Recipe: Mark Bittman's Very Crabby Crab Cakes

MARK BITTMAN'S VERY CRABBY CRAB CAKES

1 pound fresh lump crabmeat drained and picked clean of shell
1 large egg
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
1/2 cup minced scallions, green and white parts
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs, as needed
About 1 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
1 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
2 tablespoons peanut, olive, or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 lemon wedges

In a large bowl, mix together the crabmeat, egg, bell pepper, scallions, mayonnaise, and mustard. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and stir in the bread crumbs. If you have time, cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill crab cake mixture for 30 minutes or more.

When you are ready to cook the crab cakes, put flour in a shallow container and season it to taste with salt, pepper, and curry powder, if using.

Remove crab mixture from the refrigerator and shape it into 8 cakes. The crab cakes will be soft. If you have trouble forming cakes, add a little more bread crumbs.

In each of 2 large nonstick skillets, heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat until butter foam subsides.

Dredge cakes in flour and cook 4 cakes in each pan, lowering heat to medium and gently turning once with a spatula, until golden brown on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side. The internal temperature of a crab cake should read 155 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

Transfer crab cakes to plates, serving 2 per person, and accompany with lemon wedges.

Makes 8 large crab cakes
Source: I Love Crab Cakes! by Tom Douglas and Shelley Lance