Refrigerate these crab cakes in stages

A: Aria's Gerry Klaskala provided the recipe for these crab cakes and sauce, a combination served with their Napa Walnut Slaw, a recipe we ran in March 2011.

“From the menu of” receives many requests for crab cake recipes, and this is one of the most extravagant we’ve published. There’s no filler, so the crab is the star, and the recipe’s directions for refrigerating the cakes in stages are critical to the success of the finished dish. If you don’t want to deep fry your cakes, you can pan sauté them instead.

Although the crab cakes are always made at Aria on the day they will be served, you can spread out the work over a day by preparing the crab mixture and forming the cakes and then refrigerating the cakes up to one day ahead. Or prepare the cakes through the breading stage and refrigerate up to one day. Now on the day of your dinner, the only step left is to cook and serve.

Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.

Aria’s Crab Cakes and Mustard Sauce

Hands on: 15 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes plus 2 hours chilling time

Serves: 4

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup chopped scallions, white part only (from about 6 scallions)

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 pound jumbo lump crab, picked through to remove pieces of shell

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 eggs

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup panko

Peanut oil for frying

Spicy Mustard Sauce (see recipe)

In a small skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat and cook scallions until soft but not colored, about 4 minutes. Allow to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, Old Bay seasoning and cayenne. When thoroughly combined, fold in cooked scallions and crab. Be careful not to break up the lumps. Cover mixture and refrigerate for one hour.

In a pie plate, stir together 1/2 cup flour with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. In another pie plate. beat eggs and milk. Put panko in a third pie plate.

Remove crab mixture from refrigerator and divide into 4 portions. Carefully shape into patties. Dip each patty into flour, then egg mixture, then bread crumbs. Arrange patties on a dish. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

When ready to cook, in a Dutch oven, heat 2 inches oil to 350 degrees. Carefully lower patties into hot oil and cook until golden brown and hot in the middle, about 5 minutes. Cook patties in batches if needed. Turn carefully to brown evenly and remove to a rack to drain. Sprinkle with kosher salt if desired. Serve immediately with Spicy Mustard Sauce.

Per serving, without mustard sauce: 568 calories (percent of calories from fat, 64), 28 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 41 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 196 milligrams cholesterol, 904 milligrams sodium.

Spicy Mustard Sauce

Hands on: 5 minutes

Total time: 5 minutes

Makes 3/4 cup (2 tablespoon serving)

Any extra sauce can be used for sandwiches or as a dressing for cole slaw. It will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

1/2 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise

1/4 cup Maille Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon A-1 steak sauce

1/2 teaspoon Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, steak sauce, Worcestershire and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Per 2-tablespoon serving: 140 calories (percent of calories from fat, 96), 1 gram protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace fiber, 16 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 6 milligrams cholesterol, 240 milligrams sodium.