Crab and Apple Salad

I was in London recently and as a result of having over indulged a little (a lot!) you got no blog post last week while I was in recovery mode. So this week you get two to make up for it. Lucky you!

This recipe is one I have been toying with for a while. I’ve mentioned Clancy’s restaurant before and this is based on another of my favourite dishes there. I said I would like to try to re create it and maybe add some grapefruit. I was met with a look of horror! Granted, I am the only grapefruit eater in our home. Then while we were away last week we treated ourselves to an unforgettable lunch in Midsummer House. We always liked Daniel Clifford since seeing him on the Great British Menu some years ago so we were really looking forward to this. If you ever get a chance to go, grab it. You won’t regret it and we are already planning a return trip. Anyway, I digress. One of the courses there was a crab dish with a pink grapefruit foam. I can still taste it! I think it converted my grapefruit hater.

This is very simple to make but still an impressive starter. You could also make a big batch of it and serve on little toasts or like I have below in little gem lettuce cups for tasty canapes. I have used horseradish here but you could leave it out and use a little fresh chopped red chilli. You don’t want real heat, just a little kick. Keep tasting as you make it to make sure you are happy with the balance of different flavours. I would recommend taking the time to very finely dice the apple, you could grate it but it will become mushy and change the texture of the salad. Mix white and brown crab meat if you like but I went with all white. I wouldn’t make it too far in advance of serving but it only make minutes to make.

Serves 2 as a starter

Ingredients:

• 150g of cooked white crab meat
• 5 tbsp creme fraiche
• 2½ tsp horseradish sauce
• 1 small granny smith apple, peeled and very finely diced
• 3 pink grapefruit segments
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Dill to garnish

 

Method:

• If you have cooked your own crab, good on you! If like me, you bought a pre-cooked packet, pick through the crab meat to make sure there are no stray bits of shell.
• In a bowl mix together the creme fraiche, horseradish sauce and diced apple. Add the crab meat and mix until it is completely combined.
• Cut 3 segments* from the grapefruit over the bowl so that any juice falls into the crab mix. Finely cut up those 3 segments and mix with the crab. Taste for seasoning, it most likely will not need any salt but give it a nice bit of black pepper.
• Serve with salad leaves or in a glass with some fancy thin toast! Garnish with dill.

 

* This video shows how to neatly segment grapefruit if you are unsure of how to do it.