Directions

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and peanut oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve hot with preferred sauce – I recommend my Spicy Aioli Dipping Sauce!

To save yourself some cash: PICK YOUR OWN CRAB MEAT!!  We’ve tried all of the pre-shelled crab meats that Kroger has, and they ALL suck. The fake stuff sucks (it’s like crab-flavored Spam), and the stuff that’s fresh is overpriced and incredibly far from “picked free of shells”. The first time we made this recipe, we splurged for the private selection, fresh-picked snow crab meat that said, quote: “may contain some shells”, down in the ultra fine print for a whopping $18/lb. When we opened it, we saw small pieces of shells on the top, so we opted to spend some time hand cleaning it so our crab cakes wouldn’t be ruined. Two hours later, we were finally ready to cook our dinner (at 9pm, mind you) and we had separated about 10% of each container worth of shells. Never. Ever. Again. Learn from our mistake, it’s much less painful (and WAY cheaper) to pick your own meat.

What we do to harvest our own crab:

1. Wait for our favorite crab legs to go on sale (we love Snow, but this works for all – lobster even if you want).
2. Buy far more than we could ever eat in one sitting – usually 4-5lbs.
3. Cook it all – trust me, don’t panic!
4. Eat only our favorite parts of the crab when it’s cooked – for me, that’s the 2nd and 3rd legs, for Redding that’s the claw.
5. Set aside everything else in a clean bowl or tupperware.
6. After dinner, we pick crab out of the shells of everything remaining – so all the stuff you would have eaten if you didn’t have so much to work with including the body (we call it the nub), the smaller legs, and the claws if you aren’t into them – discard the shells, anything that looks like green playdough, and gills if you got them (preferably in the trash outside; they smell). You can put the leftovers in the fridge still in the shells if you’re too full (or have had too much date-night wine) to pick them and do it tomorrow – it’s cool.
7. Put your crab meat that you’ve picked free of shells in the fridge (if you want to eat it as cakes in the next 2-3 days) or you can put it into a freezer bag, squeeze out the excess air, and freeze it. **I’ve only had it frozen for up to a month, but that’s because we can’t resist it, not that it goes bad. As long as you protect it well from air (and therefore freezer-burn) you can probably keep it for a while.

Not only can you freeze the meat to make next time easier, but you can also freeze the uncooked, complete crab cake mix and pull it out when you want it!! This occurred to me one day and thrifty, but wannabe fancy me HAD to try it. Worked like a charm! The defrosting makes the blend a little wetter than it would have been the first time, but a couple of extra crushed Ritz crackers and the flouring step after defrosting fixes this right up! Since this discovery, I’ve begun making this recipe in bulk when I do and freezing individual 2 cake portions (for having as an appetizer on steak date nights!) or 5 cake portions (a whole dinner, two for me, three for him – keeps me cute). I’ve only kept it frozen for a few weeks, but again, not a food problem; just couldn’t resist it!  Saves time in the future too – which we all know is totally priceless.