baked crab cakes

These are awesome for a company dinner. Just make sure your guests aren’t allergic to shellfish. Because, that’s happened to me before. True story, except it was mangoes, and my guest was allergic to them. No, not itch and sneeze allergic… but, fall-over-and-die allergic. So,before you have people over… just make sure. Because that is a sure fire way to ruin a party.

So.. the day I made these I had some issues.

Early in the morning, when I was opening the blinds in my Florida room…hey… do they have those in other states? Like, Montana for instance? Well, in case not- I will explain what a Florida room is. It’s an interior room that is floor to ceiling windows. (Yeah, great for hurricanes…) anyway in these old houses, the Florida room used to be the coolest room… before air conditioning. Now, it’s the hottest.

Back to my issues: as I was opening the blinds, there was a spider. I’m pretty sure it was a brown recluse. Not good, because they can give a nasty bite. So, I was pretty sure I swooped it outside with a broom… but I wasn’t positive. So, all day I had this weird feeling like I had to flip my head and shake my hair… you know, just in case the spider was there. Good thing I didn’t go in public that day.

Later that evening… guess who showed up? You bet. This time, it was just outside my daughter’s room. Not good. My hubby decided to take over, and attempt to smash the arachnoid. Key note: spiders are fast. Especially when they’re about to be smashed. Needless to say, it was faster than my man. So, I got the vacuum. Vacuums are great to remove dangerous insects. I got a wasp out of the house once with one. But, when you vacuum a bug up, you need to just do it. Quickly. You cant try to be stealthy and sneak up. Vacuums are loud, and I’m pretty sure bugs can hear…can they? I need to google that. So, my husband is trying to be stealthy with the sucking of the spider. Not good. Now, it scurried near our room. Grrr. At this point, I said, “Just gimmie the vacuum.” and, with my domestically trained exterminator rod in hand, I sucked that little spider to his new home of dust bunnies, and deposited it into the trash. What was my husband’s response?

“Why’d you get all man-woman on me?”

My response? “What in the heck is man-woman?”

Anyway….crab cakes:

I also included step by step photos, because I ♥ you guys, and I knowyou look like to make sure your recipe is coming along right.

First, you will have two mixtures, one for crust and one for filling.

Now you put a bit of the bread crumb mixture into each compartment:

Yes, just like that….

push it down a bit, like this ↑

now, place a scoop of the crab mixture on each, and…

you got it! Top it with the remaining bread crumb mixture. Hey! Quick tip! If you don’t have Panko bread crumbs, you can make homemade! Grate some dry toast onto the large hole of a grater. 😉 I read that in Cooks Country.

Bake em up , and there you have it! Serve with some risotto and a salad = instant dinner party fare.

Now, what to ave for dessert… hmmm.

Recipe: baked crab cakes

Ingredients

8 oz lump crab meat, patted dry and chopped
8 oz softened low fat cream cheese
1 egg
3 tbs sour cream
2 tsp dill
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp parsley
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp old bay seasoning
1 tsp salt
For the crust:
2 c Panko bread crumbs
3 tsp parsley
1/2 c Parmesan cheese (grated)
1 stick melted butter

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, egg, sour cream, and seasonings.
Gently fold in the crab meat. Set mixture aside
In another bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese butter and parsley.
Place a portion of the bread crumb mixture(2 tbs) into each compartment of a nonstick muffin tin, and press down gently with the back of your hand, or a spoon.
Top with crab mixture, and top that with remaining bread crumb mixture.
Bake at 350 for 22-30 minutes.