It’s been a great year for crab in the Dominguez household.
In very few past seasons have we enjoyed the winter bounty of Dungeness to the extent of this one.
It seems there’s been a crab feed every few weeks since the beginning of January. The most recent one was last week for my mother’s birthday.
But the party shrank from 15 to 11 at the last minute. I knew we were going to have plenty left over, since I didn’t have the heart to call our local fish guy and reduce my order of live crabs.
After all, there’s always crab cakes, my favorite approach to leftover crab.
Even without the accouterments of an all-out crab feast — the crowd, wine, crunchy sourdough French bread, a big green salad and zesty Louis dressing — Dungeness crab would still be terrific.
Indeed, as I’ve already said, there’s my favorite day-after feast, crab cakes, plus crab omelettes, hot crab melts and one of my coveted party spreads, hot crab with cream cheese.
For size, Dungeness falls between its East Coast cousin, the blue crab and the West Coast Alaskan king crab.
Dungeness weighs in from 13/4 to 31/2 pounds, whereas its Alaskan buddy can come as large as 20 pounds, with a leg span of nearly 6 feet — think of the leftovers from one of those beauties. The genteel blue crab rarely grows larger than a pound.
Although in the middle size-wise, I believe Dungeness is the hands-down winner for flavor and texture. Only during its molting season, from August through October, is the Dungeness less than perfect. After shedding its shell, it absorbs large amounts of water, which makes it less tasty.
About the only downside for Dungeness crab aficionados is the unpredictable pricing from year to year. When the crab population goes down, and it does fluctuate, prices go up. This year, prices started out fairly high but seem to have stabilized at a relatively moderate rate.
I adapted a recipe that originated with James Beards cooking pal Marion Cunningham.
I added a bit of green onion to her mix, and a couple of egg yolks, and switched the saltines for oyster cracker crumbs, which have even greater flavor. Heavenly!
Dungeness crab cakes
1cup mayonnaise
6green onions, finely minced (use all the white and pale green portions)
2egg yolks
1heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
3/4teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (optional if you want a slightly spicier crab cake)
2cups oyster cracker crumbs (see note)
2-1/2cups (about 3/4 pound) fresh Dungeness crabmeat
About 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Lemon wedges
Zesty-buttery cocktail sauce (recipe follows)
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise with the green onions, egg yolks and mustard. Add the Old Bay seasoning if you are using it. Stir in 1 cup of the oyster cracker crumbs and set the rest aside. Gently mix the crabmeat into the mayonnaise mixture.
Put a large piece of waxed paper on the counter and spread the remaining 1 cup of cracker crumbs on it.
Divide the crab mixture into eight equal portions and pat each into a ball, laying each ball down on the bed of cracker crumbs. Gently flatten each ball into a round that measures about 3 inches in diameter and is about 1/2-inch thick. Lightly coat the top of each crab cake with some of the crumbs.
Heat a large skillet or electric griddle to medium heat. When thoroughly heated, film the bottom of the cooking surface with the oil. Place the cakes in the skillet and fry over medium heat, turning once, until golden on each side.
Serve hot with lemon wedges and the zesty-buttery cocktail sauce.
Serves four as a main course or eight as an appetizer.
Note on oyster cracker crumbs: To obtain 2 cups of cracker crumbs, start with about 3 cups of oyster crackers. In two batches, whirl them in either a blender or food processor until the crackers are mostly small crumbs, with a few little chunks remaining (the chunks can be as large as 1/8-inch in diameter).
Zesty buttery cocktail sauce
1-1/2cups cocktail sauce
1/4cup butter
Combine a good quality cocktail sauce with butter in a small pan or in a microwavable container.
Heat over a burner or in microwave until the sauce is heated and the butter melted.
Whisk together to blend and then scrape into a serving bowl.
Dungeness crab in lemon herb sauce
1pound fresh Dungeness crab meat
1/2cup finely minced celery
1/4cup finely minced shallots
About 3/4 cup good-quality mayonnaise
1tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1tablespoon lemon juice
1/2teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2teaspoon minced fresh tarragon (or a scant 1/4 teaspoon dried
8slices sourdough French bread (cut 1/2-inch thick)
About 4 tablespoons softened butter
In a large mixing bowl, combine the crab with the celery and shallots. Toss well to blend the ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise with the mustard, lemon juice, lemon peel and tarragon. Add a bit of salt if desired. Gently fold the mayonnaise mixture into the crab mixture.
Butter each slice of bread on one side and place on a baking sheet, buttered side up. Broil until golden; remove from oven. Spread the toasted side of each slice with a portion of the crab mixture, then return to oven and broil just until tops are golden.
Makes eight open-faced sandwiches.
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. E-mail to janrd@proaxis.com.
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