Maine peekytoe crab cakes

Bid farewell to summer with a tasty recipe from Summer Winter Restaurant

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>>> this morning in today's kitchen, a classic crowd pleaser -- crab cakes . mark and clark keep it simple by using fresh ingredients. they are chefs in maine . good to see you guys. you're not going to use that on me, are you? so we have fresh crab cakes .

>> absolutely. you can buy the crab meat , but you can tear off the top of the crab, the knuckles and claws. clean out the gills, just like with soft shell crab . you don't want to eat that stuff.

>> how many crabs do you need to make them?

>> you probably need a dozen to get enough meat.

>> so you clean it out, and you've got a big bowl of crab. yeah, that's what we're talking about.

>> this is what you want. this is the good stuff.

>> here, all done. we have been working on it for hours.

>> all day. what goes into this? it's pretty simple.

>> my thing, i believe -- and mark -- we love to put the fresh lemon juice right on here. using really fresh crab it brightens it up really nice. add that and we have bread crumbs that have been sauteed and not browned, as you can see.

>> what do you saute them in?

>> whole butter.

>> you want to be careful buzz you don't want the crab to break up.

>> a little bit. it won't hurt. you don't have to be super careful, but don't beat it into submission either. then a little bit of sour cream. well, a lot.

>> okay.

>> that's on the don't eat list, so we won't talk about it too much. a little bit of flour. you can always add more to make them form appropriately. but this is pretty good.

>> do you throw in any salt or pepper?

>> yeah. why don't you add a little bit of that?

>> you can always use the nice kosher salt , sea salt . and a little bit of freshly ground pepper . i think these are going to form up. there we go. a little bit more flour.

>> the flour is the binder? gets you the right consistency.

>> you can put it all in, but less is more.

>> definitely.

>> i noticed you coat them before -- in a little flour?

>> just a little bit of flour.

>> there we go. takes a few minutes and these are beautiful.

>> there we go. these are almost ready.

>> thanks.

>> now, we're going to make a nice tartar sauce ?

>> exactly. a remoulade which is perfect with crab cakes .

>> that sounds better than tartar sauce .

>> absolutely. you can make your own mayonnaise or buy an organic with olive oil and nice things in it. essentially you're adding shallots and chopped pickles, mustard. we add different things, a thai sricha chili paste. this is so easy especially if you buy the mayonnaise. it makes it even easier. we have a little bit of vinegar for a kick. we like a little kick in the crab cake .

>> how's the crab season in maine ?

>> it's been really good this year. it's been a good season all around. lots of crabby tourists and nice tourists. just lots of them. it's been a great year.

>> the weather has helped out this year.

>> last year was a horrible --

>> hideous. we were all ready to shoot ourselves. it was the worst ever. it rained for 30 days in june. it was cloudy in july. everybody was afraid they lost all their money. that looks really good. i will stick my finger in and taste it. clark has crab cakes just about ready there.

>> oh, man. this is pretty darn tasty.

>> isn't it good?

>> it is.

>> you can use maine peketoe crab.

>> that's fun to say.

>> it really is. if you have the patient to pick them. they really are a pain. they're not that cute. they're cute to look at.

>> so you put a little bit of the --

>> put the remoulade right on.

>> or a lot of it.

>> just dip it.

>> pick them up and eat them.

>> i didn't know it was finger food .

>> it is now.

>> oh, man.

>> lots of crab meat . not much stuff to interfere. just enough to hold it in here.

>> natalie will be here in a minute.

>> does she like crab cakes ?

Show transcript

TODAY recipes

updated 8/18/2010 4:36:09 PM ET

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Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, owners of Summer Winter Restaurant in Burlington, Mass., and winners of the “2010 Best Chefs in the Northeast” award by the James Beard Foundation, share their delicious summer recipe:

Recipe: Maine peekytoe crab cakes (on this page)

Recipe: Maine peekytoe crab cakes

Summer Winter Restaurant

Ingredients

Crab cakes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups fine bread crumbs
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 pound Maine crab meat; if unavailable, substitute any fresh crabmeat
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup lemon juice
About 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for coating
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Remoulade sauce
2 cups mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
3 tablespoons gherkins, fine chopped
1 tablespoon sriracha
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
3 tablespoons minced shallot

Preparation

For sauce: Whisk ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

For crab cakes: Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread crumbs, salt and pepper and stir with a large spoon until the butter is fully incorporated. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Place the crabmeat in a large bowl and pick through it, removing any bits of shell. Add the lemon juice to the crabmeat and toss. Mix in the sour cream, 1/2 cup flour, and the bread crumbs. Form the crab mixture into 6 hamburger-size patties, each about 1/2 inch thick. (If the mixture seems too wet, add a little more flour.) Coat each crab cake with flour.

Warm the vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the crab cakes and cook until very brown, about 2 minutes on each side.

Place one crab cake onto each of the warm plates. Garnish with a dollop of remoulade.

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