A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to eat dinner at Le Bec Fin’s Bar. One of the dishes that I ordered was the Galette de Crabe which is Le Bec Fin’s Signature Crab Cake served with Whole Grain Mustard Sauce and Haricot Verts. This crab cake was unlike any other that I have ever had before. It was very unique and dense, yet light, and at the time I thought it was because it was loaded with crab meat. Now I realize that although there is a pound of jumbo lump crab meat involved, there is also almost a pound of shrimp too. The process of making the crab cakes involves making a shrimp mousse. Also, when cooking these crab cakes, you need a metal ring to place the “batter” for the crab cakes in. Unfortunately, we did not have any rings, but I got creative with lids of mason jars. Next time, I’ll be sure to have the rings on hand so I can make these even more perfect. Trust me on this one, this recipe is a must try.
In order to show you what these crab cakes are supposed to look like, I wanted to show you a picture of them from the restaurant. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture, but this is a picture of it that I found online.
A closer look at the inside of the crab cake…
Now, for our take on Le Bec Fin’s Crab Cakes…
Since we were using lids to mason jars our Crab Cakes were obviously not as tall. But that is okay because I thought they tasted just like the ones from Le Bec Fin.
Le Bec Fin’s Signature Crab Cakes
Serves 5
Ingredients
- 14 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 bunch scallions, sliced into thin rings
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 whole eggs, cold
- 2 cups heavy cream, icy cold
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco
- 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked clean
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
- Peel and devein Shrimp. Chill the shrimp along with the bowl and blade of a food processor in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
- Sauté the scallions in 1 tablespoon butter until just wilted. Set aside to cool.
- Place the shrimp in the processor and puree on high speed for 1 minute or until smooth and shiny. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the eggs.
- Process again until the mixture is smooth and shiny, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl again. With the machine running, slowly pour in the heavy cream. Scrape the bowl and process again to make sure the cream is completely incorporated.
- Remove the mixture and place in a bowl. Stir in the mustard, Worcestershire, and Tabasco, then gently fold in the cooled scallions and the crabmeat.
- Place four or five 3-inch oiled ring molds into a lightly oiled nonstick pan.
- Fill each mold with the mixture, smoothing off the tops with a spoon.
- Over medium heat, cook the crab cakes until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
- Once the cakes have browned, push down on the ring molds to cut off any excess crab mixture and remove the rings from around the cakes. Remove the crab cakes from the pan.
- Repeat the procedure until all of the crab mixture has been cooked. (The cakes may be made up to 1 day ahead, up to this point, and refrigerated.)
- Serve topped with Whole Grain Mustard Sauce (recipe below)
Whole Grain Mustard Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups olive oil
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- Salt and white pepper
Directions
- Place the egg yolk, vinegar, Dijon mustard, and chicken stock into a blender. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Drizzle in the olive oil until the sauce is emulsified (creamy looking). Add the whole-grain mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste.
*Note: This makes a ton of sauce. You can definitely cut the sauce recipe in half.
To Assemble the Dish:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the crab cakes on a buttered nonstick baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes or until the cakes are springy to the touch. In a small pot, slowly heat the sauce over low heat without letting it boil. Ladle the sauce over the crab cakes and serve immediately.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Lump-alicious crab cakes! Yum! My husband would love it if I would make these for him
great post. i wanna try making them soon. i haven’t tasted a crab cake. now, i’m so curious about it!cakes on line