Dinner Club

Justin and a couple of friends started a weekly dinner club a couple of years ago. They take turns preparing a meal each week and I decided I would take a turn this week. I decided to prepare crab cake sandwiches with homemade remoulade sauce and twice baked potatoes. I also served cream cheese pie for dessert.

I was fairly pleased with the results. My biggest complaint was the crab cakes kind of fell apart. This could be because I used some real crabmeat and some krabmeat (the stuff made from fish that kind of resembles actual crab meat). I really wanted to use all crabmeat, but that would have cost $60 or $70 and I really didn't want to spend that much on just crabmeat. I used Martha Stewart's crab cake recipe. She would probably spit on me if she knew I didn't use real crabmeat.

I prepared the remoulade sauce and cream cheese pie last night so all I had to do this afternoon was prepare the crab cakes and potatoes. This was my first time making twice baked potatoes and I was pleased with the results. It was pretty easy, but took a while because I had to bake the potatoes.


My recipes are below. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. I will admit that it did taste pretty good. I served the crab cakes with wheat buns, lettuce, and lemon slices.

Martha Stewart's Maryland Crab Cakes
1 lb. small-size crabmeat (special or claw) **I used 8 oz. of special crabmeat.
1 lb. large-size crabmeat (jumbo lump or backfin) **I used 24 oz. of krabmeat.
1/2 c. light mayo
1/2 c. chopped parsley
1/4 c. lemon juice **I used bottled lemon juice.
1 lg. egg
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
salt and pepper
1 c. Saltine crumbs
4 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat broiler with rack 4" from heat and line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Pick through the real crabmeat to remove any shells or cartilage.

Stir together mayo, parsley, lemon juice, egg, mustard, Old Bay Seasoning, salt, and pepper. Add crumbs and small-size crabmeat and mix well. Add larger crabmeat and gently fold until combined. Divide evenly into 8 cakes. You can place the cakes on parchment paper and refrigerate until you are ready to cook them.

Place cakes on baking sheet and drizzle with melted butter. Broil until golden brown and warmed throughout, 12-15 minutes. You can move them to a lower rack if they begin browning too quickly. I broiled them for about 7-8 minutes and then moved them to a lower rack so I could finish cooking the potatoes. Some parts of the crab cakes were beginning to turn very dark brown. I lowered the oven temperature to 350 degrees and cooked the cakes with the potatoes for about 15 minutes more.

This is also my first time broiling something. The broiler scares me because I'm so afraid I'll burn the food.

Emeril Lagasse's Remoulade Sauce
1/4 c. lemon juice
3/4 c. vegetable oil **I used canola oil.
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped green onions
1/4 c. chopped celery
2 Tbsp. chopped garlic **I used the stuff in a jar.
2 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
3 Tbsp. Creole whole-grain mustard
3 Tbsp. yellow mustard
3 Tbsp. ketchup
3 Tbsp. chopped parsley leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process for 30 seconds. Will keep for several days in an airtight container in the fridge.

I was kind of surprised this wasn't incredibly spicy.

Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes
4 lg. baking potatoes **I used Russet potatoes.
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. milk **I used half & half.
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese, divided **I used pre-shredded casserole cheese (mixture of several cheeses).
8 green onions, sliced, divided

I didn't follow the linked recipe's potato baking instructions. Mine are below:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash potatoes and dry. Poke several holes in each potato to prevent steam from building up and rub each potato with olive oil. Place potatoes directly on oven rack and bake for 1 hr. and 15 minutes. Remove potatoes from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Slice each potato in half and remove the potato "meat", leaving about a 1/4" for skin stability. Mix all the ingredients saving 1/2 of the cheese and 1/2 of the onions. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into the empty potato skins. Top with the remaining cheese and onions.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

The recipe called for bacon, but I decided to omit it. I think they turned out fine without it, but I'm sure many people would enjoy the bacon.

Cream Cheese Pie

(This recipe is from the Mimi's Cafe Cookbook. Mimi's Marketplace Cafe was a restaurant in Nashville, GA that closed earlier this year. This recipe is a favorite at bridal showers in Nashville).

1 9" graham cracker pie crust
1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 c. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add other ingredients and mix well. Pour into pie crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

I love this pie. It is slightly tangy, but still has that cream cheese flavor. Mmmm...