THE ULTIMATE CRAB CAKES

With visions of icy roads and traffic jams, Larry and I decided to stay home for dinner on Christmas Eve which gave me a chance to try another recipe from one of my newly acquired cookbooks, Tyler's Ultimate. We both love crab cakes, but generally eat them out. This recipe proved that this is a weeknight meal, if you so choose. The crab cakes went together easily and, after a few hours in the refrigerator, were sauteed in under 10 minutes. I served them with spaghetti alio e olio, but will do them again with risotto or garlic mashed potatoes.

Tyler's recipe called for fresh, jumbo lump crabmeat. I had to use the jumbo lump in the can, but it was delicious nonetheless. I did not prepare the chile mayonnaise. We prefer our crabcake au naturel or with remoulade sauce. I used the extra virgin olive oil, but will not do so again. You really don't want anything to take away from the crab and olive oil does impart its own flavor. DO use fresh breadcrumbs; they make a huge difference, I'm sure. I would imagine commercial bread crumbs would dry out the cakes. Instead, you have big juicy lumps of crab and little else.

Serves 4 - 8

vegetable oil (the recipe calls for extra virgin olive oil; use vegetable)

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 onion, finely minced

1 lb jumbo lump crabmeat

1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (made from 3-4 slices white bread)

2 tbs mayonnaise

1 large egg white

juice of 1 lemon (his recipe called for lime; I prefer lemon)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

(I left out the 1/4 cup chopped cilantro)

Heat a 2-count of oil in a frying pan over medium heat

Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5-7 minutes until kind of carmelized

Place onion-garlic mixture in a bowl and add crabmeat, bread crumbs, mayonnaise, egg white, lemon juice and mix until well blended

Season with salt and pepper

Shape into 6 fat crab cakes

Put crab cakes on a plate, cover, and refrigerate at least until chilled

Heat a 2-count of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the crab cakes and cook about 4 minutes per side, or until they're nice and crispy. Garnish and enjoy.