Open Table

GARLIC PRAWNS

We had a typically british afternoon.  We had promised the children that they could pop along to the fair that arrived last night.

The promise was made in the glorious sunshine this morning, not taking into account that it might pour quite so hard for most of the afternoon.

Raincoats, hats and wellies were the order of the day.  The children got soaked on the bouncy castle slide thing, the trampoline and then cried on the teacups ... Our daughter was severely disappointed when Daddy failed shoot the golf ball off the top of the bottles and claim a prize for her, I managed too just as we were leaving ... realising a little to late that I probably should not have been so accurate ... I am not sure where we are going to put the the 3 foot teddy I won ... help.

Home for warm baths and bed for the children, wine, garlic prawns salad and crusty bread for mummy:

 

GARLIC PRAWNS - Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main

Ingredients 

400g Peeled king prawns, 2 Cloves of sliced garlic, 50g Butter, 2 Tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley, Squeeze of lemon (about a tablespoon), Extra virgin olive oil, Salt and pepper

• Half an hour before you are due to eat, place rinse the prawns in a colander and leave in the sink to dry
• When you are ready to cook get some paper towel and remove and liquid that may have come out of the seafood, this tends to happen more when shell fish has been frozen
• Put the butter in to the frying pan on a high heat till it is very hot, this takes about 2 minutes
• Once the butter is really hot add the prawns to the pan and cook for a minute
• Add the garlic, turn the prawns and cook on the other side for another minute.  Check the prawns are cooked though, if not keep on heat for a little longer
• Once cooked add the parsley, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper and pour a couple of table spoons of olive oil into the pan so it heats through, mix, then pour the prawns and oil into a bowl eat with crusty bread and salad

Cooking notes

Make sure the prawns are not wet, if they are wet or still quite cold they bring down the heat in the pan and will need longer to cook. 

The butter must be very hot it needs to go past the bubbling stage, once the butter has stopped bubbling it is time to cook the prawns.  If it is not hot enough you will not get any colour and therefore flavour on the seafood.

Adapting

I normally make this using peeled prawns from the freezer, if i am buying fresh i buy unpeeled prawns and cook them for slightly longer.  Scollops or squid are also delicious or it is equally as good with all three.  

If you like a bit of spice add some chilli when you add the garlic.

 

PRAWN AND PEA RISOTTO

After a little bit of a late night at my cousins birthday party combined with an early start ... 3am my sister decided to come and stay the night.  6am my children woke up.

I am a little tired and need comfort food.  We had an early lunch ...  

PRAWN AND PEA RISOTTO

Serves 4 as a main, 8 as a starter

Ingredients

400g Risotto rice, 200g Uncooked peeled king prawns, 100g of frozen petit pois, 160mil large glass of white wine, 1.25ltr Stock, 50g Grated parmesan, 2 Cloves grated garlic, 1 Medium onion, 50g butter, salt and pepper

• Finely chop the onion and place in heavy bottomed pan, drizzle in some olive oil and place on a medium heat.  
• Once the onions start to soften and go a bit opaque grate in the garlic and stir, leave for a minutes and add in all the rice
• Stir the rice until it is all covered in oil and has gone slightly opaque.  This should take about a minute.
• The pan will be really hot, so will sizzle when you add the wine
• Pour in the wine, stirring while you pour.
• After a minute pour 250 mil of stock into the pan and stir, from this point it will take 18-20 minutes to cook the rice.
• After 3 minutes pour another 250 mil 
• From this point you will need to keep stirring the risotto every couple of minutes adding in more stock when ever it starts to look dry.  I find that i use all of the 1.25 ltrs of stock
• After about 12 minutes taste the rice, if it is cooked then move to the next step, if not keep adding water and stirring until cooked. 
• Once the rice is cooked add the prawns, peas, parmesan, and butter to the pan.  Stir continuously for a minute and a half till the prawns and peas are cooked, season with salt and pepper, remove from the heat and serve

Cooking notes

Risotto is much easier to cook than you think it will be.  I have said make up 1.25 liter of stock, however all rice is different and will need a different amount of water to cook.  If you don’t use it all don’t worry ... and if finish it all and the rice is not yet cooked make some more stock up and put it in.

For my stock, I use Vegetable Bouillon Powder but you can use any stock you like.

Adapting

If you don’t have many prawns or would like to add another flavour to this risotto you can add chorizo to it.  Dice 60g of chorizo and place in frying pan for a couple of minutes until crispy, the oil will leak out of the chorizo.  Just before you serve mix the chorizo and all the oil into the risotto.