My meeting with Liz Taylor and Carol Burnett.

Back in 1984 I was working for a hospitality agency that found small projects for maverick chefs that were between jobs. A lot of projects that I was involved in were being designed and built to… specs and would fall behind schedule. I was contacted by Gino Emprio of the Royal York asking if I was available to produce a menu for a fundraiser that would be hosted by Liz Taylor, Carol Burnet along with a lot of high society Torontonians.

Back then I was at my best and you were only as good as your last meal. I just finished a high profile stint at the Elm Club while waiting to head a new concept restaurant which was under construction.

I was asked to incorporate a menu style containing new fusion food items. In other words you could put your own spin on a recipe making it a signature dish. The marriage of foods from different cultures was the in thing and plate presentation was pushed to the wow factor.

Several dishes were chosen including Tile Fish served with Tangerine Citrus Sauce with Beet and Walnut Couscous, Watermelon Sorbet and Dungeness Crab Cakes on a Rocket Lettuce and Watercress Salad as the appetizer. The  very Successful fund raiser was well recieved They both were very appreciative of my cooking talent and gave me several hugs each saying that they would sign one of the menus which they did.

Let’s start with;

Star Crab Cakes 1 lbs. fresh shucked crab meat picked over for any shell or cartilage.

1 tbs fresh lemon juice 2 cups warm mashed potatoes

4 organic egg yolks

1 tsp of Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp fresh black pepper

1/3 cup clarified butter.

Place the picked over crab in a bowl and add the lemon juice and sit aside. In a large bowl combine the mashed potatoes, egg yolks, mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Now fold in the crab meat. Using about a ¼ cup blob of the mixture, pat and shape into 12 ½ inch patties. In a heavy duty large skillet heat the 3 tbs of butter over medium high heat. Add the crab cakes without crowding. Fry for approx. 3 minutes each side till well browned. Fry the remaining cakes using more butter in necessary.

When I made them for this meal they were served with a rocket salad of watercress and spinach and homemade tartar sauce. The sky is the limit when you got great crab cakes to side.

Cheers!

Thekitchenman’s B.C.