Crab Cakes

I was in the mood for something fishy tonight and crab cakes came to mind.  I've never made crab cakes so this would be a first try. I bought imitation crab with 3% real crab.  It tastes good and should hide well in a crab cake. Not to mention it cost less than $3. I bought the prawns on clearance in case the crab cakes were a disaster.  I needn't have worried.

I got the potatoes peeled and on the stove and the carrots and beans ready for the steamer.  For the crab cakes I was adding a finely diced shallot and half a stick of celery also finely diced. I sweated the shallot and celery on the stove before putting in the bowl to cool.

The guacamole  was just a ripe avocado mashed, salt, tabasco and lime juice. A hot dish would have been a better complement but I was flying blind. By this time the sweated vegetables were cool and I broke the half pound of crab up into the bowl.  I put about half a cup of bread crumbs, from Alpine bread in and less than a quarter cup of flour. I want the flour as a binder not as a dough. To that I added 2 teaspoons onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon paprika. I mixed it all thoroughly then added a beaten egg, mixed again and made 4 patties. I dusted them with flour before putting in the pan.

The patties browned nicely and I plated them while the prawns heated up with some garlic.  I plated the mashed potatoes and vegetables then put the prawns over top.  Finally I finished with a dollop of guacamole between the patties.  Tartar sauce would have been better but I had to use up the avocado.

The crab cakes were sweet and delicious. What a relief.  I thought the guacamole was a nice condiment with the crab cakes but Fern felt it didn't belong. The prawns were great and the fresh beans were a nice treat.  I'll definitely make crab cakes again.