Padstow Crab BLT
This fabulous Padstow Crab BLT is a tasty light bite created by Paul Ainsworth. No ordinary BLT, it contains semi cured tomatoes and tartar butter...definitely a little but extra!
Ingredients
Cooking Crab
- 1kg whole brown crab
- 1 lemon cut into ¼
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 leek roughly sliced
- 1 carrot sliced
- ½ fennel bulb roughly chopped
- 2 sticks celery roughly chopped
- 30g salt per 1 litre of water in a large pan
- 150ml white wine
- 4 cloves garlic crushed with skin on
- 5 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 star anise
- 6 parsley stalks
BLT
- 200g fresh picked crab meat
- 50g brown crab meat
- 1 large brown wholemeal bloomer bread
- 75g mayonnaise
- 1 baby gem lettuce
- 6 rashes smoked streaky bacon (baked between two trays at180°C for 10/12 minutes until crispy)
- 6 semi cured tomato petals
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime
- 20g chives chopped fine
- 6 large basil leaves cut into strips
- Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- Sea salt
Tartar Butter:
- 250g unsalted butter softened
- ½ shallot diced fine
- 20g parsley chopped
- ½ lemon zest and juice
- 40g capers chopped fine
- 1 large gherkin diced fine
- 1 pinch salt
Semi Cured Tomatoes
- 5 ripe red vine tomatoes, skins peeled cut into 1/4’s and de seeded
- 2 tablespoons castor sugar
- 50ml sherry vinegar
- 250ml extra virgin olive oil
- ½ shallot diced fine
- 4 thyme sprigs leave’s picked
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Cooking Crab
- Bring your water to the boil with the salt, if cooking a large crab, you will at least need 2 litres of water to cover the crab. Once to the boil add the remaining ingredients and leave to simmer for 2 minutes
- To kill the crab, turn it over and lift the small, pointed flap to expose a small, indented hole. Using a sharp pointed object like a stiff boning knife or even a screwdriver push down through the hole until you hit the other side of the top shell. The crab will now be dead and ready to go into the pan.
- Return the simmering pan to the boil and place the crab into the pan and cook for 8-9 minutes for a 1kg crab and adjust the time according to size i.e. 2kg crab cooks for 16-18 minutes.
- Remove the crab from the boiling water and leave in a colander to cool until room temperature.
- To pick the crab meat, put the crab on its back and remove all the legs and the two claws, now use your two thumbs to push up the main central body known as the purse. On the underside of the body, you need to remove the gills also known as the dead man’s fingers and discard. You can now remove the white meat from the body using a crab pick or skewer and the legs and claws by using a hammer or rolling pin to crack the shells. Once all the white meat is picked use your fingers to feel through the meat for any shell.
- Use a teaspoon to scrape out the brown meat from inside the corners of the main brown shell
- Your crab meat should be refrigerated until needed and eaten as fresh as possible within two days of cooking and picking.
Tartar Butter
Mix all off the ingredients together in a bowl and leave at room temperature if using straight away. Refrigerate for another day.
Semi-Cured Tomatoes
In a whisking bowl add the sugar, vinegar, shallot, and thyme, pouring the oil into the bowl very slowly whisking all the time the oil will start to emulsify with the vinegar and sugar. Once all the oil is added finish with salt and pepper then add your tomatoes to the marinade and mix well. Place the tomato petals onto a tray lined with baking paper and lightly cover the tomatoes with the remaining marinade and dry in a pre-heated oven set at 50°C for 5 hours.
BLT
- In a bowl mix the mayonnaise with the brown crab meat and season with a little salt and pepper, add ½ a lemon zest and juice and mix well, leave in the fridge until needed
- Prep the lettuce by cutting the core off and separating the leaves, cut the leave in half and place in a bowl of iced water for 5 minutes to crispen up, pat dry and leave in fridge until needed
- In a bowl add the white crab meat, chives, basil, ½ a lemon and lime zest and juice, with 2 tablespoons of the brown crab mayonnaise and bind together. Finish with salt and pepper to season.
- To make the sandwich take 2 slices of the wholemeal bread and drizzle with extra virgin olive and season with sea salt, chargrill the slices until crispy, remove from the grill and spread the tartar butter onto 1 side of both the slices of bread.
- Spoon the crab generously onto one slice directly on top of the tartar butter and start to build your layers, next add the lettuce then the cured tomatoes.
- Drizzle the mayonnaise over the lettuce and tomatoes and top with the crispy bacon.
- Finish with the 2nd slice of bread and cut though on the angle to showcase the beautiful colours and layers then enjoy.
Ingredients
Cooking Crab
- 1kg whole brown crab
- 1 lemon cut into ¼
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 leek roughly sliced
- 1 carrot sliced
- ½ fennel bulb roughly chopped
- 2 sticks celery roughly chopped
- 30g salt per 1 litre of water in a large pan
- 150ml white wine
- 4 cloves garlic crushed with skin on
- 5 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 star anise
- 6 parsley stalks
BLT
- 200g fresh picked crab meat
- 50g brown crab meat
- 1 large brown wholemeal bloomer bread
- 75g mayonnaise
- 1 baby gem lettuce
- 6 rashes smoked streaky bacon (baked between two trays at180°C for 10/12 minutes until crispy)
- 6 semi cured tomato petals
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime
- 20g chives chopped fine
- 6 large basil leaves cut into strips
- Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- Sea salt
Tartar Butter:
- 250g unsalted butter softened
- ½ shallot diced fine
- 20g parsley chopped
- ½ lemon zest and juice
- 40g capers chopped fine
- 1 large gherkin diced fine
- 1 pinch salt
Semi Cured Tomatoes
- 5 ripe red vine tomatoes, skins peeled cut into 1/4’s and de seeded
- 2 tablespoons castor sugar
- 50ml sherry vinegar
- 250ml extra virgin olive oil
- ½ shallot diced fine
- 4 thyme sprigs leave’s picked
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Cooking Crab
- Bring your water to the boil with the salt, if cooking a large crab, you will at least need 2 litres of water to cover the crab. Once to the boil add the remaining ingredients and leave to simmer for 2 minutes
- To kill the crab, turn it over and lift the small, pointed flap to expose a small, indented hole. Using a sharp pointed object like a stiff boning knife or even a screwdriver push down through the hole until you hit the other side of the top shell. The crab will now be dead and ready to go into the pan.
- Return the simmering pan to the boil and place the crab into the pan and cook for 8-9 minutes for a 1kg crab and adjust the time according to size i.e. 2kg crab cooks for 16-18 minutes.
- Remove the crab from the boiling water and leave in a colander to cool until room temperature.
- To pick the crab meat, put the crab on its back and remove all the legs and the two claws, now use your two thumbs to push up the main central body known as the purse. On the underside of the body, you need to remove the gills also known as the dead man’s fingers and discard. You can now remove the white meat from the body using a crab pick or skewer and the legs and claws by using a hammer or rolling pin to crack the shells. Once all the white meat is picked use your fingers to feel through the meat for any shell.
- Use a teaspoon to scrape out the brown meat from inside the corners of the main brown shell
- Your crab meat should be refrigerated until needed and eaten as fresh as possible within two days of cooking and picking.
Tartar Butter
Mix all off the ingredients together in a bowl and leave at room temperature if using straight away. Refrigerate for another day.
Semi-Cured Tomatoes
In a whisking bowl add the sugar, vinegar, shallot, and thyme, pouring the oil into the bowl very slowly whisking all the time the oil will start to emulsify with the vinegar and sugar. Once all the oil is added finish with salt and pepper then add your tomatoes to the marinade and mix well. Place the tomato petals onto a tray lined with baking paper and lightly cover the tomatoes with the remaining marinade and dry in a pre-heated oven set at 50°C for 5 hours.
BLT
- In a bowl mix the mayonnaise with the brown crab meat and season with a little salt and pepper, add ½ a lemon zest and juice and mix well, leave in the fridge until needed
- Prep the lettuce by cutting the core off and separating the leaves, cut the leave in half and place in a bowl of iced water for 5 minutes to crispen up, pat dry and leave in fridge until needed
- In a bowl add the white crab meat, chives, basil, ½ a lemon and lime zest and juice, with 2 tablespoons of the brown crab mayonnaise and bind together. Finish with salt and pepper to season.
- To make the sandwich take 2 slices of the wholemeal bread and drizzle with extra virgin olive and season with sea salt, chargrill the slices until crispy, remove from the grill and spread the tartar butter onto 1 side of both the slices of bread.
- Spoon the crab generously onto one slice directly on top of the tartar butter and start to build your layers, next add the lettuce then the cured tomatoes.
- Drizzle the mayonnaise over the lettuce and tomatoes and top with the crispy bacon.
- Finish with the 2nd slice of bread and cut though on the angle to showcase the beautiful colours and layers then enjoy.
