Midnight Garden - Crab Consomme

Yes, it's blurry, damn it. Chef Chashma and I worked like dogs on the Midnight Garden 5 course secret supper, but all our pictures turned out blurry. Ah well, the food was good, so whateve's.

I just wanted to pass on this recipe for crab consomme, cause it's so bloody tasty and looks like liquid gold. Enjoy!

Crab Consomme
1. Go to the store and buy the liveliest crab you can find. Pinch the legs to make sure they aren't squishy, if they are the meat hasn't filled into the shell yet.

2. Bake my garlic crab recipe first with whole crabs. Always ask to keep the carapace when you buy crab at the fish store, that's where the flavour is. The important thing to do with the whole crabs is bake them, don't boil them, all the flavour is gone in the water if you do that.

2a. Garlic Crab is easy, throw 2 whole crabs with heads into a baking dish, put 1/4 cup butter in and 1/2 of a whole head of garlic (diced), 1/5 c white wine(chardonnay if you want to be picky). Cover with tin foil and bake at 425F for 20 min till the meat turns white.

2. Eat the Crab, it'll be the best you've ever had, I swear.

3. Take the shells and head carapace, cover in cold water and bring to an easy boil. As soon as it boils, turn it down to simmer on low... as low as it goes. Cook for 30 min, then remove bones and discard.

6. This is the part that will need practice so don't get discouraged if it doesn't work perfectly the first time, regardless you will have a really tasty stock even if it isn't perfectly clear.

Making the Raft float - Ratio: 1.5 c stock to 1 egg white (1 oz)

a. Eyeball measure your stock and figure out how much egg white to put in from that measurement, you can buy egg whites at the store in the milk section.

b. Put in a rough chopped mirepoix of 3 celery stalks, 2 bay leaf, 1 tsp peppercorns, 1/2 med fennel bulb with greens, 1 whole onion, a little dill, a small handful of parsley stalks.

c. Pour in your egg whites all at once with 1/4 cup lemon juice, bring up to heat scraping the bottom slowly with a flat spatula to make sure the eggs don't burn on the bottom. Reduce heat as soon as the liquid reaches a simmer and the raft(a float of egg white and mirepoix at the top of the pot)has formed. Simmer gently for 1 hour. Ladle the consomme carefully out of the pot, try not to disurb the raft. Add salt to taste.

Ps. Then steam up some mussels, throw in a raw spot prawn, some lightly steamed fiddleheads or sea asparagus and enoki mushrooms to finish the soup.