I am an avid fisherman here in the south. Fresh water fish all the way!. I have plenty of Stripers, large and smallmouth bass, crappie, brim, and catfish in my freezer waiting to be fried/...uh..i mean grilled
My mother-in-law easily substitutes chunks of freshwater fish in her crab cakes. That might be a tasty option for you as well.
Classic Crab CakesBase Recipe By: Emeril Lagassi2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup small diced yellow onions
1/2 cup small diced celery
1/4 cup small diced red bell peppers
1/4 cup small diced yellow bell peppers
1 T chopped garlic
1 lb lump crab meat, cleaned and picked for cartilage
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 T finely chopped parsley
3 T Creole mustard
4 T fresh lemon juice, juice of 2 lemons
2 eggs
1/2 cup, plus 3 cups for frying vegetable oil
1/4 t white pepper
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t Tabasco sauce (or 2 shakes)
1 1/2 cups fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 t Creole seasoning
1 t water
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1T of each +/1)
In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and peppers (The Trinity, again). Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sauté for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the crab meat, green onions, grated cheese, parsley, Creole mustard, and juice of one lemon together. Mix to incorporate. Set the mixture aside. In a food processor with a metal blade, process 1 egg and remaining lemon juice for 1 minute. With the machine running, slowly add the 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. The mixture will be thick after all the oil is incorporated. Add the white pepper, Worcestershire and hot sauce, process the mixture to incorporate. Season the mayonnaise with salt and pepper.
Fold the sautéed vegetables into the crab mixture. Fold in the mayonnaise and 3/4 cup of bread crumbs into the crab mixture. Mix well. In a shallow bowl, season the flour with 1 teaspoon of the Creole seasoning. In another bowl, whisk the remaining egg with the water. Finally in one bowl, combine the remaining bread crumbs and 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning together. Portion the filling into 1/3 cup balls. Form the balls into patties, about 1-inch thick.
Pour oil into a saute pan and heat to 360 degrees about 2 minutes. Dredge the cakes in the seasoned flour. Dip the cakes in the egg wash, letting the excess drip off. Dredge the cakes in the seasoned bread crumbs, covering the cakes completely. Gently lay the cakes in the oil and fry for 4 minutes on each side.
Remove the cakes from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Season the cakes with the remaining Creole seasoning.
Makes 10 standard (restaraunt sized) cakes
Substiture fish chunks for crab meat.
Since real crabmeat can be hard to find (we all don't live on the coasts, ya know) and/or expensive...I use Immitation Crab Meat instead. It's WAY cheaper.
The refridgerator pickles, potato salad & stroganoff look great. I'm doing the crock pot stroganoff next week as the whole will be very busy.
ROX