Crispy Dungeness Crab Cakes
Hot crisp-fried crab cakes top a cool citrus-dressed salad and tomato slices. Aioli spiked with red pepper flakes is drizzled over the crab cakes. Dungeness crab rules in Oregon, but you could substitute local fresh crab meat of other varieties.
Ingredients
- Crab Cakes
- Shallots - 1/4 cup, minced
- Sweet Butter - 1 tablespoon
- Green Peppers - 1/4 cup, minced
- Bread Crumbs - 1/4 cup, prepared from bread with the crusts removed
- Eggs - 4
- Parsley - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Dijon mustard - 3 tablespoons
- Mayonnaise - 1/2 cup
- Grated Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 cup
- Dungeness crab meat - 1 pound, picked over for shells
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Aioli
- Egg Yolks - 2
- Dry Mustard - 1 teaspoon
- Worcestershire sauce - 1 teaspoon
- Salt - 1 teaspoon
- Red Chili Flakes - 1/4 teaspoon
- Freshly ground white pepper - 1/4 teaspoon
- Sugar - 1 tablespoon
- Garlic Cloves - 4, peeled and mashed
- White Vinegar - 3 tablespoons
- Olive Oil - 1-1/2 cups
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Citrus Salad
- Lime Juice - 2 tablespoons
- Grapefruit Juice - 2 tablespoons
- Orange Juice - 2 tablespoons
- Olive Oil - 1 , preferably Pomace
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Fresh Green Beans - 25, blanched
- Radishes - 5, sliced thin
- Mesclun Lettuces - 3 cups
- Yellow tomatoes - 2 medium, sliced
- To finish the crab cakes:
- Russet potatoes - 4
- All-Purpose Flour - 2 cups
- Olive Oil - 1/2 cup
Instructions
To make the crab cake mixture: Combine the shallots and butter in a small skillet and cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until softened but not browned. In a large bowl, combine the shallots, green peppers, bread crumbs, two of the eggs, parsley, mustard, mayonnaise, cheese, crab meat, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, tossing gently to mix. The mixture should be somewhat dry. Divide the mixture into 2-ounce balls (10 balls) and chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. The crab cakes may be prepared to this point a day ahead, wrapped, and refrigerated until ready to proceed.
To make the aioli: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the egg yolks, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, chili flakes, pepper, sugar, garlic, and vinegar and pulse a few times to combine. With the machine running, slowly pour in the olive oil. Once all the olive oil is combined, add the lemon juice. Put in a squeeze bottle and keep cool.
To prepare the salad: Whisk the citrus juices, olive oil, salt, and pepper together. Toss the green beans, radishes, and the mesclun with some of the citrus dressing. Toss the tomatoes with a little of the dressing. Place two tomato slices in the center of each serving plate. Mound salad mix on the tomatoes, leaving some of each tomato exposed. Arrange radish slices around the edges. Set the plates aside.
To finish the crab cakes: Peel the potatoes. Square off the ends. Using a mandoline or Japanese slicer, finely shred the potatoes. Blanch the potato shreds in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain in a colander, then rinse with cold water to cool. Pat dry. Divide the potatoes into 10 piles.
Beat the remaining 2 eggs lightly. Remove the crab balls from the refrigerator. Roll each in flour, then dip in egg and place on a potato pile. Press down slightly to flatten to about 1-inch thick. Wrap potatoes around the cake, ending with cakes which are about 1-1/2 inches thick and 3 inches in diameter. Pat the cakes dry again just before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cakes, leaving room between them. As the cakes start to brown at the edges, turn with tongs. Bake for 10 minutes to finish.
To serve: Place two crab cakes on each prepared plate of salad. Drizzle aioli over each plate.
