Confetti Crab Cakes

Being die-hard and proud Maryland natives (I love the fact that our state has the strictest gun lows, allows same-sex marriage and has some of the best public school – so basically MD puts is money where its mouth is!), my entire family loves Crab cakes. Of course, I prefer to buy my crab meat from local producers. A few days ago I found really good quality crab meat in a can by a Maryland company called Epicure at the local Whole Foods. My crab-cake recipe is a little different from the traditional Maryland Crab cake recipe because I like to add multi colored sweet peppers (hence the name Confetti) in the crab-meat. These peppers give the crab cakes some extra texture, flavor and lots of beautiful colors. Also this way the crab cakes are a complete meal in themselves which are nutritionally balanced and yet extremely delicious.

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb of Crab lump crab meat
2. 2 shallots
3. 2 scallions
4. 1 Cubanelle pepper (bright lime green color)
5. 2-3 sweet peppers (I used red, yellow and orange ones)
6. 1-2 egg (depending on the consistency you want)
7. ¾ cup of bread crumbs
8. Salt and pepper to taste
9. ½ teaspoon paprika
10. 1 teaspoon onion powder
11. 1 teaspoon powder mustard powder
12. ½ teaspoon of celery powder
13. 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
14. 2-3 teaspoons of Old Bay Seasoning
15. A pinch of red pepper flakes
16. 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (to slow sauté the crab cakes)
17. Juice of half a lemon

Directions:

1. Peel the shallots and finely slice them
2. Also thinly slice the scallions

3. Wash and deseeds the peppers. Then thinly slice them to make small pieces.

4. In a large bowl, place all the chopped vegetables and add the Old Bay Seasoning, mustard powder, celery powder and paprika.

5. Also add salt, pepper, onion powder, red pepper flakes and onion powder.

6. Add the Dijon mustard and mix everything together.

7. Whisk the egg(s) and add to the mixing bowl

8. Also add the bread crumbs, lemon juice, crab meat and mix everything together.

9. Using your hands, add the make small cakes/patties.
10. In a large non-stick pan pour a bit of olive oil and heat it on low heat.
11. Cook the crab cakes on both sides in batches of 3-4 at a time.
12. Serve them while they are still hot. I served them with a sauce of honey mustard and fresh dill weed!

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