Green Chile Crab Cakes with Tomatillo Salsa and Truffled Black Beans

If we decided to open a fancy-ish, non-traditional, Mexican restaurant, these green chile crab cakes with tomatillo salsa and a side of truffled black beans with caramelized onions would definitely be on the menu.

This is another savory recipe from the Pastry Queen Cookbook, which I am officially in love with.

This is another rather expensive meal with the Dungeness crab that is totally worth it.

First sauté half a yellow onion, 1/2 of a red bell pepper (diced), two cloves of garlic, and a jalapeño pepper over medium heat in olive oil. Allow the vegetables to cool then transfer to a large bowl. Add a pound of crabmeat, the juice of a lime, two eggs lightly beaten, two tablespoons of fresh cilantro, two cups of Panko-style breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of light mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper to the vegetables. Mix everything together well; use your hands!

Form into patties (3" in diameter for 8), cover in more Panko breadcrumbs and sauté for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve covered with tomatillo salsa (that can be made earlier in the day) and a tiny bit of sour cream.

For the side dish, take a 15-ounce can of black beans and add in some garlic, a slight bit of white wine vinegar, some salt and pepper, and a couple of tablespoons of truffle oil (!) and combine everything in the food processor until smooth. Use the extra onion from the crab cakes and sauté in a pan with olive oil and a bit of sugar until brown and caramelized. This process takes awhile, and should be begun while simultaneously sautéing the vegetables for the crab cakes.

Top the beans with the caramelized onions and serve next to the tomatillo crab cakes, and you have quite the fancy dinner on your plate.