Crispy Shrimp Cakes

Posting this one especially for Colby's dad, Garry--these are the shrimp cakes we had at New Years. ;o) For everyone else, these are surprisingly tasty and easy to make--when you chop up the shrimp, leave them in fairly large chunks so you can taste them in the cakes. This would also work great with lump crab meat. I would advise that you pay attention when making it though...I accidently grabbed the wrong shaker and ended up adding two helpings of salt. :P

Crispy Shrimp Cakes

Ingredients:

2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 lb peeled, deveined shrimp, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped scallions (I substituted shallots leftover from lobstah mac)
2 tsp of garlic paste (I substituted one fresh garlic clove, minced)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp of salt (yeah)
Olive or canola oil for frying

Cooking Instructions:

In a medium mixing bowl, combine shrimp, eggs, bell pepper, scallions, garlic, mustard, pepper and salt and 1/2 a cup of the breadcrumbs (put the rest on a plate for rolling the cakes in later). Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to make patty cakes with.

Coat a large, non-stick skillet with your cooking oil (I used olive) and bring to medium-high heat.

Using a 1/3 cup as a measuring scoop, scoop out the shrimp mixture and plonk it onto the breadcrumbs. Make sure the cake is liberally coated (to avoid turning them, I just sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top and sides). Using a spatula, transfer the cake your skillet and cook 4 minutes per side until it is golden brown. Repeat with remaining shrimp mixture (I cooked four at a time). Shrimptastic.

Serves: 4 (Makes 8 cakes)