Prawn Linguine with Chorizo Tomato Sauce

This recipe is from Lorraine Pascale and when I saw it on her new TV programme, I knew we had to cook it.  The best thing to do is link to her online recipe - I pretty much followed it but used a glass of the rose wine we were drinking rather than cabernet sauvignon.  I also left out the harissa, as we wanted more of an Italian vibe than a southern Spanish/Morrocan one.  The fennel seed is essential though, as is the oregano - all of these make it Italian in spirit. This was a fabulous recipe, and I would urge you to make it!  We made the full amount of sauce and saved half to make Patatas Bravas tomorrow.  Definitely one to make again.  My camera was out of juice, so I have pinched Lorraine's photo.
Photo courtesy of Daily Mail/Lorraine Pascale/myles new

Not Quite Paella

I make no claims about the authenticity of this but it makes for a delicious Paella-style dish.  I sauteed sliced onion, a Romano red pepper and the remains of last night's fennel bulb with half a horse-shoe of chorizo in olive oil, until all was just beginning to become tinged gold and the oil has rendered from the sausage.  Grate in a couple of garlic cloves, add half a teaspoon of hot smoked paprika and a teacupful of Bomba or Callasparra Valencia rice (Waitrose sells it).  Stir well, then stir in a mixture of 3/4 pint veg stock, a teaspoon of tomato puree, a good pinch of best-quality saffron (I use Iranian, brought from there by my friend Noshin) and 1/4 pint of dry white wine.  Bring to the boil, turn the heat right down, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Then stir in about 12 peeled de-veined King prawns and tiny broad beans or petit pois.  Cover again, and simmer for 4-5 minutes.  Finally, add chopped parsley and serve with lots of lemon chunks.  Lovely!  We started the meal with fresh corn cobs with chilli and coriander butter and washed down with Margaritas - Ay Carrumba!!!!

Sweet Chilli Prawns and Vegetable Cha Han

Sorry for the rubbish photo, taken quickly on my Blackberry.  This was a simple, quick and healthy supper.  Those of you who have eaten in Wagamama will be familiar with Cha han, or fried rice.  I love it, and use Basmati rice boiled for 10 minutes then cooled under a running cold tap.  The rice must be cold before you start frying or else the warm starches make it all gloopy, and we don't want that.  Use whatever veg you have, blanching the harder ones before frying.  I used finely chopped carrot, asparagus, courgette and fresh broad beans, blanched and slipped out of their skins.  Fry an onion in rape seed and sesame oil til turning golden, then add the drained rice and blanched veg, and fry, stirring occasionally, until piping hot and with some crusty bits.  Yum!  Season well with pepper and a good splosh of soy saucee, then mix through an omelette (made with one beaten egg) that you have rolled up and sliced.  Transfer to a dish in the oven and keep warm whilst you deal with the prawns.  Wipe the wok, then add a spoonful of rape seed oil and a splash of sesame.  Over a high heat, stir fry the de-veined prawns for a minute or so on each side until they are pink but still juicy.  Now add a tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce, a dash of soy and a squeeze of lime and stir to coat.  After just a few moments, spoon the prawns and their sticky glaze on top of the rice and devour, with more lime for squeezing over.  Totally scrummy.

Linguine with Prawn, Tomato and Fennel Sauce, and Lemon Dill Pangratatta

Phew.  Long name, but an easy and delicious pasta sauce inspired by a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa.  In her version, she baked the prawns and sauce with feta cheese and the breadcrumbs on top, then served with crusty bread, but I thought it would be good turned into a pasta dish - I ditched the feta as I don't think it goes well with seafood myself!  Anyway, make a good tomato sauce with a finely chopped onion and also a chopped head of bulb fennel -saute in olive oil, add a tin of good tomatoes (Cirio brand for me) and a couple of cloves of garlic and simmer until the fennel is tender and the sauce is reduced.  If you have any Pernod in the house, add a slug just before the end to highlight the fennel flavour.  Make the pangratatta by sauteeing about 4 tablespoons of fresh white breadcrumbs in a tablespoon of olive oil until crisp, season well with salt and pepper and grate in the zest of half a lemon and some chopped dill or parsley if preferred.  You can set everything aside at this point.  When ready to serve, reheat your sauce, cook the pasta and 3 minutes before it is ready, add about 100g of chopped, ready cooked prawns to the sauce and reheat.  (Or you could put raw ones in a minute earlier).  Drain pasta, toss with the sauce and serve with the pangratatta sprinkled over and the halved lemon for squeezing.  NO PARMESAN PLEASE!!!

Spaghetti with Pesto and Prawns

Oxford started off a bit grey and chilly this morning, but by late afternoon, the sun was shining, it was warm, and I wanted something sunny and happy for my tea. I had some home-made pesto left over from the bruschetta at the weekend (why do people buy ready-made pesto? It is horrid, and the home-made is soooo much nicer), so simply boiled spaghetti, and in the last couple of minutes, sauteed prawns and a skinned, chopped tomato in olive oil, and stirred the whole lot together, with a little of the pasta cooking water. The tomato dissolved, sadly, but it still contributed to the overall flavour. Next time, I'd add it at the very last second. But, all in all, a lovely light, fragrant dish for our tea.

Potted Prawn and Crab Pate[#228]

Yum. I could eat this recipe, from Jo Pratt, every day until I die - which would probably be very soon, with all the butter it contains. Still, as a topping for hot toast to start our dinner, it was a real treat. It stands or falls on the quality of its ingredients - really fresh white crab meat from the Seafood and Eat It company in Cornwall, succulent prawns from Waitrose, mixed with melted butter, lemon zest, chopped dill and cayenne pepper for a bit of zip. Just lovely.

Gyoza [#224]

These are so addictive, aren't they? Little dumplings of minced pork and prawns, flavoured with garlic, spring onion, ginger, chives, sesame oil and sake, wrapped in wanton pastry skins, which are then fried in a little oil and, finally, steamed. Dipped in a mixture of soy, chilli and sake (or rice vinegar if you have it), they are irresistible, and we polished off 16 of them between the two of us! Another successful dish from Harumi Kurihara, the Japanese Delia. We balanced it out with a super-healthy stir-fry of sprouted mung and edamame beans, pak choi and red pepper. As for the question of what to drink with them, Hubby couldn't get any Japanese beer, but we had some excellent St. Peter's Organic Ale from Suffolk, which he said was very similar to the beers he had in Japan.

Pumpkin and Tomato Laksa [#172]

Well, folks, this shot into the Top 10 faster than the latest Vera Lynn release. Totally yummy - udon noodles, tender chunks of steamed butternut squash, chopped tomatoes and (my addition, this) some cooked prawns added at the last minute, all in a coconutty/chilli/lime leaf/lemongrass/garlic/ginger/minty broth. And can I just say a word here about Waitrose's 'Cook's Ingredients' frozen herbs - all of the aforementioned 'aromatics' and herbs come in handy little zip-lock frozen bags from the wonderful retailer, and this means you can whip up an authentic Thai taste quicker than you can say 'The King and I'. Do try this recipe as soon as you can. Heaven.

A Squid in the Fryer [#156]

Lovely fresh squid in the Covered Market today. I under-bought and was short of enough for us both, so supplemented this dish with some fresh king prawns too. I didn't cook this very well, as the squid rings (and prawns) were supposed to emerge crisp from a dousing in flour and a fast fry in a little oil. I think I over-crowded the pan as the fish came out soggy. Still, it tasted delicious - not at all rubbery, and tossing it in finely-chopped red chilli, garlic and coriander (with a spritz of lime too at the end) made the flavours sing. So I shall know next time to a) buy more squid and b) cook it in batches. Very nice with rice and stir-fried spinach and courgette with sesame oil. No online recipe, sorry - but then, it is scarcely a recipe in the book, either, more a narrative of a cooking method.

Garlic Prawns [#129]

As I didn't use the garlic and lemon butter to top the grilled chicken on Sunday, I thought I'd deploy it in Nigel's simple recipe for Garlic Prawns. I didn't use fresh-in-shell prawns, as you really can't get good examples in Oxford. I think you are better off with defrosted frozen prawns from a good supplier - in this case, Waitrose's frozen raw tiger prawns. After defrosting overnight in the fridge, and de-veining them, they were dried thoroughly and thrown into a stonkingly-hot wok with the garlic and lemon butter, along with a big handful of roughly chopped parsley. After only about 90 seconds of vigorous stirfrying, the prawns were pink and still succulent. Served simply with crusty white bread to mop up the buttery herby juices, along with more lemon, they were delicious, and followed a simple broth of good chicken stock with green beans, courgettes, carrot and fresh home-made pesto. Followed by blueberries and peaches, this was a scrummy supper. We are pigs, but there you go.

Green Curry of Prawns and Thai Aubergines [#57]

No Thai aubergines to be found in Oxford, I'm afraid (or pea aubergines - really, Nigel!) so a nice, ordinary one, chopped into dice about half-an-inch square, worked perfectly well. As we had rice last night, I served this with slippery udon noodles - a cultural and national hybrid, I know, Japan meets Thailand, but it was a diplomatic success! Great quick recipe, gorgeous colours and full of layers of flavour from kaffir lime leaves, chilli, basil, coriander, lime - an acceptable way of eating prawns, which we rarely consume, for some reason!

Prawn and Coriander Rolls

Oooh, these were so good. I've commented before how good Nigel is at patties and savoury cakes, and these were no excpetion. We made them small as a canape to go with a delicious cocktail of Bacardi, fresh lemon juice and ginger beer. We placed them on individual crisp baby gem lettuce leaves, and drizzled with sweet chilli sauce mixed with soy. Totally yummy, and we'll make them again, for sure.