Easy Crab Cakes

Name: Easy Crab Cakes
Yield: makes 6 cakes / serves 3 to 6
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over and shells removed; 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (see Know-how, page 134); 3 tablespoons your favorite or Homemade Mayonnaise (page 280); 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley; 1 teaspoon sea salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; Pinch of ground cayenne pepper; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 lemon or lime, cut into wedges

December 14, 2011

I used to make crab cakes using all kinds of herbs and vegetables for added flavor and texture, but the ultrasimple crab cakes Peter and I enjoyed on a recent trip to the Maryland shore convinced me that in this case, less is more. I don’t add much more to this dressed-down version than is needed to hold the cakes together, so the only time to make them is when crab is in season and at the peak of freshness.

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