Crab Cakes

I have been wanting to make crab cakes for awhile, but since crab meat is SO expensive and I hear a lot of people say the recipes are always hit or miss, I didn't want to try until someone recommended a recipe - so I got this recipe from my brother-in-law's brother.....He gave me a few tips, and I tweaked the recipe slightly on my own, it ended up really good, but I made mine really big (the whole recipe made 6 crab cakes...) so they took a little longer than I expected to cook, so you can make yours as large as you like or depending on how many people are eating with you. Jeremy ate 2 crab cakes and I ate 1 and maybe 2 bites of a second, they were very filling. So if you like crab cakes - try these! (I think if i make them again I might add some red peppers or onion?!)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lump crabmeat
• 1-2 cups bread crumbs (I ended up using 1.5 cups, but you just have to eye it)
• 2 cups mayonaise (I used Vegenaise - mayo with no eggs and NO cholesterol)
• 2 tbsp. dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp. horseradish (I used very hot horseradish - the less creamy version)
• 1 egg
• Juice of 1 lemon

Steps:

• Check the crabmeat for shells (mine had none - I used Chicken of the Sea)

• Place crab meat in bowl, add bread crumbs until evenly distributed with crab (I started with 1 cup and ended up adding an additional 1/2 cup once I started adding the sauce)

• In a 2nd bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients until well incorporated

• Slowly mix the sauce into the bowl with the crab meat, add until the mixture is moist but NOT soupy (this is where I decided to use some more bread crumbs in order to use the entire sauce mixture - but you don't necessarily have to use all of the sauce - just eyeball it to the consistency of your liking)

• Preheat oven to 375
• Cover a baking sheet with foil, lightly spray with cooking oil.
• Form the crab mixture into patties to your liking (the original recipe stated to put them in 4-6oz patties - I have NO idea how to gauge that - I made mine pretty big since it was our meal, but if you wanted to make like an "appetizer" version, you could make lots of small cakes)
• Place cakes on baking sheet and put in the oven

• The original recipe said to cook for 10-15 min - but b/c of the size of mine it took 25 min until I was happy with the color and consistency. You can also put them under the broiler for a minute to brown the tops....

• I served mine with some white shoepeg corn on the cob and an arugula salad.

• It was yummy! BUT very filling!!

My Mom's Meat Loaf

My mom made her own rendition of Paula Deen's "Basic Meat Loaf," It was delicious, so I wanted to make it. It has a little spice to it.....very good. Definitely good if you are not a HUGE meat loaf fan....I have never really liked it until my mom made it this way. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1.25 tbsp salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped vidalia onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 10oz can of rotel w/ chili's (this is the difference between paula deen's and my moms recipes)
• 1/2 cup quaker oats (quick cooking oats)

Sauce for Topping:

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. mustard

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• In a large bowl, mix beef, salt, pepper, onion, pepper, beaten egg, Rotel, and oats

• Mix all ingredients well and pour into lightly greased loaf pan

• Mix topping ingredients together, and spread on top of loaf

• Put loaf pan in oven and cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 min.
• Let cool for a minute, slice and serve.

• I served mine with a side salad and steamed green beans.

Enjoy!