This is not a problem I expect to have very often. (But I wouldn't mind if I did!)
When I was experimenting with crabmeat-stuffed sole this past weekend, the smallest container of crabmeat that I could find was 8 ounces. That was exactly four times as much as I needed for the fish, so I planned to find something nice to do with the rest. (Tragic, I know.)
So I rooted around for a recipe, and found this one in The Way We Cook, not to be confused with The Way to Cook, by Julia Child :). The Way We Cook was written a few years ago by Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven, the former co-food editors for the Boston Globe. Some of the recipes had already appeared in the Wednesday food section or the Sunday magazine, and others were new. (I always enjoyed their recipes (a mixture of homey and exotic) and admired their writing style, and I wish they were both still writing in the Globe every week.) Their cookbook is much of the same, and I've learned several great recipes from it (with more to come, I think).
The recipe notes that these crabcakes are very delicate; instead of patting the mixture into crabcakes, it's dropped into the skillet and sort of pushed into place. The harder part was turning them, since they're still delicate. I found it worked to use a fork, and a heatproof spatula, and sort of nudge them onto the spatula and give them a decisive flip. It's much easier to workj with these little guys (although the recipe tells you that you can make larger crabcakes as well.) I scooped mine with the tablespoon from my measuring spoon set, because it has nice round, deep bowl shape, so mine might have been a little smaller than the recipe suggests. They were the perfect size for an hors d'oeuvre. And it's great that you can make these ahead and reheat them -- they're actually very easy, and I could definitely see making these for a party.
If you taste the uncooked mixture, you might think the raw onion is too strong, but it's less noticeable when the crab cakes are cooked. The cornmeal isn't detectable, either, but it gives them a pretty golden color. You can see how they would even better with large pieces of lump crabmeat, but even with darker, stringier claw meat (oh...that doesn't sound attractive, does it?), they're very good. Not too bready, moist and sweet. They were a real treat!
Mini Crab Cakes
From The Way We Cook, by Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven
for about eighteen little cakes
two large eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup fresh white breadcrumbs
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
12 ounces fresh lump crabmeat {I think claw meat is okay too}
3 tablespoons grated raw onion
1 cup fresh corn kernels {I used Del Monte 'Summer Crisp' corn from a can -- it's really good in recipes}
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
3 tablespoons butter
In a medium bowl, combine the eggs and milk and beat together with a fork for a minute. Mix in the breadcrumbs, cornmeal, crab, onion, corn, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes; the mixture will seem soupy but it firms up a little as it sits.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees {this is just to keep the crabcakes warm}.
Remove the crabcake mixture from the refrigerator and stir it. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet. Use a soup spoon {see note above} to drop six heaping mounds of the mixture into the pan, leaving room around each one. With the back of the spoon, flatten the cakes slightly and smooth out the edges to form neat cakes. If a few of the corn kernels fall out, just smush them back in.
Cook the crabcakes over medium heat for 3 minutes, then turn them {see turning note above}and cook for another 3 minutes, or until they are golden brown and cooked through.
Transfer the crab cakes to a baking sheet and set them in the oven to keep warm. Use the remaining butter to fry the rest of the crab cakes in the same way, making only six cakes at a time. Serve immediately, or make the crabcakes ahead and reheat them just before serving, in a 350 oven for 10 minutes or until they are hot.
To make large crabcakes, use 2 tablespoons of butter for each batch, and put four larger mounds of batter in the skillet for each batch. Cook them for about 5 minutes on each side. {But, you know, I like the little ones, even for dinner.}
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Some other good recipes that I've made from this book:
Ten-Minute Bolognese, p. 78
Corn and Pasta Salad, p. 100
{this is my go-to pasta salad recipe}
Turkey Meat Loaf with Golden Raisins and Apples, p. 119