Crab Cakes are a delicious start to any meal. Enjoy them year-round with a corn maque choux and tomato brown butter sauce.

Ingredients:

Crab Cake

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
•  1 cup small diced yellow onions
• 1/2 cup small diced celery
• 1/4 cup small diced red bell peppers
• 1/4 cup small diced yellow bell peppers
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 1 lb. lump crabmeat, cleaned and picked over for shells and cartilage
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley leaves
• 3 tbsp. creole mustard
• 4 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable oil, in all
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce (recommended: tabasco)
• 1 1/2 cups fine bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp. creole seasoning
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper

Corn Maque Choux

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 cups corn (about 6 ears)
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
•  1/2 cup chopped red or green bell peppers
• 1 tbsp. minced jalapeno
• 2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Tomato Brown Butter Sauce

• 1 lb. of whole butter
• 1 large tomato
• 1 tbsp. of Dijon mustard
• 2 oz. of champagne vinegar

Preparation: Crab Cakes

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions, celery and peppers, season with salt and pepper and sauté for 5 minutes. Add garlic, then sauté for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 5 minutes. Mix together in a bowl the crabmeat, green onions, grated cheese, parsley, creole mustard and juice of 1 lemon. Set aside.

In a food processor with a metal blade, process 1 egg and remaining lemon juice for 1 minute. With the machine running, slowly add 1 cup vegetable oil. The mixture will thicken. Add the Worcester shire and hot sauce to the mixture. Season the mayonnaise with salt and pepper.

Fold the cooled sauteed vegetables into the crab mixture. Fold 1/2 cup of the mayonnaise and 3/4 cup of the bread crumbs into the crab mixture. Mix gently, but thoroughly, in a shallow bowl. Season the flour with 1 teaspoon of the creole seasoning and white pepper. In another bowl, whisk the remaining egg with the water. Combine the remaining bread crumbs and 1 teaspoon creole seasoning. Portion the filling into 1/3 cup balls, and then form the balls into 1 inch patties. Pour the remaining 2 1/2 cups of oil into a sauté pan and heat to 360° for 2 minutes.

Dredge the cakes in the seasoned flour. Dip the cakes in the egg wash, letting the excess drip off. Dredge the cakes in the seasoned bread crumbs, covering the cakes completely. Gently lay the cakes in the oil and fry for 4 minutes on each side. Remove the cakes from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Season the cakes with the remaining creole seasoning.

Preparation: Corn Maque Choux

Melt the butter in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add corn, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, essence and salt. Cook and stir until soft for 10 minutes. Add the cream and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve hot.

Preparation: Tomato Brown Butter Sauce

Start with an extremely hot pan and let the butter melt, bubble and brown without touching it for a little while. When the edges become a deep brown, swirl the pan until the brown hue creeps into all of the butter and a nutty smell develops. When the butter is a deep brown color, it’s done. Remove it from the heat. To avoid splattering, turn the heat off and add garlic. Place 1 tomato and Dijon mustard in a blender with salt and pepper and 2 ounces of champagne vinegar, and then blend until creamy. Drizzle the brown butter after it has cooled into the blender while it is blending. Place the crab cakes on the plate topped by the corn maque choux, follow with a generous drape of the tomato brown butter sauce.