CRAB AND CUCUMBER CANAPES (for four to six)

1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shell fragments

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 celery stalk, finely diced

1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

1 shallot, minced

juice from ½ lemon

sea salt, to taste

1 English cucumber

¼ teaspoon paprika

dill or fennel flowers for garnish (optional)

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1. In a bowl, stir together the crabmeat, mayonnaise, celery, chives, shallot, lemon juice and salt.

2.  Slice the cucumber thinly on the diagonal.  Place a dollop of the crab mixture on top of each cucumber slice, sprinkle with the paprika and serve immediately.

from Alison Attenborough and Jamie Kimm, Cooking for Friends (Williams Sonoma)