Crab Cakes

Condemned serial killer Steven Brian Pennell maintained his innocence yesterday, but said that, for his family's sake, he would not make a last- minute appeal to save his life. "I didn't go through becoming my own attorney just to do a last-minute withdrawal," he said in an interview. Pennell, 34, is scheduled to die by lethal injection between 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna. If carried out, it will be the first execution in Delaware since 1946.

Nigella, Jamie, Martha et al. get most of the attention when it comes to talking about recipe expertise. But for many Americans, there's no higher authority than the back of the box, and food-trend observer Phil Lempert says more producers should be taking advantage of that. "Companies should be changing up their recipes on the back of packages," says Lempert, known as the "Supermarket Guru. " "So many consumers are bored with their food. They're trying new recipes. " Still, with customers often wildly loyal to old favorites, companies tend to proceed cautiously.

Crab cakes can be one of the most delicious seafood preparations around. Unfortunately, too many cooks adulterate the sweet crabmeat with bread crumbs and other fillers. We have concocted our crab cakes so that the fresh flavor of the crab really stars. There's only enough binding to allow the delicate seafood to be molded into patties, which are then brushed with beaten egg and bread crumbs before being sauteed to a golden crispness. To accentuate the lush flavor of the crab, we've also developed a recipe for a piquant mustard sauce, which is a wonderful contrast to the crab cakes.

If you ask 10 people for the best crab cake recipe, you'll get 10 different answers. One person I know uses the recipe on the can of Old Bay Seasoning - called a classic Maryland-style crab cake - a mix of crab meat, mayo, mustard, Old Bay, an egg, and parsley flakes. Some recipes call for hot red pepper sauce (Tabasco), Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. To bind the cakes, use egg and mayonnaise. Some recipes also call for dredging the crab cakes in bread crumbs, cracker meal, or panko before pan-frying or broiling.

Once you tasted Ann Ott's deviled crab cakes, brother, you were hooked. "She made the best crab cakes in the world," said Joe Ott, one of her eight children. "Everybody raved about them. More than one of my uncles wanted to open a bar and sell Mrs. Ott's crabcakes. " So, what was the special ingredient? "I don't know. They just tasted good. " Ann E. Ott, a Northeast Philadelphia businesswoman who read romance novels, was active with her church and enjoyed several trips to her parents' hometown in Ireland, died on Friday of complications from a stroke at Burlington County Hospital in New Jersey.

Bobby Chez, familiar to New Jerseyans for crab cakes and other takeout seafood, is slowly rolling out a more ambitious location, at the Shops at Brinton Lake in Glen Mills (100 Evergreen Dr., 610- 358-5020). Louanne Simpson, whose background is managing for such chains as Boston Market and the Ground Round, operates Bobby Chez's Cafe under a contract with Chez owner Robert Sliwowski. For now, the cafe and takeout portion are open Tuesdays through Sundays from lunchtime through dinnertime; a liquor license, expected in a month, will bring the opening of its bar and dining area.

T-shirts at the Media Food Festival yesterday proclaimed Media "Everybody's Hometown. " Who could argue? Not the hundreds lured by live music, arts and crafts from a five-state area, and food, food, food - from crab cakes to sushi to homemade bruschetta and more.

Since Patrice Rames opened Bistro St. Tropez at 2400 Market St. 10 years ago, the Galette sandwich has been on the menu. In French, "galette" means a round, flat cake, but at Bistro St. Tropez it means a tasty crab cake sandwich - the kind even the most finicky of crab cake judges approve. Case in point: One of the restaurant's regular lunch customers was tired of her Baltimore friend's endlessly disparaging comments about the lack of decent crab cakes in Philly restaurants. So the customer brought her friend to the Bistro and since then the Baltimore-dweller has been converted, stopping by for a Galette whenever she is in Philadelphia.

A small piece of Lower Bucks County's popular culture was formally lost to nature Wednesday. The Valley Stream Inn, a popular restaurant known for its crab cakes, Sunday brunch, and scenic views of the Neshaminy Creek, now is set for demolition. The county commissioners approved the $230,000 purchase with federal funds to preserve the 3.5-acre low-lying tract as open space. The landmark, built in 1956, got flooded several times over the years but always reopened. It closed for good in September, after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee flushed the creek over its banks twice in two weeks, said Bill Mitchell, executive director of the Department of Parks and Recreation.

"A LOT of people might be very surprised at the number of African Americans who are health-conscious and who are vegan," Evelyn Redcross said. She wasn't kidding. I've been told, straight-faced, that "black vegans" are nonexistent, since the "veggie" thing is just spoiled white college kids acting out. But there are many reasons and rationales for eating vegan and vegetarian. Redcross believes a more health-conscious attitude in her own community is helping bring people out to the vegan brunch she and her husband, Mercer, throw nearly every Sunday at the 7165 Lounge, their banquet facility in the former North by Northwest on Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy.

If you ask 10 people for the best crab cake recipe, you'll get 10 different answers. One person I know uses the recipe on the can of Old Bay Seasoning - called a classic Maryland-style crab cake - a mix of crab meat, mayo, mustard, Old Bay, an egg, and parsley flakes. Some recipes call for hot red pepper sauce (Tabasco), Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. To bind the cakes, use egg and mayonnaise. Some recipes also call for dredging the crab cakes in bread crumbs, cracker meal, or panko before pan-frying or broiling.

"A LOT of people might be very surprised at the number of African Americans who are health-conscious and who are vegan," Evelyn Redcross said. She wasn't kidding. I've been told, straight-faced, that "black vegans" are nonexistent, since the "veggie" thing is just spoiled white college kids acting out. But there are many reasons and rationales for eating vegan and vegetarian. Redcross believes a more health-conscious attitude in her own community is helping bring people out to the vegan brunch she and her husband, Mercer, throw nearly every Sunday at the 7165 Lounge, their banquet facility in the former North by Northwest on Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy.

A small piece of Lower Bucks County's popular culture was formally lost to nature Wednesday. The Valley Stream Inn, a popular restaurant known for its crab cakes, Sunday brunch, and scenic views of the Neshaminy Creek, now is set for demolition. The county commissioners approved the $230,000 purchase with federal funds to preserve the 3.5-acre low-lying tract as open space. The landmark, built in 1956, got flooded several times over the years but always reopened. It closed for good in September, after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee flushed the creek over its banks twice in two weeks, said Bill Mitchell, executive director of the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Nigella, Jamie, Martha et al. get most of the attention when it comes to talking about recipe expertise. But for many Americans, there's no higher authority than the back of the box, and food-trend observer Phil Lempert says more producers should be taking advantage of that. "Companies should be changing up their recipes on the back of packages," says Lempert, known as the "Supermarket Guru. " "So many consumers are bored with their food. They're trying new recipes. " Still, with customers often wildly loyal to old favorites, companies tend to proceed cautiously.

NOTE: THIS STORY HAS BEEN CLARIFIED. HOW DID BELEAGUERED and bankrupt Lenny Dykstra afford a $700+ meal at the Palm Friday night? NBC 10. Through a trade arrangement with the high-end steakhouse, the station provides guests of its Sunday night "Sports Final" with dinner at the Palm. The former Phillies star took full advantage of the hospitality when he and an attractive blonde drank two bottles of $150 red wine, then had salads and surf-and-turf, in addition to crab cakes and assorted desserts to take back to their room at the Ritz-Carlton.

When Robert Irvine entered Villari's Milmarian restaurant in Palmyra in May, he says, he stepped into a "time warp. " The TV chef and producer Marc Summers were on a mission to remake the restaurant, which opened in 1948, for the Food Network show Restaurant: Impossible . The series premieres at 10 p.m. Wednesday, and "the Mil" - a family spot on Route 73 - is the star. Irvine's use of time warp was not a term of endearment. Irvine said he smelled something off-putting when he sat down.

Quick! Before it ends tomorrow, head to Percy Street Barbecue (900 South St., 215-625-8510), where Executive Chef Erin O'Shea is giving away 20 meals a day to celebrate the restaurant's new all-day, seven-days-a-week menu. Each person who receives a free meal also will be entered into a raffle to win a free lunch once a week for a year. White Heron Grill (9628 Third Ave., Stone Harbor, N.J., 609-967-9100) has a new executive chef, Carl Messick, formerly of Cape May, N.J's, Ebbett Room.

Clarkson Potter. 255pp. $35   Don't you love it when a cookbook takes you someplace new; someplace you've never been but always wanted to go? In his James Beard award-winning cookbook , Real Cajun , Donald Link takes readers to the heart of the Louisiana bayou and its legendary cuisine. Link presents his version of rustic, home-style Cajun: well-seasoned food, but not overly spicy or blackened anything. He embraced locavore cooking before the concept became popular; using the produce, seafood, and meat of the region with a culinary heritage both French and German.

WASHINGTON - It's all about the fried cinnamon sugar doughnuts. And the best brunch in town. Away from the tourist sites and the politics, Washington boasts fiercely unique neighborhoods. Perched on the south end of one such area, Dupont Circle, the Hotel Tabard Inn and its restaurant offer a taste of a friendlier and less official Washington. After hitting the D.C. tourist highlights, treat yourself to a Tabard brunch on the weekend. With all the walking you've done, you've earned it. The Tabard Inn consists of three townhouses built in the later part of the 19th century, now connected by creaky staircases and windy passageways.

"Wine down" with the drink specials indoors and on the patio at 10 Arts Bistro & Lounge by Eric Ripert (10 Avenue of the Arts, 215-523-8221). The new happy hour (5-8 p.m. weekdays) features $6 glasses of red, white and sparkling sangria; and red and white wine. Pitchers of sangria start at $14. There's also a new light bites menu by Chef de Cuisine Jennifer Carroll, a recent finalist on Bravo's "Top Chef. " The Roundtable will hold its 12th annual Taste of the World dinner at the Church of the Holy Apostles and Mediator (51st and Spruce streets)