Ingredients:
2 pounds of crab canned crab meat
3 egg yolks
4 tbls. fresh lemon juice (Don’t use the concentrate, fresh is always better!)
1 cup mayonaise
1 cup clarified butter
1 cup of dry white wine
1 japaleno pepper, seeded and fine diced, about the size of a matchstick head, or mince well
1 pound of bacon, cooked and chopped fine with reserved bacon fat
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tbl. kosher salt
2 tbl. Old Bay
1 sleeve of saltine crackers, crushed fine. (You can put these in a blender or food processor to make quick work of them)
Bread crumbs to finish before saute
Olive oil for saute
First things first, combine all “wet” ingredients (egg yolks, wine, lemon juice, mayo, clarified butter, and bacon fat) in a mixing bowl and whisk well. Next, break up crab meat into the wet ingredients and gently toss with a rubber spatula. Now, add the spices and the bacon and the mince japaleno pepper and combine well. The mix should appear a bit wet, so at this point, begin incorporating your pulverized saltine crackers until you have a consistancy where you can mold and shape into cakes into three onces portions. Now you are ready to saute!
Heat up a non-stick pan on medium-high heat and add enough olive oil to coat the entire surface. Gently coat the crab cake in the bread crumbs and carefully place in the hot oil. Brown on each side. Place on a bed of a light pasta with a simple lemon broth, or on a little garlic toasts…I like edible garnishes.
Now for the aioli, which basically is a mayonaise with garlic. You can make this as flavorful and fun as you wish or just keep it simple. Remember, this is just an accent for the crab cakes, not a dressing.
Ingredients:
1 cup vegetable oil
6 to 7 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 cups mayonaise
2 tbls. mild/hot paprika
Instructions:
In a small sauce pot, add the oil, smashed garlic, and crushed red pepper and bring to a low boil. allow to simmer for at least ten minutes, then strain through a fine metal-mesh strainer into a heat proof container and chill untill no longer hot to the touch. When it is about room temp, whisk in to the mayonaise and combine with the paprika. If the strained oil is too hot, it will break the mayonaise. If this happens, simply put it in your blender and that will bring it back. The reason for simmering the garlic and crushed red pepper in the oil is to infuse the oil with these intense flavors. You can put your ailoi into a squeeze bottle for a nice drizzle effect over the crab cakes or simply serve the ailoi on the side in something fun like a seeded pepper for a sauce dish.
