Cornish Crab Soup

[TheHummer]

225 g Crab meat, fresh or frozen
50 g Butter
50 g Plain flour
900 ml Creamy milk
1.2 liters Chicken stock
Salt and white pepper
¼ tsp Grated nutmeg
Saffron - a few strands (optional)
2 tbs Dry sherry
150 ml Double cream, or whipping cream

1 Separate the white and dark crab meat.
2 Heat the butter until foaming, stir in the flour and allow to cook for a minute, then add the milk, stirring well, then the chicken stock. Add the dark crab meat, salt, pepper and nutmeg and simmer gently for 12-15 minutes. Add the saffron if liked, stir and then put in the white crab meat and the sherry.
3 Bring to just under boiling point, simmer for 5 minutes and check for seasoning.
4 Transfer to a soup tureen as it is, with a swirl of cream, or it may be sieved or liquidised if preferred.