Dorset crab salad, apple, cucumber, lemon verbena, herb mayonnaise
by
- Starter
- Medium
- 4
- 60 minutes
PT1H
Shay Cooper serves up a stunning crab salad with refreshing cucumber and lemon verbena jelly, a herb mayonnaise and crisp apple discs. A cold starter such as this is perfect for a dinner party, as you can prepare all the elements in advance.
Ingredients
Crab salad
- 280g of white crab meat , freshly picked
- 50g of créme fraiche
- 1 lemon , zested
- 1 Granny Smith apple
- lemon verbena cress
- small mint leaves , freshly picked
- sorrel cress
- 1 marigold flower , petals plucked
- salt
Cucumber and lemon verbena jelly
- 4 large cucumbers , peeled and cut into small pieces
- 3 1/2 gelatine leaves
- 30g of lemon verbena
- 20g of sugar
- 15ml of apple vinegar
Soft herb purée
Herb mayonnaise
- 5g of white wine vinegar
- 2g of flaky sea salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 120ml of rapeseed oil
- 70ml of olive oil
Equipment
- Blender
- Piping bags
- Small round pastry cutter
Method
1
To begin, make the cucumber and lemon verbena jelly. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water and set aside
- 3 1/2 gelatine leaves
2
Add the cucumber pieces and lemon verbena to a blender and blitz until completely liquidised. Strain through a fine sieve and measure out 500ml of the liquid to make the jelly
- 4 large cucumbers , peeled and cut into small pieces
- 30g of lemon verbena
3
Stir in the sugar and apple vinegar and add 150ml of the liquid to a small saucepan set over a low-medium heat. Squeeze any excess water from the gelatine and whisk into the heated cucumber juice until completely dissolved. Transfer to the cold cucumber mixture and chill over a bowl of ice. Place in the fridge until ready to serve, at which point you could either cut into cubes or spoon only the plate for a more rustic finish
- 20g of sugar
- 15ml of apple vinegar
4
To make the herb mayonnaise, first make a soft herb purée. Bring the water to the boil with the salt then add the herbs, cooking until soft when rubbed between your fingers. Place in a blender, blitz to a smooth purée then transfer to a bowl set over ice to chill
5
To make the mayonnaise, add the vinegar, salt and egg yolk to a bowl with 1 tbsp of water. Whisk together to combine, then very slowly mix in the rapeseed and olive oils to emulsify. Keep going until you have a thick mayonnaise, then stir in 25g of the herb purée at the end (you can freeze any leftover for other dishes). Add to a squeezy bottle or piping bag
- 5g of white wine vinegar
- 2g of flaky sea salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 70ml of olive oil
- 120ml of rapeseed oil
6
To assemble the salad, mix the picked white crab meat with the crème fraîche and season with salt and the grated zest of 1 lemon
- salt
- 280g of white crab meat , freshly picked
- 50g of créme fraiche
- 1 lemon , zested
7
Slice the apple with a sharp knife or mandoline to a thickness of 2mm, use a small round cutter to cut out thin apple discs
8
Dress the plates with the herbs and herb mayonnaise and spoon the crab mixture on top in a natural fashion. Spoon on some cucumber jelly and arrange the apple discs and cresses on top of the crab
- 1 marigold flower , petals plucked
- lemon verbena cress
- small mint leaves , freshly picked
- sorrel cress
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Dorset crab salad, apple, cucumber, lemon verbena, herb mayonnaise
