Great Western Crab Cakes

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup mayonnaise
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup finely diced onion, sauteed
• ¼ cup finely diced celery, sauteed
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ⅛ tsp cayenne
• 1 lb shelled cooked crab
• 2 tbsp butter, for frying
• ¾ cup lemon sauce (optional) dry white wine
• ¾ cup lemon sauce (optional) chicken broth
• 2 tsp lemon sauce (optional) cornstarch
• 1 tsp lemon sauce (optional) sugar
• 2 tsp lemon sauce (optional) butter

Method

1. Lemon Sauce (optional): In a 2- or 3-quart pan bring the wine and broth to a boil over high heat, reduce the mixture to 3/4 cup, about 6 minutes. Mix together the juice, cornstarch and sugar; slowly stir into the broth mixture. Continue to stir until the sauce boils, about 10 seconds. Stir in 2 teaspoons butter. Keep the sauce warm until used.
2. For the crab cakes, melt 2 teaspoons butter in each of 2 non-stick 10- to 12-inch frying pans over medium-high heat (or use 1 pan to make 2 batches).
3. In a large bowl combine the mayonnaise, eggs, sauteed onions and celery, mustard, garlic and cayenne; stir till well combined. Pat the cooked crab dry on paper towels, then gently fold into the mayonnaise mixture.
4. In the pan with melted butter, spoon 6 mounds of crab mixture (about 2 rounded tablespoons each) into each pan; gently spread with the back of a spoon into 2 1/2-inch diameter cakes. Cook till the bottoms are lightly browned, about 4 minutes. With a wide spatula, carefully turn the cakes over; cook to brown the other sides, about 4 minutes more.
5. Transfer the cakes to each of 4 plates. Optional: spoon lemon sauce around the cakes. (Vera's note: a correction to this recipe suggested eliminating the lemon sauce and only using sparingly fresh lemon juice over the cakes.)

Notes

From Sunset Magazine, February '96, page 86.

Original card

The recipe above was transcribed from this scan of Vera’s original card.

Tap to zoom

Tap to zoom