Saturday Night – Someone say Crab Cakes? – Part 1

This past Saturday it was my turn to host and I had a new recipe on tap and two new wines to try.  About a month ago I found a recipe for crab cakes that I did as ‘during the week’ dinner for Kathy and myself.  I enjoyed it and wanted to share it with Mick and Amy so the first course of the evening was crab cakes.  I paired this with a Bollinger Special Cuvee Champagne NV.  I had picked the Bollinger’s up two days before at the LCBO as it was rated a 93 by the Wine Spectator so I was excited to try it.

 

The nose was powerful for a Champagne as you didn’t need to swirl the glass to get the aromas like you usually do; aromas of lime, soap, pumpkin and yeast were to be found.  Tasting the wine, pink grapefruit and orange zest were the dominate flavours.  This wine starts huge in your mouth with an explosion of flavours but seems to disappear quickly after the mid-palate and didn’t linger much on the finish.  The acidity level was good but I tend to like a Champagne’s acidity to be a bit more cutting then this one was.  There was also a creaminess to this Champagne which I enjoyed.  It was a decent pairing with the food but it was actually better on its own.  Even more surprising was that as it warmed up it got even better. 

 

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 90, Mark – 89, Kathy – 89, Amy – 89, Overall – 89.25.

 

Here is the LCBO information the wine –

 

BOLLINGER SPECIAL CUVÉE BRUT CHAMPAGNE
VINTAGES 384529
750 mL bottle
Price $ 74.95
Made in: Champagne, France
By: Champagne J. Bollinger
Release Date: Oct 26, 2013
Wine, Champagne
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Style: Rich & Complex
Varietal: Sparkling
Sugar Content: 14 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

 

Tasting Note -  Very elegant and refined in texture, with fresh, focused acidity finding fine integration with the layered notes of patisserie apple, black currant, smoky mineral and biscuit, complimented by hints of lemon zest and honey. Lingering finish. Drink now through 2020. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. Score - 93. (Alison Napjus, winespectator.com, Dec. 15, 2012)

 

The crab cakes were good and there are three things I loved about this recipe.  The first is they are pan fried in a little butter vs. deep fried in oil which is a good thing.  The second thing is instead of breadcrumbs they use crushed Ritz crackers which is genius in my opinion as the biggest issue with crab cakes is usually getting them firm enough to stay together through the cooking process.  As crackers are drier than breadcrumbs they absorb more of the moisture of the crab mix and stay together really well.  The last thing I like is the prep time to make this mix is about 15 minutes and the cook time is less the 10 minutes so fairly quick to make.

 

Here is a link to recipe - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Ever-Crab-Cakes/?prop24=hn_slide1_Best-Ever-Crab-Cakes&evt19=1

 

Click here for Part 2