SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE

 
Very simple, but stunning. One of our 'No-Fail' recipes. Do not be tempted to prepare this in advance as it could collapse on you, but it is so quick to do, this should not be a problem.

Our preferred potato for this is the Jersey Royal, in season from mid April. Greenhouse grown are available earlier, but we think the taste of the outside grown is superior. Oh dear, what have we said. I hope we are not inundated with e-mails from irate farmers.

INGREDIENTS


1/2 Lb White Crab  Meat
1/2 Lb (225 g) New Potatoes
2 Teaspoons of Mayonnaise
Metal Poaching Rings 3 1/2 " (90 mm) Diameter

PREPARATION

The best way of getting your white crab meat is to pick a freshly cooked crab yourself. We are told that a commercial crab picker can average a crab every three or so minutes. It takes us more like three quarters of an hour, so we have been known to cheat a bit and buy ready picked crab meat from our fishmonger.


Wash the potatoes, and scrape the skins if necessary. Steam them until cooked, about 20 minutes depending on their size.

If the potatoes are very small, you can use them whole. If not, the we need to slice them about 15mm thick.

Lightly oil the inside of the poaching rings, stand them on the plate you will be serving the salad on and arrange the potatoes at the bottom. Don't be too worried about achieving a completely level layer. You can lightly crush the potatoes with a fork if you wish.

Add the Mayonnaise to the white crab meat. Be gentle, we don't want to break up the crab more than necessary. You might think that this is not enough mayonnaise, but you will be surprised. The idea is to lightly bind the crab. We do not want to overpower it's delicate flavour.

Put the crab on top of the potato, pressing it down lightly with the back of a fork as you do. If you find you haven't enough room to get all the crab in, then sit another ring on top of the first ring and carry on.

Remove the ring(s) and it's done.

As you can see from the photo at the top, we have decorated the plate with a few strands of Samphire which has been blanched in boiling water for one minute, and placed a couple of chives on the top.