Monday, July 11, 2011

Caked, Baked and... Devoured

Obviously, since I got home from Guatemala a few days ago, I've been on a bit of a cooking bender. While it's fun to be inside in the kitchen, it's high summer, and it's hot!
Yesterday I found myself with some leftover Creole Rice and the Cucumber Salad I'd made, and I needed something filling, but relatively light to round it all off.

CRAB CAKES!
The idea came sudden and seemed immediately perfect. But with the heat, the last thing i felt like was standing over a blazing pot of frying oil or eating something overly greasy.
But thanks to RecipeGirl, I found a recipe for Baked Crab Cakes, which let me cool off outside with a cocktail while they cooked inside. Genius, delicious.
With a few tweaks like extra veggies and a few shakes of Old Bay, these cakes came out light and fluffy, and hit the spot. I topped them with a roasted red-pepper relish aioli and garnished them with a sprinkling of minced cornichons and capers.

These were perfect with the Creole Rice and Cucumber Salad, and there was even one leftover. I'm thinking crabcake sandwhich for lunch!

Baked Crab Cakes with Red-Pepper Relish Aioli
- 12 saltines, crushed
- fresh parsley, minced
- 1 to 2 tbsp Old Bay
- 2 tbsp greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 1/2 cans processed crab
- 1/2 c shredded carrot
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, minced
- 1/2 jalapeno, minced
- 2 scallions, minced
- 2 egg whites

Roasted Red-Pepper Relish Aioli
- 1 whole roasted red pepper (from jar), minced
- 2 tbsp low-fat sour cream
- 1 tbsp horseradish sauce
- 1 tbsp sweet relish

* garnish: cornichons, capers (minced)

In a bowl, crush crackers and then mix them with the parsley, old bay, yogurt and water. Knead in the crab and the veggies and mix well. Lightly beat the egg whites before adding, and then mix them with the crab until everything is well combined. Form cakes and ptthem into the fridge to cool for 20 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven to 425, and let the baking sheet get hot in the oven before using. Spray hot baking sheet with cooking spray and put crabcakes on. Bake crabcakes about 10 minutes before flipping and baking for another 5 to 1o minutes. Cakes should be golden brown on each side and cooked through.

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