deVine Table

What type of food do you like to prepare for a special celebration? In our house, it’s often crab cakes. So when our friend, Ed, requested a white wine and seafood dinner to celebrate his birthday, this dish immediately came to mind.

Unfortunately, many crab cake preparations call for too much filler or an unforgivable amount of mayonnaise. At one restaurant, I remember being served a crab cake that bore more of a resemblance to a tennis ball, the interior of which was glued together with an excessive amount of mayo, then deep fried and served looking as though it worked up a sweat on the way to the table. That gut bomb inspired me to prepare a baked style of crab cakes. This recipe is adapted from a version by the Blue Ribbon Cooking School in Seattle. It is there that Mike and Virginia Duppenthaler teach their students that the best crab cakes call for minimal filler so that nothing detracts from the crab. I take it one step further, and don’t even bread the crab cakes. This method offers pure crabby goodness!

Makes 6 servings

• 1 pound crabmeat, squeezed to remove excess liquid
• 1 scallion, minced
• 1/3 cup chives, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsely, minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 large egg, whisked

 In a bowl, gently combine the crabmeat, scallion, chives, parsley, curry powder, bread crumbs, and mayonnaise. Do your best not to break up the crab meat. Add the egg, and carefully incorporate.

 Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with olive oil. Divide the crab mixture into 6 portions and form into cakes. I find it easiest to do this by taking a dry 1/3 cup measuring cup, filling it with crab mixture, then pressing down on the mixture so it sticks together. Invert the cup onto the baking sheet, and tap on it to loosen the mixture. It should come out as a formed cake. Cover the crab cakes with plastic wrap and put in the fridge to chill.

 When your guests have arrived, preheat the oven to 350°. Take the crab cakes out of the fridge, remove the plastic wrap, and bake in the warmed oven for 10 minutes. Then, raise the oven to broil and keep the cakes in the oven for another minute or two, until the cakes are lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Wine Pairing

For Ed’s birthday, we opened up a bottle of William Church Viognier with the crab cakes, and found we liked it with the curry seasoning in the cakes. A chardonnay would also be an option with this, especially if you serve buttered corn alongside. If you find your crab cakes are a bit dull with the wine, squeeze a bit of lemon on them to see if they’re a better match for the acid in the wine.