At Drake’s Beach Café, the best crab cakes are made from the Dungeness crab cooked the day they are caught. Watercress and blood oranges add color and a refreshing counterpoint to the fresh seafood. Grapefruit and arugula are also a good combination for this dish.
Reprinted with permission from Organic Marin by Tim Porter (Andrews McMeel 2008). Compare Prices
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- * * * * Chive Oil * * * *
- 1/4 cup minced fresh chives
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- * * * * Crab Cakes * * * *
- 1 pound fresh lump Dungeness crabmeat, picked over for shell
- 1/2 cup creme fraiche
- 1 large shallot, minced
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
- 1/4 cup minced mixed fresh herbs (chives, flat-leaf parsley, and tarragon)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 blood oranges, peeled and segmented, juice reserved (see page 186)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 bunch watercress or arugula, stemmed, or leaves from 1 head frisee lettuce
- 3/4 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar
Preparation:
For the chive oil:
Combine all the chive oil ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve. Discard the solids and reserve the oil. The chive oil keeps refrigerated for 4 days.
For the crab cakes:
Combine the crabmeat, creme fraiche, shallot, lemon zest and juice, egg, 1 cup of the panko, the herbs, salt, and pepper. Firmly pack the crabmeat mixture into a 1/4-cup measuring cup and invert onto a baking sheet, repeating to use all of the mixture, yielding 6 crab cakes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.Preheat an oven to 250 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the remaining 1 cup panko on a plate and season with salt and pepper to taste. Melt the butter in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Dredge the crab cakes in the panko to coat evenly and sear for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Transfer to the prepared pan and keep warm in the oven while finishing the dish.
Whisk 1 tablespoon of the reserved blood orange juice, the olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl to make a vinaigrette.
To serve, place a crab cake on each of 6 salad plates. Dress the watercress and orange segments with the vinaigrette and place a small handful alongside each crab cake. Drizzle 1/8 teaspoon of the balsamic vinegar and 1 teaspoon of the chive oil around each serving. Serve immediately.
Serves 6 as a first course.
Author's note on Dungeness Crab.
Dungeness crab is found along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to northern California. Weighing from one to three pounds, this flavorful crustacean has plentiful meat. Crab season begins in early November and peaks in January in northern California.
One of the best ways to serve fresh Dungeness crab is steamed and eaten with drawn butter. To steam crab, bring 2 inches of water to a boil in the bottom of a pot fitted with a large steamer insert. Place the live crab upside down in the pot and steam, covered, until the shell turns bright orange, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the pot and let cool.
To remove the meat, pull the apron off the underside of the crab and lift off the carapace. Discard the feathery gills and mandibles from the body and rinse the crab under cool water. Grip the crab on either side and break it in half. Remove the legs and claws from the body and crack them at the edge of the joints with a small mallet. Remove the meat from the body sections and serve with the legs and claws.
