I spent a fair amount of time looking for an American recipe for this challenge. i was trying to be careful not to pick up something mexican. As I’m not into meats this became quick a challenge in itself, as the yanks eat a LOT of meat. But eventually in the Food Safari book I found a section on the US and the decision was made easy. Crab Cakes! Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes to be precise. Here’s the video recipe if you would like to check that out.

Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes with Cajun Remalade as found in “Food Safari”

serves 6

Crab cakes
500g crab meat, picked over (Blue Swimmer preferably)
40g breadcrumbs
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
Pinch paprika
Pinch Cayenne pepper
2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
Plain flour for dusting
Vegetable or peanut oil for frying
Salt to taste

Cajun remoulade
2 egg yolks
juice of one lemon
250 ml vegetable oil
50 grams cornichons, chopped (gherkins)
10 ml cornichon juice
1½g salted capers (rinsed and chopped)
¼ bunch chives (finely chopped)
¼ bunch chervil (finely chopped)
¼ bunch flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)
¼ bunch tarragon (finely chopped)
Salt to taste
Pinch Spanish paprika
Cayenne pepper to taste (supposed to be spicy)

Crab cakes
Combine all ingredients except flour and oil.
Form into six even cakes. Place in the refrigerator for 15 mins to help hold together.
Remove from the fridge and dust in plain flour.

Add oil to a frying pan on medium heat, (cast iron skillet is ideal) so that the oil sits about half centimetre deep. Place the crab cakes in the oil. Cook until both sides lightly browned and crispy on the outside (about 4 minutes each side)

Cajun remoulade
Beat egg yolks, add liquid from the cornichons, then lemon juice. Gradually add vegetable oil as you beat to emulsify the mix. It will thicken like a mayonnaise (but you don’t want it quite that thick). Add chives, chervil and tarragon along with chopped cornichons. Then add the cayenne pepper (amount depending on how hot you want it) and paprika. Add chopped capers and combine until all ingredients are even.

I called in some help on this one. Tim took care of the remoulade, whilst I did the crab cakes. I used panko breadcrumbs in the mix for a bit of extra crunch. I was incredibly lazy and used canned crab meat which I feel quiet ashamed about now. This recipe would totally rock with fresh picked blue swimmer crab in chunky pieces.I’ll have to get to the markets next time I give them a crack. I also couldn’t find old bay seasoning , so I used more paprika, caynne pepper and celery salt. The remoulade was a thick heavy mayonnaise with cajan flavouring, we needed to add a LOT more lemon juice and  herbs to give it a nice zing. The base recipe was a tad plain. The sauce worked really well with the crab cakes which fried up beautifully.

Sadly the card with the photos of the dressed up crab cake was erased by my beloved (I could kill him!). So I had to take this dodgy photo of one of the left overs! There was no remoulade left so its just the crab cake. Boo!