This weekend, Kevin and I celebrated Valentine’s Day together right after work with homemade cheese fondue and chocolate fondue. It’s been quite some time since we’ve enjoyed fondue together. When we first started dating almost a decade ago, Kevin took me to The Melting Pot for dinner. We enjoyed a pot of cheese fondue with a selection of meats, vegetables, and breads for the main course. Dessert course followed with a pot of chocolate fondue and a selection of fruits, and treats. We spent the entire dinner chatting and laughing late into the evening. Kevin walked me back to my college apartment before he headed back to his. Almost a decade later, I wanted to recreate the experience with had at The Melting Pot many years ago by setting up a cheese and chocolate fondue for two. It would be our own little fondue dinner prepared for just two people. I prepared the dippers for the cheese fondue by arranging cubed baguette, grape tomatoes, diced apple, pretzels, salami, pepperoni, broccoli and cauliflower onto serving plates. For the chocolate fondue, I arranged some pretzels, marshmallows, crispy rice treats, blueberries, and apples onto a platter. The chocolate fondue was a blend of melted semisweet chocolate with a splash of whole milk and served in a mini fondue mug I had purchased years ago. I’ve had the mug for such a long time, I was glad to finally put it to use this weekend. Kevin and I enjoyed our fondue dinner and reminisced on the Valentine’s Day dinners we’ve had over the last decade. I can’t believe after almost a decade later, we decided to have fondue again for Valentine’s Day dinner. Even before dinner was over, I already contemplated the next dish I would make the following day – crab cake sliders with lemon parsley mayo.
I don’t typically cook a lot of seafood at home because Kevin isn’t a huge fan of any type of seafood. My first exposure to crab cakes were at a summer wedding I attended many years ago. The dinner featured surf and turf. The surf was crab cakes. The turf was filet mignon. I remember the crab cakes being filled with lumps of crab, and featuring layers of citrus and seasonings. It was my first experience with crab cakes, but definitely not my last. The next few weddings we attended over the years featured some sort of surf and turf for the main courses. Kevin would trade his surf with me for my turf. I usually didn’t mind because I often do prefer surf over turf. Crab cakes are definitely one of my favorite surfs. I love the crispy texture, seasoned crab meat, and tangy sauce served along with the crab cake. When I started creating my own version of crab cakes, I combined all of the best features of the crab cakes I’ve had over the years. My version features lumps of crab meat, diced celery, panko bread crumbs, dried minced garlic, dried minced onion, egg, lemon zest, parsley, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. The celery and panko give the crab cakes a wonderful crunchiness and crispiness. The garlic, onion, lemon zest, and parsley add layers of flavor to the crab meat. All of the ingredients together make for a truly exceptional crab cake. To bring the crab cakes over the top, I whipped up a simple lemon parsley mayo by blending together lemon zest, lemon juice, chopped parsley, diced celery, chopped capers, mayo, kosher salt, and pepper. I served the crab cakes and lemon parsley mayo with toasted brioche buns, fresh arugula, and lemon wedges. My crab cake sliders with lemon parsley mayo brought back all of the wonderful memories of warm weather and summer weddings. Even Kevin, who isn’t the biggest seafood fan, enjoyed the crab cakes for a weekend morning brunch.
For the crab cake sliders with lemon parsley mayo:
For the crab cakes:
· ½-1 cup vegetable oil, for frying
· ½ pound of pasteurized lump crab meat
· ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
· ½ stalk of celery, diced
· 1 sprig fresh parsley, finely chopped
· ½ teaspoon dried minced garlic
· ½ teaspoon dried minced onion
· 1 large egg
· Zest of ½ small lemon
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ¼ cup mayo
For the lemon parsley mayo:
· ½ stalk of celery, diced
· 1 sprig parsley, finely chopped
· Zest of ½ small lemon
· juice of ½ small lemon
· ¼ cup mayo
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 4-5 brioche sliders, toasted, for serving
· 1 cup fresh arugula, for serving
Directions:
1) Heat a Dutch oven pot on medium heat. Add the vegetable oil. While the oil is heating, in a large bowl, combine the crab meat, panko crumbs, diced celery, chopped parsley, garlic, onion, egg, lemon zest, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Add the mayo and fold all of the ingredients until thoroughly combined. Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop the crab mixture and drop the mixture into the hot vegetable oil. Fry the crab cakes two at a time until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the crab cakes to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with the rest of the crab mixture.
2) To make the lemon parsley mayo, combine the diced celery, chopped parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, mayo, and black pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
3) To make the crab cake sliders, top the buns with fresh arugula, crab cake, and more arugula. Serve the crab cake sliders with the lemon parsley mayo and lemon wedges.
Takeaways: Kevin suggested adding Tabasco sauce to the crab cake sliders to give the sliders some heat. I hadn’t initially thought about adding hot sauce, but did add some to my crab cake sliders to add a kick. My crab cake sliders can also be turned into a salad by toasting and cubing the brioche buns and loosening up the dressing with additional lemon juice to form a dressing.