Crab cake recipes are very similar except for the flavor ingredients. But I've had my best results substituting potato for the bread crumbs. The potato doesn't get soggy like the bread crumbs can and they are bland enough not to add unnecessary flavor to the crab cake.

Take this recipe for example:

Mashed Potato Crab Cakes

• 1 can premium crab meat, picked free of shells and drained
• 1 cup prepared mashed potatoes (such as Simply Potatoes)
• 2 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper, green or red
• 1/4 cup light or low fat mayonnaise
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1/4 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup EVOO for simmering

Everything is mixed together except for the panko, which coats the cakes immediately before the skillet.

Note:

Peel and boil real potatoes. Don't use instant.
Use real mayonnaise, not low fat.
I would use minced garlic instead of garlic powder.
Green onions and green peppers are to taste, and whatever you're used to. I don't use either.
The bread crumbs are only used to coat the cakes immediately before frying to make them crispy. Do NOT add them to the mixture.

This recipe makes excellent crab cakes, is not historically traditional (potatoes). If I were making crab cakes for my grandmother, I would do one or two trial runs to get the amount of Worcestershire and mustard perfect to what you remember.

 

You guys are making me drool. LOL

Padraig

 

I second the potato idea. My wife does it with fried chicken and it’s very crunchy and flakey. Super odd this thread popped up as I had a 5 minute conversation today about crab cakes.

 

Here you go, I was raised 20 minutes from the bay and this is what we used.
Bill

Crab Cake Recipe | OLD BAY

This simple crab cake recipe makes a refreshing yet savory dish that's perfect for the summer months and beyond. OLD BAY® Seasoning, French's® Classic Yellow Mustard, parsley flakes, mayo and egg combine to form this deliciously golden-brown crabmeat patty. Served on a lightly toasted bun or...

www.mccormick.com

 

This recipe is from Mrs. Kitching, who was so highly regarded as a cook on Smith Island that Sly Stallone used to startle the natives by dropping in by helicopter. Not to mention that her last name sounds as though Popeye were trying to say "kitchen".

1 pound backfin crabmeat
3 tablespoons White Lilly or King Arthur self-rising flour or pancake mix
4 shakes Lowry's Worcestershire Sauce (about 1/8 teaspoon)
1 egg
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 generous tablespoons mayo
3/4 cup veg oil

Place crabmeat in bowl and sort for shell. Avoid breaking the lumps. (This is like saying, "Do 20 pushups in 100 degree weather without breaking a sweat", but never mind). Add the rest of the ingredients except the veg oil (you'll use that to fry them in, silly). Blend gently with a two pronged fork. Heat the oil in a skillet. There should be one inch of oil in the skillet. When a droplet of water spatters upon contact with the oil, the crab cakes can be placed in the skillet. Use an ice cream scoop to form and remove the crab cakes from the bowl you mixed them in. Fry till golden brown on one side. Turn and fry on the other side for one minute or until golden. Remove and drain on paper towels. The same veg oil will cook the entire batch, that's several skillets full. Yield: 8 to 10 crab cakes.

Adapted from: Frances Kitching and Susan Stiles Dowell, Mrs. Kitching's SMith Island Cookbook. Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD. (1981)

 

Okay, some of these recipes are the same or very close to the ones that I've already tried. And, like I said, I have come very close to her recipe's taste, but have not nailed it just yet. I do appreciate the help, even the recipes that are not even close to hers. I may try them anyway, because they look delicious.

I think I figured out at least one thing about where I'm going wrong. Old Bay came into existence in 1939, my grandmother, 1916, twenty two years before OBS existed. She did not grow up using OBS in her crab cakes, Very much a great depression chef, though she did use most of the ingredients found in OBS She was very old school. Everything was from scratch and the only blended spice I can recall her using was Bells poultry seasonining, obviously not for crab cakes though.

Here is what I remember her using, and have used combinations thereof in my attempts. It is not a complete list, hence the failure to replicate her crab cakes. Additionally, some of the ingredients listed, I may have incorrectly recalled. Items preceded by an asterisk were definitely used in her recipe.

• Always lump crab meat, usually canned, but occasionally fresh blue crab that I caught.
• Bread crumbs

Very finely chopped celery. (proportion unknown)
* Butter (for frying)
*Mayo

• Mustard
• Paprika

*Salt ( she used salt in EVERYTHING)
*Pepper
* Raw egg ( NOTE: she may, and I have to stress MAY have also used hard boiled egg whites to "stretch" the meal)
Very finely chopped onion (proportion unknown)
Probably celery seed
* Dried parsley
Maybe onion powder

Another side note... I am actually cooking my crab cakes in the VERY SAME Wagner cast iron frying pan she used. Believe it or not, the type of frying pan does make a difference in taste. I learned that lesson replicating Sunday gravy meatballs.

While I may have not found the answer I'm looking for yet, this has been very helpful as it is spurring memories, each a small piece of the puzzle, helping me mentally recreate her process.

 

Not tradtional Maryland, but tasty is to make your own Creole-Cajun seasoning and hot sauce. This recipe comes from a professional chef who shared his recipe with our Navy mess. I am told that these ingredients and proportions are fairly standard in traditional Creole-Cajun cooking. If you don't have Old Bay, you might give this a try:

2 teaspoons smoked paprika, (it is OK to use regular paprika if you want less “heat”)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

It's OK to leave out or reduce the salt if you are watching your sodium intake.
If you don't like lots of heat, reduce the cayenne to 1/2 teaspoon and use regular paprika.
For home made hot sauce combine the above ingredients in a blender with 1 quart of cider vinegar.