Dungeness Crab Cakes With Green Cocktail Sauce
- 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
- Make the cocktail sauce: put tomatillos in a food processor; process until coarsely pureed.
- Remove the puree into a sieve; drain off the liquid, and discard.
- 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).
- 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).
- Remove bread crumbs to a shallow pan; mix in ½ cup chopped parsley; set aside.
- In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, mustard, paprika, thyme, celery seeds, and black pepper; pulse to combine.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Add 1 cup of the breadcrumb mixture and combine.
- Do not overwork the mixture or the crabcakes may get gummy.
- Gently form 8 patties and roll the patties lightly in the remaining breadcrumb mixture.
- Leave the crabcakes in the pan of bread crumbs until you saute them.
- 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.
- When all the crabcakes are browned, put them in the oven until they are heated all the way through, 5-8 minutes.
- To plate: serve one crabcake as an appetizer or two as an entree; serve with a ramekin of cocktail sauce and a lemon wedge.
- **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.
- Wine suggestion—a lightly oaked Chardonnay.
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