Miniature Crab Cakes with Chipotle Aioli Sauce Recipe

Crab Cakes: Cook the minced vegetables in 1 tablespoon butter over low heat until tender. Cool. Combine the crab meat, bread crumbs, vegetable mixture, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, parsley, chives and white pepper in a bowl; mix gently. Shape crab mixture into 1-inch patties about the size of a quarter.

Heat the clarified butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the crab cakes and cook until lightly browned on both sides. Serve on heart shape toasts with chipotle aioli sauce.

Clarified butter:(make only what you want) Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Transfer to a bowl and let cool. The clarified butter will rise to the top. Skim off this clear yellow liquid and set aside for cooking. Discard remaining white solids.

Chipotle Aioli Sauce: Combine the mayonnaise, caramelized onions, chiles in adobo sauce, lime juice, roasted garlic puree, salt and pepper in a bowl. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. Makes 2 cups Variation: For Roasted Red Pepper Aioli, substitute 3/4 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper for chipotle chiles.

This recipe was created for landlocked states, like Vermont, that don't have native crab. Feel free to use fewer bread crumbs as filler if you are one of those lucky locals who has access to fresh crab.