Crayfish

The perfect low carb option to match a Stella Artois Légère

Ingredients:

Recipe serves four as an entrée or two as a main

• Fresh or cooked crayfish – allow 1 medium sized crayfish per person for a main or half for an entrée
• 4 x limes
• 1 x small red chilli
• 300g clarified butter
• 3 x kaffir lime leaves
• 10 x sprigs of fresh mint
• Pre prepared mayonnaise

For Sides:

• Crisp salad leaves
• Tomatoes
• Mint
• Soft white bread buns (optional)

Method:

If you have fresh crayfish, put them to sleep in the freezer for a few hours. Prepare a large pot of boiling salt water; the water should be as salty as the sea they came from. Cook the crayfish in lots of 10 minutes; the shells will turn a lovely orange colour. Remove from the pot and stop them cooking by chilling them in cold water. With a solid knife and a steady hand split the crayfish lengthwise. Remove any of the “iky bits” you don’t like the look of from the head.

Heat 300 grams of butter in a heavy based saucepan until it has melted. Add three kaffir lime leaves, a sliced small red chilli and four sprigs of fresh mint. Turn up the heat and bring to almost boiling. Be careful of the butter spitting. Skim off any solids that collect on the surface. You will see the butter separate and once this happens, set aside. Allow to sit for 10 minutes for the flavours to infuse and the solids to settle. Gently strain the clarified butter through a fine sieve to remove the flavouring, leaving the solids behind.

To Cook:

Heat your grill pan to a hot temperature. Brush a generous amount of the clarified butter onto the flesh side of your crayfish halves and sear in the pan two at a time to achieve good grill marks. Season well with salt and pepper as you go. Spoon a little more butter over the crayfish in the pan. Set aside, keep warm and pour all the pan juices over the crayfish. Grill some limes cut in half in the pan to use for garnish

To Serve:

Make a quick Lime Mayonnaise by mixing 200 grams of pre prepared mayo with the zest and juice of two fresh limes.

Arrange the crayfish on your serving platter, garnish with the grilled limes, and offer the Lime mayonnaise.

Serve with a bowl of crisp salad leaves and a plate of sliced tomatoes mixed with fresh mint leaves.

For those not carb conscious, some soft white rolls would be great to soak up the juices!