Peggy and I had leftover delicious crab cakes made with expensive lump crabmeat. One pound of lump crabmeat made six large crab cakes and we only ate three of them at dinner. So, what to do with the leftovers? Sure, they can be reheated and taste okay, but they will never be as good as when they are freshly made. I saw this as a significant problem given the cost of one pound of collosal lump crabmeat ($30). Granted, good crab cakes can be made from $18 per pound canned (pasteurized) crab meat, but still it is wasteful to spend even that much money just to have okay leftovers ... And note that there is no good way to use half a can of pasteurized crabmeat and easily preserve the other half while retaining high quality.
I never did solve the problem as stated. Instead, I happened one day to think about making corned beef hash and when I opened the refrigerator I saw the leftover crab cakes. That is when the idea occurred to me that the crab cakes could be used instead of a can of corned beef to make what should be a delicious hash.
Was my idea original? No. I actually was remembering a breakfast at a special diner in Maine with my great old buddy, Bob Payne. It was his idea to drive into Maine and seek out the diner. So we did. Among numerous breakfast entrees using seafood, they made crab hash and it was unique and delicious. I never thought about making it at home until that magic moment when I saw the leftover crab cakes in my refrigerator at the same time as I was thinking about making corned beef hash.
You now know what this recipe is all about. What you likely don't know is how delicious the crab hash is that I made. Let's say I no longer worry about having leftover crab cakes, for the crab hash is unique and mighty fine. For the record, my crab cakes (recipe in Food Nirvana) are very high in crab meat content and of relatively low content in other ingredients. I don't cheapen my crabcakes with a lot of useless filler.
I hope you try this recipe as it is very easy to make as shown. I took the easy way out by using hash brown potato patties purchased frozen at the supermarket instead of processing raw potatoes. As a result this dish can be made quickly ... in less than 20 minutes.
Ingredients: (Makes two generous servings of crab hash)
2 tbsp. of butter for sauteing the onion and the garlic
2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium size onion, diced
3 large leftover crab cakes, broken up into small pieces
3, 2 ounce frozen hash brown patties, thawed and broken up into small pieces
2 extra large or jumbo eggs
1 tbsp. of butter for frying eggs over easy
2 pieces of seeded rye bread to be made into rye toast
1 tbsp. of butter to butter the pieces of rye toast
Directions:
Heat the oven to 180 degrees F. Place two dinner plates and a one quart serving bowl into the oven to prewarm them.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large, heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat.
Saute the diced onion with stirring for about five minutes until it is translucent, but do not let it turn brown on the edges.
Add the minced garlic to the skillet, stir and saute on medium heat for one to two minutes until fragrant.
Add the broken up pieces of hash brown patties to the skillet, mix well, and cook on medium heat for about three minutes.
Add the broken up pieces of the crab cakes to the onion and garlic and potato mixture.
Cook the hash for five minutes on medium heat, stirring often to keep it from sticking onto the bottom of the skillet. You can add one additional tablespoon of butter to the skillet to lubricate the bottom surface, which will help avoid having the hash stick to the skillet. The goal is to get some of the crabmeat in contact with the hot skillet bottom lightly browned during cooking, but not dry from overcooking.
Dispense the crab hash into the prewarmed serving bowl and put it into the 180 degrees F warming oven.
Make two pieces of rye toast, butter them, cut them diagonally, and put them onto the top of the crab hash bowl in the warming oven.
Clean the skillet lightly and add one tbsp. of butter and heat on medium heat until the butter melts.
Break the eggs into the skillet gently and make eggs over easy. Salt and pepper the eggs lightly.
Make two hot plates of the crab hash with one egg over easy on top of each and the pieces of buttered rye toast around the perimeter.
Serve the hash along with hot coffee and some fresh fruit or fresh fruit salad on the side. Each person can season the hash to taste with salt and pepper.