Chesapeake Bay Classic Crab Cakes

Ingredients

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning (recommended: Old Bay Seasoning)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup peanut or canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced scallions, both white and green parts
• 1 pound lump blue crabmeat, drained and picked clean of shell
• 4 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
• About 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

For serving:

• Red Cocktail Sauce or Green Cocktail Sauce, recipes follow
• 4 lemon wedges

Directions

Put the egg yolk, seafood seasoning, mustard, lemon zest and juice, and vinegar in the bowl of a food processor or a blender and process until smooth. Gradually pour in the oil with the machine running until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise. Season with the salt and pepper. (Note: this quantity of mayonnaise will not emulsify in the bowl of the largest size food processor. Use a medium size food processor, a mini processor, or a blender.)

Transfer the mayonnaise to a bowl and, using a rubber spatula, fold in the scallions and the crabmeat until well combined. Combine the bread crumbs and the parsley in a shallow container. Form the crab mixture into 8 patties about 3-inches wide and 3/4-inch thick and drop them into the bread crumb-parsley mixture. Dredge the crab cakes on both sides. If you have time, leave the crab cakes in the container of bread crumbs, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour or more.

When you are ready to fry the crab cakes, put 2 large nonstick skillets over medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons butter to each pan. When the butter is melted, add 4 crab cakes to each pan, patting off excess crumbs first. Slowly fry the crab cakes over medium heat until they are golden brown on both sides and hot through, turning once with a spatula, about 4 minutes per side. If the crab cakes are browning too quickly, reduce the heat. The internal temperature of a cooked crab cake should be 155 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.

Transfer the crab cakes to plates, 2 per person, and serve with your choice of sauce and lemon wedges.

Red Cocktail Sauce:

1 cup ketchup or chili sauce (recommended: Heinz)

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
2 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Yield: about 1 cup

• Green Cocktail Sauce

8 ounces tomatillos, husked and cut into quarters

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons green hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon mustard seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh horseradish

Put the tomatillos in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely pureed. Remove the tomatillo puree to a sieve, drain off the liquid and discard. Put the drained puree in a bowl and stir in the vinegar, sugar, hot sauce, garlic, mustard seeds, and horseradish.

Yield: 2/3 cup

Christmas Cake

Total Time:

1 hr 45 min

Prep

30 min

Cook

1 hr 15 min

Yield:

10 servings

Level:

Intermediate

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter
• 1/2 pound light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 6 eggs
• 6 ounces fresh bread crumbs
• 6 ounces flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup rum
• 1 pint Port
• 4 cups mixed marinated fruit, recipe follows, squeezed and finely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla, lime juice, and lime zest. Add the eggs 1 at a time, and incorporate well. Combine bread crumbs, flour, all the spices, baking powder, and salt. Combine rum and port. Add flour mixture alternately with rum/port mixture into the batter. Fold in the chopped marinated fruit.
Prepare 1 (9-inch) cake pan or 2 spring form pans by lining bottom and sides with parchment paper. Fill the pan 3/4 of the way and bake until a skewer comes out of the center of the cake clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Mixed Marinated Fruit:

• 1 pound black raisins
• 1 pound golden raisins
• 1 pound prunes, cut in quarters or eighths, depending on size
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 2 vanilla beans, split
• Jamaican white rum
• Jamaican spiced rum
• Port

Put raisins, prunes, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla beans in a glass jar and cover with mixture of equal parts Jamaican white rum, Jamaican spiced rum, and Port. Cover with a tight fitting lid, label, and date the jar. Put in a cool, dry cupboard. From time to time, check the fruits to see if more liquor is needed, as the fruits will plump and soak up the liquid.

Keep the fruit covered in liquor. It is best to allow the fruit to marinate for at least 1 month for best flavor.