Crab Cakes...of the not-crumby variety

My father, who has diabetes, commented that there weren't any really diabetic-friendly recipes on my blog yet (besides the spaghetti squash, which I added subsequently). He had a point – I’m definitely partial to sweets and, more generally, carbohydrates! But being in the diabetic kitchens of my father and my grandfather (who was diabetic for nearly 70 years!), as well as a brief tenure as camp counselor for kids with diabetes, I’m well aware that food doesn’t have to be sweet or carby to be delicious…and it wouldn’t hurt any of us to eat a good deal more vegetables and proteins (and less, say, pie).

So this recipe is a shout-out to my dad! A seafood connoisseur, he knows as well as anyone that there’s only one thing worse than crummy crab cakes: crumby crab cakes. Crabmeat diluted with bread- or cracker-crumbs makes the cakes taste cheap and bland and, worst of all, less crab-like.

This awesome recipe only has 8-10 saltines to a pound of crabmeat…that’s basically just enough to make it stick together, and amounts to about one saltine per cake. Altogether, these cakes are about 4g of carbohydrates apiece. And that’s how a crab cake should be.

Cook’s notes:
1) If buying fresh crab legs and shelling them seems an inappropriate effort for crab cakes (and I pretty much agree), don’t go straight to the canned stuff; many markets carry fresh crabmeat packed in water (like Goldsmith Seafood’s).
2) Lump crabmeat, as opposed to shredded or even backfin, makes a huge difference, if you can afford it.
3) Surprisingly, this recipe is just as excellent without the Serrano chiles, but it’s obviously something totally different. My dad has a pepper allergy, so for this post I’ll be leaving them out (and going easy on the white and cayenne peppers, of course)…but were you to add them back in, it would be 1-2 fresh Serrano chiles, seeded and minced, added in at the same time as the crabmeat.

SOUTHWEST CRAB CAKES WITH LIME AND CHILES

INGREDIENTS

1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
⅛ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup chopped green onions
8 to 10 saltines, crushed (I go for less, rather than more)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 lime wedges



DIRECTIONS

Combine the egg, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce, white pepper and salt in a bowl; mix well.

Stir in the crab meat, parsley, green onions, crackers and chiles. Shape into 12 patties. Place on foil-lined tray.

Chill, covered, for 30 minutes or longer.

Sauté the crab cakes on both sides in the butter and oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until brown and crisp; drain.

Serve with lime wedges.


The recipe makes 8 large cakes or 10 small ones. Mmmmm. Enjoy, Dad!


Recipe from True Grits cookbook
by Inc. Junior League of Atlanta