Crab cakes

Crab cakes are an appetizer everyone is familiar with but these crab cakes take on a new spin with curry aioli and a fresh apple salad. Not only does it have flavor, there's a ton of crab per crab cake! No one said crab cakes are healthy, but sometimes you're allowed to indulge, right? Speaking of which, author Charles W. James wanted to share his book, Superfoods Power: Volume 1 with you! Simply click on the link for a free copy on his book and discover the 7 top superfoods to help with weight loss. 

CRAB CAKES AND CURRY MAYO WITH APPLE SALAD

Recipe from Food and Wine

Cooking time: 1 hour

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

3/4 cup mayo

1 tsp curry paste or powder

2 tbsp creme fraiche

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp snipped chives

1 tbsp minced flat-leaf parsley

1 tbsp minced tarragon

1 large Granny smith apple, cut into thin matchsticks, plus 1/2 cup finely diced Granny smith apple

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 lb lump crab, picked over

1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tbsp Champagne vinegar

1 cup cilantro leaves

Directions

1. In a bowl, whisk 1/4 cup of the mayo with 1/2 tsp of the curry paste; chill.
2. In another bowl, combine the remaining mayo with the creme fraiche, lemon juice, chives, parsley, tarragon, and diced apple. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in the crab, form into 4 patties and coat with the panko. Transfer the crab cakes to a lightly oiled baking sheet; chill.
3. Preheat the broiler and position a rack 8 inches from the heat. Drizzle the crab cakes with 2 tbsp of the oil and broil for about 12 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp. Transfer the crab cakes to plates.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tbsp of oil with the 1/2 tsp of curry paste and the vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Add the apple matchsticks and cilantro and toss. Serve the crab cakes with the curry mayo and the apple salad.

Nutritional Analysis:

per serving: 518 calories, 37g fat (7g saturated, 18.1g polyunsaturated, 8.4g monounsaturated),  19g carbohydrates, 1.1g fiber, 26g protein

(I suggest using low-fat mayo to lower the calories since most of the fat is from the mayo.)

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

As far as crab cakes go, the technique for preparing these are the same. The only difference may be that there are no eggs in the mixture since mayo is used as the binder. 

I chose to use different herbs for my crab cakes using parsley, green onions, and thyme instead since I had these on hand.

Lump crab would be ideal for crab cakes but I was unable to purchase it; who knew canned crab has gotten so expensive!

At 1/4lb of crab meat per portion, these crab cakes were huge!

For the dressing for the apples, I used white wine vinegar instead of champagne vinegar. Champagne vinegar is a mild vinegar ideal for dressings; therefore, only white wine vinegar and rice vinegar should be used as substitutes.

The verdict? Absolutely lovely! The crab cakes were huge in size but tasted light and perfectly seasoned. They were a little on the dry side but served with the curry aioli, it was perfect. The apple salad was a nice touch adding acidity to the crab cakes. I ate two for lunch and was stuffed! Someone even described these crab cakes as a "culinary masterpiece"; that would call for success, no?