Hot Crab & Comté dip

This hot dip makes a perfect start to a meal, a dish that can be shared where you and another dunk either chunks of crusty bread or crouton to retrieve the molten delicious goo. Two words of warning:.

1. Warn people that it will be hot and will require caution and patience.
2. Be prepared for a fight to the finish.

This dip can also be made without the crab meat, substituting caramelised finely chopped onions instead.

For this recipe you will need;
150g of Comté cheese, grated
150g of white crab meat
150g of double cream
1 small clove of garlic finely minced
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
2 teaspoons of finely chopped chives
A good pinch of cayenne pepper

Begin by dry frying the cumin seeds in a small pan for a minute over a medium heat, this releases the cumin's fragrant oils. Add the cream, along with all other ingredients apart from the chives. Continue to heat and stir until the cheese is completely melted. Taste and adjust with a little salt if you think it needs it, personally I find it usually doesn't need any. Stir in the chives and place the pan under a grill just to toast the surface to a golden brown. Serve this with chunks of fresh crusty bread or crouton.

Notes:
I have a small cast iron pan made by Staub which I use for this dish, it works well for the dining table but it's equally possible to transfer the mix to a small serving dish before toasting the surface under a grill.
You can easily double up the quantities to serve more people, I find this is sufficient for 2 to 3 people, more if you are using it as part of a tray of canapé, in which case I would recommend using thinly sliced crouton.