Today we have another winning culinary creation from Cookes Food, perfect for summertime entertaining.  I was lucky enough to sample these crab cakes for lunch on the day we photographed these recipes with Sophie and Nicole, OMG you have no idea how truly delish they are!  It's all down the the quality and sweetness of the crab meat of course... splash out on the very best and freshest spanner crab you can find. - Lucy

Spanner Crab Cakes with Broccoli and Bush Tomato Jam. Recipe - Cookes Food, styling - Lucy Feagins / Cookes Food, Photo - Brooke Holm.

While I will admit that the old crab cake is not the most Australian concept, we do our best to add a little green and gold patriotism to this dish by using Queensland Spanner crab and creating our version of the Chesapeake classic.

Spanner crabs are in my opinion the BEST tasting of all the crabs. They're unusual looking creatures that swim in some of the best waters in Australia, so you could say they live in a tropical paradise!  No wonder they taste so good.

Crab Cakes

250g spanner crab meat
100g minced, slow sweated shallot
¼ cup breadcrumbs
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp. of mayonnaise
1 handful of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

To serve

1 head of broccoli
Juice of ½ a lemon
¼ cup slow sweated shallot
Oil
Salt and pepper

Serves 4

In a bowl combine all the ingredients by hand. Roll into small ping pong sized balls, and gently press them down between your palms to create a pattie.

Heat a fry pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil and gently add the patties to the pan, making sure you watch out for the hot oil. Cook each pattie for 1.5 - 2 minutes on each side. Allow to rest.

These bite sized treats are best served with blanched broccoli, dressed with a generous swig of olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper, and quarter cup of slow sweated shallots.  And to top it all off, if you have time, add a generous dollop of tomato jam, as outlined below.

Spanner Crab cake ingredients. Recipe - Cookes Food, Photo - Brooke Holm.

Bush Tomato Jam

1 kilo of roma tomatoes, diced in a magimix (skin, seed and all)
1 cup of dried bush tomatoes
1 cup cognac
3 cloves garlic
1.5 cups slow sweated brown onion
1 cup brown sugar
1.2 cups cider vinegar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 all spice
1 cinnamon quill
Salt and pepper to taste

Soak dried bush tomatoes in the cognac for 1 hour. Meanwhile sauté the onion with the garlic until translucent. Add the spices and continue cooking until the mustard seeds POP!

Pour the soaked bush tomatoes and the cognac into the pot and stand back as it will ignite. Allow it to burn for about 2 minutes and then add the Roma tomatoes and all the other ingredients. Turn the burner down to low and cook for 4-6 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste. This jam is so simple to make and will be a much loved condiment on any festive season luncheon table!

For more foodie inspiration, we highly recommend checking out the Cookes Food event portfolio - these lovely ladies and their talented team create the tastiest morsels for all manner of events in and around Melbourne!

Spanner Crab cake ingredients. Recipe - Cookes Food, Photo - Brooke Holm