"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
Divide the batter to make 4 - 6 crab cakes* and shape cakes, pressing firmly and squeezing out excess liquid. Set in the refrigerator while you make the horseradish sauce and heat up the oil.
Make the horseradish sauce (recipe below) and refrigerate. (This step could be done way ahead of time.)
Breadcrumbs – I usually use the heals of a loaf of bread, but have also used panko breadcrumbs and even 1 cup crushed Ritz crackers. Be sure to blend the bread crumbs to a medium texture. You don’t want the bread crumbs so coarse to where you know there are breadcrumbs in the crab cakes, nor too fine to where it makes the cakes gummy. You want them just right.
Green Chile – As I admitted with great hesitation earlier, the green chile is actually optional if you don’t like or can’t handle spicy food. However, if you do want a little spice in your crab cakes, then you could add just about any type of chile that you want. Just use your favorite chile pepper – raw or roasted – either way works. Be sure to squeeze out as much moisture as possible before adding to the crab cake mixture.
Size of the crab cake – The larger and thicker the crab cakes are, the longer it will take them to cook and the harder it is to turn them without having them fall apart. I usually make 5 cakes from this batch which are the perfect size for Bobby and me. You could make smaller cakes (6 to 8) for a dinner party’s appetizers. Just keep an eye on them because they’ll cook pretty fast if they are thinner and smaller.
The Horseradish sauce (recipe below) – I’ve serve these green chile crab cakes with lots of different sauces, but the horseradish sauce is our favorite. You don’t have to use much because the cakes have enough flavor of their own. However, a bit of sauce makes a nice finish. Other ideas for a sauce include tartar sauce, a Thousand Island type dressing, remoulade sauce, my catfish dipping sauce, or what my SIL uses – a roasted pepper sauce.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen