Crunchy Crab Cakes

Makes 8 dinner-size crab cakes or 12 appetizer crab cakes

• 1 tbsp. butter and a touch of olive oil
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 1/2 tsp. Old Bay crab boil seasoning
• 3 Tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon minced parsley
• 1/2 cup panko crumbs
• 1 lb. lump crab meat (I use canned lump crab meat)

Topping:

• 1/2 cup panko crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. melted butter

Directions

Saute vegetables in the butter and olive oil over medium heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the Old Bay seasoning, half and half, and mustard to the vegetable mixture. Mix well. Set aside to cool.

Add the egg, parsley and bread crumbs, mixing well. Gently fold in the crab. Divide the mixture into eight or twelve equal amounts. I make eight crab cakes when I am making dinner-sized portions. Form into patties with the palms of your hands.

Stir together the bread crumbs, oil, butter, and Parmesan cheese. Pat topping onto both sides of the crabcakes and place them onto a greased cookie sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

You can freeze your crab cakes at this point. Just wrap each crab cake in plastic wrap and then place the wrapped cakes in a zipper closure plastic bag for freezing. There is no need to thaw your crab cakes before baking them.

When ready to bake, preheat your oven and bake at 425º for 10 - 13 minutes. Frozen crab cakes will take about twenty minutes to bake. Serve with sriracha mayo.