A "SpongeBob Squarepants" Inspired Dinner

Many years ago, Christopher was a fan of the Nickelodeon show "SpongeBob Squarepants". Please don't judge! One evening way back when, he asked me to make Krabby Patties for dinner. In case you don't know (and I didn't at the time), Krabby Patties are the type of burger sold at the Krusty Krab (the restaurant on the show). Krabby Patties are the best-known food at the Krusty Krab, the most famous sandwich in Bikini Bottom, and SpongeBob's favorite food. 

Since the show took place under the ocean and given the name of the patty, I concocted a recipe based on what I *thought* a Krabby Patty would be. I assumed it contained crab meat, however, since I am deathly allergic to shellfish, I substituted salmon for crab meat and made "Keating Krabby Patties". They were easy and delicious but, for some reason, I never made them again. 

Fast forward about 4 years... this week, my office had an off-site luncheon and, several of the women ordered crab cakes. They looked amazing and the women raved about how good they were. I couldn't get them out of my mind and thought back to our "Krabby Patties". I did some searching on the internet but couldn't find a recipe that suit my fancy. I found a lot of recipes but most of the recipes for crab/salmon/fish cakes called for crushed crackers (i.e., Ritz crackers), potatoes, or even pancake mix (?!?). None of these "binders" appealed to me so, using several recipes as guides, I wrote down a few ingredients that inspired me and went to work creating our dinner. 

My ingredients assembled and ready to begin. 

The green pepper was from my garden. I used canned salmon - it was not cheap but worked very well for this purpose. There were larger cans of salmon available at the grocery store but those contained the bones and skin which needed to be picked out before using. That is the ONE thing I do remember from the last time I made Krabby Patties! Totally. Gross. 

I guesstimated measurements (as I do when I make meatloaf) and adjusted according to taste once everything was mixed together. 

The patties shaped and ready to cook. 

 I swirled some olive oil around a warm pan and began to cook the patties.

Ready for the table. 

I made a very simple garlic aioli to top the patties. 

Again, no measurements, I added salt and pepper and adjusted the other ingredients to taste after mixing. We prefer our aioli to be very garlic-y and lemon-y so I tend to use a heavy hand with those ingredients. When we use this aioli to top grilled salmon fillets, I throw in a handful of capers as well.  

Yum - aioli! We are totally addicted to this stuff.

Slice tomatoes for topping the patties. One is from the garden, one is from the grocery store - can you tell which is which? This year I am going to save some seeds from my tomato plants and begin a tradition of "heirloom" tomatoes.

I made a green salad to serve on the side.

And Kevin contributed some grilled corn - another thing that we can't get enough of in our home at this time of year.

Taa Daa! The composed Keating Krabby Patty. 

Everyone gave this dinner a "thumb's up" and I was quite pleased with how the patties turned out. The one thing I would do differently next time would be to make the patties smaller and serve on slider rolls. I think these were Kaiser rolls - they were large and I made the patties to fit but it would have been nicer to have smaller portions. I think the patties would have cooked better too if they had been smaller. 

I recently found out, *real* Krabby Patties are made out of a frozen hamburger with fresh lettuce, crisp onions and tomatoes with undersea cheese, pickles, mustard, ketchup, and with a special secret formula (a pinch of King Neptune's Poisedon Powder. Mine didn't even come close in terms of ingredients but they tasted pretty darn good!

Have a great Saturday!