A word from Galton Blackiston

Over the years my cooking style has developed and evolved to being totally regional and seasonal wherever possible. That’s how the set menu at Morston Hall came about: it changes according to what my suppliers have available, so that all the food we serve is as fresh as it can be.

To my mind simple things done really well are much better than complicated things done badly. With such an abundance of wonderful local ingredients it’s a real skill to be able to cook in an uncomplicated way using the freshest produce. I don’t feel it’s necessary to add other ingredients unless they really contribute to the dish, so the food gets to speak for itself rather than be drowned in complicated additions.

There’s no finer example of this along our north Norfolk coast than local crabs, lobsters, cockles, shrimps and mussels. Being so close to Morston Quay – literally yards away - it is difficult to look further than the amazing wet fish and shellfish which we have delivered on a daily basis. Give me a piece of pan fried mackerel caught that day, rather than a seared loin of yellow fin tuna flown in from the Pacific.

Food miles seem to be the top of everyone’s agenda at the moment, but with most of our fish and other produce we use at Morston we’re talking food yards. As far as I am concerned ‘local’ always has to be best.

While we are in an area heavily biased towards fish let us not forget that there is wonderful locally sourced meat available: beef, lamb and pork as well as chicken, locally reared ducks and game such as pheasant and venison in season.

All the seasons bring a plethora of delights but summer has to be my favourite. It heralds the start of everything – crabs are sweeter; lobsters are at their best in early summer; there’s a glorious six-week period of asparagus and then globe artichokes, new potatoes and freshly shelled peas, young carrots, all grown within three miles of where I work.

Samphire is another highlight: as a child I picked samphire at Morston but didn’t like its saltiness; now I use it every day in some guise during the summer season. And then of course there are all the locally grown summer fruits – strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries – picked and eaten the same evening – now you really can’t get better than that!

GALTON BLACKISTON IS CHEF PATRON
OF MORSTON HALL HOTEL AND RESTAURANT

Morston Hall is set in 3 acres of gardens off the coastal road opposite the entrance to the quay. Telephone 01263 741041 www.morstonhall.com. or www.galtonblackiston.com
Galton Blackiston’s Cooking at Morston Hall (paperback, £12.95) and A Return to Real Cooking (hardback, £20.00) are available signed from Morston Hall. Add postage and packing of £3.00 for the paperback and £5.00 hardback if you cannot collect.

Morston Hall Crab Cakes with Lime Mayonnaise
These luxurious crisp-crusted crab cakes can be prepared in advance and then pan-fried or deep-fried five minutes before serving. Instead of serving the dark crab meat as a garnish, you could use it to make smaller crab cakes, or combine it with the white crab meat in this recipe – in which case you would need to buy less crab. Be guided by your budget and the catch!

Ingredients
Serves 8
8 dressed crabs
2 egg yolks, beaten
4 tbsp chopped coriander
seasoned plain flour, for coating
1 egg, beaten with 75ml (3fl oz) milk
175g (6oz) white breadcrumbs
a splash of sunflower oil
juice of half a lime
1 tsp anchovy essence
1 tbsp crème fraîche
a splash of olive oil
a knob of butter
salt and pepper

Method
Using your fingers, separate the crab meat, removing any bits of shell and flaking the white meat. In a bowl, combine the white crab meat with the beaten egg yolks and the coriander. Season to taste.

Divide the mixture into 8 and, using your hands, form 8 even-sized crab cakes. Place them on a tray and freeze for 30 minutes to firm the mixture up. Meanwhile, put the seasoned flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs into separate bowls.

Remove the crab cakes from the freezer. Dip each crab cake into the seasoned flour to cover, then into the egg wash, shaking off any excess flour and egg wash as you go. Finally, dip each one into the breadcrumbs, making sure they are lightly and evenly coated. Place the finished crab cakes on a tray lined with greaseproof paper, cover with clingfilm and keep in the fridge until needed.

Place the dark crab meat, a splash of sunflower oil, the lime juice, anchovy essence and crème fraîche in a food processor and whiz on high speed until smooth, then taste and season. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

To cook the crab cakes, heat a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and, once hot, add a splash of olive oil together with a knob of butter. Fry the crab cakes gently for about 4 minutes on each side until they are golden.

Serve with Lime Mayonnaise and a small scoop of the brown crab meat mixture on the side.

Lime Mayonnaise

Ingredients
1 egg
2 tbsps lime juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard or
1tsp English mustard powder
300ml sunflower oil
Finely grated rind and the juice of another lime
salt and pepper

Method
Place the egg and 2 tbsps of lime juice into the bowl of a food processor together with the mustard and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Whizz on a high speed; turn off the machine and using a spatula scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything gets properly incorporated. Turn the machine back on and very slowly drizzle in the sunflower oil, the mixture will emulsify and then thicken. Next add the grated rind of the lime and some more lime juice if necessary, tasting as you do so. Finally check the seasoning for salt and pepper.

Andy Randell at the Blakeney Crab Shed, where he prepares and sells the crabs and lobsters he catches just offshore. Having always lived from the sea and marshes around Blakeney, he works closely with the tides and the seasons. Continuing down the generations, Andy’s son Mark is a reed cutter and breeds mussels in the creek.
Blakeney Crab Shed - 01263 740988.
    
One half of local producer ‘Bray’s Cottage Pork Pies’, Sarah Pettegree says: “I don’t think many people realise how much fantastic food is produced in Norfolk. I’m fascinated by how the food and producers reflect the real character of the landscape.” Bray’s Cottage Pork Pies – www.perfectpie.co.uk

Sarah is working on the Norfolk Food Producers Project which can be seen on www.flickr.com/norfolkfood.

Felbrigg Hall stays local
Crab from Blakeney is a popular dish on the menu at Felbrigg Hall this year, as chefs at the National Trust property work closely with gardeners, tenant farmers and wardens in a bid to provide the best quality food for visitors, reduce the number of food miles and support the local economy. Fruit, vegetables and herbs are sourced from the estate’s kitchen gardens and meat from local herds. Local bakers, cheese makers and artisans have become key suppliers.