Apple Curry Crab Cakes

  

  
Sometimes opposites do attract.  Many of our fall dishes are warm and comforting.  Root vegetables or squash lend themselves to roasting and baking.  The chill in the air lends itself to oven cooked meals, casseroles, ragus.  Autumn's apples around here come from the mountain valleys, which make me think of game, rustic and wild.  But it doesn't have to be that way when selecting recipes to use fall's harvest.  Opposite tastes, like cool, crisp, fresh tastes normally associated with the summer, can also pair well with apples.  This dish plays on that by incorporating apples into crab cakes.  Geographically, these are opposite ingredients.  Local apples here come from the cooler terrain to the west near Virginia's Blue Ridge and the Shenandoah Valley.  Crabs come from the east and the Chesapeake Bay.  Even farther to the east come curry spices, and the cool taste of cilantro.  Isn't going in opposite directions why we travel, to take our lives temporarily to a different place, break ourselves from our routines, the known and comfortable?  This recipe from Food and Wine may be a break from your fall repertoire, but use it to take your fall apple harvest in a new direction.  Serves 4.
     
Ingredients:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp creme fraiche
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chives, snipped
1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, mined
1 tbsp tarragon, minced
2 apples, such as Granny Smith with 1 cut into thin matchsticks and one diced to produce 1/2 a cup of diced apple

1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

1 lb lump crab
1/4 cup canola oil1 tbsp champagne vinegar
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
     
Directions:
In a bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup mayonnaise with 1/2 tsp of the curry.  Set aside.  In another bowl, combine the remaining mayonnaise, creme fraiche, lemon juice, chives, parsley, tarragon, egg, 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs and diced apple.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place the remaining bread crumbs on a plate.  Form crab cake mixture into 4 patties and coat each in the bread crumbs.  Place the crab cakes on an oiled baking sheet and chill.  Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large non-stick saute pan over medium heat.  Add the crab cakes and saute until golden, perhaps 5 minutes.  Gently turn the cakes and saute the other side until also golden.  Meanwhile, mix 2 tbsp of the oil, vinegar and 1/2 tsp curry powder.  Add to apple matchsticks and cilantro and toss.  Season the finished crab cakes as desired.  Serve with apple salad and curry mayonnaise.