Christmas Entertaining: Potted Crab With Crunchy Crudites

Looking for something easy to serve up that is special enough to impress guests? This potted crab with crunchy crudites fits the bill. It's done in 5 minutes and can be made ahead of time but is packed with rich crab meat and served with crunchy fresh vegetables.

It has been a while since I did an In My Kitchen where I show you the new things in my kitchen. Lizzy has now taken over it. I have lots of new things apart from crunchy summer vegetables and seafood in my kitchen. In fact a lot of my finds are from the Northern Hemisphere from my recent trip to Italy where people are firmly bundled up for winter.

I always do some prop shopping when I am overseas and in Modena we came across a cute little boutique (actually several boutiques) selling covetable items. I loved the shape of these glasses so I bought a couple, then spied these tiny little spoons and added them along with a wooden citrus reamer because I've always wanted one.

One of the most interesting places I visited was a place called San Patrignano. I don't want to ruin the surprise of the story but the pannettone there is SO good. Most non Italians I know don't like pannettone because they've only had the supermarket variety which is mass produced and dry, kind of like stale bread. But this version was buttery and fresh and I just had to buy one for myself.

While in Italy we did an olive oil tasting. Coppini's olive oils are divine-and hard to find in Australia so it was a real treat to be able to try and take some home with us. Some even came in a tasting pack with small shot glasses to do your own tasting. And if you ever come across this brand they're all divine but the mandarin one in particular is incredible. We also did a balsamic vinegar tasting and I bought these gorgeous little balsamic pearls. I'm thinking that they'll be perfect to top oysters with.

Next are a gift from Rimini's Dalla Lella shop who sell thousands of piadinas a day. They're sort of like a tortilla and you can fill them with all sorts of goodies from prosciutto, cheese and rocket to tomato and mozzarella or even caramelised figs and ricotta (there's a jar of the caramelised figs there). They're made with flour, salt, water and strutto aka pork fat which makes them super delicious. I think they might be nicer than tortillas!

And last but not least was a slab of divine 22 month old Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (you can bring that back through Aussie customs-yay!). I'm sure everyone has tried this cheese but did you know that it is aged for a minimum of 12 months up to 36 months? The 36 month is robust and beefy in flavour and has these tiny crunchy sweet crystals in it.

So apart from these things I have lots of items for Christmas entertaining. This year we are doing a family style Christmas (hopefully we can fit everyone around our table, the usual challenge). And there will be lots more Christmas entertaining recipes that I hope that you will like!

So tell me Dear Reader, what are you doing this year for Christmas? And what is new in your kitchen?

Potted Crab With Crunchy Crudites

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Can be made a day ahead and stored in the fridge

• 300g/10.6ozs. crab meat (or you can mix crab meat and smoked fish)
• 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat not light)
• 2 tablespoons cultured butter, soft and spreadable texture
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon (or to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Freshly chopped dill
• Dutch carrots, radishes, celery and cucumber to serve

Step 1 - Make sure the crab meat is well drained and mix along with the sour cream, butter, onion, lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper and mix in chopped dill.