Bouillabaisse with Charred Fennel

Bouillabaisse is a bit of fiddle but it is worth it. I have tried to simplify it as much as possible for myself.

200 gms prawn
10 scallops halved
2 slices firm white fish in bite sized pieces
2 sets fish wings
Two crabs picked (large shells reserved) - or 1 tub meat
1 bulb fennel
1 onion in fine dice
1 stick celery in fine dice
1 carrot in fine dice
5 cloves garlic minced
1 tbs tomato paste
1/2 tub cherry tomatoes halved
1 glass white wine
Bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leaf tied in a bunch)
2 chilli minced
1 pinch saffron
1 handful parsley
1 litre chicken stock
Extra virgin olive oil

Remove the fronds from the fennel (for garnish) and separate the leaves of the fennel, cleaning as necessary. Shell the prawns and reserve the larger shell pieces and heads. Char the fennel leaves over flame until slightly smokey in batches. Repeat with prawn shell/heads.

Mince the charred fennel and saute with the onion, celery, carrot, chilli and most of the garlic over a low temperature in extra virgin olive oil until soft. Toss through the cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Once soft add the tomato paste to the mix and cook off. Deglaze with white wine and once the alcohol has also cooked off, pour in the chicken stock, stirring to combine, adding the bouquet garni. Add the saffron, fish wings, prawn shells/heads, (large crab shells if you have them) and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes. Remove the fish wings and prawn shells (crab too)
and discard. Blend the sauce with a stick blender.

Add the fish pieces and simmer for 2 minutes before adding the prawn, followed by scallop 1 minute later. Finally add the crab and remaining garlic, some chopped parsley and give a gentle stir.
Divide amongst bowls, top with more parsley, a drizzle of extra virgin and some fresh cracked pepper.

Sand Crab Dressed in Coconut on Papadoms

I like picking over crab but if I were short on time I would just buy it. Once you've got the crab meat, it is a ten minute job. Dress the crab, fry the sweet potato chips, cook/puff papadoms, top with tasty stuff and tuck in.

1 or 2 sand crabs picked or 200gms bought meat
2 tbs coconut milk
Juice of half a lime
Splash of teriyaki sauce
Sesame oil
Coriander
Chilli
1 cup of thinly sliced sweet potato
10 or 12 papadoms

Deep fry the sweet potato in batch until coloured and crispy. Carefully fold the crab meat in half of the coconut milk, lime juice, a little teriyaki, a little sesame oil and some chopped coriander. Cook the papadoms in the microwave in batches (usually about 45 seconds or there abouts).
Place the crab on a poppadom, some more coriander, chilli slices and a squeeze of lime.

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomato and Prawn Pasta with Chilli

Wow first recipe of the year.
I have been refining this one for a while, it is basic and quick with few ingredients. I sometimes mix it up by adding some blue cheese when I am warming the sauce through. If I were cooking this for adults only I would fry the chilli when cooking the prawns with some garlic. Using green prawns will produce a better flavour in the sauce but either way it is gooood. It's a crowd pleaser, enjoy.


400gms prawns, shelled - heads reserved
1 1/2 punnets cherry tomatoes quartered
1 onion sliced and  broken up
2 tsp sugar
6 cloves garlic sliced
Handful of parsely leaves
A handful of basil leaves
One bay leaf
A splash of white wine
Lemon wedges for serving
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup pasta water reserved for the sauce
I packet of pasta
Grilled prosciutto
Sliced chilli
Parmessan
Salt and pepper

Combine the prawns heads with the sliced onion, 4 cloves worth of sliced garlic, cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper, the sugar, half of the parsely, the bay leaf and enough extra virgin to coat. Roast at 180C for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Roast it until some of the onions and tomatoes have a little char. Discard the prawn heads and bay leaf and blend tomato mixture in a food processor with half of the basil, a squeeze of lemon and a good hit of extra virgin. Refrigerate until ready.
Cook the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, fry the remaining garlic in some more extra virgin until fragrant then toss through the prawns. Remove the prawns and set aside, deglaze the pan with the white wine then pour in your prepared tomato sauce to the frying pan. While warming, thinly slice the remaining basil then incorporate into the sauce. When ready, reduce the heat to low and wait for the pasta to finish cooking. When the pasta is done pour a cup of pasta water into your tomato sauce and stir to combine.
Toss the pasta through the sauce, bung into bowls, place prawns on top, sprinkle over some freshly grated Parmessan, crispy prosciutto, parsley, a little lemon, salt and pepper, chilli and a little more extra virgin.
Serve with crusty bread.

Pistachio Romesco Sauce

I made Romesco sauce a few years ago and it was nice but it was hard work. Traditional Romesco sauce is made with blanched almonds and hazelnuts. To prep the hazelnuts you need to oven roast them and then rub the skins off with a tea-towel. That task sucked. Anywho the reiteration I've come up with here was simple and quick and versatile. I served this with scallops, prosciutto and guacamole but it very easily doubles as a dip.


100 grams shelled pistachios
3 slices of ciabatta crusts removed, diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tsp chilli flakes
2 pinches paprika
Water


Toast the nuts and garlic in some olive oil over a medium heat. Remove to a clean plate. Add the remaining oil then toast the bread. Blitz the ingredients (only half of the vinegar) together, check for acidity and add more vinegar if required. Add water until you reach the consistency you'd like.

Flaked Salmon Pasta with a Mushroom and Asparagus Sauce

Wow, two recipes in a month, things are getting hectic. This was delicious, I made my own pasta here but store bought would be fine, if possible buy some freshly made pasta from a deli if you have the opportunity perhaps. The salmon was just as simple as shallow frying and really all the sauce was was some sautéed mushroom, asparagus pieces, pasta water and cream. One of the things I did do here actually (I cooked this a few days ago...) was make some basil chips. Basil what? Heaps simple, get half a bunch of basil and pick the leaves, lightly salt and toss in a little oil. Roast for 5-10 minutes, just don't let them burn. Very interesting flavour - initial beautiful basil hit then an after taste of green tea. I plan on doing more with this concept, very interesting.

3 salmon fillets, skin on
Two big handfuls and mushrooms sliced
1 bunch asparagus cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbs cream (or more if you're keen)
2 tbs butter
2 cloves garlic chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Enough fresh pasta for 4
Handful of sage leaves
Parsley for garnish
Basil chips
Cherry tomatoes quartered
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Salt and pepper

Have all of your ingredients ready to go as was you start it all happens quite quickly. Have your water simmering and ready to cook the pasta. Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Heat some extra virgin olive oil over a medium high heat, fry the sage leaves in the oil until crisp - remove and reserve. Place the salmon fillets in skin side down and cook until the fillet is cook about 1/3 to 1/2 the way up the side - do not allow the skin to burn, this becomes part of the garnish. Turn when ready and when the fillet feels about medium rare to medium, remove to a clean plate. Cook your pasta.
Add the butter to the pan and when melted add in the mushrooms and some salt and pepper giving them some great colour. When mostly cooked add in the asparagus pieces and cook for a further minute. Squeeze in the lemon juice and give it a mix. Pour in the cream and a few tablespoons of the pasta water. Give the pan a good shake to emulsify the sauce, when combined turn off the heat. If the pasta is cooked, drain and toss through a little extra virgin olive oil.
Carefully remove the skin from each fillet and slice on the diagonal. Flake the flesh. Add a portion of pasta to each serving bowl, spoon over some sauce, some flaked salmon, garnish with some basil chips, fried sage leaves, parsley, cherry tomatoes, some freshly cracked pepper and a little drizzle of extra virgin.

Braised Rabbit with Star Anise and Cranberries

A mate of mine recently gave me a whole stack of bunny wabbits, dressed and everything. Having never cooked rabbit and only eaten it once this was new territory. I did some research and this is attempt number one. Many recipes pointed out how delicate a flavour it is but most recipes have bold flavours like mine so I went for the safe option. Not surprisingly - its quite like chicken. On the upside, this was very nice but next time I will be more gentle. The most interesting part was the cranberries, a few recipes I saw called for sultanas or raisins which I do not like in savoury food. The cranberries puffed up heaps but the flavour went to the background - my wife didn't even know until I told her after that they were there. Tasty.

1 kg of rabbit on the bone
2 rashers of bacon cut in batons
1 stick celery in fine dice
2 carrots in fine dice
1 onion in fine dice
2 big handfuls diced mushroom
3 cloves garlic
1 tin tomato purée
1 star anise
1 handful of dried cranberries
1 good slug of red wine
2 bay leaves
A bouquet garni  (tie some herbs together)
A splash of Brandy
1 cup chicken stock
Flour for dusting
Salt and pepper
Butter and extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs sour cream
Parsley and chilli flakes
Good mash


Season the flour and dust the rabbit. Heat the butter until foaming then add in some olive oil. Brown the rabbit then remove to a clean plate. Fry the bacon then remove to a clean plate. Sauté the onion, celery and carrot until soft then add in the garlic and cook until fragrant then remove. Add more oil/butter sauté the mushrooms with some salt and pepper, add the onion mixture and bacon. If you want a thick sauce, cook through some of the left over flour from dusting. Deglaze the pan with the Brandy and red wine and when the boozie smell is gone pour in the tomato, cranberries, star anise, stock and stir to combine. Place in the bouquet garni and add the rabbit pieces. Reduce the heat to low, add a lid and leave it for 1.5 hours. Remove the rabbit pieces and take the meat off the bone (discard those), chop into bite sized pieces then return to the sauce and stir through the sour cream. Check for seasoning. Garnish and serve with some mash.

Chilli Oregano Sardines

I haven't eaten sardines in years. Quick and simple.

1 chilli sliced
Sardine fillets
1 tbs fresh oregano leaves
1 clove garlic finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Rind from 1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil

Combine the lot (don't use much salt however) and fry in a hot pan.

The Salmon Dish

This recipe is up to celebrate the unimaginable which is 10K hits on my blog. Odd title but that's what we call it. This is probably the first recipe I can say was really a creation of mine and unlike most of my other recipes (only due a love of gastronomic experimentation), I regularly cook this dish. When I say "I" I mean my wife, because she makes it so much better than me (I try to mess with it). Fast, simple, cheap, keeps well, healthy and most importantly, tasty.

Salmon (smoked, tinned, doesn't matter)
Cooked rice
Fresh veg just steamed or raw (shrooms, asparagus, capsicum...)
Sour cream or yoghurt
Kikkoman Teriyaki (best in my opinion)
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Sliced chilli
Parsley/chives

Rice - veg - flaked/torn salmon - flecks of sour cream or yoghurt - splash of teriyaki - squeeze of juice - salt and pepper - the herb.

Calamari Balls

This recipe (though slightly bastardised) came from a student of mine. Good bloke with a real love of food. This is as simple as it is cheap. Squid tubes are very economical and as the mixture is combined with milk, you effectively cannot over cook it! Hooray! Thanks Josh.

500 gms squid tubes
1 chilli de-seeded
Zest of 1 lime
1 coriander root (or leaves)
1 tsp garam marsala
Milk
Bread crumbs
2 eggs beaten
Flour
Oil for frying


Rough chop the squid tubes then blitz with the chilli, lime zest, coriander, a little salt and 1 tbs of milk until it forms a paste. If it is too dry, add a little more milk. If you've added too much you can drain it later. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. Heat the oil to a high temperature. Make 1 tbs sized balls of the squid goo. Season the flour with salt and the curry paste (garam marsala). Dust the balls in the flour, pass through the beaten egg then crumb. Deep fry in batches until they rise to the surface and have great colour. Drain and season with a little more salt while hot. Serve with whatever takes your fancy - I had lime wedges, teriyaki sauce and some home-made chilli jam.

Chorizo Fish and Prawn Chowder

This was how I intended to start soup season and would have if those pesky leftover vegies hadn't gotten in the way. This was absolutely delicious although a little labour intensive. My understanding of chowder is that it is meant to be a complex, full flavoured, thick soup with a little kick. To help achieve this I made my own fish stock using some fish wings, prawn shells, garlic, chicken stock, lemon rind, carrot, 1 roughly chopped chilli, onion, coriander stems and roots, silverbeet stem, bare corn cobs and 3 start anise. After that I strained the stock and built me some tasty soup with bits. Unreal.

3 litres fish stock
1 kg chopped peeled potato
1 handful mushrooms in fine dice
2 carrots in fine dice
1 onion fine dice
1 leek in fine dice
2 cobs corn striped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp harrisa
Leaves from 1 bunch coriander chopped
300 gms green prawns shelled in big chunks
2 pieces reef fish in big chunks
1 chorizo
2 slices prosciutto, grilled and crispy
1 handful cherry tomatoes
2 tbs sour cream
Extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until tender then blitz till smooth. While this happens, cook the chorizo in a frying pan then remove, throw in mushrooms and cook those, remove to a clean bowl. Saute the carrot, onion, leek and garlic with the harrisa in some extra virgin olive oil. Chop the chorizo into small chunks. Add the onion mixture to the potato soup along with the mushroom and simmer for 10 minutes to infuse. Add in the corn, fish, chorizo and prawns and turn off the heat. The fish/prawns should take about 5 minutes to cook. Mince the coriander with the cherry tomatoes and prosciutto. Add the lemon juice to the chowder then test for seasoning and mix through the sour cream. Spoon into bowls, top with some coriander/prosciutto gear, serve with some great toasted  bread.

Seafood Carbonara Risotto

Nice. Having never made Carbonara this was interesting. In retrospect, I would only have used half the amount of carb sauce and twice the amount of blue cheese. I have written here my amounts for the carbonara sauce, cut it in half if you try this. If you're a carbonara fan, give it a go.

2 cups risotto rice
1 litre chicken stock
1 onion in fine dice
300 gms green prawns, shelled and deveined
10 fresh sea scallops
1/2 cup bubbling wine
1 tbs butter
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 tbs blue cheese
1 tbs cream
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Sliced chilli
1 tbs butter
1/2 tbs porcini oil
2 slices of pancetta cut in batons
1 clove garlic minced
1 whole clove garlic
Parsley stalks
2 tbs minced parsley
1 wedge of lemon

Simmer the chicken stock with the prawn shells and head, lemon wedge and whole garlic clove for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve and discard the solids. Place to stock back on the heat and return to a simmer.
Combine well the Parmesan, blue cheese, eggs, egg yolks, half of the parsley and cream along with some salt and pepper, cover until required.
Sauté the onion with the butter and garlic until soft and translucent in a large, heavy based frying pan. Throw in the rice and toast for a couple of minutes. Deglaze the pan with the bubbles then once almost absorbed spoon in some stock, stir occasionally until reduced. Repeat until you are down to your last 2 ladles. Pour in the last 2 ladles of stock along with the lemon juice, and half of the parsley, stir, remove from the heat and cover for 5 minutes to cool and finish cooking.
Heat the porcini oil, fry the pancetta until crispy, remove and cook the prawns until just tender. Add a little more butter to the pan and when foaming, cook the scallops allow for nice colour on each side. Remove and keep warm.
Stir the carbonara sauce through the risotto, along with half of the pancetta, test for seasoning then spoon into warmed bowls. Top with seafood and pancetta and a sprinkling of chilli. Some more lemon probably wouldn't hurt either.

Garlic Prawn and Lemon Cous Cous with Shaved Fennel

With Mum at work and the boys in bed, this was a super quick supper for the big girl and I. 10 minutes maybe?


1/2 a small fennel bulb in thin slices
200 gms green prawns peeled
1/2 a lemon
1 cup cous cous
1 tbs garlic oil
Salt and pepper
1 handful chives chopped


Add the cous cous to a bowl along with the lemon, cover with boiling water then cover with a tea towel and allow to infuse/cook.
Mix the prawns and garlic oil together. Heat a medium frying pan to medium high then throw in the prawns along with some salt and pepper, toss until just cooked through. Remove the prawns to a clean plate then cook the shaved fennel for a couple of minutes in the garlic oil. Remove from the heat.
Remove the tea towel from the cous cous, squeeze the juice out of lemon and fluff the cous cous with a fork.
Add the cous cous to a clean plate, top with the prawns and fennel and the chopped chives. If necessary add more lemon juice.

Prawn and Chicken Satay Patties

10 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking, heaps ace.



400gms chicken mince
200 gms green prawns shelled
2 tbs cashew and macadamia satay paste
1 shallot finely diced
1/2 bunch coriander chopped
1 tbs teriyaki sauce
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup rice flour
Oil for semi-deep frying


Mince the prawns well with a knife. Combine the chicken mince, prawn mince, satay paste, shallot, coriander, teriyaki sauce, half of the bread crumbs and the egg for a couple of minutes to work the proteins. If the mixture is too wet, add more bread crumb until it holds together. Wet your hands and form the mixture into patties of whatever size you like. Set them aside until required.
Pour about 1cm of oil into a large frying pan and heat to medium high. Dust the patties in the rice flour. Fry on both sides until golden.

I served this with a ginger and coriander teriyaki dipping sauce and some srirachi chilli sauce. Unreal.

Thyme and Start Anise Potted Prawn

Wow. Ticks all of the boxes - simple, cheap, quick, stupidly tasty. Some chilli would have been good too.

200 gms cooked prawn, peeled

200 gms unsalted butter
1 clove garlic sliced
2 pieces lemon rind
Small handful of thyme leaves
2 star anise
1/2 tbs mayonnaise
Rind of 1/2 a lemon
1 spring onion minced finely
Salt and pepper
1 baguette thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil


Melt the butter over a low heat and throw in the garlic, star anise, lemon rind and thyme. Infuse for 10 or 15 minutes but don't allow to colour. While the happens, mince the prawn with a knife then combine with the remaining ingredients, then spoon into a ramekin. When the butter is ready carefully pour half into the ramekin and gently fold through with a teaspoon. Squish the prawn down flat lightly. Place some of the thyme on top and then 1 star anise before pouring in the remaining butter. If necessary squish down the star anise to submerge. Refrigerate to solidify. Take out of the fridge 10 minutes before you wish to use it. To serve drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the baguette slices and grill on one side until crunchy. Tuck in.

Cashew and Macadamia Nut Satay

I watched a TV chef recently smash together a satay sauce in about 2 minutes and I thought well I want to do that too. My recipe differs quite a bit from his but as my research after the fact discovered, it don't matter. I think satay is one of those 'satays are like opinions' scenarios. They can be simple or complicated. In any case, what I have done here is very very good and I can thoroughly recommend trying it. My bother in law who doesn't like satay had two helpings and was kind with his review. There is enough satay to marinade 1 - 2 kg of the meat of your choice, have enough left for being a sauce and, an additional purpose like making satay and coconut milk rice for the kids.


2 handfuls salted cashew/macadamia nuts
2 heaped tbs crunchy peanut butter
Rind of 1 lime
Juice of 2 limes (maybe more)
2 cloves garlic
1 thumb ginger roughly chopped
1/2 bunch coriander, roots and all
200 ml of coconut milk (or to taste)
1 long red chilli
1 tbs palm sugar (or brown)
2 tbs light olive oil or peanut oil
1/2 cup water


Leaving out the water, blitz the lot until it is in a smooth paste. Check for flavours and add more lime juice, coconut milk or sugar until you reach a tasty result (there should be enough salt from the nuts). Aim for a good balance of nut, sweet and importantly, lime. Pour in half of the water, blitz, check the consistency and add the remaining and more if required.

Oysters Brie-Patrick

Super easy, super tasty.

Oysters
Serrano ham (or prosciutto)
Brie cheese slices
Worcestershire Sauce

Oyster, brie, Worcestershire, Serrano ham, hot grill - crisp/melt - eat.

Mushroom and Prawn Bruschetta

Easy as. I made this taste even more mushroom like by using some porcini oil I made by soaking some porcini mushrooms in some extra virgin olive oil - an inexpensive little trick. I bought my bread from the Dayboro Bakery, they not only make the best pie and peas in the world, they also bake amazing bread - if you get the chance, check them out.



300 gms prawns shelled
Some great bread sliced
4 or 5 big mushrooms sliced
2 cloves garlic sliced
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 handful parsley chopped
Salt and pepper
1 tbs marinated feta


Drizzle some oil over the bread. Heat 2 tbs of the oil to medium high, bung in the garlic and fry until fragrant, throw in the mushroom, some salt and pepper and cook until coloured. Remove and mix through the parsley and feta, set aside. Grill the bread. Heat the remain oil to medium high then flash fry the prawns until tender and just cooked through. Bread, shroom, prawns on top, drink some wine.

Asparagus and Prawn Risotto

Two things before I begin. Firstly and again - listen to your mates they know stuff. Secondly - hello stinky wee. A friend of mine told me about his favourite risotto which is an asparagus version - 500 gms blended into the stock, 500 gms added into the risotto at the end. Really good advice, I can see this working with a whole bunch of things eg, bulk garlic, corn, mushroom, lemon, seafood and cream like a bisque and so on. Cheers mate - (sorry I bastardised your simple idea).

1 kg asparagus
300 gms green prawns shelled (shells reserved)
2 shallots finely diced
2 cups aborrio rice
1 tbs butter
2 cloves garlic minced
1 clove garlic bashed
1 L chicken stock
1 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1 chilli sliced
1 lemon

Simmer the prawn shells in the stock for 5 minutes. While this is happening remove the woody ends from the asparagus and reserve, slice up half of the spears and the other half into big chunks. Strain the prawn stock and discard the shells, return the stock to the heat and place in the chunky asparagus and 1 half of the lemon whole. When the asparagus is becoming tender, remove the lemon then blitz it all with a hand blender. Be careful, it could get messy. You should end should end up with a thin asparagus soup. Place in the woody asparagus ends and the bashed garlic and return to a simmer. Go about making the risotto in the normal manner from this point, omitting the woody ends and bashed garlic. Slice the prawns reserving a few to cook in butter and garlic. When you are adding the last two ladles, thrown in the sliced asparagus, sliced prawns, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and the juice of the remaining lemon half - cover and rest for 5 or ten minutes. Add to bowls, top with more Parmesan, a whole prawn, sliced chilli and more lemon if required.

Stuffed Mushroom Topped with Scallop and Chorizo

Just a few scallops really go a long way, likewise 1 chorizo sausage can span at least 3 meals. This took about 10 minutes to prepare and about 35 minutes to cook. This was enough as a starter for 2 kids and 3 adults.

2 field mushrooms
1/2 handful parsley
2 cloves garlic
4 tbs Panko bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
1 tbs marinated feta
1 tbs grated Parmesan
1 tbs extra virgin (maybe more)
A little white wine
1 tbs pine nuts
6 fresh sea scallops
10 thin slices of chorizo
Some grated tasty cheese

Pre heat an oven to 180C. Break the stems off the field mushrooms and roughly chop. Roughly chop the parsley and garlic. Mince the mushroom stems, parsley and garlic together until fine and well combined. Mix the Parmesan, parsley mix, marinated feta and half of the olive oil with a spoon. If the mixture is a little dry, add the rest of the oil. Drip a little white wine over each mushroom, divide the bread crumb mix between each, place on a baking paper lined tray, cover with foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to roast for another 10 minutes or until the top is crunchy.
Thinly slice the scallops. Remove mushrooms from the oven.
Arrange the scallops and chorizo on top of each mushroom,top with a few pine nuts, sprinkle over a little grated tasty cheese and return to the oven until the cheese has melted and the scallops are just opaque.

Cheese Souffle with Crab and Prosciutto

First ever soufflé. Un-freaking-real. Ahhhh, sounds terrifying but its pretty simple really - white sauce, strained - eggs whites at soft peaks - egg yolks and flavours with some cheese - buttered ramikins - happy Alex, wife and kids. Sooooo making this again. I really think that this would be brilliant in small muffins moulds as a party food. I will have a wild stab in the dark here however - as I used chunks of crab (my brother brought me some he had caught and picked and it was freaking awesome) I am guessing that it would have dragged down the rising process. It was still fluffy though. Also, next time, I plan on flavouring the milk with chilli too.

4 eggs, seperated
1 small onion in small dice
1 clove garlic minced
50 gms butter
3 tbs flour
1 cup milk
1 handful basil
4 tbs parmessan
3 tbs Tasty or other grated cheese
200 gms picked crab (or more)
2 slices prosciutto grilled

Preheat an oven to 180C. Grease 4 ramekins with a little of the butter then place in the oven. Make a white sauce by sautéing the onion and garlic with the remaining butter over a medium low heat until translucent. Add in the flour and cook, stirring for 4 or 5 minutes. Pour in the milk and add in the basil. Continue cooking until thickens like thickened cream. While this happens (it only takes a minute or so) beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Chop the prosciutto. Strain the white sauce through a sieve and discard the solids. Stir the white sauce and cheese together until the cheese melts then mix through the egg yolks, crab and chopped prosciutto. Semi-carefully stir through half of the egg white. Carefully stir though the remaining egg white then spoon into the ramekins until 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden on top.
I served this with a simple salad of chopped roma tomatoes, balsamic glaze and torn basil. My recommendation is, make a double batch because it is really great.