Supermeow!

[flickr]set:72157623212478648[/flickr]

My six degrees of separation story about Todd English is that my dad helped him get building permits to open up Olives (and later, Figs) in Charlestown, MA in the 1980s. I’d never actually eaten at his restaurant until I went there for my BFF Prairie’s 24th birthday in 2000. I don’t remember everything I had, but I do remember having something involving a lobster ragout over squid ink pasta. I’d seen squid ink pasta on Iron Chef and very much wanted to try it, delightful gothy black pasta. Mmm! Say what you will about what Todd English has become, as MC Slim JB does very well, but back when he was into cooking, the man knew how to make some dang pizza and he knew how to make some effin’ crab cakes. I received The Olives Table several years ago as a birthday or Christmas present, either from Prairie or from my mom, I’m no longer sure. I liked the sound of his crab cake recipe as it didn’t involve red bell pepper or mayonnaise, bold moves indeed!  I made the crab cakes and I made an aïoli also from the cookbook and whoa. Oh, Todd English, you’re the real Iron Chef USA.

Adapted for the home, his cookbooks are easy to follow and replicate in your kitchen. If nothing else, these crab cakes are worth trying. Rather than welcome a C&D, the link there is for “mini” crab cakes, but it’s the same as the recipe in his cookbook; the recipe omits the fact that you will get four crab cakes from that recipe.