I have to admit that I nearly did not post the recipe for these crab cakes with tartar sauce as I wasn’t that keen on them, it was my own fault, I thought that I loved tarragon, I got a bit heavy handed with it and when it came to eat them, I realised that I hated the stuff ! Lesson learnt and next time I will use coriander as I love the stuff and we all know how well it works with crab, also I think I will use lime juice instead of lemon, just because it will give the crab cakes a little Thai twist.
The reason that I am blogging the recipe is that Hubby and Olly loved them and I realised that not everyone shares my taste and for those of you out there that absolutely love tarragon this clearly is the recipe for you and I would like to give them a second chance, but with a little less tarragon next time, or as I have already mention, using coriander instead. Someone once told me to try everything twice, you may of just been unlucky the first time and they may just of been made badly !
This again came from ‘The English Summer Cookbook’, a secondhand bargain from Amazon, it was so simple, I made the mixture in the morning so that all the flavours could come together and then in the evening we had a meal that was ready in minutes. We served ours with big fat chunky chips and even though we cheated and brought a rather nice tartare sauce from Ocado to save time, I have added the recipe for the homemade version below, just incase you fancy giving it a try.
I love recipes like this, not only perfect for a brunch or dinner, but also because you can prep the crab cakes in advance they would be great for a starter, just make nice little ones, serve on a pretty plate, on a bed of salad, maybe rocket and a ramekin on the side of the tartare sauce and you will WOW your quests.
So this is dish two of our trio of fish recipes this week, still salt cod with barley risotto to come, which I am so looking forward to, must remember to salt the cod before going out tomorrow, but tonight we are having a break and have a rather nice sounding spiced vegetable omelette to look forward, all from my bargain secondhand cookery book.
Buon appetito
Serves 4
30g butter
30g plain flour
300ml creamy milk
1 large egg yolk
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tabasco sauce
225g white crab meat (about the amount of meat from 1 large or 2 medium dressed crabs)
A little chopped tarragon (See even the recipe says a little, obviously where I went horribly wrong, LOL )
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
110g fresh white breadcrumbs
Plain flour (for dusting)
Vegetable oil for frying
Start by making a thick white sauce, I know the dreaded roux again, please see https://www.gelsominascucina.com/2014/07/smoked-haddock-toasties.html for tips on this.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook the roux for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the milk. Whisk well and simmer until you have a very thick smooth sauce. Allow to cool. Once the sauce is cold, beat in the egg yolk and season well with salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce to taste. Stir in the crab meat, herbs and spring onion. Add the lemon juice and enough breadcrumbs to give a firmish mixture. If time allows, leave in the fridge for 30 minutes, covered to allow the flavours to develop.
Take about a heaped tablespoon of the chilled mixture and form into round patties (those of you with children may be thinking of SpongeBob around now!!!) on a well floured board. Heat a non-stick frying pan, add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the crab cakes until golden brown, about 5 to 8 minutes in all. Serve at once.
All very simple, just one tip, keep the oil on a medium to low heat, as you will see in the photo above, Hubby burnt ours a little !
And if you fancy making the tartare sauce….
250ml mayonnaise
1 tablespoons capers, finely chopped
2 tablespoons small cornichons, finely chopped
1/2 sweet onion or 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tabasco sauce
After prepping everything, start with only half of the mayonnaise and mix all the ingredients together, season well with salt and pepper and Tabasco to taste, add more mayonnaise as needed, you don’t want the sauce to be to over powering, just light and delicate.
Recipe from ‘The English Summer Cookbook’.
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