Crab Cakes~

I had many aspirations for this weekend. I was going to bake and bake and bake with all the pumpkin recipes I had been collecting, but after a very fun Saturday with old friends and lots of dancing at an alumni event I was void of motivation. On Sunday after hitting the snooze button more than a dozen times ( I am being serious*) the blast of sun through my window got me up and out of bed. The Ballard Farmer's Market was a whirl of activity and my grocery store the same. I was able to pick up what I needed and also purchased a fresh Eastern Washington apple and pear from my favorite new farm in Cashmere, WA for working into this weeks menu. I don't think I am eating enough vegetables and fruit right now. I brought out of rotation a old recipe I had collected for a quick dinner utilizing my pantry. I didn't quite follow the recipe- but my version made a wonderful Sunday dinner. I made some direction changes to make it easier to form the cakes and provide the desired product.

Crab Cakes
2 Tablespoons lite mayo
1 Tablespoon mustard
1 Tablespoon lemon zest

Sea salt and Pepper to taste

Cayenne Pepper to taste

5 low-fat saltine crackers crushed
1 6 oz. can fresh premium crab
2 Tablespoons lite butter

Homemade Tartar
2 Tablespoons lite mayo
2 Tablespoons chopped dill pickle
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon chives
1 Tablespoon parsley
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine lite mayo for crab cakes with mustard, zest, and seasonings. Add crab and crushed crackers- mix lightly with fork. Line a suitable pan with plastic wrap. Spoon the crab mixture loosely into a 1/2 cup measure. Turn 1/2 cup over onto plastic wrapped pan and place mound. Repeat. Fold over plastic wrap onto 1/2 cup mounds and lightly pat to form into 3-4 inch rounds. Refrigerate covered crab cakes 1/2 hr- 2 hrs. Mix Tartar ingredients together and refrigerate.

Heat 2 Tablespoons of light butter in a skillet on medium until butter starts to brown. Add crab cakes and cook 6-8 minutes turning once. Cakes are done when heated through and golden brown.

*I made the recipe with canned crab when the original called for lump crab. Next time I will use lump crab since the canned crab did not provided the consistency I was looking for. For the Tartar used fresh chives from my porch, jarred sweet pickle relish, bottled lemon juice, and dried parsley. When I make the Tartar again I will use all fresh herbs, fresh lemon juice, and real chopped dill pickle to make the Tartar taste more authentic and fresh. The sweet chopped pickle was a quick substitution from the store to save time but made the Tartar a little too sweet instead of savory. For the frying I used Brummel and Brown Butter and found that it worked nicely. The crab cakes were too loose at 4 minutes to turn over so I let them cook a while longer before turning. I also popped them in the oven on a low broil for 5 minutes, after I cooked them in the skillet, to ensure that they were heated through. The broiling helped with browning.