Christian Gradnitzer at Madinat Jumeirah
‘This recipe was part of the three-course meal we served to more than 100 guests at the Salon Culinaire (La Parade Des Chefs) competition in the UK this year. Team Jumeirah was awarded a gold medal.’

Ingredients

Crab leg ‘La Plancha’
4pcs/200g crab leg in shell, raw
60g onion, white peeled
50g carrot, clean peeled
25g leek
50g celery
1 bay leaf
200g crab stock
10g chives, finely chopped
To taste: salt and pepper

Cornish crab cake
200g crab meat, chilled and pickled
20g spring onions, cleaned and finely chopped
10g chilli, chopped
5g coriander clean and chopped
20g mayonnaise
10g pommery mustard
60g panko (or Japanese) breadcrumbs
To taste: Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt and pepper

Leek purée
200g leeks
80g spinach
20g pink lady apples
60g butter
10g shallots, peeled, chopped
250ml chicken stock
To taste: salt and pepper

Ratte potato salad
80g Ratte potatoes, boiled in salt water, peeled, diced in 1cm pieces
5g Dijon mustard
5g pommery mustard
10ml white grape vinegar
10ml chicken stock
5g sour cream
To taste: salt and pepper

Garnish
10g red radish, sliced
30g mesclun or fine salad leaves
10g chive yips
10ml crab oil from the shells

Method

Crab leg ‘La Plancha’
1 Cut vegetables into 2cm pieces and place in five litres of boiling water with the spices and crab legs; boil for three minutes.

2 Remove crab meat from shell, season, and sear in non-stick pan with butter. Place seared crab meat legs onto a tray, glaze with crab stock and, before serving, set the tray in a 160˚C pre-heated oven for a minute. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped chives.

Cornish crab cake
3 Mix the pickled crab meat with the chopped shallots, chilli, spring onions, coriander, mayonnaise and pommery mustard. Season with Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

4 Shape the crab meat into small patties, then dip both sides into the Japanese breadcrumbs.

5 Heat a non-stick pan and fry the crab cakes gently on both sides until golden brown.

6 Before serving, place crab cakes in a pre-heated oven (160˚C) for three minutes.

Leek purée and ratte potato salad
7 Boil potatoes, dice, and mix with the mustard, vinegar, chicken stock and sour cream.

8 Cut leek into 4mm-thick discs and pan-fry in non-stick pan on both sides.

9 Drizzle butter and chicken stock into pan and simmer for five minutes.

10 Chop remaining leek and sauté with shallots in a saucepan; add the peeled apples, spinach and butter.

11 Season and blend, then remove from the heat and chill.

12 Place potato artfully around plate, and embellish with radish.

13 Drizzle crab cakes with crab oil. drizzle crab oil from shells.