Maryland Memories

The one thing I really miss about living in Maryland is the crab fests. I would love to have a bushel of steamed hot crabs thrown on some newspaper and pound away. So, in order to get my Maryland fix I decided to make some authentic crab cakes. This menu was inspired by a meal I saw in July's Everyday Food magazine called Weekend Dinner Down by The Bay. While I was inspired by the meal, I used or created my own recipes for my version. I don't usually use a recipe for crab cakes but just sort of go by feel. You will have to trial and error to find the right combination for you.

Maryland Crab Cakes
1 lb. Crab meat, backfin
1/2 - 1 cup saltine cracker crumbles
2 scallions chopped fine
2 Tbsp. mayo
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
Juice from 1 lemon
1 egg

Combine all ingredients and if they don't hold together, add a few more crackers. Using an ice cream scoop make crab cakes and place on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for at least one hour to overnight. In a skillet with olive oil and butter (equal parts of each) cook each crab cake for about 3 minutes each side and transfer to a baking sheet (lined with parchment again) and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Should make 5-6 nice sized crab cakes.

Tip: I make a small mayo/old bay seasoning mix as a sauce to serve on the side. 1/2 cup mayo, 1 tsp. old bay, juice of half of a lemon. You could also serve with traditional tartar sauce.

Sweet Corn Saute
6 ears of corn, shucked
1 cup of grape tomatoes, cut in half
3 Scallions, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. Cilantro
EVOO
2 Tbsp. butter
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large skillet with olive oil, cook the onion until translucent, add the rest of the ingredients except cilantro and toss well add butter and melt. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss in cilantro. Serves 4.

Oven Roasted Garlic Asparagus
1 bunch of asparagus cleaned and cut
3 cloves of garlic, sliced fine
Olive oil
salt and pepper

Layer asparagus on a baking sheet, coat with olive oil spray, toss on the garlic, season with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.