Grilled Crayfish with Pistachio and Preserved Lemon Butter

Deliciously lemony-buttery-saltish-nutty!

Today is a special day because my preserved lemons are ready! Though I've been meaning to find a lobster to go with this dish (boy have I tried the whole week in vain) but in the end I settled for crayfish upon my fishmonger's suggestion, it's "lobster-meat without paying for the weight of the head, which you're probably not going to use anyway" (which is true). So do make friends with your fishmonger and get ready for the dish of your life :)

This is easily the one of the most impressive-looking dish without the work. It's nothing like the labour of a roast duck (my parents were thoroughly impressed hence stresses me further to recreate it for them next month!), think as effortless (and impressive) as baked eggs but for dinner instead!

Ingredients

• 6 crayfish, thawed and cleaned
• 2 sliver preserved lemon, rinsed (thoroughly to rid of the salt)
• 1 lemon
• ⅔ cup butter
• ¼ cup pistachio, raw and unsalted
• 1 tsp parsely (or 1 tsb fresh parsley)
• Freshly grind blackpepper

Adapted from Instant Entertaining

Directions

1. To clean a thawed crayfish, use a sharp pointed knife and slice the fleshy side vertically in half. Carefully remove the head (completely, including the gills) and slice away the transparent and plastic-y film on top of the flesh. Lastly trim away the legs and give it a good rinse. Fresh or completely thawed crayfish should have a sweet smell of the sea :)
2. To make the pistachio and preserved lemon butter: add preserved lemon, butter, pistachio, parsley and a few cranks of blackpepper in a food grinder 
3. Give it a few good blitz until everything is in a well-combined paste
4. Spread butter over crayfish and place on grill (or a non-stick pan)
5. Place flesh-side down and each pieces slightly apart in two batches
6. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until the crayfish is thoroughly cooked
7. Served with lemon. Yep that's it! 

Don't wait for a special day to make this :)