Maryland Crab Cakes with Beurre Blanc
Yields: 6 crab cakes
If you love the "crab" in Maryland style crab cakes, then this is the recipe for you: minimal breading and a light sauce makes the crab meat the star of this dish.
Ingredients
Maryland Crab Cakes
- 1 pound jumbo crab meat, fresh
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, (or parsley) chopped small, plus more for garnish
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, cut into 6 pieces
Beurre Blanc
- 1 tablespoon shallot
- 2 teaspoon heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup salted butter, (1 stick) chopped into pieces
Instructions
For the Maryland Style Crab Cakes
- Drain crab meat and place in a medium bowl. Break it up with your fingers and pick out any shells.
- Place crushed crackers and chives in the bowl with the crab meat and toss to mix.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, egg, dijon mustard, Old Bay seasoning, and worcestershire sauce. Pour sauce in bowl with the crab meat and mix together thoroughly.
- Cover bowl and chill crab mix for 3 hours. When crab cakes are almost done chilling, make the Beurre Blanc (instructions below).
- Remove bowl from the refrigerator. Using your hands, mix crab meat a final time, then scoop out and form 6 large crab cakes. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to broil on high. Make sure there's a rack placed 6-8 inches from the top.
- In a 10-inch cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe skillet), add canola oil and warm over medium heat.
- Add crab cakes to skillet and cook until the underside of the crab cakes are golden brown. This takes about 5-8 minutes, but be sure to check each crab cake every minute to be sure none are cooking too fast.
- Remove pan from heat. Add 1 piece of sliced butter on top of each crab cake, then place pan in the heated oven on the top rack.
- Broil crab cakes for 6-8 minutes or until the tops are browned to desired doneness. Keep a close eye on crab cakes so they don't burn.
- Serve crab cakes immediately on a bed of Beurre Blanc sauce (instructions below).
For the Beurre Blanc
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring white wine, white wine vinegar, and shallots to a boil until the liquid is syrupy and is reduced to about 1-2 tablespoon (roughly 5 minutes).
- Add heavy cream, salt, and white pepper to saucepan and boil for 1 additional minute.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and add butter to saucepan a few pieces at a time, whisking constantly, until all butter has been melted. Cook for an additional 1-3 minutes or until desired sauce thickness is reached.
- Pour sauce through a sieve to remove shallots.
- Pour sauce through a sieve to remove & discard shallots, then transfer finished Beurre Blanc to a serving bowl.