Samphire and brown shrimp patties

Serves 4-6

(Jason Lowe)

These make great little snacks for drinks parties or you could serve a couple of larger ones as a dinner-party starter with a dollop of crème fraîche on top. If you can't get hold of brown shrimps then don't panic – just chop up some cooked, shelled prawns and use those instead.

80g of samphire with any woody ends removed
60g brown shrimps in the shell
80g self-raising flour
1 small egg, beaten
50-60ml milk
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
Salt and cayenne pepper
Olive oil for frying

Bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the samphire for 30 seconds, then drain and refresh under the cold tap and dry on some kitchen paper.

Mix the egg and flour in a bowl and add enough milk to form a thick pouring-consistency batter.

Mix in the samphire, shrimps and spring onion and season with the salt and cayenne pepper.

Heat a tablespoon of the olive oil in a

large heavy or non-stick frying pan and drop a spoonful at a time of the batter into the pan to form little patties. Cook them on a medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side or until crisp, then remove and drain on some kitchen paper.

Repeat with the rest of the mixture then re-heat in the oven or under the grill.