Dungeness Crab Cakes: Z's Easy Double Sourdough English Muffin Delights
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Tonight I cracked open our new canned crab and set about making a crab cake recipe from scratch with whatever I had in the cabin. I think it turned out pretty great and they are dead simple to make. Forgive the photo quality -- After making the cakes I realized I had the camera set on the lowest resolution setting and it was too late to go back by then! You'll need: 1 One sourdough English muffin 1 can of Ocean Harvest Dungeness Crab 1 clove garlic. 1 lemon Some Dill and Parsley and garnish as you like. So here's how you make them! |
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First toast one sourdough English muffin on both sides. This will remove some of the moisture content and make the crumbs a bit crunchy. If you had some breadcrumbs ready that would work too.
Break them up and add them to a food processor along with one (or more) cloves of garlic, a healthy pinch of dill and a couple of pinches of dried parsley. I would have used fresh but I didn't have any on hand. Love the one you are with! |
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I wasn't sure if we'd need to add additional liquid to make the cakes hold together. I'm not a fan of eggs (or milk even) and I didn't have either of those on hand. I had thought to use white wine but all we had was red which I didn't think would work all that well. The cans are packed with salt water as you can see. I tasted it and it was very nice -- like a crab broth a bit on the salty side.
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Mix the Canned Crab with the processed English muffin. Turns out 1 English muffin crumbed added to the canned crab with juice creates the perfect crab cake consistency -- nothing else is required. The salty broth saturates the crumbs with crab flavor and you can form cakes easily. |
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Form some cakes! | |
Get your cast iron skillet very hot and add some olive oil and a small pad of butter. The oil will keep the butter from burning too quickly and add flavor, but you'll be mostly cooking in the olive oil. Your arteries might appreciate that in the long run. Let them cook on high heat till you get a nice light brown on the bottom. Resist checking or touching them for a few minutes as they're vulnerable to breaking apart at this point. Let the heat do its thing. | |
Flip them when they're golden brown and give them a light smash with your spatula. Give them a quick shot of lemon right before you take them from the frying pan. No need to season with salt as we've used the crab brine, but a quick grind of pepper can't hurt. |
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Toast some more english muffins and place your sizzling crab cakes on them and top as you desire. Some might enjoy tarter sauce or a wasabi aioli but I happened to have some Gedney Organic Chile Pepper Bread & Butter pickle slices (which rule) that made a nice addition to the crab cakes. Add a touch of what we in Oregon call 'chicken sauce' -- Really its Tuong Ot Sriracha which none of us can pronounce. Tasty stuff though and Spicy! |
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Perfect with an ice cold beer as an appetizer or party platter or as part of a main course. The easy part of this recipe is that it turns out one english muffin made into breadcrumbs is the perfect ratio with the can of crab and juices. Just combine with what herbs and spices you like and fry up some nice cakes -- and no egg or milk needed as the crab brine with the can is all you need. Enjoy!
-Zachary of the Harvester |
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