Roasted Red Bell Pepper Aioli and Crab Cakes

Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–I’m so glad you’re here!

Today, I’m continuing my series on the seven foundational sauces of California Cuisine. While there is not a definitive list of foundational or “mother” sauces of California Cuisine, I am positing that they are the following: mayonnaise, vinaigrette, pesto, salsa, basic tomato sauce, Bernaise (or Hollandaise) and chimichurri sauce. I started the series by sharing my recipe for a basic mayonnaise, followed by thoughts on aioli and its sibling, pesto aioli. Today, I’m featuring roasted red bell pepper aioli, which is a wonderful and versatile version of aioli that plays equally well with vegetables and meats as it does as a spread or dip for sandwiches and bread. But let’s start with my favorite pairing for roasted red bell pepper aioli: crab cakes!

It’s finally crab season here in northern California and locals couldn’t be happier! The last few years have been crazy for the crab fisherfolk because of problems with their fishing nets interfering with migrating whales, as well as high levels of domoic acid in the ocean waters, particularly in Northern California. But now that it’s here, folks are indulging in crab in all manner of preparation.

Crab has always intimidated me. Having grown up in the dry part of Texas, nowhere near the Gulf, we didn’t get a lot of fresh seafood, and certainly no fresh crab, so I never experimented with it as an ingredient. Consequently, I didn’t know what all the fuss was about until about 20 years ago when I ordered crab cakes from a tiny seaside restaurant, whose specialty was crab cakes. They were divine. I did try making crab cakes once, but honestly, making crab cakes is an art form and the recipes are passed down from generation to generation and the ones I tried to make weren’t as good as the ones I could get prepared at my local gourmet grocery store or at local restaurants. Couple that with the price of fresh crab meat and the hands-down better deal for me has always been to buy prepared cakes from my local grocer.

Now–while I loved the crab cakes, what I never enjoyed was the remoulade sauce that is traditionally served with crab cakes. For me, it was just too sweet–like it was made with Miracle Whip or something. I always have felt that the rich succulence of the crab meat needed a sauce that was a little piquant and ever so gently spicy to go with it.

Enter red pepper aioli!

This sauce is savory, tangy and has a gentle punch of spice because of a little cayenne pepper. It’s the perfect counterpoint to the flavors of a crab cake, cutting through some of the richness of the meat and bread crumbs. And honestly, when served with some oven-roasted potatoes and a simple green salad dressed with vinaigrette, this is a meal fit for a celebration, with minimal preparation.

Look for good crab cakes at your local gourmet market, or try one of the many highly rated frozen versions: I’ve not tried them, but I have read from several sources that Phillips crab cakes are very good and widely available, including at Costco.

But don’t limit yourself to indulging in this wonderful roasted red bell pepper aioli sauce only on crab cakes! It makes a wonderful dip for vegetables, a great spread on a sandwich–either the super veggie sandwich I featured yesterday: