My god…what did we do before the interwebs. I can literally waste hours and hours reading blogs, facebook, daily puppy, and then there are the puzzles and games…I love it all and yet it makes me feel like an ADHD diabetic teenager that just snarfed down six hot pockets and guzzled a twelve pack of pepsi.

Lucky for me that I actually get to eat fabulous food like these fresh and fancy crab cakes. Actually they are neither fresh nor fancy but they were a bright spot on a cold wintery day. Crab cakes are basically a fritter and who doesn’t love some frittery goodness? I know that some crab cakes contain way to much filler like bread crumbs or cracker crumbs and so they are always a risky item to order when dining out. But in your own kitchen you can make them any old way you like.

Fresh crab isn’t all that easy to get here in Wisconsin. Our fish monger always claims that the canned/refrigerated crab is just as good but it isn’t. But for a crab cake it wasn’t bad. It didn’t have that awesome briny, sweetish flavor that fresh has but it was acceptable. I served my crabbie patties with a bowl of corn bisque that I made this summer and tucked into the freezer. It had the most unbelievable flavor of corn…it was pure essence of August.

Crab cakes
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1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely diced onion
¼ cup finely diced celery
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground Spicy Sea Salt
1 pound can of crab meat
3 slices sour dough bread, toasted and crumbed
Canola oil

Toss all the ingredients together in a big bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour before forming into patties and frying.

Using a heavy skillet add about 1/3 of a cup of oil and let it heat up to 350°F. Form the patties by taking about ¼ cup of the crab mix and patting it into a patty shape in your hand. Gently place it into the heated oil and when it’s brown on one side flip it and brown the other. Serve with fresh lemon and Tabasco. If you don’t have time to let it chill out for 30 minutes to an hour then go ahead and cook them but be gentle when placing them into the skillet and when you flip them, they’ll be more fragile.