Do you remember enjoying a meal at that famous restaurant, and wishing you could get the recipe for it? Or visiting a city for the first time, and eating at that cute little café that everyone raved about? Well now, you literally have your cake and eat it too. Or at least the recipe for the cake.
The Signature Tastes of Seattle captures the actual recipes from the restaurants that define the culinary tastes, as well as trivia and facts, about the city. With almost 70 recipes from every corner...from the El Gaucho's Wicked Shrimp, to the Local 360's famous Fried Chicken, these are the restaurants and signature recipes that define the Emerald City.
Etta's Crab Cakes
2020 Western Ave, Seattle
Ingredients
1 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell peppers
1 tablespoon finely chopped onions
2 teaspoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 lb fresh Dungeness crabmeat, picked clean of shell and lightly squeezed if wet
4 cups fresh breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 tablespoons approx. unsalted butter
Directions
1. In a small food processor, combine egg yolk, vinegar, mustard, bell pepper, onion, parsley, Tabasco, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper.
2. Pulse to mince the vegetables and combine the ingredients.
3. With motor running, slowly add oil through the feed tube until the mixture emulsifies and forms a thin mayonnaise.
4. Transfer mayonnaise mixture to a large bowl and stir in sour cream, then carefully fold in crabmeat.
5. Gently form into 8 crabcakes, about 3 inches across and ¾-inch thick.
6. Put the fresh bread crumbs in a shallow container and stir in parsley.
7. Lightly dredge the crab cakes on both sides in the bread crumbs.
8. Chill for at least 1 hour (preferably longer).
9. Put 2 large nonstick skillets over medium heat and add about 2 tablespoons butter to each pan. When butter is melted, add 4 cakes to each pan.
10. Gently fry until golden brown on both sides and hot through, turning once with a spatula, about 4 minutes on each side.
11. Depending on appetites, suggest service of two crab cakes per serving, with lemon wedges.
Steven W. Siler is a firefighter-cum-chef serving both in the Deep South and the Pacific Northwest. He is the best-selling author of the Signature Tastes cookbook series. Long marinated in the epicurean heritage of the Deep South, Steven has spent over 20 years in the much-vaulted restaurant industry from BOH to FOH to chef. In addition, he has served as an editor and contributing writer for several food publications. When not trying to shove food down his fellow firefighters' gullets, he enjoys sailing and sampling the finest of scotches and wines, and has an irrational love affair with opera.
