Crab Cakes W/Smoked Pepper Sauce!

I love a good crab cake! My recipe is pretty simple and is all about freshness and texture. A problem I have found with some restaurants is that they use to much breading in there crab cakes and not enough crab meat. If you are going to skimp on the crab meat please don't put them on the menu. Another issue I have is that some restaurant's will make huge batches of crab cakes then freeze them. For me this is a no-no! Prepare what you need for that evening or for two days of service,never freeze.

INGREDIENTS

For the crab cakes

-red onion

-celery

-red,orange or yellow pepper

-cilantro

-salt and pepper

-cream cheese

-lime juice and zest

-egg

-bread crumbs

INGREDIENTS

For the smoked pepper sauce

-flour

-butter

-heavy cream

-canned chipolte peppers

-roasted pablano pepper

I personally like to use lump crab meat. Try not to break the crab meat up to much,you want nice big lumps of meat. Place the crab meat in a mixing bowl. Its important that the veggies are finely diced or minced,place them in the mixing bowl with the crab meat. You are looking for an even distribution of veggies to crab meat. You don't want the veggies to over power the crab meat You want them to compliment. You could saute the veggies fist but I like the texture of them raw. Next put the cream cheese in a mixing bowl with the lime juice and zest and blend with a fork.When this is fully incorporated add to the crab meat and veggie mixture.At this point add one beaten egg, chopped cilantro and a lite coating of bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper and mix all ingredients litely trying not to break up the crab meat to much. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. You might need alittle more salt or pepper or if you like a bit more lime juice. The cream cheese, egg and bread crumbs are acting as a binder. When you form the cakes you want them to hold together but not to firm. I like 3-4 oz. cakes. To form the cakes roll in your hand into a ball then push down into a disc-like shape. Pan-fry in a none stick pan with couple of tablespoons of olive oil until golden brown on both sides.

PREPARING THE SMOKED PEPPER SAUCE!

In a sauce pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter has melted add 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for a few minutes till lite brown. At this point add 1-2 tablespoons of chopped chipolte a bit more or less depending on how spicy you like it. Now add 4-5 oz. of heavy cream and let reduce to almost 1/2. Keep whisking and it will thicken up nicely. To plate I start buy putting the smoked pepper sauce down on the plate. Then place two crab cakes and on top of them I like to put slivers of roasted pablano chili pepper. Garnish with slivers of orange, red or yellow pepper and parsley. I love the combination of the crispy exterior of the crab cake and its creamy gooyness inside with the spicy-smokyness that comes with the pepper sauce.