Crabcakes with Lemon-Dill Mayonnaise

During the 2 weeks that I was 'trapped' in New Jersey, I had the worst meals of the trip at the company cafeteria. However, one of the highlights of the trip also happened amidst the meetings and debates... For team building exercise, the whole group of us went to Viking Cooking School for a cooking-bonding session. Although I have done similar sessions in Asia, I was still brimming with excitement as we walked into the Viking Range Showroom. I was especially mesmerised by their range of sturdy, rugged-looking stoves and ranges. When I eventually got to cook over these heavy-duty ranges, I was really impressed by the intensity of the heat from the open flame burner. These would be perfect for Chinese cooking where cooking in a  wok over high heat imparts a unique essence to the food known as 'wok hei' ( translated literally to read wok's energy).

Anyway, I digressed... we were split into groups of 3 and given a recipe pack to prepare 6 dishes for our dinner. We had picked an advanced recipe pack which featured Fish and Shellfish Cookery. The Vikings team literally spoon fed us throughout the whole session, demonstrating every step and ensuring that we followed instructions. As a result of which, it was not as challenging for me and I got a little restless during the session. However, the recipes yielded some delicious preparations which I couldn't wait to replicate.



The dish that I enjoyed most are these crabcakes with Lemon-Dill Mayonnaise. Meaty and tasty, these were perfect for yesterday's New Year's Eve party. To all who continues to drop by my humble blog, I wish to usher in the new year with you with this delicious crabcake and may today be a great start to an amazing 2011 with good food in abundance!


Recipe :
Crabcake
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1.5 tsp  finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 green onions, green tops only, finely minced
1 tsp seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay)
1 large egg white
2 tbsp Japanese breadcrumbs
400g crab meat (jumbo lump)

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Position rack in the center of the oven.
2. Combine mayoonaise, parsely, green onions, seafood seasoning, egg white and breadcrumbs together ina mixing bowl.
3. Gently fold in crabmeat, coating it thoroughly. Chill in refrigerator for at least 15 mins.
4. Place a medium, non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp canola oil and heat through. Lightly oil the insides of a round food ring/cutter. Place food ring on pan and spoon one fourth of the crabmeat mxiture into the ring. Press gently to pack tightly. Carefully lift the round ring straight up. Repeat with the remaining crab meat.
5. Cook crabcakes until the bottoms are golden brown, about 3 mins. Carefully turn each crabcake over. Cook for 1 min, then transfer pan to oven and cook for additional 5 mins.
6. Transfer crabcakes to warmed plates. Garnish wtih lemon wedges and serve with lemon dill mayonnaise.

Lemon Dill Mayonnaise

1 large pasteurized egg yolk.
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard.
1 tsp finely minced lemon zest
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1/8 tsp fine salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground white pepper.

1. Briskly whisk together beaten egg yolk, mustard, lemon zest and lemon juice until it is pale yellow in colour, about 1 min.
2. Pour oil (drop by drop at the beginning) very slowly while whisking constantly and vigorously. After the first few drops of oil has been absorbed pour the rest of the oil in a slow steady stream into the mixture while whisking energetically.
3. Keep whisking until mayonnaise becomes smooth.