Crabless Cakes
“This recipe comes from chef Richard Landau of Vedge in Philadelphia. It was in Food and Wine magazine.
Sharon finds this recipe a bit skimpy. She’s adjusted the ingredient amounts up, switched to red bell peppers because she likes them better and definitely uses more onion and Old Bay seasoning. ‘I mean, you want them to taste like crab cakes don’t you?’”
Ingredients
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for frying
2 ½ cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 4 ears of corn)
¼ cup minced onion
¼ cup minced green bell pepper
15 oz can whole hearts of palm -- drained, thinly sliced lengthwise and cut crosswise into ¾-inch lengths
2 tsps Old Bay seasoning
2 Tbsps chopped flat leaf parsley
¼ cup vegan mayonaisse
2 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp plain dry bread crumbs, plus more for coating
Salt and fresnly ground pepper
Directions
In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the corn, onion and bell pepper and cook over high heat until crisp-tender, 4 minutes. Scrape 1 cup of mixture into a food processor and pulse to coarse puree.
In a bowl, squeeze the hearts of palm to break into shards. Add the puree and the remaining sauteed vegetables to the bowl, along with Old Bay, parsley, mayonaisse, mustard and 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp bread crumbs. Season lightly with salt and pepper and stir until evenly moist.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and fill a pie plate with bread crumbs. Scoop scant ¼ cup mounds of hearts of palm mixture into bread crumbs and roll to coat. Form the mounds into 18 2-inch cakes and transfer to baking sheet.
Wipe out the nonstick skillet and add a scant ⅛ inch of oil. Fry half the cakes over moderate heat, turning once, until crispy. 2 minutes per side. Wipe out the skillet and add clean oil before frying the remaining cakes. Serve hot.
