Salt & Vinegar Chip Crab Cakes

I can’t believe that I almost missed this month of the Improv Cooking Challenge as I just have not been able to get my act together lately;  I just seem unable to sit down at the computer and actually blog.  Life has been busy and come night time, I just haven’t been in the mood to open up my laptop.  Not only have I been neglectful on this blog, but also on our family blog, Moments with Maisie.  I mean seriously, it took me a month and a half to post the pictures from our recent transatlantic cruise and time in Barcelona.  My posting was so slow that friends and family called and emailed to see if we were okay because it took so long to post!  Well today I’m making up for it… a bit.  A catch-up post on Moments with Maisie and finally, a new recipe here. 

This month for the Improv Cooking Challenge our hostess Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker challenged the participating bloggers to make any recipe of their choosing using the specified ingredients of fish & chips!  She actually opened the scope of the challenge quite a bit as items like Swedish fish and chocolate chips could be counted as valid challenge fish and chip ingredients.  I thought about going the sweet route but in the end decided to go savory, a bit more traditional fish & chips…but with a twist. 

Now if I made traditional English fish & chips, well Eammon would be all over that one considering that he’s from London and next to Chicken Tikka Masala, it’s his fave!  I enjoy a good fish & chips dinner once in (rare) while but Maisie with her allergies, well it’s not something that she ever eats because I don’t deep fry and when we’re out, it’s not Maisie “safe”.  I thought about topping a nice piece of fish with some potato chips but as I did something similar for the July challenge with my Fritos Crusted Pollock, I needed something a bit different. 

I was looking in the freezer and saw that I had crabmeat and Maisie’s been on a salt & vinegar potato chip kick lately, and it hit me… crab cakes made with salt & vinegar chips.  I knew that Maisie would love them as would Eammon, I mean fish, potato and vinegar…well yum!

And well YUM these were, and easy too!  They are Maisie “safe” as they don’t contain wheat, egg or dairy like traditional crab cakes but instead use a combination of chia seed and flax seed as the binders.  The crab cakes were simple and the flavor of the crab was the star with hints of the potato chips.  I served the crab cakes simply with fresh from the garden peppers and tomatoes and an extra serving of salt & vinegar chips.  A delicious and healthy fish & chips meal which was a huge hit with all of us in the Cook Lisa Cook home.

Salt & Vinegar Chip Crab Cakes

• 1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
• 3/4 cup crushed salt & vinegar potato chips
• 3 green onions, green and white parts finely chopped
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 TBS. chia seed 
• 3 TBS. golden flax seed 
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard 
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 
• corn starch, for dusting
• salt & pepper, to taste
• peanut oil or oil of your choice

In a large bowl mix together all ingredients except for the corn starch, salt & pepper (to taste) and peanut oil.  In a smaller bowl mix together the corn starch and season with the salt and pepper.   Using a large cookie scoop, portion out the crab mixture and shape into patties (I got 15 patties).  Dust each of the patties on all sides with the corn starch mixture. 

Over medium-high heat, heat a large cast iron skillet and add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  When the oil is hot, carefully place the crab cakes, in batches, into the pan and fry until browned and then carefully flip the crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown.  Serve hot, plain, with some malt vinegar or sauce of your choice.

Enjoy!

My previous Improv Cooking Challenge entries:

May 2013  Cinnamon & Sugar:  Cinnamon Bun Cookie Bars  
April 2013  Bacon & Eggs:  Mini Bacon & Swiss Quiche Cups 
March 2013  Carrots & Peas:  Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup 
February 2013  Hearts & Flours:  Three Ingredient Fudgy Nutella Brownie Bites
January 2013  Bananas & Nutmeg:  Baked Bananas 
December 2012  Chocolate & Marshmallows:  White Chocolate Marshmallow Cranberry Cashew Bark    
November 2012  Sweet Potatoes & honey: Sweet Potato Glass Noodles with Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp 
October 2012  Oatmeal & Raisins:  S’mores Granola Bars   
September 2012  Zucchini & Brown Sugar:  Zucchini with Onion & Brown Sugar 
August 2012  Tomatoes & Peppers:  French Fries Hash Browns 
July 2012  Corn & Butter:  Fritos Crusted Pollock 
June 2012  Cherries & Almonds:  Dried Cherry Almond Tart 
May 2012  Strawberries & Cream:  Strawberry Soup 
April 2012  Peanut butter & Jelly:  Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars 
March 2012  Potato & Cheese:  Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole 
February 2012  Ginger & Carrots:  Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing 
January 2012 Lemon & Sour Cream:  Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart 
December 2011 Eggnog & Cranberries:  Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter 
November 2011 Pumpkin & Cream Cheese:  Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake
October 2011 Caramel & Apples:  Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Broiled Sushi

I love being a member of The Secret Recipe Club and each month I’m excited to receive my Secret Recipe Club assignment to see who I’ve been assigned.  Just as in months past, as soon as I received the email from our Group ‘A’ hostess Jane, which contained all the information for my assigned blog, I was off stalking it.  This month I was assigned Lisa’s Sweet as Sugar Cookies which is a wonderful blog filled with dozens and dozens of sweet treat recipes as well as some main dishes.  I looked at so many of Lisa’s bar, cookie and ice cream recipes and there were just dozens that I wanted to make but because of Maisie’s allergies she can’t really eat most of the sweets and the fact that neither Eammon nor I really need to be eating sweets right now I decided to look at the main dish recipes.  Once I saw Lisa’s recipe for Broiled Sushi I knew that I had found my recipe. 

I’ll bet that it was less than four hours from the time I opened the email containing my assignment to the time that I served this meal.  As it worked out I opened the email late on a Sunday morning and as I didn’t have any plans for meals that day and the fact that I had everything I needed to make this in my pantry and freezer…well it was meant to be.  I got my mushrooms and sushi rice soaking and I pulled a package of imitation crab meat from the freezer and got that defrosting and then I was good to go.  This dish came together in no time at all and Eammon especially adored it and ate it for meal after meal until he finished the entire dish.  Surprisingly for me, I didn’t change Lisa’s recipe at all, I made it exactly as written and when I make it again, which I will, I wouldn’t change a thing…well maybe I would make one of her wonderful looking sweets to enjoy after the Broiled Sushi.  Oh and if you’re turning your nose up thinking sushi = raw fish well not in this dish, as there’s nothing raw, just wonderful flavors so give it a try.

In a large bowl mix together the mushrooms, crab meat, sour cream and mayonnaise.

Spread a layer of sushi rice in a baking dish.

Sprinkle the rice layer with furikake.

Add the crab & mushroom mixture and it’s ready for the broiler.

Bubbly and lightly browned, fresh from the broiler.

Furikake and roasted laver (Gim).  I keep both the sheets and the individual packets of Gim in the house.  The sheets are when we eat at home and the small packets I send with Maisie for snack at school and at the gym.  To see our no-mess way of cutting the sheets into neat little squares, click here.

Broiled Sushi  (from here)

• 10 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water until rehydrated and then chopped
• 1 1/2 lbs. imitation crab meat, shredded
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• furikake (Japanese rice seasoning)
• 3 cups cooked brown sushi rice 
• Korean roasted laver (Gim)
• Sriracha

In a large bowl combine the chopped mushrooms, crab meat, sour cream and mayonnaise and stir to combine  Spray a 9 x13-inch Pyrex with cooking spray and spread the sushi rice in an even layer.  Sprinkle with furikake seasoning. Spread with the crab meat mixture. Put under the broiler for about 10 minutes until the top begins to brown. Serve with Sriracha.  Scoop into pieces of Gim, and eat.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts:

Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry