December 29, 2012

Coastal Crab Cakes

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent the Christmas weekend at my favorite spot on the Oregon coast: Cannon Beach. When it wasn't raining we wondered round the quaint town, drank coffee, ate goodies from the Cannon Beach Bakery, and admired Haystack Rock from the sand.

On Christmas Eve Eve we drove along 101 to Astoria and got ourselves some freshly caught (and boiled) crab. I wanted to make crab cakes from scratch and had a friend from the restaurant write me up a recipe.
They turned out to be more crab fritters than cakes- but that's just because I was impatient to eat them and made them thin. But seeing as I made them from scratch, I figure you can make them whatever size and thickness you want!

Here's what you need:
1-2 lbs of fresh Crab meat
1/2 bunch of Arugula (finely chopped)
1/3 bunch Parsley (finely chopped)
1/3 red onion (finely chopped)
1-2 cups grated Parmigiano reggiano
1-2 cups Panko or bread crumbs
2 eggs
Salt & pepper to taste

Here's what you do:
If you have a full crab like we did, start by cleaning it. Sometimes you can ask to have the crab cleaned (usually they offer anyways) from wherever you purchased it, or else if you get the crab from the grocery store, it most likely has already been cleaned.  

Next comes the fun part: getting out the meat! You can use nutcrackers if you don't have an actual Crab/Lobster set, or just use your handy-dandy hands!

Apron may be required!
Once you have your crab meat, be sure to squeeze out some of the liquid by placing the meat on a paper towel and patting it down thoroughly.

Next, add all ingredients together in a bowl and mix well.
Form the cakes into the desired size and coat the outside with additional Panko.
In a large skillet, add oil and heat pan. When it's hot enough, add the cakes and cook until golden brown.

Serve warm & enjoy!

We served our cakes with brown rice.
A perfectly delicious coastal meal in prime crabbing season!
xx

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