Recipe for Blue Crab Cakes

submitted by Sean Deverman

Blue Crab Cakes
Crab cakes are always good comfort food, a classic appetizer that can be easily made for a snack or side dish anytime.  You can make them up in batches and keep some uncooked in the fridge for up to a week, though not as fresh.  Don't let the word cake fool you. We're not baking here, so you don't have to follow these measurements exactly.  Play around with flavors --  make it to your taste.

Ingredients
-Blue crab meat (about one pound)
-Heavy cream (6 oz.)
-Red bell pepper (use half of it, diced fine)
-Green bell pepper (same as red pepper)
-Clarified butter (or a combination of butter and olive oil is fine)
-Green onions (use about a handful, sliced fine)
-Bread crumbs (about 6 oz. depending on the texture you'd like)
-Dijon mustard (2tbsp, or add more to kick it up a bit)
-Tabasco sauce (just a few drops)
-Worcestershire sauce (same as Tabasco sauce)
-Egg (one, beaten lightly)
-Salt and pepper (to taste)

Preparing
1.       Pick through the crab meat, carefully removing any shell pieces, unless you're using canned crab meat (it's ok, I won't tell anyone).
2.       Put the heavy cream in a sauce pan on medium heat, reduce by about half. Make sure the cream is cold when you mix the ingredients later.
3.       Cook the peppers in a sauce pan over medium high heat with butter until soft, do not overcook (makes them soggy and bitter)
4.       Combine crab meat, reduced chilled cream, peppers, onion, egg, Dijon mustard, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs and salt and pepper (try to keep the crab meat lumpy; don't break it down too much)
5.       Using a round pastry mold, form the mixture into patties of desired size.
6.       After molding, sprinkle some extra bread crumbs on both sides of the crab cakes, pressing lightly with your hands.
7.       Heat a sauce pan over moderate heat, adding enough clarified butter, or oil and butter, to coat the bottom of the pan (about ¼ inch deep).
8.       Add the crab cakes to the pan and cook until done, turning over one time. Cook about two minutes each side, give or take 30 seconds depending how hot your stove is. Make sure you put the crab cakes in a hot pan with the oil or butter hot, otherwise your cakes with be too soft and soggy.  You don't want to absorb all that butter, just pan fry with it.
9.       Drain the crab cakes on a paper towel before serving (maybe adding a little salt and pepper to it, put a dash of paprika for kicks, if desired).