and your panko crumbs, completely covering your mixture in eggs to make your patties stick together. Squeeze in the lemon juice.
Find the size you would like to see your patties by using something around the house that has about 1/2 in. depth as a guide. I used the cap off of my vitamin water because I am putting the cakes on top of crackers and serving them as tray pass items. If you want to go with bigger patties and serve them as appetizers, you can take off the bottom of coffee tumblers or find something around a 3 in. diameter. Take a piece of saran wrap and lay it over your cap. Fill the cap in with your mixture, completely packing it in. Pull the saran wrap up, and pop the patty out and set aside. Repeat until your whole batch is gone.
Now the patties are ready to be cooked! You can use butter or a little bit of oil on a comal to cook the crab cake until golden brown. I like to use butter because it gives it a more golden color.
Step 2: The Spread
Put 1/2 of the avocado, salt + pepper, and sour cream in a food processor. While that is going on, cut the other half of the avocado out of its skin into little 1/2 inch squares. Put the contents of the food processor, the avocado squares, lime juice and cilantro in a bowl and mix with a whisk. I didn't want to put the whole avocado in the food processor because I want the avocado chunks in my spread to add texture.
Put the spread in a ziplock bag, and cut off one corner. You can use this to pipe and design the spread onto the crab cakes.
