Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Tuesday's Tasting - TJ's Maryland Style Crab Cakes

If I told you that Trader Joe's sold a package of two Maryland Style Crab Cakes for only $2.99 would you believe me? Would you believe me if I told you that they are actually really good?

This week's Tuesday Tasting is, you guessed it, Trader Joe's Maryland Style Crab Cakes. Each $2.99 package contains two 3 oz. crab cakes. Each cake contains a blend of blue, jonah, and snow crab meat as well as mayonnaise, cornbread, green onion, parsley, Worcestershire, dijon mustard, and some other stuff.

The package recommends thawing the crab cakes for one hour at room temperature or for 24 hours in the refrigerator then cooking them in a skillet over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes per side. I'm telling you, don't bother thawing the crab cakes first, they will be very difficult to handle when soft. I placed two frozen crab cakes in a hot skillet with a couple tablespoons of canola oil and cooked them for a few minutes on each side.

The crab cakes browned up nicely and really are very good. I served mine on a toasted whole wheat British muffin, Trader Joe's version of an English muffin, with some Bookbinder's horseradish mustard and a side salad of field greens dressed lightly with an aged balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. These Maryland Style Crab Cakes from Trader Joe's would be really good at twice the price but at $2.99 a package, they are one of the best values in the freezer case. I suggest you pick some up and try them yourself then check back with me and let me know how you like them. Thanks for reading, see you next week for Tuesday's Tasting.

Allergy warning: Crab cakes are made in a facility that processes milk, peanuts, and tree nuts.

4 comments:

  1. So as I was baking my TJ's crab cakes I decided to check some reviews. I know this review was from 2007 but I had to post. These are really good as you stated. I baked them longer than instructed on the package and they still were delicious. I paired it with some TJ's tarter sauce and fries and it felt like I was in Baltimore with my crab cake platter!

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    1. I did the same thing! My oven has been acting up lately but regardless I cooked them longer and on a higher temperature and they came out amazing. Ate them with seared salmon, pesto pasta, and some cole slaw.

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  2. I wish I read your post before cooking the cakes, it was difficult and messy to handle once they are thawed. Price is now at $3.29 still a good deal for some tasty crab cakes.

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    1. Me too! My entire motivation for searching a review was because I was skeptical about whether or not I had thawed them correctly according to food safety guidelines. I misread the label and ended up actually thawing these for a couple of hours at room temperature (the article states that it only takes one hour) at which point the cakes were mushy in the package. I then left them in the fridge for about 7 hours before cooking them for dinner this evening. They came out great but as the author said they were really hard to handle once thawed.

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