Crab Cakes with Roasted Vegetables and aioli

The weather is finally starting to get nice again (today the high is 85 and I have no class!), so it's time to start thinking about those recipes that you just don't feel like cooking when it's 15 degrees, dark by 5 o'clock with a foot of snow on the ground. One such recipe is crab cakes. I love crab cakes and they're so easy to make, the only problem for me is the lack of fresh crab. I usually buy the shrink wrapped pre-cooked crab that probably isn't real crab but tastes like it, but this time I bought a can of crab meat that was more expensive thinking the higher price meant better crab, but I'm not so sure it was much better than the other stuff. It is definitely much better using lump crab meat when making crab cakes, and the crab I bought in the can was shredded plus I don't really think it had that much or at all better flavor than the cheaper crab I usually buy, but either way the crab cakes still turned out pretty well and it definitely got me in the mood for the warmer days of spring and summer to come.

Crab Cakes with Roasted Vegetables and Aioli

Serves 2

For the Crab Cakes:

1 pound of crab meat

1/2 sweet onion diced

2 garlic cloves minced

1/2 red pepper diced

1 egg white

2 tbs mayonnaise

1 lemon juiced

1/2 c bread crumbs

1 tsp old bays seasoning

2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs butter

salt and pepper

On medium heat in a frying pan fry the onion and red pepper for 5-10 minutes to caramelize, in the last minute or two add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl combine the lemon juice, egg white, mayonnaise and old bay. Stir to mix together, then fold in to the wet mixture the crab meat and onion, pepper and garlic.

Next mix in the bread crumbs and mold into about 4-6 cakes, depending on the size you prefer. Cover the cakes with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

When ready to fry the crab cakes, bring a frying pan with the olive oil and butter in it to medium heat. Fry the cakes until golden brown, 3-4 minutes per side.

For the Roasted Vegetables:

1 zucchini

1 eggplant

1 red pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and cut the vegetables into bite size pieces.

Spread the vegetables out on a baking sheet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes turning them about half way through the baking time.

For the Aioli:

3 garlic cloves

1 egg yolk

1/4-1/2 cup canola oil

juice from half a lemon

1 tsp red wine vinegar

a pinch of cayenne

salt and pepper

Mince the garlic cloves, then with the side of your knife start smashing the garlic to turn it into a paste. Add a little bit of salt, which will act as an abrasive and make it easier to turn the garlic into a paste. This takes a little bit of time, just keep smashing the minced garlic with the side of the knife and it will turn in to a paste.

Put the garlic in a mixing bowl with the egg yolk and whisk together until the yolk starts to lighten in color.

Now while whisking add a few drops of the oil to the egg and garlic mixture. Drop by drop keep adding the oil slowly so the egg and oil combine. If you add too much oil at a time the mixture will break and you will have to start over. This part of the process takes a little bit of time and work but it is well worth it. As the mixture starts to thicken you could start adding more and more oil at a time without risk of it breaking.

When almost all the oil is combined, add in the lemon juice, vinegar and cayenne. Taste a little bit to how much salt and pepper needs add, then whisk in the rest of the oil.

*the aioli is not only good for this recipe but is great with many other foods and should keep in a refrigerator for about a week.

Eat well, Live well