Down East Crab Cakes - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb fresh-picked maine crabmeat (or any other fresh crabmeat)
3 cups unseasoned dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 -5 dashes Tabasco sauce or 4 -5 dashes other hot pepper sauce
1 medium red bell pepper, finely minced
4 scallions, minced
1 stalk celery, finely minced
1 large egg
1 cup mayonnaise (approximately)
1/4 cup additional breadcrumbs, for coating
oil (for frying)

Preparation

Combine crabmeat, breadcrumbs, mustard, hot sauce, bell pepper, scallions, celery and egg in a large bowl.
Add just enough mayonnaise to hold the ingredients together, being careful not to make it so moist that the mixture will fall apart.
Divide into 8 patties.
Coat with additional bread crumbs, then fry, four at a time, in hot oil until crispy and brown on all sides.
***Patties can be made ahead of time and frozen- they freeze very well.