So I have had this idea for a new
recipe rolling around in my head for a while now and I have been picking away
at how to pull it off. Ingredients have been added and subtracted more than a
few times and I have finally settled on how to tackle making a really good
seafood cake. It is like a crab cake just with more stuff in it. The want to
take on this recipe came out of a brunch that my buddy Toby and I had months
ago at a Caribbean joint in our town called The Reef. I ordered a Crab Cake
Eggs Benedict and it was fantastic. I have been threatening my friends with
trying to come up with a post for a seafood cake, I even made some for a get
together but they were not what I wanted them to be. I think that I have found
the magic because these bad boys are pretty kick ass.
As I have stated before it is great
to live where I do. I am talking bounty. We can get our hands on some of the
freshest ingredients including fantastic seafood. I would be remiss in my
cooking if I did not take full advantage of this. I have to give a huge thank
you, in this post, to a friend of my Grandfather’s. A gentleman and a hell of a
guy named Eldon. Eldon joined us for a Thanksgiving meal and he and I chatted
about, among other things, the fact that his son had a fishing boat and that
they would go out and catch their limit which included fresh shrimp, salmon,
and all sorts of tasty other things. I joked with him that if his freezer was
getting too full that I would be happy to take some off his hands. It was an
offhand comment and I thought nothing more about it. A few days later I
returned home to find a bag hanging on my door knob. Inside there was a whole
host of treats from the sea and a note from Eldon saying simply Thanks for the
great Thanksgiving dinner. Like I said he is a gentleman and a hell of a guy.
So putting some of his gifts to use and adding a few from my local fish market
I give to you Johnny’s Seafood Cakes.
Seafood
Cakes to the tune of Under the Hurricane by Blitzen Trapper
1 onion
diced small
100g crab
meat, fresh is best
150g peeled
shrimp chopped depending on their size
1 Basa
fillet cut into small cubes
100g salmon
cut into small cubes, I used some home smoked salmon to add a little bit of
extra flavour but you can definitely use some good fresh stuff
1 cup bread
crumbs
¼ cup
mayonnaise
¼ cup sour
cream
1 egg yolk
1 ½ tbsp
fresh chopped dill
Zest of 1
lemon
Splash of
hot sauce, Franks Red Hot, Tabasco, or whatever brand you favour
Olive oil
Salt and
pepper
-Sweat the
onions in a small sauté pan over medium heat until they turn translucent and
then remove from the heat.
-In a large
mixing bowl mix together all of your seafood and half your bread crumbs. Add in
your mayo, sour cream, egg yolk and mix it up. If the mixture is too loose add
some more bread crumbs. You should be able to form the mixture into a patty
that holds together on its own. Add in your onions, salt and pepper, dill,
lemon zest and hot sauce and mix again.
-Form the
mixture into patties about the size of the palm of your hand and dredge in the
remaining breadcrumbs. Set aside.
-Pre-heat
your oven to 375 degrees. Heat your oil in a large skillet over medium high
heat. Gently place your cakes in the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes on one side,
flip, and fry for another minute until both sides are golden brown.
-Remove
from the pan and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Fire in the
oven and bake for about 7 minutes or so to finish cooking them all the way
through.
-Serve with
a simple salad of tomatoes or whatever you normally eat with crab cakes. You
are done. Killer.
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