Baked Crab Cakes with Spicy Mango Lime Sauce

Crab cakes are a wonderful American tradition found in most areas of the country. Crab cakes are an elegant dish, yet comfort food at the same time. You will find them on the menus of five-star restaurants and at most hole-in-the wall crab shacks. This particular recipe uses fairly traditional ingredients for the crab cakes, but adds spicy fruity sauce for some extra pizzazz. I've baked the crab cakes to make them a bit healthier, but you can also fry them in oil or butter if you like.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and diced into 1/4-inches pieces
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat
• 1 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) or cracker crumbs (such as Ritz)
• salt, to taste
• 2 large ripe mangos, peeled and flesh removed from pit
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 serrano chile peppers (or 1 jalapeño), stem and seeds removed and diced very fine

Preparation:

Makes 8 crab cakes

In a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Gently cook the onion and red peppers until soft, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pick through the crabmeat and remove any shell or cartilage you may find.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, Old Bay, and cayenne.

With a rubber spatula, fold in the sautéed vegetables, crabmeat, and Panko or cracker crumbs. Season with salt. Refrigerate mixture for 1/2 hour for flavors to meld and breadcrumbs to absorb some of the liquid.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Divide the crab mixture into 8 portions. Roll each portion into a ball with your hands and place onto a cookie sheet lightly coated with vegetable oil or covered with aluminum foil. Press down gently on each ball to form a cake.

Put cookie sheet into the oven and bake until crab cakes are golden brown on each side, about 20 minutes. Turn the crab cakes over half way through. (Alternatively, you may also fry the crab cakes in oil or butter. About 3 minutes each side.)

While the crab cakes are baking, make the Spicy Mango Lime Sauce. Place the mango, lime juice, sugar, and pinch of salt into a food processor and blend until pureed. If sauce is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of cold water. Stir in the diced chiles.

To serve: Place 1 or 2 crab cakes onto plates (1 for an appetizer, 2 for an entree). Drizzle crab cakes with 2 tablespoons of Spicy Mango Lime Sauce. Add a fresh green salad on the side if you like.

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