LIGHT CRAB CAKES

It is a mystery why most of the British crab is exported to Spain. A whole crab (just plonk it in salty boiling water with a bay leaf for 15 minutes and then cover it with a clean cloth for 5 minutes) is a delicacy but it is difficult to find it in supermarkets or even fishmongers - unless you are lucky to be in Dorset or Norfolk of course. These cakes are a much poorer alternative, but the children like them, probably because they eat them with mayonnaise sauce.
You need:
- 200 gr white crab meat (they sell this in packs in supermarkets)
- 3 spring onions cut in small slices
- 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise sauce
- 1 egg
- if you prepare this for adults add also black pepper and chopped coriander

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix them. Put the mixture into the fridge for 30 minutes so that it gets to a nice consistency. Grease a pan with a tablespoon of oil (sunflower is best though we use olive oil) and heat it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, drop spoonfuls of the mixture and fry them for a couple of minutes on each side until the cakes are golden. Serve immediately.

TUNA CAKE

This makes a very easy lunch.

You need:
- three tins of canned tuna (we do this with tinned salmon and it works very nicely too)
- 4 eggs
- 1 tin of evaporated milk
- 2 spoonfuls of tomato sauce (if you do it wit salmon do not add the tomato)
- salt

Preheat the oven at 170 degrees. Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse them briefly so that they mix but the tuna retains some texture. Grease well a loaf tin and pour the mixture in. Then boil some water and pour it onto a big(-er) baking tray. Get the loaf tin inside the tray with the boiling water (this is called a 'bain marie' which is a beautify name; it basically means giving a 'gentle bath' and it evokes all romantic images of rural France) Bake for 40-45 minutes. Once it is cooked wait a little so that it could down before you un-mould it. It is a good idea to run a knife along the sides of the mould before you do so.\

The kids can help with all of it and my youngest enjoys the pulsing, but you should be really careful with the 'bain marie' as it is very easy to get badly burnt with the boiling water and/or the oven.