Friday, January 22, 2021

Inauguration Crab cakes from @MaddieDayAuthor

 MADDIE here, with a celebratory meal for you!


I was delighted to welcome President Biden and Vice President Harris to the leadership of our country on Wednesday, and I watched all the proceedings (yes, I admit I wept tears of joy over and over). To celebrate, I thought I'd make a dinner for that evening featuring foods from where the two come from. 

Joe's state of Delaware is known for its crab cakes, so that was easy. To honor Kamala's dual heritage, I added jerk roasted potatoes from Jamaica and Indian-spiced vegetables. 

Today I'll present the crab cakes recipe, but don't be surprised if the other parts of the meal surface here on the blog in coming weeks. Since I try avoid frying foods, I came up with a baked crab cake preparation.

Baked Crab Cakes


Ingredients

1 egg

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon celery salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus more for serving

1 pound fresh lump crab meat

2/3 cup Saltine cracker crumbs (about 17 crackers)

Instructions

Whisk the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, seasonings, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Place the crab meat on top. 


Add the cracker crumbs. 


With a rubber spatula or large spoon, very gently and carefully fold together. You don’t want to break up that crab meat!

Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, portion the crab cake mixture into 7 mounds on the baking sheet. 



(Don’t flatten!) Use your hands or a spoon to compact each individual mound so there aren’t any lumps sticking out or falling apart.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges and on top. 


Drizzle each with fresh lemon juice and serve warm.


Readers: What's your favorite seafood dish? 

My most recent book is Candy Slain Murder, the eighth Country Store mystery. As with all my books written as Maddie Day, you'll find easy recipes in the back.



The next book out will be the wide release at the end of March of Murder at the Taffy Shop, the second Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery - up for preorder now!




I hope you'll visit Edith Maxwell and me on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media and on the Wicked Authors blog, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

20 comments:

  1. I really LOVE eating crab cakes. This dish looks similar to Maryland crab cakes I enjoyed eating in Baltimore a few years ago. The challenge is finding fresh lump crab meat here in landlocked Ottawa but I will try the recipe some day. I will have to slightly tweak the recipe since I can't eat any nightshades (so no paprika).

    But I will have to say my most favourite seafood dish is either a bouilabaisse or a seafood paella.

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    Replies
    1. We found it canned, Grace - and it was quite good.

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    2. Ok, I will try to find some canned lump crab meat. Occasionally, I go clear across town to an Asian market. They would have fresh lump crab meat, too.

      And thinking about my nightshade allergy (diagnosed 2 years ago), I will have to change my fave seafood soup listed above to white clam /seafood chowder since bouilabaisse broth has canned tomatoes.

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  2. We love just about anything and everything seafood related. Living so far inland, we don't have the opportunity to indulge as much as we would life. That's why traveling and vacations to the coast is such a delight for us - enjoying the feasts as well as the sights.

    For us inlanders, we love baked fish. Simple but oh so delicious.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  3. I love fried shrimp, especially when the shrimp have come from the Gulf of Mexico.
    Kitten143 (at) Verizon (dot) net

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  4. Edith, those crab cakes look absolutely scrumptious! I will definitely be on the lookout for canned lump crab meat.

    I cannot think of many types of seafood that I do not like!

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  5. Thanks, Edith! I'll try this one, for sure, if the canned crab works. My husband isn't supposed to have fried foods, either, but we both love crab cakes.

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    Replies
    1. We found different grades of canned and got the highest (most expensive) one. Worth the money.

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  6. This entire meal looks absolutely scrumptious, Edith! What a lovely way to celebrate the inauguration! (I couldn't stop weeping the entire day, either.)

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  7. Very elegant and delicious sounding.
    Amanda Gorman makes me tear up whenever I see/hear her.
    I feel like a mole that has just come up from the darkness of underground into the bright light of day. Blinded and delighted with hope.

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    Replies
    1. Blinded and delighted with hope. That's it, Elizabeth.

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    2. Just to clarify-I'm Libby. Hit the wrong button before.

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  8. I really wish you'd left politics off the page.

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  9. I love crabcakes and this version looks wonderful. Can't wait to try it and celebrate too. Hugs. MJ

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  10. I LOVE crabcakes and anything seafood, really. It's too hard for me to pick a favorite, but lately I've been craving maeuntang, a spicy Korean fish/seafood soup.

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