Crab Cakes with Fennel Remoulade

You can keep costs down by using a mixture of fresh and tinned crab meat if you like. Look for tinned lump crab meat and use larger pieces of fresh crab meat, to prevent the crab cakes from being mushy. Hands-on time 45min, plus chilling. Cooking time about 10min. Serves 8

FOR THE CRAB CAKES  2 spring onions, finely chopped  ¾tsp English mustard powder  1½tsp lemon juice  3tbsp finely chopped parsley  40g dried breadcrumbs  1 large egg, beaten  450g white crab meat, fresh, tinned, or a mixture

 Sunflower oil, to shallow fry  50g plain flour  Pinch cayenne pepper FOR THE REMOULADE  2 small fennel bulbs  Juice 1 lemon  3tbsp crème fraîche  3tbsp mayonnaise  1-2tsp Dijon mustard, to taste  2tbsp finely chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish TO SERVE

 100g watercress

 Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle

1 Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. For the crab cakes, in a medium bowl, mix the spring onions, mustard powder, lemon juice, parsley, breadcrumbs and some seasoning. Mix in the egg, followed by the crab meat; take care not to break it up too much.

2 Shape into 24 small patties and place

on the lined sheet. Chill for at least 30min (up to 24hr) to firm up.

3 For the remoulade, halve, core and finely shred the fennel. In a medium bowl, mix fennel and lemon juice. Set aside for 15min. In a small bowl, mix crème fraîche, mayonnaise, mustard, parsley and some seasoning. Stir crème fraîche mixture into the fennel to coat. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

4 To serve, pour oil into a large, deep frying pan so that it is 5mm deep. Heat to 175°C (check using a thermometer). Mix the flour, cayenne pepper and some seasoning in a shallow bowl. Carefully coat the crab cakes in the flour and gently shake off the excess (they will be quite fragile).

5 Fry in batches for 2-3min per side, until golden. Using a slotted spoon, lift on to kitchen paper to drain, then keep warm. Repeat with remaining crab cakes, monitoring oil temperature as you go.

6 Toss the watercress with a little extra virgin olive oil and divide between 8 plates. Top with crab cakes and serve with the remoulade. PER SERVING 195cals, 14g protein, 12g fat (3g saturates), 7g carbs (1g total sugars), 1g fibre

GET AHEAD Prepare to end of step 3 up to a day ahead. Cover and chill crab cakes. Complete recipe to serve.