This recipe was from the cooking class I attended a couple of weeks ago at our local cookware store.  I didn’t get a chance to make it at home until today when we had guests visiting us from Lake Tahoe.  We had lunch at our balcony and I served this as our main course. The pureed bay scallops acts as binding agent so you didn’t need eggs nor breadcrumbs. You can really taste the crab and shrimp! I served it with a roasted pepper coulis that has just enough spicing to complement the crab cakes. Everybody loved it!

CRAB CAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 rib celery, diced small
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 lb lump crab meat (I used claw)
• 1/2 pound raw shrimp, chopped coarsely
• 1 cup bay scallops, pureed
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup cornmeal or panko breadcrumbs
• vegetable oil for sauteeing

Directions:

1. In a saute pan over medium heat, saute celery, onion and red pepper until tender. Add garlic, salt and cayenne pepper for 1 more minute. Remove from pan to cool.
2. In a bowl, combine crabmeat, shrimp, bay scallops, sauteed vegetables and mayonnaise.
3. Form into 16 patties and dredge in cornmeal or panko breadcrumbs to coat.
4. In a frying pan, heat oil over medium heat and sautee crab cakes for about 2 – 3 minutes each side until golden brown.  Serve with roasted pepper coulis and garnish with lemon wedges.

ROASTED PEPPER COULIS

Ingredients:

• 4 red bell peppers, roasted with skin removed and thickly sliced
• 2 tbs unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large shallot, diced small
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• water to thin the mixture
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a pan, melt butter and sautee shallots over medium heat until tender. Place peppers, shallots, lemon juice and water in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.  Just before serving, warm the coulis and adjust seasoning.

Notes: You can substitute salmon for the crabmeat and shrimp.  If you do, do not add mayonnaise or the mixture will be too wet. Another alternative is to just use shrimp or with scallops.

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