Crabcakes and Fennel-Apple Slaw

We wanted to cook something last night, didn't feel like like anything that was in my pantry, so Kimmy started suggesting a bunch of things, and we ended up deciding on crabcakes. I wanted to do something new as a side too, and I somehow came up with fennel and apple slaw - I think I've watched too many episodes of Top Chef. So I researched some recipes and mixed them together into my own creation in my mind like I usually do, and we went to the grocery store and bought everything.

I'll start with the slaw. I've never eaten fennel other than fennel seeds in italian sausage and stuff, but this worked out pretty well, so I'll probably think about it more often now. On its own, fennel has a mild black licorice taste, which is strange, but combining it with the apple and dressing calms that down and makes for an interesting taste. I sliced up the fennel bulb and a green apple into thin strips, then tossed it in salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil, with a little bit of the fennel tops - the wispy greens above the fennel bulb look and taste a little like fresh dill. I should have stopped there, but I wasn't sure, so I added a few more things. One recipe I saw called for celery seed, which I didn't have, but being the Chicago-style hot dog fiend that I am, I have celery salt, so I sprinkled just a bit of that in. I also thought it needed a little bit more acid, so I threw a few shakes of red wine vinegar in there. Like I said, in the end, I don't think it needed anything extra, because after sitting for a bit, the flavors came together, and I realized I should have stuck with the simple lemon, oil and fennel top dressing.

I've never made crabcakes before, but I felt like I had seen them made enough times before, so we gave it a shot. Started by sauteeing some onion and garlic, then mixing those in with mayonnaise, ritz cracker crumbs, green onion, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Then tossed in the crab and mixed them together. Kimmy formed the cakes and then we let them rest in the fridge to set while we worked on the slaw and everything else. After they rested, I coated the cakes in panko breadcrumbs and just fried them in a pan with a little bit of oilive oil. They stayed together surprisingly well, only the first one fell apart on me. The crabcakes were good, but I think if I made them again I'd try to do more in the crab mixture, maybe some bell pepper or just something completely different.

I also made a garlic "aioli" sauce for the crabcakes by mixing some raw pressed garlic and lemon juice into mayonnaise and sour cream, and tossed some of the fennel tops into that too. The sauce was good, but the raw garlic was pretty overpowering, so I might do a roasted garlic version instead if I did it again.

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