My Valentine's Gift To You

Happy Valentine's Day to You!!!

I hope you have enjoyed the day, with or without the romance Sunday is always a nice day.

I woke up to my favourite tulips on this special morning.

And to some gorgeous smelly candles.

And it kept getting better. My lunchtime treat was a crab sandwich!   I simply adore crab sandwiches. You know my view on Guernsey crab - it is

Quite Possibly (read most definitely!) The Best Crab in the World.

Black skinny jeans, black vest top, green cardi similar here, splodge scarf and silver/green necklace (all M&S).  Just realised, I'm fully kitted out in M&S!

M&S black puffa.  Ready to go out-and-about.

Then returning home to an afternoon of a-Skyping and a-typing this yer blog, dear readers. 

Now, my Crab Fest is about to hit a high.  Crab in a chilli and cream sauce with linguine. 

Total yumsville.

My recipe has evolved and tends to be a very loose arrangement, not so much a recipe as a coming together of ingredients that compliment and are to hand. 

The crab, however, is non- negotiable!

My (Valentine's) Crab with Pasta

Fry some finely chopped shallots in a mix of olive oil and butter, "and that's good butter", as my dear Mum would say as she talked through her recipe (and by that she meant Guernsey butter, naturally!).

When the shallots are softened, add some finely chopped red chilli and a little crushed garlic.  I use no more than one clove of garlic as I don't want it to overpower, I keep light-touch with the flavours to let the crab come through in all its shining glory.

Then add some brandy (1-2 tablespoons), cook that down, then add some white wine (maybe a glass full in total), adding it a bit at a time and cooking down most of it.

Add some double cream (about 250ml) and cream cheese (150g), cooking that through slowly with some grated cheese; I usually use something strong like a emmental or gruyere, mixed with a little Parmesan, reserving some Parmesan to sprinkle when serving.

You can cook up to this stage and leave the sauce to stand, if you want to prepare in advance.

Cook up some pasta.  I tend to use fresh and I like linguine or tagiatelle. 

Drain when cooked al dente but reserve some cooking liquid as I find the sauce usually needs thinning at this stage with some of the glutinous cooking liquid. 

Add flaked white crabmeat (Guernsey if you can get hold of it!) and chopped fresh coriander, reserving some of the latter for sprinkling when serving; warm through.

Taste and add lemon/lime juice and seasoning as required.

Toss the pasta well into the sauce - you need two of something pronged and long-handled to do the job well.

Sprinkle with remaining coriander and parmesan.

Serve with a simple salad.

Eat, maybe with someone you love.

You will enjoy this!

With a glass of chilled crisp white.

There you have it! I have shared with you my recipe for one of my favourite dishes.  Of all time.

It is my Valentine's Gift to you.

You are so very welcome.

A la perchoine.