Here's a gem, it's delicious and is worthy at anyone's table.
We thank the good people at the Telegraph for this recipe.
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 cooked crab, weighing about 700g
2 tbsp butter
2 shallots, chopped
1 dsp Dijon mustard
1 pinch ground mace
100ml fish stock
150ml double cream
white pepper, to taste
10 new potatoes, boiled in their skins then thinly sliced
1 beaten egg, to glaze
500g bought butter puff pastry, rolled into two x 2mm thick rounds to fit 2 individual pie dishes
Pick the meat out of the crab, taking the brown meat from the edge of the inner carapace (main shell), picking out the white meat from the inner skeleton (use a hammer to break it apart, then tweezers, a fork or skewer to remove the meat). Break the claws, (but not to pieces as you can use them to give this pie its striking appearance), and pick out more white meat. Set the meat to one side with the two claws.
Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Melt the butter in a pan and add the shallots. Cook until soft, then add the mustard, mace, stock and cream. Bring to simmering, then stir in the brown meat.
Remove from the heat and taste, adding salt and white pepper if needed. Stir in the potatoes and crab, then divide the mixture between the two pie dishes. Place a crab claw in each, pincers uppermost. Wet the edges of the pie dishes and cover each with a pastry round. Open the pastry with a knife to allow the claw to poke through. Brush the surface of the pastry with beaten egg and bake until puffed and golden.
Here's a handy conversion chart that may help everyone:
Measurements Conversion Chart
US Dry Volume Measurements
MEASURE EQUIVALENT
1/16 teaspoon dash
1/8 teaspoon a pinch
3 teaspoons 1 Tablespoon
1/8 cup 2 tablespoons (= 1 standard coffee scoop)
1/4 cup 4 Tablespoons
1/3 cup 5 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
1/2 cup 8 Tablespoons
3/4 cup 12 Tablespoons
1 cup 16 Tablespoons
1 Pound 16 ounces
US liquid volume measurements
8 Fluid ounces 1 Cup
1 Pint 2 Cups (= 16 fluid ounces)
1 Quart 2 Pints (= 4 cups)
1 Gallon 4 Quarts (= 16 cups)
US to Metric Conversions
1/5 teaspoon 1 ml (ml stands for milliliter, one thousandth of a liter)
1 teaspoon 5 ml
1 tablespoon 15 ml
1 fluid oz. 30 ml
1/5 cup 50 ml
1 cup 240 ml
2 cups (1 pint) 470 ml
4 cups (1 quart) .95 liter
4 quarts (1 gal.) 3.8 liters
1 oz. 28 grams
1 pound 454 grams
Metric to US Conversions
1 milliliter 1/5 teaspoon
5 ml 1 teaspoon
15 ml 1 tablespoon
30 ml 1 fluid oz.
100 ml 3.4 fluid oz.
240 ml 1 cup
1 liter 34 fluid oz.
1 liter 4.2 cups
1 liter 2.1 pints
1 liter 1.06 quarts
1 liter .26 gallon
1 gram .035 ounce
100 grams 3.5 ounces
500 grams 1.10 pounds
1 kilogram 2.205 pounds
1 kilogram 35 oz.
