Crab Cakes

Longtime crab house Obrycki's will close its Pratt Street doors next year, ending a six-decade run of serving seafood to tourists and Baltimoreans. Obrycki's will open again in March. But when the crab season concludes in November, the family's Fells Point restaurant will close for good, according to Robert M. "Rob" Cernak, who operates the business with two sisters. Cernak said the family decided to close "for quality of life" reasons. The Cernaks expect to open a smaller crab house soon at the planned slots parlor near Arundel Mills mall.

The Great Gourmet is Kimberly Scott's way of introducing the world to Maryland seafood. Her Eastern Shore company sells crab cakes, oysters and clams to wholesale and retail markets. In 2006, just three years after opening, The Great Gourmet was logging $1.8 million in revenue. Three years after that, Scott had revenue of $3.8 million, 15 employees and a place on Inc. Magazine's 500/5000 fastest-growing companies list. With her company expanding, Scott turned to Richard Loeffler at the Eastern Region Small Business and Technology Development Center at Salisbury University in 2009 for advice about a small-business loan that would allow her to move from rented space to a building of her own in Federalsburg with more freezer space.

I have a problem with crab cakes. I have been using the recipe on the back of the Old Bay Seasoning container, and the cakes always fall apart. I've tried more/less eggs, more/less bread, more/less crab, etc. Crab cakes present all sorts of frying problems because of their moist constitution and irregular surface. I am ever mindful of the sage advice of my cooking idol, Marcella Hazan: "Wet things won't brown." To that, I add: "Wet things won't allow the formation of a sturdy enough crust to keep the thing from falling apart."

In a pair of working gloves with the Ravens logo emblazoned on the front, San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee painted broad brush strokes at a West Baltimore police station Friday to make good on a bet. Had the Ravens lost to the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake would have traveled to the West Coast to complete a day of service, which was the wager she and Lee made on the February game. "I think San Francisco is a lovely city, but I am glad I did not have to go there in payment of a debt," said Rawlings-Blake, who traded in her signature high heels for a pair of wedge booties for the day of activities.

My Crab Cakes Ingredients: 1 lb. crabmeat 2 tsp. melted butter 4 tbs. mayonnaise 1 tsp. mustard 1 beaten egg 1/2 tsp. Old Bay Sprinkle and add some bread crumbs, or 1 slice of bread, torn into small pieces. Instructions: Form all into large hamburger-size pieces and place on a plate in refrigerator for a few hours. Spray a tinfoil-covered cookie sheet and place in oven at 350 degrees until light brown on both sides. --Pat Keefe, Pasadena Crab Cakes Ingredients: 1 lb. lump crabmeat 2 eggs 1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce 1 sprinkle Tabasco sauce 1/2 tsp. Old Bay 1 tsp. Horseradish 1 tbs. honey mustard 4 slices bread, no crust 1/4 cup mayonnaise Instructions: Mix all ingredients except crabmeat.

More than 50 restaurants have signed onto the Maryland's 'True Blue' certification program and marketing campaign. Launched this spring by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the 'True Blue' certification program allows restaurants serving DNR-verified Maryland blue crab products to use a special logo in marketing or advertising the product. 'True Blue' wasn't so much designed to convert restaurant owners and diners to Maryland crab meat as it was to help diners who want Maryland crab meat find restaurants that serve it. “We're not saying that imported crab meat can't be delicious,” said DNR Fisheries Marketing Director Steve Vilnit when the program was announced.

Joan Rivers played the Hippodrome on Friday night. Rivers apparently wanted a Maryland crab cake before the show. And, after some back-channel communications, it came to pass that the Prime Rib delivered a crab cake dinner, along with a floral arrangement and a bottle of red wine, to Joan Rivers' dressing room before the show.  I know for a fact that Joan Rivers is a nice person because my neighbor Cookie Hymer told me so. Cookie was a manager at...

Is your Maryland crab cake true blue? Only a small number of restaurants in Maryland reliably make their crab cakes from local crabmeat, and the state does not require restaurants to identify the specific source of the meat in crab cakes. True Blue, a new  labeling and promotion initiative from The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), hopes to give restaurants that do use Maryland crabmeat a claw up on those that fill their crab cakes with inexpensive imported meat from Indonesia and Venezuela.

THESE PLUMP, INVITING crab cakes have been pared down to reduce calories but not taste. I developed this recipe out of dieter's desperation. I hungered for a real Maryland crab cake but the only recipes I could find called for eggs, bread crumbs, mayonnaise and, worst of all, frying in oil.Crab meat in itself is not fattening. Four ounces has about 125 calories according to Noreen L. Eberly at the State of Maryland Department of Agriculture.These spicy crab cakes use crumbled, toasted "diet" bread instead of bread crumbs and egg substitute instead of whole eggs.

Angelina's restaurant on Harford Road, long known for its crab cakes, is now sending them as gifts all over the United States. The cost for six crab cakes, shipping and handling is $118. They can be frozen if not eaten in a couple of days. For more information call (410) 444-5545 or (800) CRABCAKE.* New in Cockeysville in the Cranbrook Road shopping center: Fazzini's Italian Kitchen. It's a small establishment, only 35 seats, with a thriving carry- out and delivery business. But co-owner Nick Schweitzer, who used to own Pizzapeel on 33rd Street, says everything is homemade: pasta, bread, meatballs, sauces -- everything.

People flock to Pimlico Race Course on the third Saturday in May for the excitement, for a good party or for a stiff Black-Eyed Susan. The bill of fare, though, hasn't been high on the list of attractions since the Coolidge administration. The Maryland Jockey Club is looking to have the food at this year's race make the kind of lasting impression fans haven't seen since 1997, when Silver Charm, Free House and Captain Bodgit were separated at the finish by less than three feet.

They came to pay off a wager, but they couldn't escape a little trash talk. California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer walked humbly to Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski's Capitol Hill hideaway on Thursday to pay off their Super Bowl bet, showering Mikulski and Sen. Ben Cardin with cheese, wine and crab -- the West Coast variety. "This is real crab," Feinstein said as she handed a Dungeness crab to the Maryland senators. "It was caught a few days ago in a trap off of the Golden Gate Bridge...It comes with our deepest congratulations.

Who pays for the food involved when mayors and governors make bets on football games? When it comes to Faidley's crab cakes, the centerpiece of the market package Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has wagered on Sunday's AFC championship game, Faidley's is prepared to provide the goods. Faidley's owner Bill Devine said he has promised and provided crab cakes for municipal bets before, dating back to the William Donald Schaefer era. "It's a feel-good gesture," said Devine about his make-good promise.

If you were choosing an official Maryland sandwich based on popularity, there'd be no contest. The crab cake would beat the soft-shell crab sandwich every time. So, if the General Assembly enacts a bill this session that makes the soft-shell crab sandwich (rather than, say, the crab cake) the state sandwich of Maryland, it would be the biggest state symbol upset since the Wye Oak toppled in 2002. Some Marylanders are supporting the undercrab. "I love them. It is kind of iconic for the region," said John Shields, whose restaurant, Gertrude's, is a citadel of Chesapeake cooking.

Paul Blair remembers Dave May, who broke into baseball with the Orioles and spent 3-1/2 seasons here, as a skilled outfielder who was in the right place, but at the wrong time. "Unfortunately, when he got here (in 1967), there wasn't any room for him to play. He just couldn't break into our lineup," said Blair, the Orioles standout center fielder who was flanked by Frank Robinson and Don Buford. May died Saturday of cancer. The New Castle, Del., native was 68. A reserve with the Orioles, he hit .216 before being dealt to Milwaukee in mid-1970.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver and longtime Ravens nemesis Hines Ward has a new job as analyst for NBC's "Football Night in America. " But he's still feeling the old "hate" when he comes to Baltimore. Ward, who will be working in Baltimore tonight during the prime-time matchup between the Ravens and New England Patriots, posted this little chronicle on the "hate" he received on his journey to Baltimore for the game. Judging for all the parenthetical "haha's," I'm guessing there's some tongue in cheek from Ward here, but he was a much better receiver than he is a writer, so I am not so sure.

There is more riding on Saturday's playoff game between the Ravens and Indianapolis Colts than bragging rights or a chance to advance to the AFC championship game. For two mayors, there is also dinner -- and a potentially pricey dinner, at that. Baltimore Mayor and Gov.-elect Martin O'Malley and Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, continuing the tradition among city leaders of backing up their teams with something more than words, set a "friendly wager" yesterday on the game. Peterson is throwing some midwestern steak into the pot; O'Malley, a Maryland crab cake dinner.

Q: Can you tell me if it's possible to make crab cakes without using eggs? I am allergic to them.A: Eggs are used as a binder in many recipes so to eliminate them can be challenging.Even mayonnaise, which helps to bind crab cakes, contains eggs unless you can find an eggless mayonnaise that is bound with gums.It is possible that a thick salad dressing, such as the refrigerated variety, can help to bind the crab cake. You may also want to try using a small amount of mashed potatoes to hold the crab cake together.

Ever even conceive of a 300-pound crab cake? The folks at Handy International did -- breaking their own record for World's Largest Crab Cake and serving it up to attendees of the Maryland State Fair Saturday. What goes into a 300-pound crab cake? 200 pounds of crab meat, as well as eggs, breading and seasoning. Handy Seafood's Jim Cupp designed a rotisserie-style cooker to complete the challenge. It took 8 hours for the massive crab cake to cook, and it was weighed at noon. Sandwiches from the record-setting cake were sold, benefitting the Maryland 4-H Foundation. 

Phillips Crab Deck is now open in Annapolis. The 140-seat terrace restaurant, which opened very quietly on Aug. 16, marks Phillips Seafood's return to Annapolis -- in  the same Dock Street location that it left in 2009. It was replaced there by Hell Point Seafood, which shut its doors in late February of this year. Phillips Crab Deck, which is open daily for lunch and dinner beginning at 11:30 a.m., occupies only one of three buildings -- 14 Dock St. -- that housed the Phillips Annapolis Harbor Restaurant and then Hell Point Seafood.