Crab Cakes Eggs Benedict

I hope everyone had a good Easter! We did. At our house, we don't do a big Easter dinner, instead we do a brunch and relax for the rest of the day. This year, we made one of our family's go-to favorites - crab cakes eggs benedict. They are basically just like regular eggs benedict - but with a crab cake in place of the Canadian bacon. We borrowed the idea when we first had them at Hyde Park Bar and Grill in Austin. If you're ever in Austin, you should definitely check them out - their food is delicious!

Ingredients:

• Crab Cakes
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp. Dijon or Cajun mustard
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp. hot sauce
• 1 lb. fresh lump crabmeat, drained
• 1 cup (about 20 crackers) crushed saltines/Ritz crackers
• 1 qt. peanut oil
• 8 eggs
• 4 English muffins
• Hollandaise sauce
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• Dash of Tabasco
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Salt and pepper to taste

Yield: 4 servings

The recipe for the crab cakes comes from Southern Living.  To make them, stir together the first 5 ingredients, then fold in the crabmeat and crushed crackers.  Let stand for 3 minutes.

Shape the mixture into 8 patties and place on wax paper.  Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.  We've found that the crab cakes hold up much better if you chill them overnight.

Fry the crab cakes in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden.

Drain on paper towels.

Break the English muffins in half and lightly toast each half.  Poach the eggs in simmering water on medium heat for about 3 minutes, or until cooked.  I prefer using poach pods lightly coated with cooking spray.

To make the Hollandaise sauce, I used the blender method in James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.

Combine the egg yolks, salt, Tabasco, and lemon juice in a blender and blend on the high setting, just enough to blend the mixture.  

Heat the butter until it is bubbling, but not to the point it is browned. Remove the insert from the lid of the blender, turn the blender on high and pour the hot butter in a thin, continuous stream. When the butter is absorbed and the sauce thick, turn off the blender. If you need to thin the hollandaise, add 1 tablespoon hot water into the sauce while the blender is running.

Assemble the Eggs Benedict by putting one crab cake on an English muffin half, then put the poached egg on top of the crab cake. If you used poach pods to poach the eggs, turn the poach pod upside down over the crab cake and gently push on the bottom - the egg should slide right out. Pour the hollandaise over the eggs and salt and pepper the eggs to taste.

These are always a big hit at my house - they make a delicious brunch for a special occasion.

Did you make anything special for Easter?

Brave Brinley Cocktail

Hi y'all!  Sorry for the long absence - I got sick with the nastiest cold - I just couldn't shake it.  And I haven't really been sick in years.  But I'm finally feeling better, and I'm back with another cocktail recipe I created.  I named this one after our almost one-year old westie puppy, Brinley.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz grapefruit vodka
• 1 oz orange vodka
• 1 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz blood orange juice
• 1/2 oz orgeat
• 1/2 oz orange curaçao
• 1 cup crushed ice

I used Deep Eddy Grapefruit vodka and Absolut Mandarin vodka, but any good grapefruit and orange vodkas will work.  You can buy lots of different brands of orange curaçao, but if you can find the Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, you should definitely get it - it tastes much better than the Hiram Walker or the DeKuyper.  If you can't find blood orange juice, you can substitute regular orange juice, but blood orange juice does have a distinctive taste.  I found this blood orange juice at Central Market.    

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously.

Serve in a tiki mug or your glass of choice.

And here's Miss Brave Brinley herself!