My recipe has changed often over the years and best guess is inspiration from Ina Garten.

Oven: 400 degrees F

Yield: approximately 3 dozen mini crab cakes

Ingredients:

3  tablespoons olive oil

1  cup small minced onion (1 medium onion)

1  cup small minced celery (3-4 stalks)

1 ½  tablespoons fresh thyme, divided

1  teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

½   teaspoon salt

½  teaspoon pepper

½  teaspoon pimenton ( smoked paprika)

1  pound Jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over

1  cup panko, divided

1  large egg

¼   cup mayonnaise

1  tablespoon Dijon mustard

1  teaspoon horseradish

1  teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2  seedless cucumbers, ¼” slices

olive oil spray

¼  cup Wasabi mayonnaise

Wasabi mayonnaise

1  teaspoon Wasabi powder

1  teaspoon lemon juice

¼  cup mayonnaise

Directions:

Make Wasabi mayonnaise ahead of time, cover and refrigerate

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and add onion and celery. Cook for about 10 minutes until softened, allow to cool and add in 1 tablespoon of thyme, Old Bay seasoning, salt, pepper, and pimenton.

Using a fork or fingers, shred the lump crab into a large bowl and add ½ cup of panko and cooled onions and celery.

Separately, beat together the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice and add to the crab mixture.

Shape mixture into small crab cakes, using a heaping tablespoon as a measurement. Using the remaining ½ cup panko, gently coat each side of the crab cakes and spray both sides with olive oil spray.

Using a non-stick sheet pan or a sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray, place the crab cakes approximately 1” apart. Spray crab cakes lightly with olive oil spray.

Bake until golden brown, approximately 10 – 12 minutes, gently turning the crab cakes half way through the baking time and spray other side with olive oil spray. The crab cakes are done when heated in center and browned on both sides. Times may vary with different ovens. Do not over bake as this will result in a dry crab cake.

While the crab cakes are baking, prepare the cucumbers.  Make slices ¼ thick and slice on a slight angle. To make the cucumber fancier, use a fork and run it longitudinally around the entire cucumber. This creates grooves around the cucumber and when sliced it looks notched.

Dollop ½ teaspoon Wasabi mayonnaise on each cucumber slice and top with a crab cake. Sprinkle the top of the crab cakes with remaining fresh thyme.

Serve warm.

Wasabi Mayonnaise

Make a paste of the Wasabi powder and the lemon juice. Mix in the mayonnaise. May be made the day before and covered tightly and refrigerated.

Notes:

• I have made my own Wasabi mayonnaise, but prefer to purchase it and use the one from Trader Joe’s. If you make it, the taste is more fully developed after a few hours.
• This recipe, divided, is the crab base for both the mushroom and the palmier recipes:  ½ of the recipe for the stuffed mushrooms and ½ of the recipe for the palmiers.