Five years ago the Big Guy made a trip to Boston and as per his habit, brought back the Legal Sea Foods Cookbook to add to our collection. Last night's dinner of spicy crab cakes on a crunchy salad's adapted from the book and it made for a perfect hot summer night celebration. It was even more perfect after a piece of warm from the oven peach pie.
The great thing about making crab cakes for dinner is they really do need some time to mellow in the refrigerator before hitting the fry pan or oven. It means you can get your dinner darn near totally prepped in advance and sit back and relax with an iced tea until it's time to eat.
These particular crab cakes are the Balitmore version and include worcestershire sauce and Old Bay seasoning along with mayo, mustard, and hot pepper sauce. While the recipe calls for crushed saltines, I used panko instead along with an egg to bind them all together and fried them rather than putting them in the oven. Along with tartar sauce, they made for a quick tasty and light dinner which was great because we needed to keep room for the pie.
An old fashioned peach pie, this one's nothing unusual with brown sugar, cornstarch for thickening, lemon juice for a touch of the tart, along with little cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla just because. I was going to add some raspberries just because I love a peach and raspberry pie but we'll save that for later because I'm pretty darn positive that once we get through this pie, we'll be wanting another one.
Course we also WANT to be skinny which means no pie, and heck while we're at it we WANT to win the lottery too. We all know there's a snowball's chance in hell of either thing happening. After all, this is JBug's Kitchen so I gotta' cook and as for the lottery, you have to buy the darn tickets first. Oh well!
Spicy Crab Cakes (adapted from Legal Sea Foods Cookbook by Roger Berkowitz and Jane Doerfer)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Few drops hot pepper sauce
Dash Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 large egg beaten
1/2 cup finely crushed saltines (or panko)
1 pound fresh crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
In a medium bowl combine mayonnaise, dry mustard, Dijon, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire, Old Bay and egg and beat well. Add crumbs and mix to combine. Fold in crab. Form crab 6 large cakes and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for minimum 1 hour. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 or fry in a nonstick pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Serve immediately. Serves 4. Download Spicy Crab Cakes
Old Fashioned Peach Pie (adapted from Purity Cookbook)
7 large peaches, skin removed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pastry for a double crust pie
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 400. Cut peaches into wedges and place into a large bowl. Add lemon juice and vanilla and toss to coat. In a small bowl combine brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour over peaches and toss to combine. Line a 9 inch pie plate with pastry. Add prepared peaches, top with butter and finish with top crust. Seal edges well and flute. Brush crust with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar. Place on a rack over a large baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower heat to 350 and bake for addition 45 minutes or until juices run clear. Cool before slicing. Download Old Fashioned Peach Pie
A year ago - Asian Pork Salad
I'll take two crabcakes and a piece of that peach pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream PLEASE! What a great dinner June! - HUGS, Mary L.
Posted by: Mary from Apron Strings & Wedding Rings | 08/16/2011 at 09:11 AM
Mary - the pie's sure great breakfast food!
Posted by: June | 08/16/2011 at 09:24 AM
I am like my Dad in that I never pass up a crab cake, and these look rather tasty - I like how you used the panko instead of the saltines!
Now, as to that pie - to die for!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Lea | 08/16/2011 at 01:50 PM
Lea - they were yummy, and the pie ...oh my! Speaking of oh my, you've got me wanting more Salmon Spread so I'll be whipping it up again soon ...your way! Hugs!
Posted by: June | 08/16/2011 at 02:07 PM
This is my perfect meal. I'll be over in ten.
Posted by: Lorraine | 08/16/2011 at 07:26 PM
I'd love it! Can you bring the beach with ya?
Posted by: June | 08/17/2011 at 07:50 AM
June if I was having to request a last meal, this would be it. Just the idea of sitting down to a meal which includes both crab cakes and peach pie, well heck, don't know if I can process that this morning before a couple cups of coffee. cheers! Tom
Posted by: Tall Clover Farm | 08/21/2011 at 07:25 AM
Tom- throw some of your raspberries into that peach pie and it would be incredible!
Posted by: June | 08/21/2011 at 07:49 AM
Now that sounds like a winning combo. Will have to try both recipes!
Posted by: Crab Cake | 10/25/2011 at 10:29 AM
Hope you like them both! Now you have me wondering if your east coast crab is as good as our west coast Dungeness. LOL
Posted by: June | 10/25/2011 at 02:09 PM