Down East Crab Cakes

Down East Crab Cakes 

taste great, 

less filler!

The Down East Crab Cake name comes from crabmeat mixed with eggs and sauce, 

no mayonnaise included!

Most of us love the sweet, briny crab meat that comes from the coasts.  Crab cakes started out as a measure of thrift.

Although crabs were plentiful in the Chesapeake Bay, their meat was difficult and time-consuming to remove from the shell ~ cooks would, as a rule, stretch their meager yields with cracker crumbs, bread crumbs and eggs.  
These days, thanks to readily available tinned crabmeat and shipments of frozen-fresh, we can find crab cakes all over the country. 

A couple of days ago, our market had Chicken of the Sea Premium Claw Crab Meat on sale.  It's normally very expensive, but it was half price that day and I grabbed 3 tins of it.  

I settled on the recipe from The Southern Living Cookbook and adapted it only slightly by swapping green onions for green peppers, and adding a little paprika, garlic powder and black pepper. I will actually add more garlic powder the next time. 

Ready to fry

The crab cakes make for a perfect seafood-inspired meal!


DOWN EAST CRAB CAKES
Printable recipe

Ingredients:

1½ pound lump crab meat, drained and flaked
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten (I used Southwestern Style Egg Beaters
2 tablespoons chopped onion (I used green onions)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup flour
Vegetable oil
Hot sauce or cocktail sauce (optional)

Method:

Combine all ingredients through salt.
Stir well, shape into 9-12 patties, mixture will be loose.*
Refrigerate until well-chilled, 30 minutes to an hour.
Dredge crab cakes in flour.
Heat oil in large skillet, add patties, and fry until golden brown, turning once.
Drain on paper towels.
Serve with hot sauce, if desired.

Makes 9 to 12 patties, smaller for appetizers, larger for main dish.


Enjoy!