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Dungeness Crab Cakes With Green Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cocktail sauce: put tomatillos in a food processor; process until coarsely pureed.
Remove the puree into a sieve; drain off the liquid, and discard.
Put the drained puree into a small bowl and stir in the vinegar, sugar, Tabasco, garlic, mustard seeds, and horseradish until combined (the cocktail sauce can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator).
Make the mayonnaise: tear up the white bread and pulse the pieces in a food processor to make fine, soft crumbs (should have about 6 cups crumbs).
Remove bread crumbs to a shallow pan; mix in 1/2 cup chopped parsley; set aside.
In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, mustard, paprika, thyme, celery seeds, and black pepper; pulse to combine.
With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise; remove mayonnaise from the food processor and refrigerate.
Place crabmeat in a cheesecloth-lined sieve over a bowl; pull the cheesecloth tightly around the crabmeat and squeeze out as much juice as possible.
Put the chopped onions and bell peppers in a sieve over a bowl and use your hands to squeeze out as much juice as possible.
In a big bowl, combine the onions and bell peppers with the remaining 1/4 cup parsley; add in the chilled mayonnaise and crabmeat; toss lightly to combine.
Add 1 cup of the breadcrumb mixture and combine.
Do not overwork the mixture or the crabcakes may get gummy.
Gently form 8 patties and roll the patties lightly in the remaining breadcrumb mixture.
Leave the crabcakes in the pan of bread crumbs until you saute them.
Preheat the oven to 425; using a nonstick saute pan and butter as needed, panfry the crabcakes, in batches, until golden brown on both sides and place them on a baking sheet as they are browned.
When all the crabcakes are browned, put them in the oven until they are heated all the way through, 5-8 minutes.
To plate: serve one crabcake as an appetizer or two as an entree; serve with a ramekin of cocktail sauce and a lemon wedge.
**Notethe crabcakes actually hold together better if prepared a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator before cooking; store them in the pan of breadcrumbs, covering with plastic wrap.
Wine suggestiona lightly oaked Chardonnay.