Tag: prawn

Prawn Börek

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Makes: 8

Lordy.

These little numbers are absolutely incredible; like two-hat Middle Eastern incredible.

The egg, the melted cheeses, the prawns and especially the heat from the chilli. And then the nigella seeds.

I cannot overstate the importance of trying these at home as part of a bigger Middle Eastern feast.

You’ll smirk as you present them, comfortable that all remaining courses will be in your shadow with another family cook-off comfortably won by you.

Amazing.

(The original recipe from the wonderful Gourmet Traveller with only a few minor changes from me.)

Ingredients

6 large uncooked king prawns, peeled, deveined and finely chopped
100gm haloumi, finely grated
100gm Greek sheep’s feta, finely grated
2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp isot pepper*
2 egg yolks
8 filo pastry sheets
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
Melted butter
1 tsp nigella seeds**

Method

  1. Combine prawns with cheeses, parsley and isot pepper, then fold through the egg yolks.
  2. Take a sheet of filo pastry, brush butter on one half lengthways and then fold the filo in half lengthways. Place 2 tbsp of filling at one end, then fold one corner of pastry over filling to form a triangle. Repeat folding from side-to-side in a triangle shape until there is one fold left. Brush with butter and make the last fold, pressing to seal the triangle. Trim any excess overhanging pastry.
  3. Repeat for the remaining pastries and refrigerate for 1 hour uncovered to dry.
  4. Heat oil in a large deep saucepan to 180c. Deep fry the börek in batches, turning occasionally until golden and cooked through: 3 – 4 minutes.
  5. Drain on paper towels, spring with nigella seeds and serve.

* Substitute chilli flakes.
** Substitute cumin seeds.

Seafood Sausage with Lemon Herb Sauce

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

This is a restaurant quality dish and one that made us so happy preparing and cooking it.

The subtlety of the sausages which we did in the sous vide for an hour before lightly grilling, the sauce, the mash and the asparagus made for seriously a memorable meal.

A really warm, unique, “we just cooked a 1-hat dinner meal”.

If you could do these with a thicker sausage casing than we used, I think they would be even more impactful and explosive; dramatic and clearly prepared with talent. Something your guests would have to admire and talk about on the way home.

If you are looking for an impressive Saturday night dish for guests, you could do a whole lot worse than this recipe.

Note that this recipe assumes you have a sausage stuffer though if you don’t have one, maybe try them as slow-cooked skewers: form them like sausages, wrap them tightly in cling wrap and gently fry in a pan.

Either way, you can’t go wrong.

(This recipe is written assuming you have a mincer and a sausage stuffer. If you do not, process the sausage in a food processor, tightly wrap into sausage-like logs with cling wrap and refrigerate; when ready to cook, wrap tightly with foil and poach for 10 – 15 minutes in boiling water. Slice away.)

Ingredients

Sausage

250gm cod fillets, cut into 3cm pieces
250gm raw prawns, peeled, deveined and roughly chopped
250gm salmon fillets, skinned, cut into 3cm pieces
2 large eggs
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper

Sauce

¼ cup white wine
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter cut into small cubes
½ tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp minced scallion
1 tsp fresh parsley leaves
1 tsp fresh, snipped dill
Cayenne to taste

Paris mash to serve
Steamed asparagus

Method

  1. For the sausage: Combine, mince and process the sausage ingredients. Stuff your sausages. Chill.
  2. For the sauce: In a small heavy saucepan, boil the wine, lemon juice and vinegar until reduced by half. Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the butter bit by bit, waiting for each piece to melt before adding the next. Whisk in the lemon rind, scallion,  parsley, dill, cayenne and salt to taste. Season.
  3. Cook your sausages: poach them or sous vide them (1 hour) and then grill them in a pan with a little olive oil to give them colour.
  4. Prepare your Paris Mash and steam your asparagus.
  5. A good dollop of mash on each plate, two sausages on-top, a drizzle of sauce and a side of asparagus.

Prawn Molee

.Reading time 2 minutes.

 

Serves: 4 – 6

This is a beautiful curry.

Beautifully delicate and mild, so much so, you could be eating a contemporary French starter.

The lightness of it of course allows the prawns to sing rather than smothering them as merely a protein as so many curries do.

It is a Rick Stein number and the recipe from Kerala.

With some boiled basmati rice – and coriander – this will make your night.

Wow.

Ingredients

2 tbsp coconut oil
¼ tsp ground black pepper
3 cardamom pods, lightly bruised with a rolling pin
6 cloves
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
5cm ginger, finely shredded
2 green chillis, slit lengthways, deseeded
1 tsp salt
Small handful fresh curry leaves
Small pinch turmeric
400ml coconut milk
1 ½ tsp white wine vinegar
500gm large tail-on raw prawns
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced for garnish
Boiled basmati rice to serve
Coriander leaves to serve (us, not Rick)

Method

  1. Heat coconut oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the pepper, cardamoms and cloves and fry for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes until translucent. Stir in the garlic, ginger, chillies, salt and curry leaves and fry for 1 minute.
  2. Add the turmeric, coconut milk and vinegar. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes until reduced slightly. Add the prawns and simmer for a further 4 minutes until the prawns are cooked through. Scatter the tomatoes on top, turn off the heat, cover the pan and set aside for 4 minutes.

Fish (or Prawn) Polkiri Thiyal

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

I had this very skillfully cooked for me last night by master curry chef Rob Ashes… and it was as fantastic as it was unique.

Recently returned from Sri Lanka and with a pretty seriously traditional looking cookbook in hand, this recipe is Sinhalese cuisine which I suspected meant ‘tasty tasty’ but instead effectively means the cuisine you eat if you are not Tamil.

I’m not sure what Rob did for the rampe (pandanus leaf) except to leave it out; according to Google, it should be available from Indian food stores or flip a coin and either leave it out or try anything from coriander to lime leaf to rose water.

Enjoy this curry which Rob adapted and I have further adapted. It is definitely a keeper!

Ingredients

500gm firm white fish, 3cm cubes (or prawns, shelled)
1 onion, chopped
Punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
2 green chillis, thinly sliced
Cinnamon stick
1 tsp turmeric
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp butter
3cm rampe (pandanus leaf)
1 tsp lime juice
½ c coconut milk
10 curry leaves
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
A few grinds of pepper
Salt to taste

Method

  1. Heat the butter in a large pan and saute the onions, curry leaves, cinnamon and rampe.
  2. Mix in the garlic, ginger, turmeric and salt. Add 2 tablespoons of water and then place the fish (or prawns) in the pan. Coat with the mixture, add the coconut milk and bring to the boil.
  3. Turn the heat down and cook for 5 minutes remembering that you want the sauce to be thick. Add the pepper, green chillis, tomatoes and lime. Cook for another five minutes and serve.

Prawn Saganaki

.Reading time 2 minutes.
0
The original… as supplied to me.

Serves: 4

This is a signature Ashes family recipe and it is right on the money. It tastes amazing, it’s warm and it’s filling.

Whether you use saganaki cheese or feta comes down to whether your name is Rob Ashes or Debbie Ashes. When I asked Rob about using saganaki, he said ‘nah, shit doesn’t melt’.

Deb feels the opposite and generally sneaks saganaki into the dish mid-oven. So perhaps this is a compromise and you should use a bit of both.

The other point to make is that if you can find packets of uncooked garlic prawns (the John West variety), get these and eliminate the garlic from the dish.

Otherwise, enjoy what is a fabulous dish and one I have thankfully enjoyed many times at the Ashes dinner table.

Ingredients

1kg medium prawns, shelled
3 ripe tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic
250gm feta cheese, sliced
250gm saganaki (or feta), sliced
2 tsp sugar
1 bay leaf
½ c olives
Good handful of coriander, chopped
Slices of sourdough
Salt and pepper

Method

  1. In a saucepan, saute the onions win the olive oil. Add the diced tomato, garlic (if using), bay leaf, sugar, olives and salt and pepper and enough water to keep moist and cook on a medium-low heat for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Heat the oven to 180c.
  3. Add the prawns and cook for a few minutes.
  4. Remote the saucepan from the heat and transfer the mixture to a casserole. Sprinkle the coriander over and then spread thin slices of the feta cheese on top. Top with sourdough bread and top with saganaki slices (or feta).
  5. Cook in the oven until the saganaki cheese has melted (or should have melted). 10 to 15 minutes.