Deconstructed Crab Cakes

Once again, we found ourselves in Wegman’s searching for something for dinner.  After looking at empty shelves full of non-existent fish, we finally settled on some lump crab meat.  We had intentions of making crab cakes but I thought I would try something more intense if not easier (I am a big fan of easy).  Anyway, we brought the crab home and I put some olive oil and butter in a hot pan.  I added the crab and a healthy dose of our Island Fish spice and magically I was able to sauté up a crab cake without the messy filling and bread crumbs.  This was paired with some roasted broccoli and tomatoes for another light and healthy dinner.

So what wine do you pair with this seafood dinner?  Although tradition would say a white wine, we continue to refuse to follow tradition so I selected a 2007 Merlot from Cameron Hughes.  Lot 169 is a very flavorful Merlot with lots of big cherry flavors and tannins.  Tradition (and Tom) would say “no way”, but in this case both would be wrong.  The wine went surprisingly well with the dinner and paired with chocolate much better than any white wine could hope to.