Crab Cakes

You may have noticed I like little cake shaped foods. Salmon patties, corn fritters, oatmeal pancakes, burgers. Maybe it's that little cakes remind me of burgers, one of America's great comfort foods. These crab cakes are mostly crab, a nice alternative to many premade varieties that are mostly filler, but don't put them between a bun. The crab taste is subtle, and sweet, too sweet to be hidden in a bun. Yes, there is some "filler" - though less than in many recipes. Here it works to just bind the crab into a cake shape.

Ingredients:

1 large egg
1 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 pound crab meat
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs, like Panko
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp. olive oil

Directions: Mix egg with mayonnaise and mustard until well combined, in a medium size mixing bowl. Add the green onion, and the spices. Carefully fold in the crab meat, then fold in the dried bread crumbs. Form the mixture into patties. Heat the butter and olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat, and pan fry the crab cakes until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook for another 2 minutes until done. Makes about 8 crab cakes.

Serves 4 as a main course, or 8 as an appetizer

Stealthy Cooking Tip: Crabmeat is relatively low in fat, high in protein, and is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. However, it also contains cholesterol. It's  high omega-3s means it supplies many of the same healthy benefits as fish. Serve this with a large green salad for a complete meal. Crab hasn't often appeared on our home menu because the cost seemed prohibitive. However, I just discovered canned crabmeat at Costco, in the refrigerated section, and was very pleased with the taste, and the cost!