St. Sam's and St. Bede's Recipe Pages
                Bon Appetit!
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Crab Cakes Light

3 tbsp butter (gasp) or (yuck) margarine - if you're going to use this buy the good stuff...
2 or 3 tbsp minced shallots/green onion
same minced bell pepper - red if they're cheap enough
1 tbsp tarragon vinegar
1 lb + LUMP crabmeat - and not that Dungeness crap
2-3 tbsp lemon juice - fresh squeezed
2 egg whites - whisk lightly just prior to adding
1 tbsp (yuck) reduced fat (I won't even consider the non-fat kind) mayo
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsely - more if not fresh (freeze dried is best)
Tabasco to taste....you DON'T want to know how much I use....
Salt - don't need this if you use enough Tabasco
Fresh ground cracked pepper
1 cup more or less good quality bread crumbs - unseasoned (this is about
the only time I recognize the un-seasoned kind)
and some oil - olive is best, about 2 tsp.

1.  Melt  a little of the butter in skillet, saute vegetables
2.  Add vinegar, heat until evaporated and take skillet off heat to cool
3.  Put crabmeat in bowl, sprinke with lemon, vegetable mixture, stir in
egg whites, mayo, parsely, spices & Tabasco
4.  COVER AND CHILL FOR AN HOUR OR BETTER- TWO.
5.  Then, moisten your hands and mash the mixture into equal size cakes
(should be about 8 when you're done), and UNLIKE meatloaf, don't add bread crumbs until 
you have problem getting it to stick - if adequately chilled it'll hold together and you 
only have to use the crumbs to coat the outside - if they don't stick together, add crumbs 
and mix like a meat loaf, but you've ruined it (see step #4 to fix next time you try this)
6.  Take excess crumbs and throw away.

Ok, now you have crab cakes....raw crab cakes....what next?

Get a skillet or griddle big enough for all eight, heat olive oil and
rest of butter (should be 1/2 to 2/3 of what you started with), if iron
skillit/griddle - no hotter than medium low and get fully hot first. 
Cook no more than 4 minutes per side.  Should be golden brown and you
should salivate.  Only three out of four ever make it to the table.

Hints:  Buy only the best quality, lump crabmeat, and be SURE to chill
the meat for an hour or two before attempting to build this thing - what
with the reduced fat & filler, nothing is there to hold it together but
the temperature..

- Je't'aime touts -
Andrew

To: anglican@list.stsams.org 
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004
Subject: Recope - CrabCakes Light (was : Speaking of crabs..) 
From: Andrew H Auld