Classics My Way- Crabcakes

Dinner tonight involved using up some crab meat that was about to go bad, but I really wasn't feeling the typical Old Bay fried crab cakes that instantly comes to mind.  I found a recipe card with my the recipe my dad uses to make crabcakes, straight from Maryland's Eastern Shore..however, I was slightly bothered to realize that almost all of the ingredients were things I try to avoid at all costs when cooking (although, this recipe does make good classic crab cakes so its posted below).

Cookbook consulting revealed lots of great options, but of course I was missing a critical one of everything that caught my eye.   So I did what I almost always end up doing anyway...improvising.  I put the crab meat in the bowl and drizzled olive oil over it to use to help hold the cakes together instead of using eggs and mayo, and stirred in just a tad bit of Old Bay and Worcestershire sauce to give the meat a hint of the classic crab taste..probably about 3 tablespoons of olive oil (extra virgin, of course), a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and not enough Old Bay to estimate,  just sprinkled over the top of the crab and stirred in a few times.  I then experimented with adding basil, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese to by smelling and tasting (a benefit of using olive oil instead of egg. The result was good, but still missing something.  I decided to use crushed cheese garlic croutons to add the texture to the crab cakes, and ended up using about half a cup of croutons (before crushing) as filler.

Rather than fry in butter like the "classic" recipe calls for, I mixed olive oil (my favorite ingredient) and 1/8th of a tablespoon of butter in a non-stick skillet to give the cakes an authentic (but a bit healthier) taste.  I quickly learned that without the egg and mayo, it was harder to keep the crab together, so I used smaller sized crab cakes and found that one pound of crab meat made about 9 mini cakes. I cooked them on medium-high heat (side note: I hate using electric, especially ceramic stove stops, but that's a whole other issue) for about 8 minutes, until they were warm and just brown on each side.  This was another benefit of not using eggs, as they didn't have to cook as long since the crab meat was pre-cooked and no salmonella concerns with using olive oil.  End result was: everyone enjoyed them, with no leftovers.

Also, my sister whipped up some excellent zucchini, which I would never normally think to pair with a crab dish.  Little Sister transformed a bag of $1 frozen grocery store vegetables by sauteing the zucchini in butter ( I would have used olive oil, but I'm not complaining!) and seasoning them with salt, pepper, lemon pepper seasoning, and a squeeze of juice from half of a fresh lemon for about 10 minutes, while draining the excess water from the pan.  It was an EXCELLENT side dish, and my mother- who hates zucchini, even liked it.

Grandma's Classic Crab Cake Recipe
1-lb crab meat
1 egg
1 tablespoon mayo
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Old Bay seasoning, to preference
Bread Crumbs (at least 1 tablespoon), to preference



Mix all ingredients in bowl and form individual cakes. Fry in hot skillet using real butter.