Crab Cakes

Crab cakes hold a special place in my heart - or should I say stomach. I equate crab cakes to relaxing nights out and new adventures together as a couple. It seems like nearly every time that David & I have gone to a new restaurant that has these on the menu, I'm compelled to try them out on my endless hunt for the perfect and best crab cake. Many have left me disappointed, and some have made it to the favorites list. Tonight - I tried them out at home.

However, crab cake ingredients contain our arch nemesis - the dreaded mayo.

An interesting fact about our home - I don't believe our fridge has ever contained a jar of mayonnaise. Perhaps this is one of the things that keeps us together - is our joined dislike of the white gooey stuff. I have slightly more tolerance than my counterpart, but I was determined to make a crab cake that did not contain any mayo what-so-ever. I'm not ignorant to the fact that all of those other delicious cakes I had previously enjoyed did indeed contain the mayo, but I was bound and determined to have delicious results while searching for an alternative.

I'm proud to say that tonight's date-night-dinner turned out fantastic! From some searching throughout the food blog world, I found a recipe which sounded like a perfect starting point - not too much filling and lighter in calories.

*This made 2 large dinner sized crab cakes - could possibly make 6 smaller appetizer sized ones also.

• 12 oz lump crab (I found pre-picked meat that was in the cooler section)
• heaping 1/2 cup of crushed reduced fat Ritz crackers (next time I will use slightly more crackers)
• 1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, beaten
• 1 finely sliced green onion
• 2 tbsp finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 heaping tbsp of plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp of chopped fresh cilantro
• juice from 1/2 lime

In order to keep the crab as lumpy as possible, I folded the ingredients in a large bowl in with the crab meat. This avoided the shred factor.

I used a 1/2 cup measuring cup as the base to form these into a cake shaped patty and let chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. They could probably stand to be chilled for longer, but I was getting impatient.

I baked at 400 for 10 min on each side. Just a warning that these guys are pretty sticky. I placed them on a Pam-sprayed, aluminum foil lined baking sheet and still had to to pry them off.

To really make the whole experience semi-authentic, I whipped up a remoulade-type topping in the food processor.

• Remainder of the 6 oz container of plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp roasted red pepper
• 2 tsp minced canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce
• 2 tsp of lime juice

The sauce gave the crab quite a kick and was an excellent compliment.

As these cakes were pretty large, a bit of salad was the perfect side. Overall, a fun date-night-in type of meal.