Recipe - P2 Crab Cakes with Spicy Avocado Sauce

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CRAB CAKES WITH SPICY AVOCADO SAUCE

For sauce

1/2 ripe medium California avocado, pitted and peeled

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 packet Splenda

1-2 fresh jalapeno or poblano chiles (including seeds), stemmed and quartered

lengthwise

1/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk

For crab cakes

1 lb jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over and coarsely shredded

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/4 cup minced fresh chives

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet

with foil.

Make sauce:

Pulse avocado with mayonnaise, lime juice, salt, sugar, and 1 chile in a food

processor until chile is finely chopped. Add milk and purée until smooth. Add

more chile if desired, processing until smooth. Transfer sauce to a bowl and

chill, covered.

Make crab cakes:

Stir together crabmeat, mayonnaise, chives, lemon juice, mustard, pepper, and 1

tablespoon breadcrumbs in a large bowl until blended well, then chill, covered.

Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over moderate heat, then cook garlic,

stirring, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add thyme, salt, and

remaining breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 6 minutes.

Transfer crumbs to a plate to cool. Discard garlic.

Divide crabmeat mixture into 4 mounds on a sheet of wax paper. Form 1 mound into

a patty, then carefully turn patty in crumb mixture to coat top and bottom.

Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with remaining 3 mounds, then sprinkle

remaining crumbs on top of crab cakes. Bake until heated through, about 15-20

minutes. Serve crab cakes with sauce.

Makes 4 main-course servings.

~ * ~ * ~

this is a minor variation on a recipe in Gourmet, April 2004. it has a high

rating, though Epicurious.com members did complain that the crab cakes didn't

stick together well

you can add an egg to the crab mix to keep them together.

you can also sub lowfat sour cream for the mayo in the sauce recipe; i don't

recommend subbing sour cream in the crab cake.

i've removed the Splenda in the recipe and enjoyed it just as much.

i like these crab cakes best because there's no bell pepper in the recipe, but

you can certainly add 1/4 cup sauteed red bell pepper if you prefer your crab

cakes to have that kind of flavor.

oh, and as a note - go easy on the sauce!

mods: is this okay to put in files, if it's properly attributed?

~risa