Heart-Shaped Crab Cakes with Sweet Chili Remoulade

Valentine’s day is around the corner. If you want to skip the busy restaurants and overpriced meal and make a romantic dinner for your loved one at home then these crab cakes are wonderful and can be used as an appetizer or as the main course, or even as part of a salad course…just make the hearts smaller and add a few to the top of a salad.

Of course you can make these any shape you want. You can go for the traditional round cake or you can make them football shaped to serve at a Super bowl party, or into whatever your theme.

You will need:

For crab cakes:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup celery, finally chopped
• 1/4 cup shallot, finally chopped
• 1 red jalapeno or Fresno pepper, seeds removed & finely diced (optional)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worchester sauce
• 2 teaspoons seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 pound lump crab meat, well drained
• 1 cup crushed butter crackers or panko bread crumbs
• olive oil and butter for frying

For sweet chili remoulade:

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
• A couple dashes of hot sauce, or to taste
• zest and juice of half a lime
• 2 teaspoons of green parts of green onions (or chives), finally chopped

Steps:

For crab cakes:

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a small pan and sauté celery, shallot, and spicy pepper (if using) until tender.
2. In the meantime, add egg, mayo, mustard, Worchester sauce, seafood seasoning, and hot sauce to a mixing bowl and stir to combine well.
3. Add in sautéed vegetables, give it a good stir, then add in the lump crab meat and combine gently but well.
4. Lastly, add the crushed crackers or bread crumbs and combine well.
5. Shape into your preferred shape and size and lay on a small sheet pan lined with plastic wrap.
6. When all the mixture is shaped, top with another piece of plastic wrap and store in frig for two hours to firm up.
7. When ready to cook, heat a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil until sizzling then add the crab cakes to the pan.
8. Depending on size, fry for 3 to 4 minutes per side until golden brown and warmed all the way through.
9. Enjoy with sweet chili remoulade or your favorite sauce. You can also serve with heart-shaped potato stacks!

For sweet chili remoulade:

1. Add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix well.
2. Let stand in frig for an hour or two so all the flavors meld together.

Kali Orexi!