Crystal's Stew: Homemade Crab Cakes

As this weekend rolled around the baby started to get really crabby. We took her temp and found she had sprouted a low grade temperature. We have been LONG OVERDUE for a quiet weekend and used this opportunity to slow down, pull out our cookbooks and spend some quality time together as a family.

We started the weekend off with getting ahead on some homework...

Then the Mister and I did something we haven't had the chance to do in quite some time. We rolled up our sleeves and made a beautiful and delicious mess in the kitchen together.

(This recipe comes directly from The Lady & Sons cookbook.)

Delicious Homemade Crab Cakes

Buehrle is silently willing the Mister to drop a piece of crab on the floor. Drop it! Drop it! Drop it!!! Droooooop iiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know about you, but I am a huge fan of crab cakes. I order them for an appetizer almost every chance I get. I was surprised to find these homemade versions cost just as much as one appetizer (usually 3-4 cakes) while dining out and was incredibly easy to make. The recipe says it serves 4-6. We used them as the main course, while also serving sauteed asparagus and mashed potatoes. At the end of our dinner we still had leftovers!!

1 lb crab meat (We bought lump crab meat and it worked perfectly)
1/3 c crushed Ritz crackers
3 green onions, finely chopped with tops
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper (We used yellow)
1/4 c Mayo
1 egg
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
dash of cayenne
Flour for dusting
1/2 c peanut oil

*This recipe also had ingredients for a tartar sauce, but I thought it was disgusting. Next time we make these I will find another sauce to dip them in. I would love suggestions if anyone has a good crab cake dipping recipe!

Mix all ingredients together except flour and peanut oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour. (When you shape them into patties make sure you squeeze them a little to get rid of some excess moisture.) This will help them retain their patty shape. After you make the patties dust them on both sides with flour.
Pan fry in peanut oil over medium heat until golden brown. (4-5 minutes) Flip and cook the other side till golden brown as well.

* After the first one you are either going to need to cut your cooking time or turn your oil down. We also lined a baking sheet with paper towel and set the oven to 200 degrees to keep the cooked crab cakes warm while we finished cooking the others.

This meal is definitely family approved.