Labor of Love - Crabcakes

John and I are going out of town this weekend to celebrate our anniversary, so tonight we decided to stay in. Naturally, I decided to create a special dinner. And what's more special than crab cakes? Okay, seeing a meteor shower on our anniversary was probably more special than crab cakes, but the crab cakes were good too!

I decided to try a new recipe, and I thought it was delicious (I roughly cut it in half). I admit I will probably stay on the lookout for an even better crab cake recipe, and of course I will keep you guys updated on my search!

Here are the ingredients you need: mayo, jumbo lump crab meat, an onion, a lime, an egg white, garlic, olive oil, white bread, and cilantro. I knew crab meat was expensive, but $33/pound is serious business! I got half a pound and made 4 crab cakes that came out very crabby tasting (in a good way).

First, you take 4 slices of lame-o white bread, place them in a stack, and cut off the crusts. And then I ate the crusts. Okay, so I gave a few to Maddie too. Don't tell John!

Cut the squares in half and throw them in the food processor.

You just pulse the bread and it quickly turns into bread crumbs. Magic! The reason you use fresh, uncooked bread crumbs is that it apparently helps absorb excess moisture and keep the cake together.

Then, dice up half an onion pretty finely. John isn't an onion fan, so I cut it up pretty tiny.

Heat oil in skillet at medium heat and throw in the diced onion and two pressed garlic cloves. Yum, I love this smell.

You cook this up for 5-7 minutes until the onion starts to caramelize.

Add the cooked onion mixture to a bowl and add 1 tablespoon mayo, and your half pound of crab meat.

Now dump in your bread crumbs.

Add one egg white. Since I was cutting the recipe in half I didn't add the whole egg white. Also add the juice of 1/4 of a lime.

Now add some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Oh and don't forget to add some diced cilantro - about 1/8 cup.

Mix it all together until thoroughly combined.

Then form it into patties. Mine were about the size of my palm. Throw these in the fridge uncovered for a bit before cooking. This will help dry out the crab cakes so they stick together when you cook them.

When you're ready to cook the crab cakes, heat a skillet with olive oil over medium heat until the olive oil is hot. Now throw in those crab cakes because you're starting to get hungry!

Flip them after about 4 minutes or so when they are browned on one side. Everyone loves a nicely browned crab cake. They are ready when the other side is browned, about 4 more minutes.

I served ours with a wedge of lime, though I don't think either of us used the lime. I was too lazy to make a nice aioli to go with the cakes, and I don't think they really needed anything.

So if you are interested in making this, here is the full Tyler Florence recipe. And please let me know if you have a better crab cake recipe I should try!