Crab Cakes Benedict with Remoulade Hollandaise Sauce

These crab cakes benedict were served as the entree for our Mardi Gras party as part of Foodbuzz' 24x24.  They're ever so much better than the plain pipe rack eggs benedict!  And, I especially love the combination of the remoulade sauce and the hollandaise sauce.  I really need to find a couple of other uses for it so I've got an excuse to make more!

Crab Cakes Benedict

So, how to put them together...  Toast English muffin halves, top each with a warm crab cake,

then a poached egg,

then some remoulade/hollandaise sauce. 

If it's just us, I poach my eggs in a water bath in a skillet.  It's somehow more elegant.  But, for a crowd, I'm not going to try that!  So, I used my trusty egg cooker. 

I kept the first batch warm and just kept poaching.  The yolks were a little more cooked than I'd have liked but they were fine for the party.

I've blogged about these crab cakes before but long before the camera became a part of my blogging.  Not only that but these were the entree for the Mardi Gras party.  So, I'd feel a bit strange just sending you to an old blog.  Ergo, a repeat. 

One of our guests was born and raised in Havre de Grace, Maryland.  He proclaimed these the best crab cakes he'd ever eaten.  Wow!  Now, that's a compliment.  As much as I really don't like repeating dishes too often, I still think I could eat these once a week.  They're that good.


Harry Caray's Crab Cakes

1/4 c finely diced red onion
2 T thinly sliced scallions
3/4 c panko
1/2 c heavy cream
1 T dijon mustard
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t Tabasco
1 t Old Bay seasoning
1/2 t garlic powder
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 T lemon juice
1 1/2 lbs crab meat
1/2 c flour
olive oil or a mixture of butter and olive oil


Mix the ingredients through the crab meat in a large mixing bowl.  I start with the onions and scallions. 

Use a light hand as they're much better if they're not dense. 

Interestingly enough, all the recipes seem to call for lump crab meat.  I've found the claw meat more flavorful in these.  Also, the original recipe calls for chopped red bell pepper.  I think that detracts from the flavor, so I leave it out. I use a 1/3 c measure to scoop out the right amount for each crab cake.

Get the olive oil to the shimmering point and VERY carefully toss in a couple of droplets of water to make sure it's hot enough.  I say VERY because you don't want to get burned by the popping!  Form a crab cake and lightly dust it with flour.  Don't crowd the crab cakes in the pan or you'll have a tough time flipping them. 

This is too crowded - I messed one up when flipping and sadly had to use it as my test crab cake.  Ah, come on, you believe that, don't you?

Once the first side is nicely browned, flip the crab cakes and continue to brown them.  You may have to add more olive oil.  The original recipe called for browning these for a couple of minutes then baking them.  Because I've switched to olive oil, they're not browning as quickly.  And, I don't like the idea of getting yet another pan dirty.  So, I just do them totally in the skillet.

It looks like Stacy and I failed miserably in the photo department for the two sauces that were combined.  Maybe I should make some more just to take photos?  No, there's already too much from the CSA basket to justify making sauce...  Darn.  I'd love to hear your ideas for using this combined sauce.

Harry Caray's Remoulade Sauce

1 c Hellman's Olive Oil mayonnaise
2 T capers (chopped if they're larger)
2 T very finely diced red onion
2 T Dijon mustard
1/4 t Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 t paprika
1 t Worcestershire
1/4 t Tabasco
1/2 t lemon juice

Mix and serve.  For the crab cakes benedict, I mixed the remoulade above with a double batch of Mom's Blender Hollandaise.  This is the easiest hollandaise sauce to make.  It doesn't separate.  You can make it ahead and warm it up before serving.  It just plain works.

Mom's Blender Hollandaise

3 egg yolks
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t salt
1/2 c hot melted butter

In a blender, combine the egg yolks, lemon juice and salt.  Then, with the lid partially removed, pour the butter in in a steady stream.  To warm up before serving, place in a bowl in a pan of warm water or use a double boiler.