Crab Cake Salad
| Ingredients | Seafood, Vegetables |
|---|---|
| Menu Part | Salad |
| Cuisine Type | American |
Janna Traver, executive chef at the University of Kansas, says keeping it simple has been the key to her famous Crab Cake Salad, which has become a mainstay since the school made the move to full-service dining in 2007. The housemade lump crab cake is served on a bed of field greens garnished with grape tomatoes, avocado and julienned vegetables. The hook, according to Traver, is the creamy lemon caper vinaigrette that is made from scratch, which has been well received from visitors hailing from all over the country. “Within weeks of being open, we received requests to bottle the dressing,” Traver says. “Instead of trying to imitate it in a retail form, we promised our customers we would never take it off the menu.”
Ingredients
For salad:
Yield: One serving
6 oz. salad greens
1/4 whole avocado, sliced
6 grape tomatoes
2 oz. of julienne-cut vegetables
3 crab cakes
Lemon Caper Vinaigrette as needed
Lemon wedge
For crab cakes:
12 eggs lightly beaten
1 qt. heavy cream
1 cup Dijon mustard
1 qt. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. Tabasco sauce
3 tsbp. Sriracha sauce
3 tbsp. salt
1/2 cup blacken spice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 gallon breadcrumbs
1 cup minced garlic
2 cups Brunoise-diced red onion
3 cups Brunoise-diced red pepper
3 cups Brunoise-diced green pepper
1 stalk Brunoise-diced celery
1 cup chopped onion
10 lb. crab lump meat
3 qt. Japanese breadcrumbs
1 pt. Beyond
For lemon caper vinaigrette
Yield: 9 cups
1 cup celery, roughly chopped
1 cup green onion, chopped
2 bay leafs, ribs removed
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 1/2 tbsp. horseradish
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. ketchup
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
3 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. paprika
1 1/3 cups white Balsamic vinegar
5 cups Mayonnaise
2 tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 cups Pomace oil
1 1/3 cup capers
2/3 cup parsley, finely chopped
Steps
For salad:
- Mix salad greens, avocado, tomatoes and vegetables.
- Dress with vinaigrette.
- Place crab cakes on top of salad bed and garnish with lemon.
For crab cakes:
- Blend eggs, cream, mustard, mayo, Tabasco, Sriracha, salt, blackened spice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and breadcrumbs. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- While breadcrumbs are soaking, chop vegetables. Then toss with crab meat and breadcrumbs.
- Portion crab cakes using 1-ounce #30 scoop.
- Roll in Japanese breadcrumbs. Flatten down to form cakes. Freeze and use as needed.
- Coat flattop grill with Beyond and cook crab cakes for 3 to 5 minutes on each side at 350°F, or until golden brown and internal temperature is 160°F.
For lemon caper vinaigrette:
- Place celery, green onion, bay leaf and garlic in processor and pulse until diced.
- Add caper and mince.
- Place mixture in large bowl and add horseradish, ketchup, dry mustard, lemon juice, paprika, sugar and white balsamic vinegar. Mix well.
- Whisk in mayonnaise.
- Slowly whisk in Pomace oil.
- Finish with parsley.
Recipe by University of Kansas