Saturday, July 12, 2008

Crab Cakes!!!

This is Mortimer...He is a Blue Crab from the Chesapeake Bay. A couple weeks ago, J and I went crabbing with my uncle, catching Mortimer and many of his friends. We did a fairly good job. The first time I went crabbing with my uncle, I fell asleep on the boat and was not too good at catching the crabs. In my defense, I did have to get up at 4am so it was understandable that I fell asleep. After that though, I normal chose to sleep in and just eat the crabs with my brother and sister caught. Lazy, I know!

This year, however, when J expressed interest in going crabbing and my uncle mentioned it, I thought, "Why not? It would be fun!" This time, I had to get up at 6am, which was not as bad. We spent a beautiful morning on the boat and caught a good amount of crabs. I have definitely improved in catching crabs and found that I really enjoy it. When we got back to the house, my uncle smothered them in Old Bay and steamed them. We picked some for lunch and took some home with us.

A few hours later, J turned to me and said the magic words "Crab Cakes?" We picked the rest of the crab meat and I called my mother for her recipe. My mother's secret is more crab and less filling. They turned out great! J is responsible for the photography. Mortimer was quite photogenic and quite tasty!



Maryland Crab Cakes
(from Ginny's Mom)

1 lb crab meat
2-3 tablespoons of flour, pancake mix or bisquick
4 shakes Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Pick over the crab meat carefully to remove any shell or cartilage.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir gently.
3. Heat vegetable oil in the frying pan to about one-half inch depth.
4. Form the cakes and fry for 3 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.

P.S. I am off to Ireland this week! I will see you in two weeks!

14 comments:

test it comm said...

Going crabbing does sound like fun and those crab cakes look really good! Have a great time in Ireland! I hope to go there some time.

Manggy said...

Ooh, those are some seriously fat crab cakes! I love 'em. That sounds like a lovely day you had, I'm glad you got off your lazy bum :P Kidding!
Have fun in Ireland!

Anonymous said...

Those look like they turned out absolutely perfect!

Mary said...

The crab cakes (and the crab) look really great! Have fun in Ireland!

Jeb Gavin said...

1) I believe at that point, he's more of a post-Mortimer.

2) I really want a crab cake now. Or even a crab cone, which I think is the finest evolution of blue crab consumption, the Nietzschean superman to the crab cake's mortal man.

3) Next time try mixing a little of the crab "mustard" into the mayo, and in addition to salt and pepper, add some blackened fish rub, or Nigerian cayenne, or even Old Bay.

4) You have to get up early to go crabbing, because crabbing requires drinking beer, and you can't really claim you spent all day drinking beer if you don't start in the morning.

LyB said...

That sounds like so much fun! And talk about fresh! Looks delicious Ginny. :)

Ginny said...

Kevin- Thank you!

Manggy- It was a good time! thanks!

jackie- thanks for stopping by!

mary- thank you!

jeb- you crack me up! you should come next time!

lyb- thank you! they were great! :)

Elle said...

Oh man, those look so good! And just made my stomach grumble in hunger! I adore crab cakes.

Deborah said...

I can't imagine how good freshly caught crab is - yum! Have sooo much fun in Ireland!

Anonymous said...

I love crab cakes!!! Haven't made them in a long, long time though...hmm. You may have inspired a weekend lunch meal. :)

Ari (Baking and Books)

Neen said...

Alright, this is the first time since moving that I have felt nostalgic for the D.C./mid-Atlantic part of the world. I love those summer crab fests, when everyone gathers around and gets really messy at a picnic table, breaking open those steamed crabs. Soooo tasty. What a neat experience to actually go crabbing!

cakewardrobe said...

OMG after I read this post, I was craving crab cakes the whole day!!

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