Twice-baked crab & chive soufflés with quick-pickled samphire
Light and fluffy, these crab and chive soufflés use a combination of white and brown crabmeat matched beautifully by crisp British samphire picked from the salt marshes around the UK
NORFOLK
Serves 6 Prep time 40 mins Cooking time 30 mins, plus quick-pickling You’ll need… 6 x 175ml metal pudding basins or ramekins; electric mixer
• 40g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 250ml whole milk
• 190ml double cream
• 1 onion, chopped into wedges
• 45g plain flour
• ½ tsp English mustard powder
• Scant ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 100g brown crabmeat
• 150g white crabmeat, flaked
• 4 medium free-range eggs, separated
• 15g fresh chives, snipped
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan
For the pickled samphire
• 100g samphire, from large supermarkets and fishmongers
• 3 banana shallots, finely sliced into rings
• 175ml cider vinegar
• 125g caster sugar
1 To make the quick-pickled samphire, put all the ingredients into a non-metallic, wide container. Sprinkle with sea salt, then toss everything together and set aside for at least 1 hr or up to 24 hrs (cover and chill if you’re leaving it for longer than 1 hr).
2 For the soufflés, generously butter 6 x 175ml metal pudding basins or ramekins. Heat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Put the milk, 40ml of the cream and the onion wedges in a saucepan and heat gently until the liquid is steaming. Set aside to infuse.
3 Melt the 40g butter in a large pan, then stir in the flour, mustard powder and cayenne pepper. Keep stirring as it sizzles over a medium heat for a couple of minutes or until the mixture smells biscuity. Strain the infused milk into a jug, then add to the pan in a thin stream, whisking with a balloon whisk while the mixture thickens and bubbles. Don’t add the milk too quickly or the soufflé mixture won’t thicken properly. When all the milk is added, you should have a mix that holds its shape and comes away from the sides of the pan as you stir. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 5-10 mins.
4 Stir the crabmeat, egg yolks, chives and lemon zest into the thickened mixture. Taste and season – it needs to be on the slightly salty side to account for the egg whites when they’re added. Put on a full kettle to boil.
5 Put the egg whites in a spotlessly clean mixing bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until
