Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Main’

Buttery chilli prawns

Prawns in their shells are more often a holiday treat for us but they’re so easy to do and it’s nice to eat dinner with your hands. Finger bowls of warm water and lemon slices are useful – or you could lick them 😉

Wine Suggestion: If you are serving this as a special treat for two then go for a good pink sparkling. We had this as on a Friday night and luckily had a half-bottle of Billecart Salmon Rosé champagne which turned it into an extra special evening. On nights when this isn’t an option you should find a good Fiano, Verdicchio or Alvarinho.

Buttery Chilli Prawns – serves 2

  • 25g butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped (leave the seeds in)
  • ½ tsp sweet paprika
  • 12-20 large raw ing prawns with shells (12 should be enough for a starter for 2, for a main course about 20 is better)
  • 1 lemon, juiced (plus a few extra slices for finger bowls if using)
  • ½ a small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
  • crusty bread – warm it in the oven before serving

Melt the butter & oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic, chilli and paprika and cook for a coupled of minutes or until golden. Turn up the heat and throw in the prawns. Fry for a few minutes until they turn pink, don’t be tempted to cook them for any longer. Take the pan off the heat, season and stir in the lemon juice & parsley.

Serve with warm crusty bread for wiping the bowl.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

 

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Believe it or not … this is actually a delicate, white fish (hake) and not a badly burnt chop as the picture might imply. We blame a wonderfully rich and dark soy sauce (yum scrum) but if you use a lighter soy sauce like Kikkoman it may be more pleasing to the eye!

We made this because we haven’t had proper fish (ie. not shellfish) for a while and we’re trying to cook healthily  for a few days before Christmas takes over.

Asian-spiced fish with mushrooms (serves 4 – we halved the fish and mushrooms but not the sauce and served with rice for 2)

  • 25g butter
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • finely grated zest of a lime
  • 1 mild red chilli, thinly sliced in rings
  • 4 x 175g firm white fish fillets, skinned and boned (we used hake)
  • 200g mixed mushrooms, trimmed but left whole or at least chunky
  • coriander leaves to serve
  1. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Melt the butter in a little pan, then stir in the soy sauce, lime zest and chilli. Tip this into a shallow (non-metallic) dish and add the fish, splashing it well in the marinade. Set aside for about 10 minutes.
  2. Take the fish out of the marinade and put it on a baking tray. Toss the mushrooms in the marinade and scatter them around the fish, drizzling the rest of the marinade over the top. Roast for 6-8 minutes, until the fish is cooked and the mushrooms are sizzling. Scatter with coriander and serve with rice or noodles.

(Original recipe from Ainsley Harriot – not someone we often cook from).

If you are serving rice you could try Jono’s foolproof rice cooking method which he got from Madhur Jaffrey:

For 4 people:

Combine 300ml long-grain/basmati rice with 500ml water. Add 10g butter and bring to the boil. Cover tightly (we use tinfoil and a lid), turn heat to very very low, and leave it be for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve. Perfectly cooked rice!

Jono and Julie

Read Full Post »

Greek Feast – Stifado

This was so easy and super tasty. All the prep can be done before your friends arrive and then it just simmers away and makes the house smell lovely. Serve with steamed potatoes.

Warning: The meat is supposed to be marinated for 24-48 hours – I only realised this on Saturday afternoon so mine was marinated for about 5 hours – still was fab.

Moshari stifado (Veal Stifado but we used beef) – Serves 6

  • Make a marinade from: 120ml olive oil, 250ml dry red wine, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 3 bay leaves, 20 black peppercorns, 10 allspice berries, 4 garlic cloves.
  • Add 1kg stewing beef pieces, turn to coat, cover and let marinate in the refrigerator, turning occasionally, for 1 to 2 days.
  • Blanch 2kg small pearl onions or shallots in boiling water for 1 minute, drain and peel.
  • Heat 250ml olive oil in a large heavy pan over a medium heat. Add onions in batches and cook each batch for 8 – 10 minutes until lightly browned all over. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon.
  • Remove meat from marinade and strain liquid into bowl – reserve the flavourings
  • Add meat to pan used to cook the onion and cook for about 8 minutes until lightly browned all over.
  • Pour in reserved marinade and season with salt & pepper. Add 2 of the bay leaves, 6 of the peppercorns and 6 of the allspice berries.
  • Add 750ml puréed fresh or canned tomatoes (we used pasatta). Cover, bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  • Add the onions and 3 of the reserved garlic cloves. Recover and simmer for 1.5 hours until meat and onions are tender and the sauce is very thick.
  • If the sauce has not reduced enough, remove meat and onions with a slotted spoon and then boil the sauce rapidly. Stir meat and onions back in before serving.

Julie

Read Full Post »