Tyler Florence's Crabcakes

One of my favorite celebrity chef's is Tyler Florence. I've had the pleasure of meeting Tyler on two separate occasions. Once was in Birmingham at a Southern Living Bake-Off on April 2, 2003. I know that was the specific date because he autographed my copy of "Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen". He wrote "Patti, keep on cooking", then signed and dated it. The autograph probably wouldn't have happened if my friend Michelle hadn't been with me. She is more bold than myself so took my book with her's up to the stage to get his autograph. I was too scared - can you believe that? Yep, I was.

The second occasion where I met Tyler was at a book signing (I should have figured there would be one in Atlanta). My neighbor at the time, Belinda, and I took off work specifically to be at the book signing and meet Tyler, once again. You see, Belinda had the honor of hosting Tyler and his film crew in her home once. Yes, she wrote in for his show, Food 911, about the perils of baking a duck and she was picked. A few months later Tyler and his crew descended on my neighborhood during the middle of the week to film the episode about how to cook an awesome duck. I only wish I had been there but, unfortunately, outsiders were discouraged from filming.

But, at the book signing, he recognized Belinda and we all chatted for a bit before he had to move on to the other fans waiting patiently to have their cookbooks autographed. I have to say I'm thrilled to have met him not only once but twice. What more could a foodie want?

Back to the point of this post - sorry, I get carried away sometimes! Tonight I decided to make Tyler's Crabcakes from the above mentioned cookbook. It's my favorite crabcake recipe and honestly is the only one I ever make. The only alteration I do is I bake mine instead of pan frying them. They are to die for!!

Crab Cakes (slightly adapted)

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 pound lump crabmeat, preferably Dungeness, picked over for shells
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 green onion, finely chopped, white and green parts
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons red chili paste, such as sambal
juice of one lemon
1 egg white
sea salt and ground white pepper

Place crabmeat in bottom of small bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Gently fold all ingredients until thoroughly combined. Using your hands, form the mixture into six crabcakes. Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with PAM. Place in refrigerator overnight or until crabcakes have set.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place crabcakes in heated oven, cooking 25-30 minutes or until browned.

Serve with your favorite mustard, cocktail or aoili sauce!