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Archive for the ‘Shellfish’ Category

Time for something a little lighter…

Posted in Food, Healthy, Shellfish, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on 11 August 2011| 1 Comment »

Easy-peasy and used up some prawns that had been in the freezer for nearly too long.

Lemony prawn pasta with broccoli – to serve 4

  • 300g farfalle pasta
  • 1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
  • 200g large cooked prawns
  • 3 tbsp double cream
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack and scoop out and keep a bit of the cooking water near the end. Add the broccoli to the pasta pan 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time and cook for another 3 minutes. Drain and tip back into the pan.

Turn the heat down very low and add the prawns, cream, lemon juice and some seasoning. Add a bit of your pasta water if you need to thin the sauce a bit.

Healthy and low-fat dinner is served (the 3 tbsp of cream is divided between 4 people!!)

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Prawn Salad # 2

Posted in Food, Healthy, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , on 8 June 2011| Leave a Comment »

We’re mad for prawns these day; mostly because we have a huge bag in the freezer. We’re also mad for avocados; but that’s because they are in season and taste yum at the minute! We even managed to eat this on the patio just before another big, rainy cloud came over. We love summers in Ireland; we might not get the weather but at least we can get summery produce.

Prawn, grapefruit and avocado salad – to serve 4 on the patio (weather permitting)

  • a medium rustic-style loaf, torn into big chunks
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 large pink grapefruit
  • 2 avocados
  • 4 little gem lettuces
  • 200g cooked large prawns
  • 3 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce
Heat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/Gas 7. Put the bread chunks onto a baking tray, drizzle with 2 tsp of oil and rub in with your hands. Season and bake for 10 minutes until they are crispy and golden.
Cut the peel and pith off one of the grapefruits and slice into segments. Throw these in your salad bowl.
Squeeze the juice from the other grapefruit into a separate small bowl.
Peel, stone and slice the avocados and separate the lettuce leaves. Add these to the grapefruit segments along with the prawns.
Whisk the sweet chilli sauce and remaining tsp of oil into the grapefruit juice and season.
Cool the croutons for a few minutes before tossing with the rest of the salad and drizzling over the sweet chilli dressing.
Dada!

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Italian Summer Avocado and Prawn Salad

Posted in Food, Healthy, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , on 6 June 2011| 2 Comments »

It’s avocado season and we have a big bag of prawns in the freezer. This is one of two prawn and avocado salads we’ve tried in the last few days. The seasoned pistachios make this one a bit special. We loved it.

Avocado and prawn salad (Insalata di avocado e gamberetti)

  • 50g pistachio nuts, shelled and chopped
  • 2 avocados
  • juice of a lemon
  • 200g cooked peeled prawns
  • olive oil
  • salt and white pepper
Mix the pistachios with a pinch of pepper in a bowl.
Peel, half and stone the avocados. Slice them thinly and drizzle with the lemon juice.
Put the avocado in a salad bowl, add the prawns and stir gently.
Sprinkle the pistachios over, season lightly with salt, drizzle with oil and serve.
Wine Suggestion: Try a dry Gasgogny rose (ours was Domaine de Pellehaut from Mitchell & Son on offer for €7.95. Bargain!)
(Original recipe from ‘Recipes from an Italian Summer’ published by Phaidon)

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Healthy Thai Prawn Stir-fry with Ginger and Scallions

Posted in Asian, Food, Healthy, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , on 27 May 2011| 2 Comments »

This tastes so much better than it looks and it looked really good on the plate when served, but by that stage we were so starved we ate it instead of taking pics! So much healthier than a Thai takeaway and dead-on tasty. The marinade is a really neat trick which we’ll definitely use again.

  • 200g raw, peeled tiger prawns
  • 1 green chilli, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, crush 1 and finely slice the other 2
  • a bunch of coriander, separate the leaves from the stalks and save both
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • juice of a lime
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 3 cm piece of ginger, finely slice and then shred it
  • 8 scallions, finely sliced
  • a red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 85g water chestnuts, sliced (we couldn’t find these and it was fine without them!)
  • 100g beansprouts
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • pack of egg noodles to serve
  • lime wedges
Whiz the chilli, crushed garlic, coriander stalks (snip them with scissors to make them small) and caster sugar in a small food processor. Add half the lime juice and the fish sauce and then pour over your prawns.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok, add the ginger and scallions and fry for a minute. Add the red pepper and fry for another minute or until it starts to soften. Add the water chestnuts and bean sprouts and toss until the sprouts start wilting. Add the soy sauce and plenty of black pepper and tip the lot into a serving dish.
Heat a bit of oil in the wok and toss your egg noodles until hot. They’ll pick up some of the juicy and crunchy bits from the veggies. Mix them into the serving dish with the vegetables.
Lift the prawns out of their marinade and cook in wok with the remaining oil for a minute or two or until they turn pink. Add the marinade and swirl it around in the wok to heat it. Tip everything over the vegetables and noodles. Add the coriander leaves and remaining lime juice before you serve. Put some lime wedges on the side of the plates.
Wine Suggestion: We had a glass of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc which went really well. The fruit was juicy and counter-acted the chilli instead of fighting against it which can happen. It was fresh and zingy.

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So we don’t have much time for cooking at the minute …

Posted in Food, Healthy, Pasta, Shellfish on 6 April 2011| Leave a Comment »

very quick, easy pasta

… but dinner is still a top priority. Flung together pasta dishes are therefore all the rage in our house. Here’s another one with just a handful of ingredients but still tastes nice and fresh. All sorted in 10 minutes and beats a ready meal any day!

Tagliatelle with prawns, cherry tomatoes and basil – (serves 2)

  • 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 200g large raw prawns, peeled and deveined
  • 225g dried tagliatelle
  • 25g fresh basil, leaves torn

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for 8 to 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan, add the prawns and toss until cooked pink in colour. Stir in the garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute or two until softened.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Toss in the prawn mixture, cherry tomatoes and basil over some heat. Drizzle with olive oil and season if you like.

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Keralan Prawns

Posted in Asian, Food, Indian, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , on 10 March 2011| Leave a Comment »

Our cooking’s been very healthy this week but tasty too so don’t despair. It’s nice to find an Indian dish which isn’t full of calories and doesn’t take forever to make. This is very nice but do add a bit of salt at the end to bring the flavours out and balance the spice. We wished we’d had some naan breads or chapatis so you might want to get some of them too.

Serves 2

  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • oil
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2 cm piece of ginger, grated
  • dried red chilli crumbled or some chilli flakes
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 200g raw peeled prawns
  • some low fat natural yogurt

Get your rice on first as this is quick.

Cook the onion gently in a little oil in a frying pan for about 5 minutes or until starting to soften.

Add turmeric, garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for another few minutes or until it smells good.

Add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes – add a splash of water if you need it.

Stir in the prawns and cook until they turn opaque.

Add a bit of salt to season and serve with rice, bread and some yogurt on the top.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Vietnamese Prawn and Rice Soup

Posted in Food, Healthy, Shellfish, Soup, tagged , , , , , , on 11 December 2010| Leave a Comment »

WOO-HA! This is a fandabidozi soup!

Jono and me sold lots of wine today and got home late. If I’d have had my way we would have stopped in the pub for grub on the way home. I’m so glad he persuaded me to stick with the plan for Vietnamese soup.

If you like prawns and asian-style you will love this!! Super tasty and super healthy too.

Serves two tired people with very little effort:

  • 75g basmati rice
  • 750ml  chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • a finger of fresh ginger, cut into little matchsticks
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
  • 150g raw, peeled prawns
  • 15g chopped dill
  • coriander to serve (but don’t go buying any just for this)
  1. Cook the rice until al dente and drain.
  2. Boil the stock, add the fish sauce, ginger, rice, lime juice, tomatoes, prawns and dill.
  3. Simmer until the prawns are pink and cooked.
  4. Serve with a bit of coriander over the top if you have some.
  5. Slurp.

Check out the original recipe here: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/889668/vietnamese-prawn-rice-and-dill-soup

Julie

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Crab claws

Posted in Food, Shellfish, tagged , , , on 11 December 2010| 3 Comments »

When you have crab claws sitting in the freezer … yum!

Simply defrost the crab claws, melt some butter in a little olive oil, gently saute garlic and chilli until cooked. Add the crab claws and toss until warmed through. After this grill on high until coloured and then toss in a little fresh, chopped coriander. Enjoy!!!

Serve with a minerally white wine – we drank the delicious Casa de Mouraz, an organic white from the Dao in Portugal. Perfecto …

Jono

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Quick n tasty!

Posted in Food, Healthy, Shellfish, Soup, tagged , , , , , , , on 30 November 2010| 2 Comments »

After a long day … made even longer by cold weather and snow delays … a simple and tasty soup that is all about freshness and flavour.

 

 

 

 

Quick prawn noodle soup (for one)

  • Boil 85g thick rice noodles for about 6 minutes or until al dente, then drain.
  • Put 500ml hot chicken or vegetable stock in a pan with a tsp of fish sauce, the juice of 1/2 a lime, a star anise & a pinch of sugar.
  • Bring to the boil and add the noodles and a handful of small raw prawns.
  • Warm through, then pour into a bowl and top with a handful of mint and coriander leave and some chopped red chilli.

(We don’t like talking about calories too much but this is only about 250 calories a bowl and has no saturated fat – we felt very good (and full) after eating it).

Click here for original recipe on BBC Good Food.

Jono & Julie

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