Crab Cakes- Baked

By jgroeneveld

Baking crab cakes let's you ditch the filler, which usually gets grease logged anyway. The crunch is developed by sauteing the bread crumbs in butter and then packing them into the exterior of the cakes. I use blue crab I catch and then pick through the crab for the meat.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• Kosher Salt
• Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• Hot pepper sauce
• 1 lb blue claw crab meat
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 egg
• Vegetable oil to grease baking sheet
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Details

Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 45mins

Preparation

Step 1

1. Melt the butter with the garlic in a saute pan over medium heat until the garlic starts to take on color, add the bread crumbs. Stir constantly until bread crumbs are a rich golden brown. Season with salt and place on plate to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350" degrees. In a bowl, mix the lemon zest, mayonnaise, mustard and hot pepper sauce (if using). Gently fold in the crab meat, and season with fish sauce and lemon juice. In separate bowl, beat the egg with a pinch of salt, and fold into the crab mixture.
3. Lightly oil a baking sheet. On it place 4 1 1/2 Tbsp size piles of bread crumbs, leaving plenty of space between each. Spoon the crab onto the four piles, dividing the meat evenly. Pat down to form cakes, and sprinkle more bread crumbs on top.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cakes are hot all the way through. With a wide spatula, remove each to a plate. Scatter more bread crumbs and the parsley on top, and serve.