okay, let's try that one more time

My last attempt at crab cakes was certainly tasty, but a disaster on a plate, unless you enjoy free form crab cakes.  The best crab cakes I have ever eaten were in Seattle, at a great restaurant across from the art museum, called The Brooklyn.  I have no idea if the restaurant is still there, but their crab cakes live in my memory.  They were thin, crispy, lacy little morsels, and at some point I will try to recreate them.  But last night wasn't the night.  First I wanted to conquer a more traditional style of crab cake.  Generous, round patties bursting with big pieces of sweet crab meat.

I started with the Jumbo Lump crab meat from Whole Foods.  It is a little pricey, but not out of line.  One eight ounce container will make three very generous cakes for 12 bucks, which, with a salad, is plenty for two people.  Good luck having big fat crab cakes for two in any restaurant that price.

I wanted to keep them simple, and focused on the crab.  So the ingredient list is short.

chopped chives, minced parsley, and minced green onion

made the short list on vegetation

I added the green stuff, along with a single egg, a little salt, some ground white pepper, and a bit of Old Bay seasoning to the crab meat, and stirred gently, to keep from breaking up the nice lump meat.  

the jumbo lump meat was gorgeous, 

and deserved some gentle treatment

I had a part of a nice loaf of sour dough sitting on the counter, and I contemplated making some fresh bread crumbs.  But I also had some panko bread crumbs in the pantry.  They were already ground, would integrate quietly into the mixture, and offer a crispy exterior to the cakes.  Panko wins.  I added just enough panko to have a mixture that would hold together, a little less than a cup in this case.  Then I sprinkled some extra panko on a plate, to set the cakes on once they were formed.

a few hours rest in the fridge will provide

a little insurance that the cakes will hold

together in the pan

Shellfish and butter go together really well, so I decided to cook these fairly gently in a little butter.  Just a couple of tablespoons was enough to fry all three cakes.  I pressed just a little extra panko on the outside to assure a crisp exterior.

I wanted an interesting, but simple, sauce to go with the cakes.  I had a carton of mixed baby tomatoes, so I tossed those, naked, into a pan and roasted them for about 30 minutes in a 375 oven.  A roasted red pepper sauce, made virtually the same way, but with peppers, would be lovely as well.

once the tomatoes have cooled a little,

you can simply pluck off the skins

I have long been opposed to seeding tomatoes, because I truly believed there is a tremendous amount of flavor in the gel that suspends the seeds.  A little bit of research led me to vindication.

Harold McGee, a renowned food researcher, and a food columnist for the New York Times, wrote an article talking about scientific testing that proved that the most intense flavor in a tomato is indeed in the gel.  Do what you want, but I leave the seeds, and that precious gel.

The sauce I made couldn't be more simple.  The tomato flesh goes into a blender, along with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, a couple of teaspoons of good sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, and half a teaspoon of sugar to bring out that bright tomato flavor.  The whole gets blended into an emulsion, and adjusted for seasoning.

The emulsified sauce comes together 

in the time it takes to saute one side 

of the crab cakes

I had some arugula left over, which I simply tossed with a bit of the sauce, piled in the middle of the plate, and arranged the golden brown crab cakes on top.  I added a bit of sauce on the side.  I tried to do the modern chef "smudge" of sauce, but, um, I seem to need a little practice.  Jim suggested that I get a bottle of ketchup and a plate, and do it a couple of hundred times.  Not a bad idea.

just for a little salt and interest

I pulled some curls of aged gouda over

the salad and cakes -- totally optional

The crab cakes were delicious.