I absolutely love crab cakes. And it’s funny because for the longest time, it just wasn’t something we ever made at home. My husband had convinced me that it was “a ton of work,” so I just never bothered trying to make them. I’m not sure why I eventually decided to make them at home. I think I just said “screw it” and wanted to give it a go… “challenge” myself. I couldn’t believe how simple it was! My husband had it built up so much in my head that it was a ton of work and there for a pain in the butt to make homemade crab cakes. I was so pleasantly surprised at just how easy it was!
I wrote up one of my favorite crab cake recipes last fall, which I love to pair with a simple arugula salad and a lemon vinaigrette! But I had this sudden inspiration recently to make crab cakes with a tomatillo salsa. It was my discovery of golden berries at the store. I shouldn’t say discovery. I’ve had them before… I just always seem to forget about them. They look almost like yellow cherry tomatoes, slightly smaller, but the insides resemble more like tomatillos. And they’re very mildly sweet with a slight tartness to them. They’re interesting. They’re great with other sweet fruit, or in the case of this recipe, paired up to add a slight tartness to the salsa verde!
Like some of my other recipes, I roast the salsa verde ingredients in the oven before processing them in my blender or food processor. Because I went with a more TexMex approach to my crab cakes this time, I added some poblanos to the crab cake mixture as well as some Tabasco and jalapeños to all the other crab cake goodness. These are not like the crab cakes you’d get in Maryland, as I write about in my earlier recipe. Actually, I think this recipe is pretty unique in my presentation of the crab cakes, so I hope you like it!
Rather than a salad, I made some spicy, cheesy grits. Now, I know there are many, many people who are all about “authentic” grits being the ones that take a good half an hour to make. But, I’m all about taste, first and foremost, followed by ease as often as possible. Don’t get me wrong, there are many recipes I put a lot of time and effort into, but grits are just one of those things that I haven’t been convinced on lately. I’m totally open to anyone who wants to try to convince me though! This is my long way of saying that I used instant grits for this recipe! (<<gasp>> ::shock::). But, it takes only about 5 minutes for them to start thickening up. By the time the cheese is added and melted, it’s maybe, maybe, ten minutes total to have the grits ready to eat! And they’re delicious… so as I said, I’m not convinced yet.
If anyone has told you crab cakes are to much work to make at home, don’t listen to them! They are super easy, and this dish in particular is loaded with flavors… and oh so picturesque 😉.
Enjoy!
Tomatillo Salsa Verde Crab Cakes over Spicy Cheesy Grits
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Seafood, TexMex, Southern
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
Crab Cakes
1 lb fresh canned crab meat
1 poblano, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
½ sweet onion, finely diced
2 – 3 TBs scallions, chopped
1½ cups bread crumbs
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 – 2 tsps Tabasco sauce
2 eggs
2 TBs olive oil, divided
1 TB butter
Salsa Verde
8 tomatillos, cut in half
2 jalapeños, cut in half ~ deseeded for less spicy
2 poblanos, cut in half and deseeded
10 garlic cloves
1 cup golden berries
1 white onion, quartered
1 lime, juiced ~ about 2 TBs
½ cup cilantro, tightly packed
salt & pepper
Cheesy Grits
1 cup quick cooking grits
4 cups almond milk (or milk of your choice)
8 oz cheddar, freshly shredded
8 oz cream cheese, low-fat if desired, cut into about 8 pieces
1 – 4 oz can of green chilis
¼ – ½ tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper
To Serve
½ cup golden berries, quartered
1 beefsteak tomato, thickly sliced & lightly seasoned with salt & pepper
Instructions
Make the Salsa Verde
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Spread the tomatillos, jalapeños, poblanos, garlic, golden berries, and white onion on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Scoop everything into a food processor or blender. Add the cilantro and lime juice and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt & pepper and pulse to combine.
Make the Crab Cakes
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. When hot, carefully swirl to coat the pan. Add the poblano, red bell pepper, jalapeño, sweet onion, and scallions and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring often, for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
In a large bowl, add the crab meat, cooked vegetables and bread crumbs, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 2 eggs. With a wood spoon, mix everything together thoroughly. Using your hands, form 6 crab cakes and set on a plate.
Wipe the cast iron pan clean. Then heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. When hot, carefully swirl to coat the pan. Then, working in batches if necessary, cook the crab cakes 4 to 5 minutes per side, being careful not to burn either side.
Make the Cheesy Grits
While the crab cakes are cooking, make the grits. Add the quick cooking grits and almond milk to a large saucepan or pot. Heat over medium high heat, stirring almost constantly. Add the green chilis and cayenne pepper before the grits start to thicken. As the grits start to thicken, whisk or stir constantly. Add the cream cheese and continue stirring until melted. Then add the cheddar and stir until melted. Lower the heat to low and season to taste with salt and pepper. Continue to stir periodically while the crab cakes finish cooking.
Serve
Dish the grits onto plates and top with the crab cakes. Top each crab cake with a slice of tomato and spoon the desired amount of salsa verde on top. Sprinkle some golden berries on top and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Keywords: crab cakes, southern style crab cakes, salsa verde, tomatillo salsa verde, roast salsa verde, baked salsa verde, cheesy polenta, cheesy grits, spicy cheesy grits, crab cakes and grits
