Makes 4 crab cakes

Attention crab cake aficionados! You can make your own, and they will be as good or better than those you’ve eaten in your search for the perfect crab cake. The finish on this mango salsa is a treat for your taste buds.

Ingredients:

For the Mango Salsa

1 mango, diced small
2 teaspoons diced red onion
2 teaspoons diced red bell pepper
2 teaspoons diced green bell pepper
1 teaspoon chopped chives (save 8 strands or so for plating)
Juice of 1 lemon
1½ teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Crab Cakes

2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
2 egg yolks
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (no crust)
Canola oil, for browning
4 lemon wedges

Instructions:

In a mixing bowl, combine all the salsa ingredients and let the salsa sit in the refrigerator to chill.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together all the crab cake ingredients except the crabmeat and bread crumbs, then add the crabmeat and the crumbs. Try not to break down the lump crabmeat; leave it in chunks. Form the crab mixture into 3½- to 4-ounce cakes. Place a sauté pan on the stove to get hot and pour 2 to 3 ounces canola oil in the pan. Place the crab cakes into the pan; brown on both sides, turning carefully. Transfer the crab cakes to a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Presentation

Place a crab cake in the center of each plate. Top with a lemon wedge. The mango salsa should be spooned to one side of the plate, with two strands of whole chives on the other side.

Pan-Roasted Wild Striped Bass with Roasted Tomato and Broccoli Rabe Medley

Serves 8

Bitter, salty, sour, and sweet tastes are all well represented here by the harmonic blending of broccoli rabe, fish, tomatoes roasted again in the oven, and honey.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed separately)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons honey
¼ stick (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
8 Roma plum tomatoes
4 bunches broccoli rabe
2 carrots, cut into julienne strips
2 yellow squash, cut into julienne strips
Eight 5- to 6-ounce striped bass fillets, skin on

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the olive oil, the juice of one of the lemons, the salt, white pepper, honey, and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a bowl, and add the tomatoes, broccoli rabe, carrots, and yellow squash, coating them well with the oil mixture.

Roast the vegetables on a baking sheet until tender.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan and sear the fish, beginning with skin side down, leaving undisturbed for 2 or 3 minutes, until crispy brown. Turn over and sear the other side of the fish the same way. Cook completely, but do not overcook. (The fish is done when the flesh springs back.) Remove the fish, and let it rest.

Place the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the juice of the other lemon into the pan, and swirl together to create a butter sauce.

Presentation

Place the vegetable medley on a platter. Arrange the fish on top. Spoon the butter sauce on the fish and medley and serve.

Robert Irvine, C.E.C. MCFA (C.G.), has been chef to the royal household for Great Britain's royal family and executive chef for Donald Trump's Taj Mahal and Caesar's Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. He is an entrepreneur and restaurateur and star of Food Network's Dinner: Impossible. He lives in New Jersey.