Crab pâté

Serves 4-6

This is a way of using up the brown meat from a crab - otherwise, try to buy the brown stuff separately. Then, if you've got the barbie going, make fresh toast on the beach, but keep the pâté out of the sun in a cool box.

2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
150g butter
A good pinch of cayenne pepper
A pinch of ground mace
1tbsp dry sherry
300g brown crab meat
2tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Melt 50g of the butter in a pan and gently cook the shallots with the cayenne pepper and mace for 2-3 minutes without colouring. Add the crab, sherry and the rest of the butter and season. Cook on a low heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring every so often until the crab is thoroughly heated through. Stir in the breadcrumbs and remove from the heat. Blend in a liquidiser to a coarse purée, or finer if you wish, then transfer to a serving dish and leave to set. You can melt butter to pour over the top - this will preserve it for a little while longer than the usual 3-4 days. Serve with hot toast.