Sunday 25 October - Crab Gratin

After Saturday nights fishy disaster, I was slightly anxious about doing anything with the crabs we had also picked up at the same time as the monkfish, but as it's a favourite I thought it should be ok.

This was a Valentine Warner recipe for a starter, but we padded it out by serving some boiled potatoes and salad with it, and also making some bread rolls to dunk into the crab mixture.

The recipe called for a greater proportion of white meat than brown, but having bought dressed crabs we had this the opposite way round - I would probably add more white meat, for texture if I made this again

This was made a bit like a basic roux sauce, with the addition of some flavourings, and unusually alcohol as well as milk.

Once the roux sauce was made, the crab meat was folded into it.

Poured into gratin dishes, and topped with a breadcrumb, gruyere and parsley mix before baking.

We made some crusty brown rolls topped with oats to serve with these.

Pleased to say, that this was absolutely delicious.