maryland crab cakes

Where I grew up in Washington state crab cakes were usually a mish-mash of little crab meat pieces with a ton of filler - lots of breadcrumbs, scallions, garlic, etc.

They were usually OK, depending on where I had them, but I was never crazy about them. Little cakes of apathy that always looked better in print on the menu than they did on the plate after I ordered them.

When I married a lovely man of the East Coast persuasion his mother introduced me to Maryland-style lump crab cakes. My what a change these are. Huge, succulent lumps of crab meat with just enough additional ingredients to keep them from falling apart too much in the pan.

But even when they do, it's not that big of a deal.

Yes, that's a big bowl of fell-apart-in-the-pan crab cake. And it was delicious.

These are a crab cake that I can get excited about. One of the most famous Maryland crab cakes is Faidleys at the Lexington Market in Baltimore. We finally made the trek up to Baltimore to try them sometime last year, and though they were delicious, the decline of the neighborhood and seediness of the market itself put me off from ever going back there again.

Plus, when the MiL has a crab cake recipe that tastes just as good as Faidleys - why bother driving anywhere else to get them?

My only recommendation for these crab cakes is to go all out when you purchase the crab meat. Don't be tempted to go for those little-bitty pieces of leftover meat even though it's half the price. Spend the $20 for the lump crab meat. They may be a little too expensive to have regularly, but that makes them all the more special when you do.

I haven't altered this recipe at all. It's been lovingly lifted verbatim from the splattered, tattered, stained index card where it's rested for many, many moons. Any recipe that's seen that much action is more than worth its weight in gold.

Maryland Crab Cakes

Yields 8-10 crab cakes, depending on size

1 lb lump crab meat

¼ cup cracker meal

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning (or more, to taste)

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup chopped parsley

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon mustard

Salt, red pepper, paprika, to taste

Mix crab meat, cracker meal and seasonings together and toss lightly. Mix egg, mustard, and mayo and pour into meat mixture. Toss lightly. Form into cakes. Brown quickly on both sides in vegetable oil. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Estimate

This is a nutritional estimate, regard it as such.

1 serving = 1 crab cake or 1/8th of recipe

75 calories

3 g carbohydrate

2 g fat

11 g protein

Comments

[katie]

Beautiful photo! Once again can I just say how great your MiL is? And how we all wish we had one just like her.

[SBird's MiL]

Oh, there's Katie again. My not so new now best friend! :-D These crab cakes really ARE as great as the Sweet Bird says. I can't take credit though as it is my grandmother's recipe. She passed away in 1982, but her crab cakes live on...as does her pecan pie....her green beans recipe...etc. etc. And, true, true - buy the BEST jumbo lump backfin crab you can get your hands on.

Sweet Bird's MiL

[china sim card]

This is my first visit to your blog. I found here a lot of snacks I like.I will always come to read your blog later.