Crab Cakes

I've been wanting to learn how to make some good crab cakes. We've tried one recipe before, and it wasn't that great. When I tried some in Maryland, I noticed they used a lot of Old Bay seasonings on top, and they were nice and crispy on the edges, and soft in the middle. Then my sister-in-law, who grew up back east, gave me her recipe to try. It went something like this: add a little bit of this, and a lot of this... so I didn't have exact measurements to go by, just a general idea. They turned out really good, and here's about how much we used: 

2 cans crab meat 

1 egg

2 Tb. Mayonnaise 

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

1/2 pkg. saltine crackers, crushed

3-5 Tb. Old Bay seasoning

3-5 Tb. bread crumbs

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup oil 

I mixed up the crab with the egg, mayo, and spices, and then added the crushed crackers and stirred just till combined. Then I took a large spoon and dropped large spoonfuls of the stuff onto some parchment paper, and tapped down the tops with a fork to level out the tops, while slightly squeezing the sides to shape into a circle. I ended up making mine a little thin, but next time I'll make them thicker, like the ones I had back east. A lot thicker. Then warmed up the butter and oil in a skillet at medium heat and mixed the Old Bay and bread crumbs in a bowl. Next I scooped up the crab cakes one at a time, and dipped them head first into the Old Bay and bread-crumb mixture and placed them carefully in the hot butter/oil, and fried them on each side, until golden brown. I placed them in a warm dish, covered them with foil, and stuck them in a hot oven (about 300) to heat them through and keep them warm until I was ready to serve them up. This recipe made about 5-6 small cakes, so we ended up doubling the recipe to have enough for our family to have two each. 

Next time I make these, I'm considering adding:

1 garlic clove, finely minced- or just a little bit of garlic powder

2 Tb. parsley, finely minced

1/4 onion, finely chopped

1 baked potato, peeled and mashed