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Most of you know that I came from a big family ~ 7 kids! No, we are not Catholic. Yes, we had the same parents. (Those are usually the two questions people ask when they hear "7 kids?".) Most of you also know that my mom was sick for years. I am the second oldest, so I did a lot of the care-taking of the younger kids. I learned to cook when I was 10. I remember the first thing I cooked with my dad was Tacos. I loved cooking. Then, there was the baking. I made all the desserts and the b-day cakes for everyone's b-day, including mine. And I loved it! Another thing I remember is my grandmother making the biggest dessert spreads ever at the holidays. She made sure that every person there (we are talking, like, 30+ people) had their favorite dessert. I remember visiting her when I was 20. We cooked & baked all week. I never felt as close to her until then. We had this bond now - baking! I learned so much from her. I think it fueled my love of baking ~ and cooking! Now, at the Holidays, I make sure to prepare everyone's favorite dessert, no matter how many attend. It just wouldn't be the Holiday's if you didn't have your favorite pie, cake, cookie or candies!!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Spicy Crab Cake Bites

Party Size!! (Though this recipes makes only 12! I cut it by three-fourths since I only had 1/4 pound of crab meat.) Very yummy...  Next time, I may try to pan-fry some just for fun, although, these turned out super crispy, believe it or not...  so this is the healthier version of the two (baked vs. pan-fried) but I'm always looking for variations!! For the baked version, you need a mini-muffin tin (12 compartments).




Spicy Crispy Crab Cake Bite!
Ingredients:
  • 2 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
  • 3 tbls finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided (1 tbls, 2 tbls)
  • 1 egg (you will NOT use the whole thing... directions below)
  • 1 tbls sour cream
  • 1/2 tsp finely grated carrot (my addition)
  • 1/4 tsp finely grated lemon peel
  • 1/8 tsp coarse salt
  • pinch of red pepper
  • 1/4 pound of fresh lump crabmeat (drained, picked clean of shell, lightly squeezed if wet)
  • 1/4 cup panko
  • 1 tbls butter, melted (plus more to coat muffin tins)


Spicy Crab Cake Bite w/Bearnaise Sauce

Directions:
  1. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in medium bowl until smooth.
  2. Add 1 tbls of Parmesan and 2 tbls egg. Beat to blend. (I whipped the egg slightly, then used a tablespoon to scoop out about 2 tablespoons of the mixture, then used the rest for an "egg wash" for a completely different recipe. Don't stress about having a perfect measurement - you just need about 1/4 of the egg.)
  3. Beat in sour cream, lemon peel, carrots, salt and red pepper.
  4. Fold in crab meat (mix with plastic spatula).
  5. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat oven to 350*.
  7. Use a paper towel with softened butter to coat the muffin tin cups.
  8. Combine panko & 2 tbls Parmesan. Sprinkle a touch more red pepper in and mix well.
  9. Drizzle the melted butter over the crumb mixture and blend well with a fork until evenly moistened.
  10. Press about 1 tbls of crumb mixture into bottom of each muffin cup.
  11. Spoon about 1 tbls of crab mixture into each cup. 
  12. Sprinkle teaspoon of crumb mixture over the top of each crab "cup".
  13. Bake crab cakes until golden on top and set, about 30 minutes.
  14. Cool for 5 minutes in pans. Run knife around each cake and gently lift out of pan. (Can be made two hours ahead. Arrange on baking sheet; let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 350* oven for 6 to 8 minutes.)
Step 4
Step 8

Step 9

Step 9 & 10
Step 12
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