Almost Springtime at the RGB

The Equinox isn’t until Saturday, but with the time change and the warm weather, we’re already sportin’ our shorts and flip-flops. Even the dog is getting her zoomies on.

Britta the weimaraner getting some mid-afternoon fetch-time in.

With the warmer weather, the tarragon and chives are officially back on the block! And here I was afraid I’d lost them forever…

 Tarragon peeking through one of the flower gardens.

Chives, making an appearance in another part of the yard.

The markets are also sportin’ snow crab clusters at $3.99/lb. this week. In short, that means we’ve had three! different types of crab cakes in the past six days.

In the classic Maryland style, we used Old Bay and mustard. Using our garden Meyer lemons, cakes were then topped with a fresh aioli. To round out the meal, a nice spring salad with Meyer lemon vinaigrette.

Champagne? Why, yes; bubbles are great with crab cakes!

Cheers to a happy, sunny Spring! [K]

Note: The recipe below calls to bake the cakes, but you can also fry in a deep pan at 350˚ F for a few minutes each side. Frying will make it come out much crunchier… but will also add a lot of, ahem, calories.

 Click here to view a printable version of this recipe.

Winter Crab Cakes with Aioli over Garden Greens and Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing

~ Serves ~

4

~ Ingredients ~

• 6 cooked snow crab clusters (yield 1 lb. crab meat)
• 4 tbsp. fresh mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tsp. dry or Dijon mustard
• 3 slices of bread
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
• Handful chives
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 oz. lettuce
• Squirt of lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• Pinch of lemon zest
• Pinch of salt and pepper

~ Preparation ~

Preparation Time: 2 hours

1. Prepare a batch of homemade mayonnaise (recipe below). Some will go into the crab meat; some will go into the aioli.
2. Remove crab meat from shells; place meat into 1-qt prep bowl. (Save shells in freezer for another use, like crab bisque.)
3. Add 4 tbsp. mayonnaise, Old Bay seasoning, mustard, and one whole egg.
4. In a small prep. bowl, soak 3 slices of bread in milk; then squeeze out milk and crumble bread into crab mixture.
5. Using hands, combine all ingredients, then cover and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. If the mixture seems too wet, add a tbsp. or two of panko bread crumbs.
6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425˚ F. Lay out sheet pan and line with parchment paper.
7. Zest one lemon; set zest aside.
8. Squeeze juice of lemon; set juice aside.
9. Make lemon vinaigrette and dress lettuce: In a small glass bowl, make lemon vinaigrette by whisking olive oil into a mixture of ½ to 1 tbsp. lemon juice, a pinch of lemon zest, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss with 4 oz. lettuce. Plate 4 servings of salad.
10. Chop chives. Peel garlic cloves.
11. Make aioli: In a small food processor, combine about 1 tbsp. of the chopped chives, the peeled garlic cloves, the rest of the lemon juice and about ½ cup of mayonnaise. Blend until smooth; set aside.
12. In a cereal bowl, combine the remaining chopped chives with panko crumb mixture. Once crab mixture has chilled, take out and make 8 equal-sized disks of about ¾” in height. Coat each disk in the panko and chive mixture, then lay on baking sheet.
13. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden-brown.
14. Plate two crab cakes on top of each salad plate, drizzle with about 2 tbsp. of aioli and serve immediately.

Nutrition content per serving: 616 calories, 27g carbs, 35g protein, 41g fat, 1g fiber

Cost per serving: $3.01 – $ 3.76

Source: Rustic Garden Bistro

Mayonnaise

~

~ Makes ~

1 ½ cups

~ Ingredients ~

• 2 egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
• ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 ¼ cup vegetable oil

~ Preparation ~

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

1. Heat a 2-qt. glass bowl by running it under hot water and drying it out.

2. In a small prep. bowl, combine lemon juice, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and kosher salt.

3. In a 2-cup measuring cup, pour in vegetable oil. Add a tablespoon to the measuring cup.

4. Using a large whisk, whisk the egg yolks into the warm glass bowl for about a minute, until they’re sticky. While whisking, pour in the contents of the small prep bowl and whisk for another 30 seconds.

5. While whiski
   ng, use a tablespoon to pour vegetable oil into the egg mixture, one droplet every few seconds, until about ½ cup of the vegetable oil has been dropped in and the mixture has thickened.

6. Once the mixture has thickened, you can add in the remaining vegetable oil, one tbsp. at a time. Keep whisking to prevent curdling.

Serving size: 1 tbsp

Nutrition content per serving: 104 calories, 0g carbs, 20g protein, 12g, fat, 0g fiber

Cost per serving: $ 0.02

Source: Rustic Garden Bistro

Lunch portion – just one cake.

Lots of cake – little filler.

Do you prefer yours baked or fried?

Tagged as: Chives, Crab, Meyer lemon