Crab and Leek Tart

A rich indulgent tart flavoured with sweet white crab meat, herbs, and saffron, served as a starter or a lunch or supper dish and a magnificent dish to serve over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
This was a success at the Great Tree Hotel, Chagford and later on at the Bowd Inn, Sidmouth with the summer visitors to Sidmouth and Devon in general, we always made it with seasonal brown crab that was caught locally, our supplier in Sidmouth was Stan Bagwell, and I believe he is still supplying fresh fish and seafood to everyone.

Serves / Makes: 4 to 6 depends on who is a gannet

Prep-Time: 10 to 15 minutes

Cook-Time: 50 minutes

YOU WILL NEED;

For The Pastry
200 grams, plain flour
¼ teaspoon, sea salt
¼ teaspoon, cayenne pepper
50 grams unsalted, butter
50 grams, lard (this helps to make the pastry very elastic, essential for a good savoury pie)
25 grams, mature cheddar cheese, grated
1, egg yolk

For The Filling
25 grams, unsalted butter
225 grams, leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon, saffron strands
300 grams, white crab meat
3 medium, eggs
2 teaspoons, lemon juice
1 or 2 dashes, of Worcestershire sauce
125mls, double cream
Small handful snipped chives
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD;
For the pastry, sift the flour, salt, and cayenne pepper into a mixing bowl, rub in the butter and lard until the mixture is crumbly, mix in the cheese, then bind the pastry with the egg yolk and little cold water.
Leave the pastry to rest for 30 minutes roll out and line a non-stick baking tin
Preheat the oven to 190°C / gas mark 5, line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with baking peas or some dried pulses if you don’t have the ceramic peas.
Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, remove the paper and peas, and return to the oven for a further 5 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Now prepare the filling, melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the leeks for 5 minutes until they are softened but not browned.
Stir in the saffron, allow to cool then turn into a mixing bowl, fold in the remaining filling ingredients and season well, spoon into the cooked pastry case and bake in the hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Notes:
We serve this hot or cold, crusty bread and a mixed salad dressed with a Sherry Vinegar Dressing

Sherry Vinegar Dressing
Just A Superb Dressing, Need I Say Anything More

Serves/Makes: 2 servings
Prep-Time: 10 minutes
Cook-Time: nothing

You Will Need;

1 tablespoon, sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon, walnut oil
1 tablespoon, garlic flavoured olive oil
The juice from half a lemon, about 2 tablespoons
½ teaspoon, sugar
A pinch of sea salt
Freshly grated black pepper

Method:
Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl until they thicken slightly drizzle over your salad and serve

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Asparagus and Bacon Quiche

A Very Rich and Tasty Quiche All It Needs Is a Simple Mixed Salad for That Perfect Light Lunch or Supper.
A great favourite with everyone who tried it, I used to serve for pre-dinner nibbles but instead of the bacon used a nice Parma Ham, It will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days if well wrapped.

Serves: 6
Time: 45 minutes

• 1 ½ Pounds Asparagus Spears
• 8 Ounces Plain Flour
• 4 Ounces Butter
• 4 Tablespoons Water, Ice Cold
• 4 Ounces Bacon, rindless, streaky, thinly sliced
• 4 Large Egg Yolks
• ¾ Pint Single Cream
• 4 Ounces Gruyere Cheese, Grated
• Salt and Freshly Ground White Pepper, To Taste

Pre-heat the oven to 200c/400f/gas 6.
Trim the tips off the asparagus to the length of 1 ½ inches.
Blanch in salted boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes then drain and refresh.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl along with a pinch of salt, add the butter, and rub in.
Add enough ice cold water to bind to firm dough, turn out onto a floured surface, and roll out to fit a 10 inch fluted flan dish.
Bake blind in the oven at 190c/375f/gas 5 until set but not browned about 10-15 minutes.
With a knife, stretch the bacon rashers on a flat surface, wrap a small piece around each asparagus tip.
In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with the cream, grated cheese and seasoning.
Spoon onto the flan case and arrange the bacon and asparagus rolls in the custard.
Turn the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4 and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the quiche is set and golden brown.

Cool for 1 hour then serve.

Crab and Leek Tart

Crab and Leek Tart

A rich indulgent quiche/tart flavoured with herbs and saffron. This was a great hit at the Bowd Inn with summer visitors to Sidmouth and Devon. We always made it with seasonal crab that was caught locally our supplier was Stan Bagwell and I believe he is still supplying fresh fish and seafood to everyone. Now when we want the best of West Country seafood and fish we get it nice and fresh (the crab and lobster is live) online from Martins Seafresh (http://wzey1.ask.com/r?t=p&d=syneu&s=bvw&c=bvw1&l=dir&o=0&sv=0a5c4314&ip=51975e5c&id=587BCD3EE559FC3C83FF108EAF14DF6C&q=Fishmongers+Online&p=1&qs=121&ac=7&g=7039OEsNXceVOp&en=te&io=4&b=alg&tp=d&ec=10&pt=Fresh+Fish+and+Lobsters+from+Martins+Seafresh&ex=&url=&u=http://www.martins-seafresh.co.uk/)

Serves: 4 to 6 depends on who is a gannet

Time: You have all the time you need

You Will Need

FOR THE PASTRY

200 grams, plain flour

¼ teaspoon, sea salt

¼ teaspoon, cayenne pepper

50 grams unsalted, butter

50 grams, lard (this helps to make the pastry very elastic essential for a good savoury pie)

25 grams, mature cheddar cheese, grated

1, egg yolk

FOR THE FILLING

25 grams, unsalted butter

225 grams, leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon, saffron strands

300 grams white crab meat

3 whole, free-range eggs

2 teaspoons, lemon juice

1 or 2 dashes, of Worcestershire sauce

125 mls, double cream

Small handful snipped chives

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method:

For the pastry, sift the flour, salt, and cayenne pepper into a mixing bowl, rub in the butter and lard until the mixture is crumbly, mix in the cheese, then bind the pastry with the egg yolk and little cold water.

Leave the pastry to rest for 30 minutes roll out and line a non-stick baking tin

Preheat the oven to 190c gas mark 5, Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with baking peas or some dried pulses if you haven’t got the ceramic peas.

Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, remove the paper and peas, and return to the oven for a further 5 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Now prepare the filling, melt the butter in a frying pan/skillet and sauté the leeks for 5 minutes until they are softened but not browned.

Stir in the saffron and allow to cool and then turn into a mixing bowl, fold in the remaining filling ingredients and season well.

Spoon into the cooked pastry case and bake in the hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

We serve this hot or cold, crusty bread and a mixed salad dressed with a Sherry Vinegar డ్రెస్సింగ్

Sherry Vinegar Dressing

Just a superb dressing, need I say anything more

Serves: a couple of nice friends

Time: as long as it takes

You Will Need

1 tablespoon, sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon, walnut oil

1 tablespoon, garlic flavoured olive oil

The juice from half a lemon, about 2 tablespoons

½ teaspoon, sugar

A pinch of sea salt

Freshly grated black pepper

Method:

Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl until they thicken slightly

Drizzle over your salad and serve