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Potato chips are the secret to these amazing crab cakes. Instead of having to bread and pan-fry them to get that satisfying crispness, I stir in a bag of crushed potato chips before putting them in the broiler. As weird as it sounds, they give the dish just the right texture. -- Kate Merker, Associate Food Editor, Real Simple
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Like shrimp cocktail and mini quiches, crab cakes evoke the high life of country clubs and wedding receptions. But you don't need to take a trip down the aisle to enjoy this Chesapeake Bay original. This recipe dispenses with the lengthy process of beating the eggs and breading the cakes. Instead, tartar sauce (already conveniently spiked with bits of pickle and onion) binds the seafood together in patties. Crushed potato chips stand in for homemade bread crumbs and provide just the right amount of texture and salt. But the biggest improvement is the elimination of frying and the accompanying oil. These cakes are topped with only small pats of butter before being whisked into the broiler. Two minutes later, you have 6 sizzling golden brown disks, leaving you no excuse to be crabby.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups potato chips
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked through to remove shells
1/3 cup tartar sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter, thinly sliced into 6 pieces
1 lemon, cut into wedges
# # # #
Like shrimp cocktail and mini quiches, crab cakes evoke the high life of country clubs and wedding receptions. But you don't need to take a trip down the aisle to enjoy this Chesapeake Bay original. This recipe dispenses with the lengthy process of beating the eggs and breading the cakes. Instead, tartar sauce (already conveniently spiked with bits of pickle and onion) binds the seafood together in patties. Crushed potato chips stand in for homemade bread crumbs and provide just the right amount of texture and salt. But the biggest improvement is the elimination of frying and the accompanying oil. These cakes are topped with only small pats of butter before being whisked into the broiler. Two minutes later, you have 6 sizzling golden brown disks, leaving you no excuse to be crabby.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups potato chips
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked through to remove shells
1/3 cup tartar sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter, thinly sliced into 6 pieces
1 lemon, cut into wedges
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Signing UpStep 1Crush
Heat the broiler. In a medium bowl, finely crush the potato chips.
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Alterations made for extra flavor:
Salt & Vinegar potato chips
~2t spicy paprika
1 clove grated garlic (or garlic salt)
We made smaller cakes, getting about 16 from these ingredients, which meant they had a greater surface area to volume ratio- more tasty broiled tops!
'Applying the Scientific Method
Since we're trying to eat healthier, we ran a comparison of toppings. One row got butter on top, one olive oil, one grapeseed oil, and one canola oil. Our three taste testers didn't find much difference between the oils- the degree of browning in the broiler was a much more relevant metric for taste. Given that, we're going to skip the butter and go for spreading a 1/4t oil over each crab cake!
Spray canola oil would also be a good "Fake It" solution.