The typical Christmas dinner consists of honey-baked ham, mashed potatoes and rolls…
Ours looks a little bit different.
Ever since I can remember, we’ve spent Christmas night eating Crab Cakes with Spicy Pepper Jelly while we play games, watch the new movies Santa brought and just be together as a family. I wasn’t always happy about this tradition, though. Santa bringing me new movies and games? Yes, I’ve always loved that part. But the crab cakes with pepper jelly? Not so much. Like many kiddos, growing up, I wasn’t a huge fan of putting fishy crabby patties into my mouth and eating them. Or eating any seafood for that matter. But eventually, I saw the light.
One Christmas, I took a bite of that crab cake with a little dollop of spicy pepper jelly on top, and my taste buds were like, “Hello! What is this delicious not-even-fishy-tasting wonder you just fed me?”
One of the things I like most about this recipe is that it doesn’t make heavy, greasy crab cakes. These are light, airy, and just come alive as soon as you put a little pepper jelly on top. That’s the key. You HAVE to eat these crab cakes with spicy pepper jelly on top! Just trust us. They won’t be the same without it.
Funny thing how traditions just stick with you through the years. My brother and I are both married, my sister is away at college, and my younger brother is serving an LDS mission in Portland. While we will miss him this year, come Christmas night, you’ll still find the rest of us all cozied up next to our giant freshly-cut Christmas tree, eating crab cakes by the fire. I get excited just thinking about it!!
What are your Christmas night traditions?
Ingredients
- 1 lbs. cooked crab meat
- 1 lbs. cooked bay shrimp
- 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
- 1 bunch scallions
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups bread crumbs
- Oil for frying
- Spicy Pepper Jelly
Instructions
- Chop the shrimp into very small pieces. Chop the scallions.
- Combine the first seven ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add one egg and the mayo to the mixture. Mix well and shape into small patties on a baking sheet. (About 15-20 patties).
- Crack the remaining 5 eggs into a large bowl and mix with the water.
- Put 2 cups of flour into a medium-sized bowl, and 2 cups bread crumbs into a different bowl.
- Lightly dust the patties with flour and then dip into the egg mixture. Set back on the baking sheet and sprinkle bread crumbs onto one side of the patties, then flip over and sprinkle the other side. Repeat until all of the patties are breaded.
- In a heavy frying pan, heat enough oil to cover bottom of pan on medium-high heat. Place the patties, 4-5 at a time, in the oil and brown on both sides, about 5-6 minutes.
- Cook remaining patties and serve warm with spicy pepper jelly.
Notes
*To prevent the patties from burning, it's helpful to wipe out the old oil and replace with new oil between each batch. If the pan gets too hot, you can also allow it to cool 5 minutes between eat batch.
*We buy Phillips Lump Crab Meat from Costco for these crab cakes, which is delicious and economical. Never, never use imitation crab...ever!
*Nutrition facts are per one crab cake, if you make 20.
And….we have a winner!! Thank you all who subscribed to our giveaway! We truly wish that we could give you all some fun goodies for Christmas, but unfortunately there can only be one winner. Drum roll please….
Congratulations Juli from Estacada, Oregon, for winning our giveaway! Happy Holidays to you!
2 Comments
You can also cut your squash in half, and put it in a casserole dish in the microwave to cut down on time. Put the squash in the dish face down, and add about an inch of water to the dish. It will only take about 10-15mins depending on microwave strength. Love this recipe, can’t wait to try!
Great tip. Thanks for sharing!