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.

Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce

This is a recipe that wears two hats: first, it’s a tribute to my recent time in New Orleans, where I had some amazing crab cake sliders; second, my sister is visiting, and she’s a big fan of crab even though she lives in a land-locked state, so how could I say no to her?

I’m no expert on Louisiana cooking, although I do remember eating boiled shrimp with remoulade sauce there a long time ago. I have a sneaking feeling that the sauce varies according to whoever makes it, but the basic nature of it is tart and tangy and creamy. I searched through a variety of cookbooks from various places, and I came up with a blended version here.

Finding crab was a bigger challenge, but thank goodness for packaged fresh crabmeat. Our local store had only one variety: Jonah Crab Meat. It seems to be a crab the flourishes along the Atlantic seacoast. I bought one crab claw, just so you could see what it looks like (Halloween colors!), and two packages of the meat, already removed from the shell (BTW, that claw had one seriously thick shell!).

Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

8-12 oz. fresh lump crab meat (A note on crab meat: makes sure you check carefully for shell fragments. Plus this recipe called for “lump” crab meat, but what you get from a Jonah crab is more like “shred” crab meat. Tastes fine either way.)

1 egg
2 Tblsp mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (or if you think that might be too strong, you can use shallot)
1 Tblsp minced parsley
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 dash Louisiana hot sauce (optional!)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 Tblsp fresh lemon juice
Bread crumbs for dredging the cakes
Vegetable oil for frying

Combine all the ingredients except the last two (bread crumbs and oil). Mix until evenly blended, but you don’t have to overwork it. Shape into evenly sized cakes (mine were a heaping ¼ cup) and roll in bread crumbs. Place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours (to let the flavors blend, and so they’ll hold together while you cook them).

Lightly coat a large skillet or stovetop grill with the oil. Over medium heat, cook the crab cakes for 3-5 minutes per side, or until they’re golden brown, turning once. You can serve them immediately, or put them on a baking sheet and keep warm in a low oven for 10-15 minutes.

Remoulade Sauce

Ingredients:

While the crab cakes are “resting” in the fridge, make the sauce.

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1 Tblsp prepared white horseradish
2 Tblsp minced fresh parsley
1-1/2 minced gherkins (pickles)
1-1/2 tsp drained capers, chopped
½ tsp minced or pressed garlic
½ tsp anchovy paste
1 Tblsp sweet paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot pepper sauce to taste

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, oil, lemon juice and horseradish, and blend well. Stir in the parsley, gherkins, capers, garlic, anchovy and paprika. Season to taste with salt, pepper and pepper sauce.

Place in a covered container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving (you can make this ahead—it keeps well for a couple of days).

To serve as sliders (not required—you can eat the crab cakes plain), find some small buns, add a leaf of butter lettuce, place a crab cake on the lettuce, and garnish with a dollop of the sauce.

And let the good times roll!

Seeds of Deception is out! In bookstores! Online! Everywhere! (I hope.)

Find it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

www.sheilaconnolly.com

Hot Crab Cocktail Spread

Doesn't that name--"Hot Crab Cocktail Spread"--just scream 1950s and 1960s to you?  This recipe is from my mother--carefully written in perfect penmanship on a recipe card.  It's actually very good, very easy and perfect for the pre-Thanksgiving feast or the many opportunities to entertain during the upcoming holiday season.

Ingredients:
8 oz package cream cheese
1 tablespoon  milk
2 teaspoons Worcestershire
7.5 ounce can of crabmeat
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2 tablespoons slivered almonds

I could not find a 7.5 ounce can of crabmeat so I used the size that is the same size as a regular can of tuna--I think it's 6 ounces.  If you want a more "crabby" taste, I would use two cans.

Cream the cream cheese with the milk and Worcestershire sauce.  I used a food processor, but you can also use a mixer.  Flake the crabmeat and mix in along with the chopped green onions.  I threw it all in the food processor which made for easy mixing.  Place in a greased 8 inch pie plate, top with slivered almonds and bake at 350 degrees until heated through--approximately 15 minutes.

 

The original handwritten recipe.

 

Drain and flake crabmeat

Combine cream cheese, scallions, Worcestershire, milk.

Place in greased pie plate, top with slivered almonds and bake until hot and bubbling

Enjoy on crackers or slices of crusty bread

I transferred my spread from the pie plate to a mini-slow cooker I had purchased recently to keep it warm since we were bringing it as our contribution to a party. It worked out perfectly and there was nothing left at the end of the evening!

 Lots of delicious food in my Gourmet De-Lite series--Allergic to Death is the first book.

My protagonist in my Lucille series believes that feeding her family is one of the most important jobs she has.

Lots of sweet tea, lemonade and chess pie in my Sweet Nothings series!

Catch up with me on my web site or on Facebook or Twitter @pegcochran