Cook the Book: Crab Cakes with Spicy Rémoulade

Join us each day as our team of editors and contributors cook through the MyRecipes America’s Favorite Food cookbook, released on September 11, 2012.

Quick-cooking and relatively simple to prepare, I love fixing crab cakes for a nice change from our usual run of weeknight dinners.  For seafood lovers, they're a great way to get that fresh-from-the-sea fix.  So when I saw the gorgeous looking Crab Cakes with Spicy Rémoulade recipe in our new cookbook, I just had to try them!

Although usually associated with pricey dinners out, crab cakes are actually a pretty simple dish: simply combine the ingredients in a bowl, press the crab mixture into patties, and pan-fry in a skillet until golden brown.  This recipe dresses up the basic idea with fresh herbs, freshly grated lemon rind and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and lump crab meat.  (In a budget pinch, you could use imitation crab meat).  I took our users' advice and substituted green onions for the chives - we're not huge fans of chives, and I figured we'd find more uses later in the week for green onions.

The next step was to chop up the parsley.  Here's an easy kitchen tip I picked up from one of our food stylists at a photo shoot: When a recipe calls for chopped herbs, simply cut a nice bunch of them and place in a measuring cup, then use kitchen shears to cut the herbs into small pieces.  It's a whole lot easier than using a cutting board!

Next I needed to grate the lemon rind with a microplane and squeeze the fresh juice:

Once all the ingredients were in the bowl, it was time to prepare the patties:

And then pan-fry them in hot olive oil.  For best results, use a cast-iron skillet:

Although the recipe recommends preparing the rémoulade a day ahead of time to allow the flavors to marry, I didn't have that extra time - and it was still quite good.  I tend to play a little loosey-goosey with measurements in forgiving recipes like this one, so I added more Creole mustard, lemon juice, and ground red pepper to really give it an extra-spicy kick.

I served the crab cakes and rémoulade with a simple salad and boiled corn - the perfect ending to a late summer dinner.

The MyRecipes America’s Favorite Food cookbook is now available in stores. Order your copy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble (ebooks are available!) and Cook the Book with us on your blog! #CooktheBook