A small fried crab cake on a paper plate with a colorful border.

Our third Family History Recipe comes from Jesse and is for Bo Brown’s Maryland Crab Cakes. 

Jesse shared that his father had been “adopted at an early age, and his mother was a nurse who pulled long shifts, so he was often left to fend for himself for meals.  He ended up learning to cook on his own…  He became famous among family and friends for his delicious crab cakes.  He would make them for me, along with sweet corn-on-the-cob and sliced beefsteak tomatoes, for the best birthday meal a Maryland boy… could possibly have.”

Jesse also said that his father never wrote down his recipes, so this was Jesse’s best attempt to recreate the crab cakes. Taste Tester Mike didn’t seem to mind whether this was original or not. He thought they were delicious! 

Taste Tester Mike going in for a quick sniff test.

Taste Tester Mike right after his first bite.

Taste Tester Mike smiling happily, pleased with this yummy crab cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe: Bo Brown’s Maryland Crab Cakes

My father was adopted at an early age, and his mother was a nurse who pulled long shifts, so he was often left to fend for himself for meals.  He ended up learning to cook on his own, and he loved to try making new dishes with little more than a few ingredients and a hunch.  He became famous among family and friends for his delicious crab cakes.  He would make them for me, along with sweet corn-on-the-cob and sliced beefsteak tomatoes, for the best birthday meal a Maryland boy… could possibly have.

Unfortunately, he passed away never having wrote down any of his recipes.  Therefore, I’ve had to try and reconstruct his crabcakes from other recipes and personal memory.  The following is my best approximation, but in keeping with Dad’s tradition, this should be considered a “work-in-progress.”  --Jesse 

Ingredients: 

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 pound jumbo lump crab meat, picked over
  • 20 saltine crackers, finely crushed
  • 1/4 cup canola oil or other neutral, high-heat cooking oil

Directions: 

  • In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and Old Bay until smooth.
  • In a medium bowl, lightly toss the crabmeat with the cracker crumbs. Gently fold in the mayonnaise mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  • Scoop the crab mixture into eight 1/3-cup mounds; lightly pack into 8 patties, about 1 1/2 inches thick. In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook over moderately high heat until deeply golden and heated through, about 3 minutes per side. 
  • Transfer the crab cakes to plates and serve with lemon wedges. 

(Adapted from Andrew Zimmern's Baltimore-Style Crab Cakes)