This Month's Recipe...
Boiled Crayfish with Watercress and Egg Sauce
From page 159 of The New English Table.
This reminds me of a crayfish feast: a lunch in Wiltshire, yards from the River Kennet. David Hammerson, owner of the Everleigh Farm Shop, cooked them for us. We ate them the most practical way, with mayonnaise. I have simply added that other freshwater ingredient, watercress, to this recipe.
Live crayfish, incidentally, need to be boiled for 10 minutes in salted water, added live to the pan as soon as possible after being caught. You will find, however, that they are usually sold ready boiled.
Serves 4
16-20 freshly boiled crayfish
For the sauce:
4 eggs, boiled in their shells for 8 minutes
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon English mustard powder (add more if you are an English mustard fan)
300ml sunflower oil
leaves and upper stalks from 1 bunch of watercress (about 100-150g), very finely chopped
juice of ½ lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peel the hardboiled eggs, chop them finely and set to one side. Put the raw egg yolks in a bowl with the mustard and begin to whisk in the oil, adding it very slowly until you have a thick emulsified sauce.
Once all the oil has been incorporated, add the watercress and lemon juice. Stir well, then fold in the hardboiled eggs and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Eat the crayfish by pulling the strip of meat out of the main body shell – there is a little meat in the claw, too. Use lobster picks and crackers or kitchen scissors to get at it. Put a bowl of the sauce on the table.
