Prawn Yesterday

I have a confession to make.
Remember yesterday that I said I thought that we should get free booze as a reward for keeping our families well-fed and healthy?
Well I told my husband about that and so today when we got to the cash register at the grocery store I grabbed a bottle of really good ale I'd been lusting after. (No, I'm not a bearded 50 year old farmer with a pipe, I'm just a gal who missed English ales for 20 years who indulges occasionally.)
I got back from the store and put away my spoils, updated the menu on the kitchen calendar and went out to the garden to check on/chat with my seedlings and sprouts, carrying my bottle of ale with me.

Did I mention that it is about 1:00pm at this point? (But it's 6:00 O'clock in Yekaterinburg.)

So it went like this:

Sip, Sip, "Hello little corn plants! I see you're doing well. in a couple of weeks you'll be able to live outside!" sip... sip...

Sip, "Hi radishes! my goodness look at you! You're doing ever so well in spite of this cloudy weather. You'll be tasty in some salads in no time. sip, sip, sip....

Sip, "Asparagus! Why do weeds love growing around you so much?? (sip, sip)  Look at the beetroots and garlic! No weeds there, so what are you doing?" Sip, sip, sip......sip

And so on and so on. Sip.

It's 2:00pm now and I am what you might call three sheets to the wind. I looked at the alcohol content (4.9%) and the back of the bottle and it turns out, I just drank 2.45 units of alcohol in the middle of the week. At Lunchtime. Alone. Without eating lunch.
Part of me is ashamed, but the rest of me thinks it's pretty awesome and like I'm getting away with something. Something that I will not make a habit of though, because I keep having to go back and fix typing errors.
I am also aware that I will probably have a hangover at around 5:00pm.

Anyway, on with the cooking.
Last night I made this tasty and quick Thai prawn and noodle dish. Bright with the flavours of fresh lime, lemongrass and coriander it's a delightful Spring evening meal.
I used wide rice noodles, which are lovely but chin-slappy, so rice vermicelli might be a better idea if you like a dry face.

Coconut Prawn Noodle Soup
serves 4, takes less than 45 minutes

1 can organic coconut milk
1 can water
2 stalks lemongrass, bruised and roughly chopped
2 thumb-sized pieces galangal thinly sliced
2 shallots, chopped
2 red chillies, sliced
6 lime leaves (fresh or dried)
400g (14oz) large, uncooked prawns, peeled and deveined
300g (10.5oz) rice noodles
juice of 3 limes
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar
1 tbsp flavourless oil such as ground nut or sunflower
green tops from two bunches of pak choi, sliced thinly (reserve the white parts for another use)

Prepare the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, more than likely pouring boiling water over them and allowing them to soften before draining and refreshing with cold water. Divide the noodles into four bowls and set aside.
Meanwhile:
Sweat the shallots, galangal, chili, lemongrass and lime leaves together in a medium saucepan until soft and beginning to colour. Add the coconut milk, palm sugar, water and the fish sauce and bring up to the simmer for about 15 minutes until the liquid has reduced and is very fragrant.
Strain the broth through a fine sieve, pressing on the vegetables to squeeze out all the flavour.
Return the liquid to the pan and bring up to a simmer again and add the prawns. Cook for 2-3 minutes (depending on their size) until almost cooked then add the pak choi, cooking for half a minute more.
Squeeze the lime juice into the pan and give it a quick taste to check the sweet, spicy, sour and salty harmony, adding more sugar, cayenne pepper, lime juice or fish sauce if necessary.

Ladle the broth, prawns and pak choi over the noodles and scatter with coriander leaves before serving.

Offally Good Surf and Turf

Given that my husband is an annoyingly picky eater, it came as a bit of a surprise when we discovered that he really likes black pudding. The first time we went to Thomas Keller's Bouchon in Las Vegas was on the evening of our wedding (yes, we got married in Vegas) and Drew ordered the boudin noir with caramelized apples and pommes puree. I was convinced that he wouldn't like it, but he enjoyed it so much, he ordered it on two subsequent visits, which I think is an insane thing to do when you're presented with other such amazing dishes....
Black pudding isn't something we tend to buy very often, but whenever we come across a nice looking one at a farmers' market we'll snap it up. Last weekend, at the farmers' market in Newbury, Oxfordshire pork farmers Eadles had some beautiful stuff on display, including a lovely bit of black pudding that Drew quickly grabbed.

Often, I'll cook it as a part of a full English breakfast or similar but tonight I thought I'd something similar to his favourite dish with the caramelized apples and potatoes but with a few tweaks.
It seems that these days, whenever you see black pudding on a gastro-pub menu, it's been paired with scallops. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I mean they're a lovely pairing of tender and sweet with more dense and earthy but I wanted to try something a little different.

A prawn cake sounded like a nice idea to me, as well as a spring colcannon made with spinach instead of kale or cabbage. I used an eating apple (Cox) to garnish, as cooking apples disintegrate too easily. A Braeburn, Gala or Jazz would work very well.

It goes without saying that the quality of ingredients is hugely important. This is not the time for Tesco Value black pudding (but then, when IS the time for Tesco Value ?) And it's important not to use prawns which are already cooked. Save your prawn shells and freeze them for later use in stocks or sauces.

Black Pudding with Prawn Cakes, Caramelized Apples and Spring Colcannon
Serves 2, takes 1 hour or a little more

300g (10.5oz) free range black pudding
1 tbsp olive oil

For the Prawn Cakes:
250g uncooked prawns, shelled and deveined
large handful rocket, (arugula) chopped
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp coarse, panko-style bread crumbs
1 egg white

For the Colcannon:
400g good mashing potatoes, such as Accent or Desiree
100g fresh spinach, washed
pinch, freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsp butter
100 ml cream
50 ml milk (approx)
salt and pepper to taste

For the Apples:
1 nice eating apple, peeled peeled and cored, cut into 8ths
1 tbsp golden caster sugar
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Put all of the ingredients for the prawn cakes except for the breadcrumbs into a food processor and pulse a few times until just chopped and combined, but not a smooth paste, tip into a bowl and stir in the breadcrumbs.
Put a sheet of cling film on a baking tray, then smear the inside of a 5cm (2") ring mould or cookie cutter* with a little oil and set it on the cling film. Spoon 2 level tbsp of the prawn mixture into the mould and spread out evenly. Lift the mould and repeat 7 more times until you have 8 small, round patties on the sheet. Refrigerate these while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Peel the potatoes and boil in a pan of liberally salted water for 12-17 minutes, until tender to the tip of a knife, then drain completely and set aside until cooled a little then put them through a ricer.

While the potatoes are boiling, cook the black pudding and the apples.

Remove the casing from the black pudding and slice off eight pieces about half an inch thick.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a moderate heat and fry the black pudding for 2-3 minutes per side, until slightly crusty/crunchy around the edges and well browned. Move to a plate and keep warm in a low oven.

Meanwhile, heat a small frying pan over a medium heat and sprinkle the sugar into the pan. When the sugar begins to go golden brown, add the butter and stir well, then add the apple pieces. Cook the apple in the caramel for a few minutes before tossing to turn over and cook all over. When just tender, tip into a bowl and put in the warm oven with the black pudding.

Put a little butter in the large frying pan that you cooked the black pudding in and heat over a medium flame. When the butter and residual oil is nice and hot cook the prawn cakes for a couple of minutes until golden brown on one side, then turn over and finish on the second side.

While the prawn cakes are cooking, melt the 2 tbsp of butter over a medium heat with the salt and pepper and the nutmeg. Once the butter has melted, add the spinach and stir in well until soft and wilted, then add in the riced potatoes and stir in the cream. Stir the mixture well, adding enough of the milk to make a soft but not sloppy mixture. Test for seasoning, then serve the prawn cakes and black pudding with a spoonful of the colcannon and the caramelized apples.

*You don't NEED to use a mould, you can just form roughly round patties with teaspoons or your fingers dipped in cold water.

Black Pudding

Risotto Redemption!

I was having a bit of a crap day today really. Last week's chip-heavy diet was weighing on my conscience as much as my jeans buttons and I had SERIOUS PMS. I felt slightly comforted by the fact that I had this lovely prawn, pepper and pea risotto to look forward to tonight. My stepson had asked me to teach him to make this so that he can make it for his mother when he goes back to visit her this Spring. I'm pretty sure she'll be very proud of how far his culinary skills have come in the past few years. To be completely honest, teaching cookery to a teenager is often nail-on-a-blackboard painful, and I so often want to elbow him to the side and just do it myself (how long can it take a person to dice one onion/de-vein one prawn??!!) But we all started somewhere, and if he can feed himself properly (and take care of his skin) when he goes off to college, then I'll have done my job. I leave 'birds and the bees' conversations to his Dad....

Prawn, Pea and Red Pepper Risotto
Serves 4, takes 30 minutes
200g large prawns (raw, shell-on)
300g arborio risotto rice
600ml homemade free-range chicken stock
1 large glass white wine (plus one to drink)
2 shallots, finely diced
1 small red pepper, finely diced
lg handful frozen peas (or fresh if it's summer)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
chunk of parmesan cheese
half a lemon
small bag wild rocket (arugula) leaves
2 tbsp olive oil

Shell and de-vein the prawns and cut them in half length-wise (basically, when you cut to de-vein, go all the way through.) Put the shells in a small saucepan with the stock and bring to a simmer for five minutes to allow the prawny flavour to infuse the stock. Strain the lot and return to the saucepan over a low heat to keep hot.
In a large saucepan, heat 2 of the tbsp of olive oil and sautee the shallots and garlic until soft-about 5 minutes. Do the same with the red pepper before adding the rice to the pan and stirring through thoroughly to coat in the oil cook for a further couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Add the wine and stir though, keeping the rice moving until the alcohol has evapourated and the pan is really fragrant. One ladleful at a time, stir in the hot stock, stirring all the while moving to prevent sticking. As each ladleful of liquid is absorbed, add the next until the rice is cooked almost all the way through. Taste/bite test the rice. is it almost done? season and add the prawns and the peas, stir through and cook for a couple more minutes until the prawns are cooked and the peas are warm, but still lovely and bright green. The rice should be 99% cooked but still a tiny bit al dente and a loose consistency. Turn off the heat and cover for a few minutes.
To serve, spoon onto plates and either grate or use a peeler to slice the parmesan over the top. Dress the rocket leaves with the remaining tbsp of olive oil and a big squeeze of lemon juice and a little sea salt. Heap a handful of the rocket leaves on top of the risotto and dig in.

Risotto

Thai Seafood and Green Peppercorn Curry

Green peppercorns

Seafood, Pepper and Fresh Peppercorn Curry (see why I didn't use my pic before?)
Serves 4, 40 mins
I made this up the other day and it turned out really nicely. Feel free to adjust the chilli to taste and leave out the green peppercorns if you can't find them fresh. There's still plenty of flavour without.

The Paste:
3 cm piece of galangal root, thinly sliced
2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, thinly sliced
3 shallots, finely chopped
handful coriander (cilantro) stalks, finely chopped
2 tsp shrimp paste
3-4 dried red chillies, steeped in boiling water for a few mins, then chopped finely
2 tbsp raw peanuts (optional if you have allergies)
3 cloves garlic, bashed
4-5 lime leaves (dried or fresh) crushed or thinly sliced

Remaining ingredients:
400ml coconut milk (low fat is fine if you like)
500g mix large, raw prawns, deveined, squid tubes, scallops, mussels (or just prawns)
1/2 each red and green bell pepper, sliced thinly
2 ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters lengthways
5-6 twigs of fresh green peppercorns
3 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
Small handful Thai sweet basil leaves
Small handful coriander (cilantro) leaves

First, make the paste, either by using a large pestle and mortar and pounding away until you have a smooth paste OR, do as I do and use a small food processor. if you need to, add a tablespoonful of water to keep it moving. You want it to be free of large chunks and as smooth as possible.

In a hot wok, heat the coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes until a layer of fat appears on the surface. Add the curry paste and stir, cooking for a few minutes until fragrant. Stir in the peppercorns, tomatoes and peppers and continue to cook for 3-4 mins, keeping the mix moving from time to time. Add the seafood (or prawns) and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes until the seafood is cooked, sprinkle in the basil leaves and stir one more time before serving over plain steamed jasmine rice and scatter with the coriander leaves.
Thai Curry