Dungeness Crab Cakes With Green Cocktail Sauce

Submitted by ratherbeswimmin

"Tom Douglas"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 25
• Yields: 4 entree servings

ingredients

• 10 slices white bread (supermarket bread)
• 3⁄4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
• 7 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1⁄2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb fresh cooked dungeness crabmeat, picked over for bits of shell and cartilage (with claw meat and large pieces of crab left whole)
• 1⁄4 cup chopped onion
• 1⁄4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1⁄4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, for panfrying
• 3 -8 lemon wedges

• Green Cocktail Sauce

• 8 ounces tomatillos, husked and cut into quarters
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco jalapeno sauce (the green sauce)
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, toasted
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated horseradish (peeled, then grated)

directions

1. Make the cocktail sauce: put tomatillos in a food processor; process until coarsely pureed.
2. Remove the puree into a sieve; drain off the liquid, and discard.
3. Put the drained puree into a small bowl and stir in the vinegar, sugar, Tabasco, garlic, mustard seeds, and horseradish until combined (the cocktail sauce can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator).
4. Make the mayonnaise: tear up the white bread and pulse the pieces in a food processor to make fine, soft crumbs (should have about 6 cups crumbs).
5. Remove bread crumbs to a shallow pan; mix in ½ cup chopped parsley; set aside.
6. In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, mustard, paprika, thyme, celery seeds, and black pepper; pulse to combine.
7. With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise; remove mayonnaise from the food processor and refrigerate.
8. Place crabmeat in a cheesecloth-lined sieve over a bowl; pull the cheesecloth tightly around the crabmeat and squeeze out as much juice as possible.
9. Put the chopped onions and bell peppers in a sieve over a bowl and use your hands to squeeze out as much juice as possible.
10. In a big bowl, combine the onions and bell peppers with the remaining ¼ cup parsley; add in the chilled mayonnaise and crabmeat; toss lightly to combine.
11. Add 1 cup of the breadcrumb mixture and combine.
12. Do not overwork the mixture or the crabcakes may get gummy.
13. Gently form 8 patties and roll the patties lightly in the remaining breadcrumb mixture.
14. Leave the crabcakes in the pan of bread crumbs until you saute them.
15. Preheat the oven to 425°; using a nonstick saute pan and butter as needed, panfry the crabcakes, in batches, until golden brown on both sides and place them on a baking sheet as they are browned.
16. When all the crabcakes are browned, put them in the oven until they are heated all the way through, 5-8 minutes.
17. To plate: serve one crabcake as an appetizer or two as an entree; serve with a ramekin of cocktail sauce and a lemon wedge.
18. **Note—the crabcakes actually hold together better if prepared a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator before cooking; store them in the pan of breadcrumbs, covering with plastic wrap.
19. Wine suggestion—a lightly oaked Chardonnay.