Dungeness Crab Cake with Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

Ingredients

Crab Cake:

10 slices white bread (about 1/2 loaf)

3/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 large egg yolk

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce

7 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp celery seeds

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

5 tbsp olive oil

1 pound Dungeness crabmeat

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup seeded and chopped green bell peppers

1/4 cup seeded and chopped red bell peppers

Unsalted butter, for pan frying, about 6 tbsp

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli:

2 garlic cloves

3/4 cup fire-roasted red peppers

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp hot sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Tear up the white bread and pulse the pieces in a food processor to make fine, soft crumbs. (You should have about 6 cups crumbs). Remove the bread crumbs to a shallow pan and mix in 1/2 cup of the chopped parsley (reserving the remaining 1/4 cup for the crab cake mixture). Set aside.

In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot pepper, mustard, paprika, thyme, celery seeds, and black pepper and pulse to combine. With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise. Remove the mayonnaise from the food processor and refrigerate.

Place the crabmeat in a cheesecloth-lined sieve set over a bowl. Pull the cheesecloth tightly around the crabmeat and squeeze out as much juice as possible. Place the chopped onions and bell peppers in a sieve set over a bowl and use your hands to squeeze out as much juice as possible.

In a large bowl, combine the onions and bell peppers with the remaining 1/4 cup parsley. Add the chilled mayonnaise and crabmeat and toss lightly to combine. Add 1 cup of the bread crumbs-parsley mixture and combine. Do not overwork the mixture or the crab cakes may get gummy. Gently form 8 patties and roll the patties lightly in the remaining bread crumb-parsley mixture. Leave the crab cakes in the pan of the bread crumbs until you saute them.

Using a nonstick saute pan and butter as needed, panfry the crab cakes, in batches, until golden brown on both sides and place them on a baking sheet with wire rack as they are browned, put them in the oven until they are heated all the way through, about 8 minutes.

For the Roasted Red Peppers

Place peppers directly over a gas flame, or on a BBQ. The goal is to char the skin black on all sides. Turn carefully with tongs to achieve this. This will take up to 20 minutes.

Put peppers into a bow and immediately cover tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Set aside for 15 minutes, or until the peppers are cool enough to handle. This process allows the steam to get in between the skin and flesh of the peppers to make the peeling part easier. Remove the stems, peels, and seeds from each pepper and place the peppers in a bowl along with any juices that have collected. Discard the stems, peels, and seeds. Slice lengthwise into long strips.

For the Aioli

Finely chop the garlic.

Combine the peppers, hot sauce, and garlic in a food processor, and blend until almost smooth.

Blend the mayonnaise.

With the machine running, blend in the oil.

Season the aioli, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Want to see what else we made at Dish Cooking Studio? Check out this citrus sangria recipe.
We encourage you to visit Dish Cooking Studio for more information on their unique culinary program.

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