Oven Baked Crab Cakes with Mango Salsa

I recently went to an engagement party and it was potluck style. Sooo, naturally I had to come some I hadn't made before as well as something eye catching.
I decided to make crab cakes. I had NO idea how hard these suckers were to make. The end result was great but my gosh. I spent ALL dang day on them and with lots of hang ups along the way. And of course I had to make ALOT of them for the party. It really, honestly ended up taking me like 3 1/2 hours, while multi-tasking everything else I was doing that day, to finish.

As if I hadn't torture myself enough, I decided to top my cakes with fresh Mango Salsa. I am not a huge fan of tarter sauce so I made a better topping. (In my opinion) This was an easy recipe and sooo well paired with the flavors of the crab cakes. It very nicely cut the saltiness with the sweetness of the Mango. :)

I found this recipe online and decided to go with it.  Found at www.marthastewart.com

This irresistible recipe for crab cakes comes from actor Robert Duvall.

Ingredients

Makes 5 crab cakes

• 1 pound jumbo lump crab meat, picked through
• 2 heaping tablespoons prepared mayonnaise
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 heaping teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 small onion, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
• 17 saltine crackers, finely crushed
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• Tartar Sauce
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together crab meat, mayonnaise, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, onion, and mustard. Gently stir in crackers.
2. Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop crab mixture into 8 portions onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press each scoop into a patty about 3/4 inch thick.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add crab cakes and cook, turning once, until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Serve immediately with tartar sauce and lemon wedges.

OK OK OK. I have to say that I had the damndest time frying my crab cakes. They would not hold their form once they hit the oil. I wasted about 5 cakes before I said F this. I looked up, online of course, how to baked instead of fry them. I BAKED them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and flipping them over once. This saved me!! It worked out so much better and they looked prettier too.



my crab mixture





my oven baked cakes, freshly taken out of the oven

MANGO SALSA, http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/mango-salsa/Detail.aspx

Ingredients"

• 1 mango - peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix mango, red bell pepper, green onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, and lemon juice. Cover, and allow to sit at least 30 minutes before serving.

It turned out really really well, and of course I had to double the recipe to cover all my crab cakes. I ended up serving them with a dallop of salsa on top. It was colorful, tasty, and definately an adventure in cooking.

What do you think??? Questions? Comments???