Baked Scottish brown crab en croute with new season potatoes and asparagus

We are lucky that Richard Attkins, a Member of the Master Chefs of Great Britain, is sending us a recipe for inclusion in the Voice every month. You can sample Richard’s menus at Arran on a Plate, in Brodick.

May is a significant month in Scotland where everything starts to warm up and the season for fish and vegetables changes. With lobster stocks depleted, the simple Scottish brown crab is a much more affordable replacement, a portion costing around £3.50, with all the work done. The brown crab is fished up and down the West Coast of Scotland, but as with all of our shellfish, they are sold off to the markets in southern Europe and very few are consumed at home. British asparagus is a delicacy, but has a very short season. Don’t be fooled into buying the American forced stuff, which lacks the flavour of ours. New season potatoes such as Jersey Royals are just coming into season and again take advantage of them as the season is short. You could use Arran Victory potatoes, but the season for these is not for a couple of months; that’s if you can find anyone that sells them!

Ingredients (for 2)

2 Dressed brown crabs
25g Butter
25g Flour
1 tablespoon Arran mustard
100ml milk
100g Torrylin cheddar
8 Asparagus spears
200g New potatoes
1 Sheet puff pastry
1 Egg

Method

Firstly make a white sauce by melting the butter, incorporating the flour and then slowly adding the milk. Ensure you have no lumps. Now add the mustard and stir in the cheese. You are looking for your sauce to be nice and thick and mild in taste so as to not mask the taste of the crab. Now mix in the crab meat ensuring there are no pieces of shell. Season to taste and put the mix back into the shells.

Cut your puff pastry to fit the shells and press down hard around the edges to ensure it does not come apart when cooking. Separate your egg and brush the pastry with the yolk; this will give you a golden finish. Bake this in a moderate oven around 180°C for around 20 minutes. Simply boil your potatoes and blanch your asparagus for a couple of minutes, season and brush with butter.

Delicious!