Crab cakes are easy to make for two or for a crowd. That is what we learned at The Journal’s last Small Bites filming in December from Rich Vellante, executive chef of the Legal Sea Foods restaurant group.
With the reopening of the Garden City Center Legal Sea Foods on Wednesday, Aug. 26, the time is right to unveil the Small Bites cooking video.
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Prep time is 30 minutes, and cooking time is eight minutes, to create these crab cakes. The recipe serves four as an appetizer but can be doubled, or more.
All you need is some crab meat, Ritz Crackers, and a little prep work dicing peppers and celery and chopping up scallions. Then you fry them up in a pan and have an elegant appetizer, or even a main course.
Vellante favors blue crab, fished along the Atlantic coast. He used the jumbo lump version, which looked like garlic cloves. He explained that jumbo lump crab meat consists of the jewel of the crab. It comes from the two large muscles connected to the swimming fins of the crab and is known for its rich taste.
Vellante does not share how to make the addictive mustard sauce they put on the crab cakes at the restaurant. It’s proprietary to the company.
Vellante, who joined Legal Sea Foods as a chef in Warwick, became executive chef in 1998, overseeing all Legal restaurants. He develops new recipes and menus and manages and trains the culinary staff in all the kitchens.
You can find the cooking video at
If you want to eat the crab cakes but not make them, they are on the all-day menu being served at Legal in Garden City, Cranston, from noon to 8 p.m. for takeout, indoor or outdoor dining on a patio under a tent. Legal is at 175 Hillside Rd., (401) 732-3663, legalseafoods.com.
Small Bites videos are created in collaboration with the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau. They are shot in a demonstration kitchen at Hope & Main, the food-business incubator in Warren. Find this video and other Small Bites cooking videos at providencejournal.com/smallbites.
Legal’s Signature Crab Cake
• 4-ounce package Ritz Crackers
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup chopped scallions, both white and green parts
• ½ cup diced red peppers
• ½ cup diced celery
• 2-3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1-2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1/8 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 8 ounces blue crab meat — lump or backfin — picked over for shells and cartilage
• Salt and freshly milled black pepper
• 1 large egg
• Flour, for dusting
• Olive oil, for frying
• Butter, for frying
Place the crackers in a plastic bag and crumble with your hands or with a rolling pin. Put them in a large mixing bowl, and set aside.
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat and cook the scallions, red peppers, celery and garlic for 5 minutes, or until cooked through but still slightly translucent. Toss with the crackers.
Stir in the wine, Old Bay Seasoning, lemon juice, parsley, and crab meat. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Mix in the egg. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Once mix has set, remove from refrigerator and divide mixture into 4 equal portions.
Gently form crab cakes with your hands into a loose “ball.” Do not over-pack; it should remain loose.
Dust with flour and sauté in olive oil and butter (combined) until cooked through.
Makes 4 servings
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The Link LonkAugust 26, 2020 at 03:40AM
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Small Bites cooking video: Legal Sea Foods' Crab Cakes - The Providence Journal
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