I am not a seafood eater. In fact, I can't stand the stuff! When it comes to seafood I only eat fish, scallops and calamarie. All those other underwater creatures that people eat (i.e shrimp, lobster, crabs etc) I consider underwater insects, YUCK! However, my fiancee and everyone else I know loves the stuff! So I started to enjoy cooking it, not eating it, just cooking it. My fiancee went out and decided to buy himself some lump crab cake and told me to "be creative with it."
Well before I told him to shove it, I realized that it was Sunday morning and it was cold outside and I really had nothing better to do...so my crabcakes were born!
I was at a party once and they had these yummy little salmon cakes that were bound with basmati rice. I had some left over risotto in my fridge and figured this would be a perfect opportunity to use it! They really did come out perfect! The risotto adds a different type of texture to it and the variety of colors of veggies looked like confetti inside! The garlic aioli on top added just the right touch!
Crab Cakes
2 cups of lump crab meat
1 cup of cooked risotto
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup of mayo (I used fat free)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Panko bread crumbs for breading
olive oil for frying
1. In a bowl combine all ingredients together and taste for seasoning.
2. Place some Panko bread crumbs into a plate and bread the crabcakes evenly on each side.
3. Once breaded place them in the cooler for an hour so they can chill.
*I did not do this because my man was in such a hurry to eat! However, because of that I had a very hard time keeping them together when they were cooking. Cooling them helps them keep their shape.*
4. Heat some olive oil in a non-stick pan and sautee them up on each side, just until golden brown.
Garlic Aioli
1/2 cup mayo
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp minced garlic
a couple of squirts of Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients and place on top of crabcakes.
