I created this recipe about 10 years ago for my restaurant and to this day it remains the best seller, so I thought I would share it with you. (this
is my first post)
Baked Crab & Chips with Salad & Lemon Mayonnaise
Ingredients
125 g butter
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 small onion finely diced
1 small celery stick (pith removed) finely diced
1/4 green pepper, cored, seeded and finely diced
1/4 red pepper, cored, seeded and finely diced
1 fresh chilli, seeded and finely diced
15 ml fresh lemon juice
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme or lemon thyme
pinch of fresh ground black pepper
pinch of salt
60 ml of dry white wine
1 dressed crab, white and brown meat, (with shell)
30 ml of double cream
grated fresh Parmesan Cheese
stale breadcrumbs
Method
This is an important part! The butter; it needs to be purified. Slap it into a small heat proof bowl and microwave it on full power until it has
completely melted. Once this is done you should see 3 layers in the butter. 1st layer will appear as scum on the surface. Scoop it off and discard.
The 2nd layer should be golden in colour, this is the layer we need. The 3rd layer will be white and sitting at the bottom of your bowl. Leave it
where it is and try not to disturb it when spooning out the 2nd layer. The reason for doing this is, layers 1 and 3 burn easily in a frying pan and
will effect the flavour. Or if you want to skip this part, nip down your local Indian supermarket and pick up some Ghee.
In another bowl, with your hand or spoon, mix the garlic, diced ingredients, herbs, spices and lemon juice together.
Get a heavy based frying pan on the heat and add about 2 tbsp of the butter and get it nice and hot, but not smoking hot. When ready add the contents
of the bowl with the diced ingredients in it. Keep this stuff moving, you want it to soften quickly without colouring. Next add the white wine and
allow to reduce, but keep it moving. Once this has reduced and the liqueur has thickened, turn the temperature down to medium and add the crab meat.
Fold the meat into the other ingredients gently making sure you have a good consistency. Turn your grill on to full. Once heated through add the
double cream. Now turn the heat right down and allow to thicken. Once you are happy with the consistency add the Parmesan and stir through. Taste and
adjust the seasoning to your liking. Next spoon the mix into the crab shell and cover with the breadcrumbs. You should still have enough of the butter
left to now spoon over the breadcrumbs with an even coating. Once done, place under the grill for a couple of minutes or until golden on top.
Serve with chips, lemon mayo and a salad of your choosing.
Hope you enjoy, any feedback would be great and if you have any other creative crab recipes that you would like to share, that would be cool to.
Cheers