Eat: On the eve of Crab Feast Mendocino, chefs are sharing Dungeness recipes — one at a time.
Make Noyo Harbor Inn’s Quebec-inspired crab cakes
ADungeness tizzy has hit Northern California. Suddenly those rosy crustaceans are everywhere — at local fish markets, on restaurant menus and on the calendar, too, in the form of crab festivals, Dungeness feasts and other deliciousness. One of the biggest of those festivals is Crab Feast Mendocino, a 10-day seafood festival that includes family-style crab and cioppino feasts, winery and brewery dinners, and crab-themed events across Mendocino County from Jan. 24 to Feb. 2. And if it sometimes seems to Mendocino visitors like every cafe and eatery has its own take on crab cakes, there’s a reason for that. The festival’s signature event is Fort Bragg’s annual Crab Cake Cook-off and Wine Tasting Competition — noon to 3 p.m. Feb. 1, if you want to note that on your calendar. It’s a mad competition among chefs, who cook up thousands of crab cakes for judges and guests. At stake? Bragging rights for the chefs and philanthropic support for the Mendocino Coast Clinics. Of course, you don’t have to go to the cook-off to sample the fare. You’ll find crab cakes on pretty much every Mendocino menu all winter long. Some places go classic, others add a twist. The Irish-inspired pub in Mendocino proper, for example, cooks up Perfect Patterson’s Pub Crab Cakes that add fresh lime juice, basil and dill to the mix. At the Noyo Harbor Inn, executive chef Fabrice Jean-pierre Dubuc goes Gallic — or at least Quebecois — with a Gateau de Crabe. And he’s sharing the recipe:
Gateau de Crabe Quebecois
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
1 egg 3tablespoons mayonnaise 1tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon Canadian maple syrup
1 teaspoon smoked paprika Pinch ground nutmeg 2 pinches cayenne pepper Pinch of ginger powder ¼ teaspoon onion powder 1 pound fresh crabmeat
1 cup panko breadcrumbs, divided use
Sauce Remoulade (see recipe below)
2 tablespoons butter DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, mix together the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, maple syrup and all the spices, salt and pepper to taste. Add the fresh crabmeat, mix evenly and gently fold in about a third of a cup of the breadcrumbs. Shape 6crab cakes of equal thickness without pressing too hard, then roll in the remaining breadcrumbs to coat. (Make sure not to use too many breadcrumbs!) Refrigerate the crab cakes while you make the Sauce Remoulade.
When ready to cook, melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the crab cakes and saute over low heat, until butter browns, cooking for 2 minutes on each side. Serve with a dollop of remoulade on top. Bon Appétit!
Sauce Remoulade
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon chopped chives 2 tablespoon chopped cornichons
1 teaspoon paprika Dash garlic powder Dash cayenne pepper Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
Mix together all the remoulade ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.
— Fabrice Jean-pierre Dubuc, executive chef, Noyo Harbor Inn