1 August, 2018
Noreen’s Crabcakes
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
12 saltine crackers
2 each large eggs
1 Tablespoon sweet onion, minced
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise – NOT salad dressing
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
½ teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
2 Tablespoons +/- cooking oil (for frying)
1 pound lump crabmeat
Preparation:
In a medium size mixing bowl, crush the saltines. I use the bottom of a drinking glass or mason jar to mash them. Don’t crush them into a fine powder – you want a variety of bits and small pieces.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then add to the saltines.
Add the rest of the ingredients except for the oil and crabmeat. Mix well with a spoon or fork.
Start heating a heavy frying pan on the stove over medium high heat. Add the oil and reduce the heat to medium. If the oil starts to smoke, turn down the heat a little more.
Gently add the crabmeat to the mixture, folding it in and avoiding breaking up the lumps of crab meat.
Divide the mixture into 6 parts and shape each part with your hands into a round cake, about 3 inches across.
Gently lay the crab cakes in the heated frying pan and cook about 3 minutes. Add a splash of oil, if needed. You just need a little layer of oil to prevent sticking to the pan and to help form a nice crust on the crab cakes. With a spatula, turn each crab cake over and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned and heated through.
Serve warm, with your choice of sauce, such as prepared tartar sauce or a nice flavored mayonnaise.
Notes:
We used to get fresh Blue Crabs by the bushel from the local watermen at our summer cabin on Buckner’s Creek. We would cook them up and sit outside at the picnic table, picking crabs all afternoon, eating as much as we set aside. lol
It generally takes four Blue Crabs to yield one pound of meat, but most modern groceries sell lump crab meat in one pound jars.