Savannah Crab Cakes by Paula Deen
Memories of the beach – so nice to think about here in the middle of February when snow is being predicted for later in the week. Several blogger friends had the pleasure of spending the weekend in the Tybee Island – Savannah area. Not only was I wishing I was there, but remembering my first trip to Tybee. The summer of 2004 we had a great vacation there but the highlight for me was attending a cooking class with Paula Deen. She had just married Michael and was still in the beginning stages of her empire.
When I saw a class offered the very week I was there, I had to go. Plus, to my delight it was about seafood. Even then it wasn’t cheap but I knew it was probably a once in a lifetime chance. It was held in the basement of The Lady & Sons and was a small, intimate group. What you saw on TV is what she was in person, along with Jamie, Michael, and Aunt Peggy. There was time for talking, autographs and pictures. About a month later, I even got a feature article in the local newspaper.
Here is my version of the Crab Cake recipe I took away from the class which I continue to make today. Several versions of this have been used at The Lady & Sons.
Hope you enjoy.
SAVANNAH CRAB CAKES
3 T butter
3 green onions, finely chopped
½ C finely chopped bell pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
4 ½ t heavy cream
¼ C mayonnaise
½ C saltine cracker crumbs (14 crackers)
1 egg
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb fresh crabmeat (if any juice – drain)
Juice of ½ lemon
Approximately ½ cup each
Parmesan cheese
Cracker crumbs
3 T butter
3 T olive oil
Melt butter in skillet – saute’ onion, garlic and green pepper until peppers are limp. Do not brown. Place in mixing bowl and cool. Add cream and mustard and mix well. Add cracker crumbs, egg, parsley, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Mix well. Gently fold in crab meat, being careful to not crush it. Form into patties.
Mix together Parmesan cheese and cracker crumbs. Gently coat each patty in this mixture. Refrigerate about 2 hours to firm up or until you are ready to use.
Fry on medium heat in the butter and olive oil about 3 minutes per side.
NOTES:
I have used Panko bread crumbs in place of cracker crumbs
If the mixture is a bit too thin to form patties, add a few more crumbs but be careful to not add too many since you want the taste of crab and not crackers.
Using a mixture of butter and olive oil gives it a bit more flavor plus the olive oil helps prevent the butter from browning and burning too easily.
These can also be made into small balls to use as appetizers.
Depending on the wetness of your patty, you might need a bit more cheese and cracker crumbs for coating. You don’t really want the coating too heavy.
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Happy Travels,
Rosemary
These sound delicious! I’ll have to try them sometime. I’m craving seafood (and warmer weather!).
I love crab cakes!! Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Oh these are really good because you taste the crab and not all the filler stuff.
Oh these look so fantastic! YUM! Perfect comfort food for this weather 🙂
I would love to have you link up at Thursday STYLE tonight. The link goes live at 8 EST at Life in Velvet. I’m working on getting some great representation from the fabulous Atlanta Area Home/DIY Bloggers FB Group at my weekly party 🙂 I want to show off to everyone how amazing our group is!
Let me look for tonight – sound like fun. I’m sending you an email.
Oooooh!!! I want these in my mouth RIGHT NOW! Pinned.
Me too – these are really good.
I need to make a trip out to Tybee Island again. I went to Savannah a couple years ago for my Birthday and we then stopped by {what we thought was} Tybee to check out the beach…. the sand was littered with trash and the water was mud brown and looked so bad we were scared to walk in it, ha. Everyone we talked to said we must have gone to the wrong part or something and we didn’t see the pier that comes up when you google it. Don’t know where our navigation took us but I don’t think it was Tybee, lol.
We always go to the area just right as you get into town. I’ve never driven that far to the pier. In fact, the last time we were there part of it was closed due to Miley Cyrus filming a movie. There’s a great place to eat, Crab Shack, on the right before you get to the beach area. Really rustic but fun.
What a neat experience! I adore Tybee Island. That’s where my hubby and I got engaged and married. We go back several times a year–I WILL own a place there one day! (In fact, we’re going next month!) Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!
When you get that place, let me know. I’m hoping to make a quick weekend down there before it gets too hot. The older I get the less I hate extreme hot and cold. I love early mornings and evening walks on the beach. Hope you try the Crab Cakes.
Wow, sounds amazing (the crab cakes too!) Thanks for sharing!
Hope you try both of these. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
Wish we could get goo crab here in Texas to make these. I just love crb cakes with fresh crab and these sound awesome!
Oh I have never used fresh crab since we can’t really get it here too. Even most crab legs have previously been frozen. There’s some that comes in a can that we use which is really good, but I’m hoping when we go to the Georgia beaches next month to bring home some fresh.
Another fantastic recipe. I would love to take a cooking class from Paula Deen. She seems to be a “hoot” as my grandmother would say. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I hope you try it. It was fun taking a class and hope she does them again. Meeting her and Michael again this weekend in Pigeon Forge was great fun and the show was good too. If there’s one in your area you should try to go. Thanks for stopping by.
another great looking recipe, thank you for sharing
What a gorgeous idea! We absolutely love crab cakes! Definitely need to try these!