Fancy Crab Cakes

high end crab cakes

Category
Appetizer
Cuisine
French
Serves
4-6
Time
45 minutes
From
Le Bec Fin

crabshrimp

A signature dish (Galettes de Crabe) from Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia

Ingredients

Crab Cakes

  • 14 oz. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 bunch(es) scallions, sliced into thin rings
  • 2 tsp. lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
  • 2 C. heavy cream, icy cold
  • 1 1/2 C. olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. Tabasco
  • 1 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat, picked clean

Sauce

  • 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
  • 1/2 C. Chicken stock
  • 2 whole eggs, cold
  • 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Belgian Endive

  • 3 Belgian endive heads, chopped into 1 inch. lengths
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 3 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 lb. haricots verts, trimmed and blanched (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

The Crab Cakes

  1. Chill the shrimp along with the bowl and blade of a food processor in freezer for about 30 minutes.
  2. Sauté the scallions in 1 tablespoon butter until just wilted.
  3. Set aside to cool.
  4. Place the shrimp in the processor and puree on high speed for 1 minute or until smooth and shiny.
  5. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the eggs.
  6. Process again until the mixture is smooth and shiny, about 2 minutes.
  7. Scrape the bowl again.
  8. With the machine running, slowly pour in the heavy cream.
  9. Scrape the bowl and process again to make sure the cream is completely incorporated.
  10. Remove the mixture and place in a bowl.
  11. Stir in the mustard, Worcestershire, and Tabasco, then gently fold in the cooled scallions and the crabmeat.
  12. Preheat the oven to 400F
  13. Place four or five 3- inch oiled ring molds into a lightly oiled nonstick pan.
  14. Fill each mold with the mixture, smoothing off the tops with a spoon.
  15. Over medium heat, cook the crab cakes until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
  16. Once the cakes have browned, push down on the ring molds to cut off any excess crab mixture and remove the rings from around the cakes.
  17. Remove the crab cakes from the pan.
  18. Repeat the procedure until all of the crab mixture has been cooked. (The cakes may be made up to 1 day ahead, up to this point, and refrigerated.)
  19. Place the crab cakes on a buttered nonstick baking pan.
  20. Bake for 5 minutes or until the cakes are springy to the touch.

The Sauce

  1. Place the egg yolk, vinegar, Dijon mustard, and chicken stock into a blender.
  2. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
  3. Drizzle in the olive oil until the sauce is emulsified (creamy looking).
  4. Add the whole-grain mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Endive and Haricots Verts

  1. In a small sauté pan, heat the butter and the lemon juice.
  2. Add the cut endive and the sugar and toss together.
  3. Cook over medium heat until the endive is wilted but not soft and the pan juice have been absorbed.
  4. Add the haricots verts
  5. Season to taste and set aside.

Assembly

  1. In a small pot, slowly heat the sauce over low heat without letting it boil.
  2. Place a small mound of the endive in the center of each serving plate.
  3. Surround with haricots verts, if using
  4. Top with 1 or 2 crab cakes then ladle the sauce over the crab cakes and serve immediately.

Notes

  • You must use good quality crab meat (I like Costco's). If you use the cheap tinned stuff, the crabcakes will likely fall apart when you try to fry them. If that's all you have, maybe use a whole egg and add some breadcrumbs (about 1/2 cup) to help bind the mixture
  • I prefer to serve these with pickled cucumbers, rather than the endive & beans
  • I usually double the amount of sauce