Mr. Hawthorne Makes Crab Cakes.

We bought a dozen or more blue crabs

at Billy's not long after we got back from holiday,
October 5 - 17.

Mr. Hawthorne gets to pick them.
I have neither time nor patience
for picking crabs.
Plus I'm doing really important other stuff.

Mr. Hawthorne toils.

Poor Mr. Hawthorne is wearing

 his little fingers to the bone.

This is a lot of work.

Nice job.

1 1/2+ pounds of crab meat

For the crab cake filler:

1 egg

1 piece whole wheat bread 

(The heel is my favorite.)

red onion

green pepper

celery

Old Bay seasoning.

panko

Mince the celery, onion, and pepper,

 which apparently Mr. H. didn't use this time.

2 TB minced celery

2 TB minced red onion

Bread crumbs, processed, on the bottom,

with 2 tsps Old Bay, 1 tsp dry mustard, and 1 tsp hot paprika,

left to right.

Whup the egg.

Add in minced red onion and celery to dry ingredients.

That much.

Combine well.

Bunch o' crab meat going in.

12 ounces crab meat.

I'm saving the rest for my upcoming Crab Bisque.

Add to the dry.

Add in beaten egg.

Gently combine mixture.

Try not to tear up the crab meat.
Do not overwork the mixture.

Leave in lumps.

Here comes the important part -

the assembly:

Take a biscuit cutter

and sprinkle panko bread crumbs in an even layer.

Load in crab meat mixture.

Look at the lumps!

Press in.

Top with layer of panko.

And move on to the next.

Oh, Mr. Hawthorne.

Keep going.

Set in freezer for about 30 minutes before frying.

Heat equal amounts unsalted butter and oil 

(I use peanut oil.) over medium high.

Saute two crab cakes at a time,

until golden brown on each side.

Drain.

I served this with sliced green onion from the garden,

slice of lemon,

and homemade tartar sauce 

with the extra kick of roasted red pepper.

This is the way a crab cake should be.

Crab meat.

Not filler.