THE GRUB REPORT: Friday Night Mega-Bites: Slashfood

We're not even a week into our blogging experience and I'm already giddy about the awesome little gastro-centric community I see forming. I can't wait to sink my teeth into tantalizing recipes offered up, and my list of interesting ingredients to feature has nearly doubled. Bill Lewis is right. We could all use a little culinary diversity, and the best way to get that is by peeking at what others are doing in their kitchens. And with all these new friends, the possibilities are just about endless. Isn't technology great?

Speaking of food and the Internet, every Friday I'll be offering up a little food-related linkage for you to check out. It could be a blog or a podcast. It may range from the silly to the sublime. But it will always be offered up with the aim of perpetuating and expanding our culinary conversation.

This week's Friday Night Mega-Bite: Slashfood

Inspired by the tech news site Slashdot, Slashfood offers up a bevy of user-submitted links and articles focusing on food trends, recipes and news. The sheer volume of information available is astounding, and their bloggers really know their stuff.

One caveat: Be sure to set aside a bit of time to check out the site. Fifteen minutes can turn into two hours pretty quickly when you start clicking around on some of their more interesting posts. A quick perusal tonight turned up articles on maple bacon cupcakes, Donald Trump Steaks and horse meat hot dogs.


Originally posted to The Grub Report by Steve Gibson on May 25, 2007 10:05 PM

>>> READ MORE ... you know you want to.

THE GRUB REPORT: Ingredient of the week: Crab

Once a week, The Grub Report will focus on an ingredient we think more people should add to their plates.

This week's ingredient isn't all that exotic, but it certainly can be intimidating. So we'll let you in on what we found locally and how it fared in a recipe that's sure to impress your friends: crab cakes.

Seafood is always a bit of a crapshoot in our neck of the woods.

When availability isn't the issue, the question of quality always seems to turn you back to the dependable arms of a certain rain-slicker clad fisherman.

Of course, what we aren’t comfortable making at home we often seek out at local restaurants, forgetting that they face the same limitations we do. Sure, it may be called the catch of the day, but exactly what day is often a mystery.

What frozen, pre-packaged seafood gains in shelf life, it pays for in taste. Restaurants and frozen food companies may try to preserve flavor (and cut costs) with hefty breading or fillers, but the final product will seldom satisfy those seeking the briny goodness that is real seafood.

Despite the dearth of fresh crabmeat in these landlocked parts, I decided to embark upon a quest to create the best crab cake I could with ingredients readily available to me at local groceries. Yes, this means canned crabmeat, but before we go any further, it is important to distinguish between the varities of meat available and the different processes by which they are pasteurized.

Buying crabmeat is a potentially mind-boggling affair. Presented with upwards of five different varieties, many people are stumped as to which the best is suited for cake-ification.

Food elitists will tell you that lump or jumbo lump crabmeat (usually the most expensive) is the only meat that should be considered. In reality, a perfectly decent crab cake can be made from the pink or white varieties, but in my opinion it's the claw meat that makes the most sense when making cakes from canned crabmeat. The dark meat from the claws has a stronger flavor that, even after processing, is sure to ring through in your final product.

Aside from the different meat varieties, a shopper also has to consider whether he or she wants to buy shelf-stable crabmeat or a variety that must be refrigerated.

Those squatty six-ounce cans that fit so nicely in your pantry contain crabmeat that has been pasteurized at high heat for a significant period of time. As you would probably guess, flavor loss in this process is significant, but then again you'd probably be able to bequeath your crab stash to your grandchildren in your will.

Refrigerated crabmeat, on the other hand, has also been pasteurized, but at a much lower heat and for a shorter period of time. The process is much kinder to the meat in terms of flavor, but the fridge-life is reduced to a comparatively paltry 18 months.

Having experimented with different varieties of crabmeat available locally, I have come to the conclusion that best choice for crab cakes is the refrigerated claw meat available at your local fish counter. The taste and texture of the cake prepared with this crabmeat was just so much more pronounced than the cakes made with shelf-stable varieties. Plus, as an added bonus, it was actually cheaper to buy two eight-ounce cans of refrigerated meat than four six-ounce cans (read carefully, that's four ounces of dry weight, baby!) of pantry meat.

Without further ado, our recipe:


Brilliantly Simple Crab Cakes

Ingredients:
1 lb. crabmeat (that's 16 ounces of dry weight, don't forget)
1 egg, beaten1 teaspoon
Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay (in the spice blends section at your grocery)
3 tablespoons crushed saltine crackers
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup mayonaise
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:
Blend all ingredients except for crushed saltines, flour and oil in large bowl. Add crushed saltines until mixture is no longer wet and can hold together. (You may use less, you may use more, depending on your crab.)

Form into four cakes, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.

Put flour in a plate or shallow bowl and dredge cakes in it, lightly coating each side, then saute until cooked through and golden brown (approx. four minutes on each side).

Serve as is or on a split roll as a sandwich, with condiments of your choice.

Do you have a favorite recipe for crab cakes you want to share? Send it on in!

Originally posted to The Grub Report by Steve Gibson on May 23, 07 11:45 AM


Comments

At May 23, 2007 11:22 PM, James Cramer said...

It isn't a crab cake recipe but is my favorite use for canned crab meat.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 chopped shallot
1/2 lb sliced fresh white mushrooms
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups hot milk
4 oz well drained canned crab meat (I prefer white)
4 portions of cooked spiral pasta, hot
salt and pepper

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook shallot, mushrooms, and parsley for 3 to 4 minutes.

Mix in flour throughly. Reduce heat to low and cook flour for 2 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, pour in milk continue mixing and cooking for 8 to 10 minutes over low heat.

Add crab meat, mix well and adjust seasoning to taste. Cook 2 minutes over very low heat.

Spoon sauce over hot pasta and enjoy.


At May 23, 2007 11:26 PM, Patricia Gibson said...

Wow. That sounds really good! Can't wait to try it. I think we have some leftover crab ...


At May 24, 2007 10:10 AM, Angie said...

Living in a landlocked state but loving seafood, I tried a recipe a few years ago that had promise.

"Connie's Zucchini Crab Cakes" is posted at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Connies-Zucchini-Crab-Cakes/Detail.aspx, and if you have zucchini from an area garden later in the summer, this is an enjoyable recipe to use. It utilizes 2 1/2 cups of shredded zucchini, drained well, and Old Bay seasoning. Because the recipe is published online elsehwere, I will not post the entire thing here, but I suggest you visit www.allrecipes.com and see this recipe and the 300+ helpful reviews.

I enjoyed it, and I can almost imagine it is related somehow to crab... my husband found that this was an okay way to use zucchini, but my crab illusion wouldn't hold.

So this is our land-locked version of pretend crab cakes, for what it's worth. :)


At May 24, 2007 8:51 PM, Nicole Noffsinger said...

Anyone have a specific brand that is better to use for crab cakes and other recipies that we have around here?


At May 24, 2007 9:51 PM, Steve Gibson said...

When I was comparing the shelf stable crab meat to the refrigerated I used Bumblebee (shelf stable) and Phillips (refrigerated). While the Bumblebee cakes were very good, the ones made with Phillips were just outta sight. I bought the Phillips clawmeat at Marsh and know that they usually have it in stock at the seafood counter. They also carry the lump crab meat, but have not seen it for a while.


At May 25, 2007 8:34 PM, Susan said...

The crab cakes look simply delicious! I was wondering, what if you're having an event and make the crabcakes but you also want to make sure you cater to those who may have a shellfish allergy? Any easy substitutions to make sure everyone has an enjoyable dinner?
Thanks!


At May 25, 2007 10:21 PM, Steve Gibson said...

Susan, it's funny that you'd ask that. Worried that not everyone would be willing to jump aboard my crab cake bandwagon, I bought some gound turkey "just in case." With no real plan ahead of time, I just took the basic crab cake recipe (minus the Old Bay, mayo and flour) and made little turkey burgers. They were actually quite tasty and received rave reviews.


At May 25, 2007 10:33 PM, Steve Gibson said...

Angie, sounds like a great way to deal with that annual deluge of zucchini. I mean, how much zucchini bread can one man eat? Plus, it's just cool when you dress one food up like another. I was thinking that I should do a whole week's worth of faux foods. Zucchini Crab Cakes, Mock Apple Pie and... I dunno, Tofurkey?


At May 27, 2007 4:55 PM, Angie said...

Commenting on the faux crab... my brother and another family friend have shellfish allergies, but I've been able to use what we call "fake crab" (imitation crab meat) in recipes. I have a crab quiche in which I use this... it's made from Alaskan white fish, I do believe. This is good in pasta salads, also. (My husband generally prefers this to zucchini! :)

>>> READ MORE ... you know you want to.