Remember when I made crab cakes before? Let’s let the computer screen get all wavy as we recall that recipe…
It was a bit crazy-making. And the results, while good, didn’t justify the time and expense, let alone the beginnings of a gnawing resentment of Thomas Keller.
Jacques’ crab cakes, however, are a different story.
They are absolutely delicious, ready in less than 30 minutes (including cooking time), and use ingredients readily available to mere mortals at ordinary stores right here in North America. In fact, he’ll even let you use surimi. What a guy.
The recipe makes four cakes and is meant to be an appetizer but it worked well as dinner for two of us with a salad. Of course, one of us ate three crab cakes but marriage is not always about dividing everything evenly is it?
I used a container of jumbo lump crab meat (only $20/lb) that said this on the bottom:
Use by…when now? January 10, 1952? May 2, 2011? November something? If someone gets this please let me know. But it’s Pasteurized and my neighbor is an ER doc so I felt pretty confident about using it.
The balance of the crab and the binder (mayo and bread crumbs in this case) were just right for my taste and I love the little bite of Tobasco (I might use more next time, or maybe Sriracha). I also liked the salsa but I think I would leave out the 3 tablespoons of water as it made it a little too soupy and muddied the avocados.
Crab Cakes with Avocado Salsa is on page 165 of Essential Pepin and right here, courtesy of KQED.
