Crab Melt (Crab Salad)

Crab melts were a tearoom favourite. The mixture of crab and marble cheese becomes mouth-watering when heated up in the oven. Initially, we served it on buttery croissants, the kind you buy frozen and then bake fresh. We decided that the croissants weren't as homemade as we wanted. They were also inconvenient when supplies ran low. We started experimenting with Choux pastry and it was a big hit. It saved time, energy, money and tasted better.

Customers often ordered Crab Melts and a Mandarin Salad. For the tea luncheons, they were served mini style, cold, and topped with alfalfa sprouts. Oddly, we found that packs of artificial crab flavoured Pollock taste much better than real crab meat.

• 1 Choux Pastry recipe
• 1 pkg crab flavoured Pollock flakes
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise (make it creamy)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 tbsp finely chopped chives or green onion
• 2 tbsp seafood sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Make large Choux pastry puffs.
2. Dice the crab into medium-sized pieces.
3. Add remaining ingredients and mix well with a fork.
4. Pull off pastry top and spoon filling into shells.
5. Put on a cookie sheet (put pastry top beside it), grate marble cheese on top and pop in the oven on broil until the cheese melts. This takes only a few minutes so pay attention or it will burn. Edges of pastry should darken slightly.
6. Put pastry top back on and serve.