Crab cakes with a sweet curry pepper sauce

I promised you a recipe for crab cakes with a sweet curry pepper sauce, so you may make one more indulgently delicious dish before the new year.  


These crab cakes are truly special; I've made them twice this week.  First, on Christmas Day apres ski, we made these without even bothering to change out of our ski clothes.  We devoured the crab cakes as they came off the frying pan, sipped on flutes of champagne,  and congratulated ourselves for surviving the holidays intact. 

Casey, Chris and me cooking Christmas dinner in our ski pants.

The crab cakes  were delicious on Christmas Day, but I needed to make them again.  Being not perfectly happy with the texture, and wanting to spice them up with a bit more jalapeno, off I went to town in search of more crab.

Crab cakes with a Sweet Curry Pepper Sauce

(If you are foraging in town for good crabmeat, by the way, it pays to shop around.  The same can of Phillips lump crabmeat at the gourmet shop was $12 more than at my usual grocery store.)  

My second time around, I was lucky to find not just canned crab, but crab claw meat that was fresh from North Carolina.  The claw is tastier than the rest, and the price of fresh was less than canned. 

This recipe comes from Charlie Trotter, the famous chef from Chicago.  Charlie and I go way back; for 8 years I would walk past his restaurant on a weekly basis just to read the menu.  

I could never afford to eat there, but I loved to dream about dining at his thoroughly modern, minimalistic, Asian-inspired American restaurant.  

Charlie Trotter is a famous chef with a restaurant in Chicago by the same name.

Years after I had moved away from Chicago, I was invited to dinner at Charlie Trotter's.  I was nervous; would it live up to all my years of anticipation?  I wondered what it was like to dine where perfume was discouraged, and even flowers were not allowed, in case the fragrances overpowered the exquisitely executed dishes.

Ironically, I don't remember anything I ate that night.  I do remember being invited on a "kitchen tour", and nervously witnessed Charlie Trotter berating his staff with the vehemance of a surgical attending yelling at his interns for not ordering enough blood for a bleeding patient. 

I was no longer smitten with Charlie Trotter after finally dining at his restaurant.  I never wanted to buy any of his cookbooks, which seemed esoteric and fussy to me.  When I spotted Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home, I bought it for a friend who had also longed to dine there.  After borrowing page after page of recipes from her book, I had to get my own copy.

This recipe works well with either lump or claw crabmeat. I found claw to be more flavorful.

Red bell pepper, jalapeno, chives, and lime juice spice up the crab meat.

The crab cakes are a great example of Charlie's work:  simple, clean, spicy flavors that require impeccably fresh ingredients. 

So this New Years', hunt down the best crabmeat you can find.  Find the crispest red bell pepper, and the most pristine jalapeno.  Make your own bread crumbs or ask your favorite bakery for a bag.  Gently toss the vegetables with the crab.  Form smallish cakes and quickly saute in a pan with hot oil.  Serve the crab cakes hot from the pan, with a dollop of red pepper curry sauce, and savor the beauty of a simple dish done well. 

Cut off the crust of stale bread, and whiz it in a food processor until fine. Charlie says to then pass the bread crumbs through a sieve, but I just pick out the bigger pieces.

Years after my first and only dinner at Charlie Trotter's, I was invited back by friends, Chicago "locals" who knew Charlie.  I was still afraid of him, but my friends mentioned to Charlie that we were visiting from Jackson Hole.

Smiling like a young boy, Charlie trotted back to his office, and returned with a picture of himself and his son skiing at Jackson Hole the previous winter.  He told us stories about the powder storm the day they arrived, the brilliant sunlight and cold weather that followed, the fabulous secret spots in Casper bowl that he skied with his son, and the wonderful food they were served apres ski.

Skiing Jackson Hole will make even the most hardened chef giggle like a little kid.  

Can you spot the ermine dashing across the backyard in the snow? For you non-locals, an ermine is a snowy white weasel type animal with a black tip on his tail. You don't see one every day.

It is a beautiful morning in our neighborhood today. Happy New Year everyone!

Crab Cakes with a Sweet Curry Pepper Sauce

This makes 18 small crab cakes, enough for 6 as an appetizer, or 4 for dinner with a crisp green salad.  Be sure that your curry powder is fresh; I like the Madras Curry Powder blend that comes in the silver tin.  Jackson Whole Grocer has roasted red peppers in their deli section, perfect for this recipe.

You'll need a food processor or an immersion blender to make the sauce. 

Sweet Curry Pepper Sauce

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 roasted red bell pepper
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. sweet curry powder
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crab Cakes

• 3/4 cup bread crumbs, divided (1/4 cup goes into the crab, the rest is for dredging)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parlsey
• 12 oz. crabmeat, lump or claw
• 3 Tbsp. diced red bell pepper
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
• 2 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil

1. To make the sauce, puree the mayonnaise, roasted red bell pepper, garlic and curry powder in a food processor until smooth.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. To prepare the crab cakes, combine the bread crumbs and parsley in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Place the crab in a medium bowl.  Fold in the red bell pepper, jalapeno, chives, and lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Fold in 1/4 cup of the bread crumb mixture, and 5 Tbsp. of the sauce. 

4.  Divide the crab mixture into 18 equal portions and form small patties.  Dredge the crab cakes in the rest of the bread crumb mixture.
5.  Cook the crab cakes in the canola oil in a hot saute pan for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and crispy.
6.  Top each crab cake with a dollop of the sweet curry pepper sauce, and serve warm.

Crab cakes that are as delicious as they are pretty.