Crab Shiitake Puff with Grape Fruit Sauce

How does the name of the recipe sound? It has quite a story behind it. My team decided to do this get-together at one of our colleague's place as a team activity and the idea was to do 'Chopped'. For those who do not know what 'Chopped' is, it is a Food Network Reality show where the chefs are given 3-5 unrelated ingredients and are asked to come up with an Appetizer, Entree and Dessert. So now to what we did, I was asked to prepare an appetizer with Crab Meat, Shiitake Mushroom, Grape Fruit and Bran Cereal. Again unlike the show, we were given the ingredients a week early. The list of ingredients here were stuff I had never even bought before. Deciding what to make was a tough decision and had to try it once before I made it for the competition. I will cut the story short and get into the ingredients and method of making this appetizer.

For the Puff:

Crab Meat	- 300 gms (0.7 lbs - used 3 crab legs)
Shiitake Mushroom	- 150 gms (0.35 lbs)
Butter	- 3 - 4 tbsp
Ginger Paste	- 1 1/2 tsp
Garlic Paste	- 1 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 tsp (I used very little to make the appetizer mild)
Garam Masala	- 3/4 tsp
Egg Whites	- 1
Puff Pastry Sheet	- 1 Packet
Salt	- to taste

1. In a mixer, mince the cooked crab meat.
2. Chop the mushrooms into small slices.
3. In a pan, heat the butter and add Ginger and Garlic paste.
4. After sauting the ginger and garlic for 2-3 minutes, add the Chilly Powder and saute for a minute.
5. Add the chopped mushrooms and saute until the mushroom is cooked.
6. Add the minced crab meat, garam masala and salt and mix everything well for 3-5 minutes.
7. Turn off the stove and let the filling cool.
8. Use the puff pastry sheet to make puffs with the filling into any shape you want.
9. Line a Baking pan with parchment paper and place the puffs in it.
10. Beat the egg whites and brush the egg whites on to the top of the puffs. This is to give a glaze to the puffs.
11. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degree for 15 minutes and your puffs are ready.

For the Sauce:

Grape Fruit	- 6 oz can
Salted Butter	- 1 tbsp
Ginger Paste	- 1/2 tsp
Sweet Chilly Sauce	- 1 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Brown Sugar	- 2 tsp
Salt	- 1/4 tsp
Water	- 1/2 cup
Corn Starch	- 1 tsp
Bran Cereal	- 2 tbsp (powdered)

1. In a pan heat the butter and add ginger paste and saute for 2-3 minutes.
2. Grind the grape fruit with the juice (I used the canned version, as I could not get the fresh ones).
3. Add the ground grape fruit to the pan and let it boil.
4. Add the sweet Chilly Sauce, Chilly Powder and Brown Sugar and mix well.
5. Mix Bran Cereal powder in little water and add to the pan.
6. Mix the corn starch in a little water and add to the pan as well. This is to give a glaze to the sauce.
7. Let the sauce thicken and add the salt.

We were rated equally for Taste, Creativity and Presentation and guess what, this dish won the second prize at this competition.