Crab Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

Crab Cakes:

• 1 cup cracker meal
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 12 ounces lump crab meat, picked over to remove any shell fragments
• 1 rounded teaspoon crab boil seasoning
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• A handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 lemon, zested, plus 1 lemon, cut into wedges, for garnish
• 1 rib celery from the heart of the stalk, finely chopped
• Several drops Worcestershire sauce
• Several drops hot pepper sauce
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise or ranch dressing
• Vegetable or canola oil, for frying

Red Pepper Sauce:

• 1 (8-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained, or 1 large freshly prepared roasted red pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise or reduced fat mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup prepared chili sauce

Directions

Place cracker meal in a bowl and make a well in the center of the meal. Beat egg with milk and pour into well. Moisten cracker meal and combine liquid with meal using the tines of a fork. Add crab meat, crab boil seasoning, baking powder, parsley, lemon zest, celery, Worcestershire, hot pepper sauce, and mayonnaise to the bowl. Mix all ingredients well and form into 8 (3-inch) patties. Add 1/2-inch vegetable or canola oil to a skillet and heat to medium high temperature. Fry cakes 3 minutes on each side and drain on paper towel lined plate. Cook 4 cakes at a time, so that oil temp does not drop too low.

For red pepper sauce, combine drained red peppers in a food processor bowl with mayonnaise and chili sauce. Pulse/grind the ingredients into a smooth sauce. Transfer sauce to a small serving dish.

Serve crab cakes with sauce and lemon wedges.