When life gives you jumbo lump crab meat….

I’d like to say that I did great research to find the most incredible Crab Cake recipe or that I make Crab Cakes on a regular basis and this is my original recipe.  But instead I found this wonderful recipe right under my nose.

I picked up the can of Old Bay seasoning to check the sodium content and low and behold I found a crab cake recipe.  I figured the good folks at Old Bay knew a thing or two about Crab Cakes.  Why reinvent the wheel.

Having said that, I was determined not to go to the grocery store, but instead work with ingredients on hand.  We subbed some crushed Ritz crackers for fresh bread crumbs and chives for parsley.  These Crab Cakes were delicious.  Mostly crab, just enough binder and crumbs to hold them together, wonderful buttery edges….

And they were beautiful too.

I served them with a simple remoulade sauce and we enjoyed them for lunch.  I think I’ll add these to my holiday hors d’oeuvres spread, but make them silver dollar sized.

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Crab Cakes {with Remoulade Sauce}

Course Appetizer

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Old Bay

Ingredients

For crab cakes…

• 1 lb. lump crab meat
• 12 Ritz crackers or two slices of bread, crusts removed
• 2 Tbl. mayonnaise
• 2 Tbl. fresh chives or parsley minced
• 2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. dry yellow mustard
• 1 egg
• butter for frying

For remoulade sauce…

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup chili sauce or ketchup
• 2 Tbl. prepared horseradish
• 1 tsp. red wine vinegar

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and gently combine. Form into patties and cook over medium heat in a buttered skillet until nicely browned.
• Combine all remoulade sauce ingredients and chill until ready to serve.

The post Crab Cakes {with Remoulade Sauce} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Baked Stuffed Shrimp.

We called them an appetizer and only made five.  Wished we had more.  They were fabulous.  Extraordinarily divine.

On a whim I bought a bag of macadamia nuts and a bag of pistachios then promptly hid them when I got home.  Seems my hiding spot has been uncovered and someone favors pistachios.  That created a change of plans for my Blueberry, Basil & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad “with Pistachios,” which became “with Macadamia Nuts.”  It was delicious.  Wouldn’t change a thing.

Now that the macadamia nuts were open I felt the need to use them…..quickly.

That’s how they found their way into our Baked Stuffed Shrimp and that’s what made these extraordinarily divine.  In the words of Paul Harvey, “and now you know the rest of the story.”

I bought five gorgeous jumbo shrimp.  Once peeled (leaving tails attached) I used a small pairing knife to cut a channel along the back of each shrimp.  This allowed me to remove the ‘vein’ and also allowed me to flatten them out a bit so they would sit as shown above.

Once the stuffing was prepared, I let it to cool slightly then used my hands to form it into balls which I placed on each shrimp, allowing the tails to drape over (as shown above).  At this point the shrimp can be chilled and reserved until ready to bake or up to 8 hours.  Right before baking, melt a tablespoon of butter and drizzle a little over each mound of stuffing.

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Baked Stuffed Shrimp

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 5 raw jumbo shrimp peeled & deveined
• 2 Tbl. butter
• 1 small shallot minced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 scallion thinly sliced
• 3 Tbl. fresh parsley minced
• 1 handful fresh spinach leaves
• 10 Ritz crackers crumbled
• 3 Tbl. macadamia nuts chopped
• pinch cayenne
• black pepper to taste
• 1 Tbl. melted butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a small casserole dish. Reserve.
• Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails attached. Using a small pairing knife slice almost through the back of each shrimp. This allows you to flatten them to make room for the stuffing. Reserve.
• Melt 2 Tbl. butter in a medium skillet. Saute shallot until tender, then add in garlic, scallion, and parsley and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Toss in spinach leaves. Cover and remove from heat, allowing to spinach to wilt. Mix in crumbled crackers and macadamia nuts. Allow stuffing to cool before use.
• Using hands, form 1/5th mixture into a ball and press onto the back of the shrimp as shown in photo. Place into buttered casserole dish. Continue with all five shrimp. Shrimp can now be chilled until ready to bake or up to 8 hours. Just before baking melt 1 Tbl. butter and drizzle over each stuffing mound.
• Bake for 20 minutes.

Notes

This recipe could easily be doubled or quadrupled. The stuffing can be changed up by adding lovely lump crabmeat.

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