Recipe: Crab Cakes with Creole Honey-Mustard Sauce

the appetizer:

Hors d'Oeuvre at Home by The Culinary Institute of America can help novice chefs cook like professionals with recipes like Blitz Puff Pastry, Cheese Sticks (Paillettes), Palmiers with Prosciutto, Crab Cakes with Creole Honey-Mustard Sauce, and Lamb Brochettes with Mint Pesto.

Crab Cakes with Creole Honey-Mustard Sauce

Makes 30 crab cakes

The Japanese-style bread crumbs called panko make an extra-crispy exterior on these cakes. Serve them with honey mustard as suggested, or with conventional tartar sauce, an equally tasty option.

1 lb lump crabmeat, picked clean
2 bacon slices,
cooked crisp and crumbled
2 green onions, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely diced celery
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
Pinch of cayenne
Mayonnaise as needed
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1-1/2 cups Japanese-style bread crumbs (panko)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Creole honey-mustard sauce

1. Combine the crabmeat, bacon, green onions, garlic, white bread crumbs, celery, Dijon mustard, dry mustard salt, cayenne, and mayonnaise in a large bowl and mix gently until blended, adding just enough mayonnaise to hole the mixture together. Blend in the lemon juice.

2. Portion the crab cakes into 30 balls, flatten slightly, and bread with the Japanese-style bread crumbs. (At this point the cakes can be wrapped and refrigerated or frozen for later use.)

3. Heat the oil to 350 degree F in a sauté pan over medium heat, Pan fry the crab cakes in oil until heated through and golden brown on each side, about 4 minutes in all. Drain briefly on paper towels. Serve immediately with the honey-mustard sauce.