My mise en place:
Overall, this was a very straight forward recipe. I choose it for the sole reason that Central Market is having their GoCoastal Fest this week and the lump crab meat was on super sale. The only angst-ridden moment was making the aioli (mayonnaise). I tried to make it in the morning hoping to get some prep work out of the way and it was disastrous! EPIC FAIL!!! It had emulsified, but just wouldn't thicken :( GROSS! I stuck in in the fridge hoping that it would magically thicken, but alas, no. I almost went ahead and used the Hellmanns that I have in the fridge, but I guess this blog is keeping me honest. I gave it a second go before starting to make the crab cakes and consulted Julia (who else do you turn to in matters of making mayonnaise???). The Art of French Cooking yielded the vital info that you only add a few drops of oil to begin with instead of the slow stream (thanks a lot Thomas Keller ;/).
My Mayo - 2nd attempt
Apart from that setback, the rest was uneventful (in a good way). Hee hee, the yield of the recipe is 12, but I only got 7 out. I guess I made pretty big crab cakes.
The crab cake mixture was very loose so it was a little tricky getting them into the pan and flipping them while keeping them whole, but it all turned out well.
Dinner is served:
I would definitely make these again! The taste to effort ratio makes it something that I think is worth making, especially for a special occasion at home. If I were to change the recipe, I'd add in some celery. Actually, I don't know if crab cakes usually have celery, but I like celery for crunch and flavor and it seems like it'd be a good addition. Also I'd probably stick with the traditional remoulade sauce. The piquillo sauce was very tasty (sherry vinegar - yum!) and different but I think I'll be using the rest of that sauce on chicken or fish (something more bland than crab cakes). And I don't think that I'd make my own mayo for the aioli, although it was a good experience to go through for the sake of learning. The yield of his mayo recipe is 2 cups and only a quarter cup was used for the crab cake recipe - guess we'll be eating sandwiches this week :)
