Crab Flan

This stood out from all the dishes I have been doing over the last couple of years that were usually variations on down-loaded themes. This one I believe is original. Confession number one, I have avoided pastry up until now, because of past dismal failures. So it was with some trepidation that I embarked on this one, my first pastry dish. Second confession, I used shop bought Puff Pastry. I know the shame and the convenience! Just make sure it is an all butter recipe. If you going to spend time and money making this, might as well make it the best you can. Third confession, I did not weigh or record anything and used my eye for judgement. So be warned my quantities are approximate, adjust yours to meet your instincts. So lets kick off.

Roll out (snigger, unroll) puff pastry made previously and cut out the base for a 8" diameter flan case, with removeable bottom. Cut even width strips, 1.5" wide to form the sides. Cut the remember pastry into half inch strips for the top lattice. Prepare your flan dish and line the base and sides, remember to wet just the base edge and press in the sides to seal. Return all pastry to frig.

Take quarter pound of white crab meat, check for chitin, toss with zest of a lime, dessertspoon of chopped tarragon (goes easy, don't want the tarragon to dominate), a drizzle of lime juice and pepper. Set aside. Finely chop a red onion and sweat off in an ounce of butter,  Don't overcook it, retain some bite to it, set aside. Make a thick béchamel sauce with 1.5 Tbspn plain flour, 2oz of butter, when flour and butter combined and cooked for a moment, loosen with quarter pint of full milk, keep adding milk slowly and stirring all the time until milk used up and the sauce has become thick, smooth and creamy. Stir in two Tbspn of brown crab meat and the reserved onion. Meanwhile liberally coat inside the flan pastry with one egg yolk, prick the base (oophs I forgot to do this) and bake in middle of hot oven 200°C for ten minutes. Back to the sauce, drizzle 12 drops of tabasco and stir into the sauce, check and add a few more drops at a time until the sauce has just the edge of a kick. Again do not want it to dominate and you cannot take it out if you over do it! Simmer very gently until you have the right consistency and then for the final flourish add in a Tbspn or two of cream. Keep warm. Finely grate about 2oz. of Gruyere and mix with three handfuls of coarse white breadcrumbs and zest of lime.

Now to assemble. sprinkle a dspn of semolina across the flan base, then spread a packet (70g) of brown shrimps. Cover with the béchamel sauce and then spread the white crab meat, finally topping with the breadcrumb and gruyere to completely cover the crab meat. Take the thin strips and form an open plait across the top, brush with egg yolk, then back into the hot oven, 200°C, for about 20 mins, but keep an eye on it.
Eat hot or cold and enjoy.

You will see that my pastry skills have a long way to go, but a step in the right direction?

panfried scallops

We were in our fishshop and the scallops stared at me saying buy,buy. So we did.

I lightly toasted slices, crusts off, of my 80% white bread, then drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled with crushed garlic. On one half I put a thick slice off a beef tomato and over the other half two thin slices of gruyere cheese. Back into the still warm grill to finish off. Meanwhile I pan seared my wiped clean scallops in butter until just firm then rested them for a few minutes in a warm place.

Served with two strands of chives and scallop on top of the tomato and a light salad What delicious lunch!

Spinach Cheese

Chanced on this very good combination, excellent for a starter. Yet again no photo, when will I learn?
It is very fast, so get everything ready before starting. Watchpoints: onion en-dente, dry spinach and do not leave the cheese to heat.

Take about 200gm pre-spring-water washed young spinach leaves. Pick over, nip off any thick stems, discard any spoilt leaves. Grab into one tight bundle and cut across in 1/2inch strips, do not worry if the odd leaf escapes. 

Pre-heat a large and deep covered pan. Medium chop one large white onion, so you have strips say about 5mm x 20mm. Coarsely grated about 2oz of Gruyère cheese. Cut two thick slices of a very good wholemeal loaf, crusts off, toast and set aside to keep warm.

Into the pre-heated pan, a smear of oil, throw in onion, cover over a low heat and watch. No colouring, just turning transparent, test, until soft to bite but still retains crispness. Turn pan to highest heat, off with lid, get the chopped spinach in as soon as possible, turning over with spatula, blend with the onion, as soon as the dry spinach wilts, loses it shape, (it should not throw off any water if the spinach is dry and has not been washed again) take off the heat. Strew with Gruyère, keep turning and let the residual heat of the spinach melt the cheese.

In the meantime soft boil and shell two quail eggs!
Serve immediately on the brown toast, a pile of spinach cheese all topped off with a soft boiled quails egg. Yummy