Ingredients
Tarragon Hollandaise Sauce:
1 cup Clarified Butter
3 large egg yolks
½ Tbls fresh lemon juice
½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
½ Tbls good quality drinking dry Sherry
½ Tbls minced Fresh Tarragon
Crab Cakes:
½ lb Fresh Jumbo Lump Crabmeat
½ lb Fresh Backfin Crabmeat
1 egg
½ cup good quality Mayonnaise
1/8 cup Italian style breadcrumbs plus more for coating
¾ tsp horseradish
½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
1tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 egg
1 Tbls fresh Lemon Juice
½ Tbls chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
Butter for sautéing
Preparation
Sauce: Fill bottom of sauce pan with enough water to coat about 2 inches. Bring to boil then remove from heat. Place glass mixing bowl over boiling water making sure the bottom does not touch the water, and whisk together butter, old bay, tarragon, and Sherry. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and water until fluffy. Then slowly temper eggs by whisking a little of the hot butter mixture. Then slowly poor egg mixture into glass bowl and whisk until you have created a thick emulsification that has the texture of a soft pudding. Then finish by whisking in lemon juice and more Old Bay if desired. You must work fast, or the mixture will not emulsify properly, and you must continuously whisk the eggs so they do not begin to scrabble.
Crab Cakes Whisk together everything except crabmeat, butter, and bread crumbs for coating. Gently fold in crabmeat being very careful not to break any lumps of crabmeat. Form 12 crab cakes using an ice cream scoop to measure mixture, and very lightly coat with bread crumbs. Melt butter in a medium fry pan and sauté crab cakes until lightly brown on both sides. Place a spoonful of hollandaise on serving plate and place 2 cakes on top of sauce, then drizzle with more sauce.
