Crab and Smoked Trout Cakes with Herb Salad

Ingredients

• 4 servings pepper black freshly ground
• 1.5 cups chervil sprigs fresh
• 1 cup surimi crab sticks shelled cooked
• 1 large eggs 
• 0.5 cup cilantro leaves fresh
• 0.5 cup tarragon leaves fresh
• 0.5 cup green onions finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons juice of lemon 
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1.5 cups panko bread crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 4 servings salt 
• 0.5 cup trout smoked skinless finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon whole-grain dijon mustard 

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan

Directions

1. Pick out any shells in crab. In a bowl, combine crab, trout, green onions, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, mayonnaise, mustard, egg, and 1/2 cup panko.
2. Mix well.
3. Form mixture into eight 2 1/2- by 1/2-in. cakes.
4. Pour remaining 1 cup panko onto a plate and coat each cake with crumbs, pressing in gently.
5. Pour 1 tbsp. olive oil into a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add cakes in a single layer and cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes total.
6. In a bowl, mix chervil, tarragon, and cilantro. Toss with remaining 2 tsp. lemon juice and 2 tsp. olive oil; season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve cakes with salad.
8. Wine note: Pinot Gris/Grigio, the West is awash in wine from this grape; it's mostly called Pinot Grigio and made in the steely, citrusy Italian style. The French--and Oregonians--call it Pinot Gris and give it rounded layers of melon and pear with tangy, earthy minerals alongside the citrus. Pinot Gris works best with fairly simple seafood and poultry, so the layers don't get muddled, but it gets along fine with a lot of herbs. We also like it with lemony sauces such as aioli.
9. Adelsheim Pinot Gris 2005 (Willamette Valley; $18). Bright, earthy layers of lemon and herbs top off the crab and smoked trout cakes beautifully.
10. Palmina Pinot Grigio 2005 (Santa Barbara County; $16). Richer than typical Pinot Grigio, with a zesty citrus bitterness that makes the herbs with the seafood cakes stand out.