Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Whitby Potted Crab

This was my starter for the York Young Chefs competition.  This photo was my practice of the dish (that's why the toasts are a bit burnt!), unfortunately I didn't get any photos there! I actually served it on a long slate with a drizzle of balsamic, I also used different bread for the crostinis and I served it with a Langoustine instead of King Prawns. This starter got 10/10 for presentation in the form that I presented it in the competition and the judge also said the taste of the crab was excellent and he would happily order and pay for that in a restaurant - so that made me happy!

Ingredients (serves 2):
The white meat from about 2 Whitby Crabs, checked for any bits of shell
About 90g Wensleydale butter
1/2 Red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 Bay Leaves

Method:
  1. Melt 50g of the butter in a sauce pan and add most of the chilli, all of the lemon juice and nutmeg and all a pinch of salt. Cook for a few minutes until butter is completely softened, take off the heat and stir in the crab. Put the crab in two small jars/ramekins and pack down.
  2. Melt the remaining butter in a clean pan. When it is foaming, remove from the heat and skim off any scum.
  3. Pour the clear butter over the crab in the pots. Sprinkle over remaining chilli and place a bay leaf on the top for decoration.
  4. Leave to set in the fridge for at least one hour. Serve with toasts/crostinis, salad and prawns or langoustines. A simple yet impressive starter.


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