Crab Cakes

I had to ask for it but I finally got some of that Louis Kemp imitation crab.  When I got home I quickly put potatoes on for mashed but veggies I wasn't sure about.  I started by caramelizing half an onion. When that had good color I added half a stick of celery finely diced and sweated it.  When sweating vegetables their color deepens slightly when they are perfect.  If left on the heat longer the color and flavor slowly drains away. When the celery deepened just a touch I took it and the onion off the heat and put them aside to cool. I should also have sweated a couple of cloves of garlic with the celery but totally forgot.

To the broken up crab (half a pound or so) I added about 1/3 cup flour and fully coated all the crab.  To that I added 1/4 cup  bread crumbs.   That was a mistake, I should have rolled the cakes in bread crumbs before putting in the frying pan.  Next I added a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of garlic powder. I ground some mixed pepper over the crab and added a teaspoon or two of paprika. I stirred in the sweated vegetables then whipped up two small eggs and folded them into the crab cake batter. The cakes were quite sticky so if I had rolled them in bread crumbs at this point I would have gotten a really great crust on them. The frying pan was hot and my hands were all covered in batter so I just put the cakes in the pan. I cook these at medium heat so they don't scorch. 

I did frozen corn in the microwave, finished with butter and salt.  Mashed potatoes shouldn't need explanation.  I scissored some chives over the plate just before serving.

Tartar Sauce

1 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tsp sweet green relish

The cakes are better with tartar sauce than with lemon sauce, I tried. I'm not sure if my plating is improving here but at least everything tasted good together.