Posts tagged prawn

Cauliflower Trio & Seabream

January 23, 2021 Comments Off read Seafood

auliflower puree*; curried roasted cauliflower; pickled cauliflower; pan fried sea bream; crispy curry leaves. Topped with a prawn bisque sauce.

*mine was more like mash…I need a new blender!

Cauliflower is clearly one of my top vegetables as you can see and it feels a bit trendy right now. Its so versatile and paired with the right flavours can provide a really meaty, satiating alternative to meat if you’re on that wagon.

With so much time on my hands my mind has been wondering to food at every opportunity – I’ve literally been dreaming about ingredients. From creating bespoke menus for friends and family when we can finally have them round to creating dishes for the mid-week, Friday nights and weekends!

Serves 2

2 sea bream fillets
1 whole cauliflower (large)
1 garlic clove
1 tsp curry powder
50g butter
Splash milk
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
Around 6 curry leaves
Prawn bisque sauce (see here) – heated for serving.

Cut the cauliflower into florets. Keep aside one to cut into thin slices for pickling.
For this, put the white wine vinegar and 1 tbsp of water, and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat. Slice the reserved floret into thin slices and add to the pickling liquid and set aside.
Keep aside an extra 6 florets and put the rest in a roasting tin and crush over the garlic. Season and add some olive/sunflower oil and roast at 200 for about 20 minutes until soft and lightly coloured.
Put the remaining florets in another roasting pan and season, add the curry powder and some olive/sunflower oil and roast at 200 for 20 minutes at the same time. Remove the tray from the oven and keep warm.
Put the roasted, plain cauliflower in a blender with the butter, seasoning and a splash of milk. Blend until smooth adding a splash of milk to get to the desired consistency. Taste and add seasoning if needed. Set aside keeping warm.
Heat a frying pan on a very high heat and add a splash of oil. Fry the fish, skin side down for about 2 minutes until crisp. Flip and finish on the flesh side for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Remove from the heat and add the curry leaves (careful as they may pop!). Fry quickly for a few minutes then remove from the oil and dry on kitchen towel.
When ready to serve, spoon a nice smooth spoonful of puree onto a plate. Place around 3 of the curried florets on top followed by the fish. Place a few pickled cauliflower slices against the sides followed by the fried curry leaves.
Serve with the sauce!

Bream, Fennel, Prawn Bisque

April 24, 2016 Comments Off read Seafood

struggle with choosing my ‘last meal’ when asked on occasion but a bouillabaisse, bisque or seafood dish comes high up there with my true foodie loves hence my adoration of this simple bisque sauce. I have previously blogged this but due to its rich and deep flavour it only requires a simple and fuss free accompaniment so served here with roasted fennel and bream its devine. I am always staggered and amazed at the amount of flavour that the otherwise wasted shells and heads of the prawns make to a sauce! Such a depth of traditional flavours. Topped with fennel, simply fried fish and the meaty rewards of the prawns its a simple weekend feast that takes relatively no time, just some organisation, prep and speed and focus on delivery! Voila…

Note the lack of carb here purely due to the richness of the rest of the ingredients. But this would be lovely served with some buttery chive mash as seen here or with a thickly sliced and toasted sour dough crouton and punchy rouille seen here.

Serves 4

1 x Prawn bisque recipe (see here) using about 12 large, shelled king prawns (see note for shelling and deveining prawns)
4 sea bream fillets
2 bulbs fennel, halves vertically
Small glass white wine
Handful parsley and chives, chopped finely
1 large bag spinach
1 knob butter
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with foil. Add the halved fennel bulbs and season well. Drizzle with a touch of olive oil and then pour over the white wine. Roast for about 40 minutes until tender and beginning to char.
Make the sauce as per the instructions and keep warm while you cook the seafood.
When the sauce is done and warming and the fennel is cooked the next few steps need to be done quickly so ensure that everything else is ready to go and at hand. I advise that you pop your serving dish (shallow bowls recommended) in the oven at this point so that they are warm on serving.
Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Cut each bream fillet in half and then score the skin to prevent it curling up on the hot pan. Season. When the oil is hot, add the fish skin side down and then throw in your cleaned shelled prawns.
Cook skin side down for about 2-3 minutes until he flesh on top is only pink in the centre and the flesh is starting to cook through. Add the knob of butter to the pan and flip the prawns and the fish and finish the cook for a final minute coating in the butter. Add the lemon before removing the prawns and fish from the pan and setting aside for 1 minute to rest while you cook the spinach.
Add the spinach to remaining pan oil and butter and wilt as you like.
To serve, place a handful of the spinach in the base of your serving bowl and top with a wedge of the fennel.
Top each with two halves of the bream.
Roll the prawns briefly in the chopped herbs and arrange around the outside.
Finally, spoon over around 4 tbsp of the sauce around the dish and scatter with any leftover herbs.

NOTE: To shell and devein a prawn. Take your raw prawn and crudely snap off the head and set aside. Now take the legs and peel outwards away from the body. The prawn has a thin and plastic like shell which peels away easily. You should be able to take this off in one piece, legs and tail too but its usually required broken into pieces. Set these aside too and then rinse the prawn in cold water.

Deveining is important. It removes the outer backbone intestinal vein which is unpleasant and unprofessional to leave in and eat. With a sharp knife carefully slice down the back of the peeled prawn vertically only cutting about 2mm into the flesh. You should see a black vein. Very carefully as it will break easily, get your knife tip underneath and prize out the vein and discard. The prawns will now also have a fanned outer edge giving the look they have when fried.

Chilli Corn Soup

January 18, 2015 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

I’ve been creating a lot of soup recipes recently. Its such a fantastic way of getting your greens and vegetable into your diet. And with the chilly weather recently, I’ve found myself lunching on soup nearly everyday! So some variation was in order. I churn out the same old soups, for ease, taste and price. But with a little thinking time I’ve tried to come up with some more original ideas to keep lunch times more interesting.

Like my quick pea and mint soup this is another super speedy soup that can be made in about 15minutes. Its so full of flavour and punch for such a quick recipe! While served simply as it is its great for a quick or light lunch it can be bulked up by adding some raw king prawns while you heat it through or with more chunks of hot fried chorizo for more of a hearty chowder style. I’ve also been known to crush a handful of cheese laden nachos on top too….and on the side….and errr….as a second course on those chilly nights. Its improtant to keep warm you know.

(This is a chunkier and spicier sweetcorn soup to the velvety creamed corn soup version here)

Serves 4

4 spring onions, chopped including green tops
1 large garlic clove
1 red chilli – as hot as you can handle
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 cans sweetcorn (net drained weight about 520g or the same weight in frozen corn)
About 500ml hot stock
1 lime, zest and juice
Large bunch chopped coriander, stems reserved
To serve – Lime yoghurt, soured cream fried chorizo, prawns etc

Heat a splash of oil in a sauce pan. Fry the spring onion lightly until softened then add the garlic and chilli and fry for a few minutes.
Add the sweetcorn to the pan along with the chilliflakes and coriander stems and turn up the heat.
Add just enough stock to cover the corn so there is enough for it to simmer in the liquid. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 5 minutes.
Blend with a hand blender adding as much stock as you need to obtain the consistency you want. Grates in the zest of the lime and squeeze in the juice. Add the coriander and blend again.
Serve topped with e.g. fried chorizo, fried prawns, lime yoghurt a drop of chilli oil OR…. all of the above!

Bloody Mary Prawn Salad

April 24, 2013 Comments Off read Seafood, Vegetables and Salads

One of the reasons I have a huge but justified love of Jamie Oliver is his casual, instinctive and rustic approach to cooking which is what inspired me at a young age to cook. This recipe is just those things, rustic and casual and can be instinctively thrown together with a few alterations in flavours or ingredients that you love. Using his basic concept, I tweaked a few bits to make it the perfect starter at a recent dinner party. If you’ve got guests who enjoy fish, nothing excites and pleases them more than being presented with a platter of succulent shellfish with a tangy dressing and lemon for all. This is light and perfect to kick start the meal although in greater quantities it was all agreed we could have eaten it for mains as well…..

(Serves 6-8 as a sharing starter)

2 small cos lettuce
2 red chicory
1 punnet cress
1 large handful chopped dill
Celery leaves from celery tops
2 ripened avocados
2 slices of stale bread, cubed into croutons size
400g cooked, juicy prawns
200g brown shrimp
Crevettes (enough for one each)
Green lip mussels (enough for one each)
200ml ‘Big Tom’ spiced tomato juice
2 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
3 heaped tsp creamed horseradish
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Splash of vodka

Clip the leaves off the lettuces so that you get ‘edible cups’ from the leaves to nestle your prawns and dressing. Scatter these over a couple of serving dishes.
Scatter the prawns and brown shrimp over the top filling the cups.
Make the dressing by placing the big tom juice, mayonnaise, lemon juice, horseradish, vodka, a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some seasoning in a processor and blend to combine. Taste and add a touch of whatever it is lacking for your tastes like Tabasco. However, make sure it is a bit too punchy and a bit over the top as when it is combined with everything else it will be blunted slightly and hold its own.
Get a griddle pan on a high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Cut the avocados into thick slices and char on the griddle, seasoning generously with salt and pepper, for a few minutes each side to warm through and soften. In another pan, heat some more oil and add your cubed bread with some seasoning and fry until golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.
Scatter the hot avocados and croutons over the salad and prawns. Drizzle with the Bloody Mary dressing and scatter with the chopped dill, cress and celery leaves. Place the crevettes and mussels boldly on top and serve with lemon wedges as a sharing platter for an indulgent starter or light lunch…..

Spanish-style Fish Stew

February 19, 2013 Comments Off read Seafood

I should really call this ‘30 minute Spanish-style fish stew’ as it really is quick. It is probably one of the most flavourful dishes you will get out of such a small amount of cooking. The spicy chorizo flavour provides a punchy character suitable for even the most headstrong bull-fighting Spaniard with delicate but robust enough chunks of meaty fish. It won’t take you hours to knock out and I frequently glam it up for dinner party occasions with extra shellfish or topped with a butter basted piece of crispy fried seabass. Alternatively, keep it hearty and rustic as I did here, which my student budget no doubt appreciated this week. I can guarantee it will leave you satisfied and happy as I feel right now writing this after a hearty bowl….

(Serves 3 generously)

1 large bulb fennel or 2 small ones, halved and sliced (fronds and green tops reserved for garnish)
1 onion, sliced
1 tbsp fennel seeds
100g chorizo, sliced into chunks
1 large clove garlic, sliced
1 glass of dry white wine
500g tomato passata
1 pint hot, good fish stock
Squeeze lemon juice
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Meaty fish e.g. Haddock/cod/monkfish or a mixture
(Optional) Handful of cleaned mussels/prawns/sliced squid
Croutons to serve
Flat leaf parsley to serve

Begin by heating some olive oil in a large casserole dish. Gently sweat the chopped onion and fennel for about 15 minutes over a low heat until soft and beginning to caramelise.
Add the fennel seeds and fry for a few minutes to release the flavour and then add the garlic.
Add the sliced chorizo and cook just until the oils begin to be released.
Turn up the heat and de-glaze the pan with the white wine and simmer away for a few minutes.
Add the tomato passata and the fish stock and stir to combine.
Simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened (adding more stock for a thinner base if prefered) Season to taste with salt and plenty of heavy handed black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Cut you fish into bite sized chunks. If using mussels and prawns, add these, and the chopped fish to the hot stew and cover with a lid. Simmer gently for a matter of minutes until the prawns are pink, the mussels are open and the fish is just starting to flake.
Serve in oven warmed shallow bowls, garnished with chopped flat leaf parsley, the chopped fennel fronds and a handful or crispy croutons.

Alternatively serve with some fresh french bread, sourdough croutons and punchy rouille (see here). This is also lovely served at a dinner party glammed up with more shellfish and squid and topped with individual pieces of crisp fried seabass fillets.

WINE: Absolutely delicious served with one of the countries crispy whites – try this Lagar de Cervera, 2014 Albariño, Galicia available at Armit Wines.

WINE: Absolutely delicious served with one of the countries own crisp whites – try this Lagar de Cervera, 2014 Albariño, Galicia available at Armit Wines

Bouillabaisse with Rouille, Sourdough Croutons and Samphire

September 19, 2012 Comments Off read Seafood

Bouillabaisse is a Provencal fish stew. This is probably one of my favourite dishes and I love to spend an afternoon making it properly from scratch, however, don’t be put off, it can be done quicker I just like to take my time!

Contents (serves 4)

1 x tinned tomatoes
1 litre homemade fish stock
a pinch of saffron
a pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
mixed seafood- I used 1xgurnard, 1xbream and 1 large hake fillet, filleted and chopped into chunks. Reserve the fish bones/heads for the stock
12-15 raw crevettes/prawns- peeled, shells retained
Handful of mussels
Bunch flat-leaf parsley, stalk reserved for stock
Samphire, steamed for about 3 minutes, to serve
Rouille, to serve

Soup base

1 large bulb fennel
2 sticks celery
6 cloves garlic
2 onions
2 carrots
3 bay leaves
Bunch of flat leaf parsley
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
Small glass white wine/Pernod

Fish Stock

Bones, head and tails or the fish (about 2 carcases) or ask your fishmonger for some free scraps
2 red onions, quartered
2 carrots, sliced
2 sticks celery, halved
Stalks of flat-leaf parsley
1 fennel bulb, sliced
2 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns
Salt
2 litre cold water

Start by making the fresh fish stock but if using a cube, skip to stage 4.
Place all the ingredients into a large pan (except the salt) and cover with the water. Bring to the boil and skim off any scum that comes to the surface and discard.
Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, but no longer. Season to taste and then strain and reserve the stock for use later.
Now start on the soup base. Chop the vegetables and fry gently in some oil in a large pot with the fennel seeds, bay leaves and parsley. Cover with a cartouche (a round shaped piece of parchment) to prevent the vegetable catching and to help soften them. Reduce the heat and soften for 40 minutes.
After 40 minutes, increase the heat and caramelize the vegetables for a few minutes until tinged with brown. Add a small glass of white wine and simmer for 1 minute before adding the tomatoes, 600-800ml fish stock and a pinch of saffron and cayenne and season. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 1 hour. Meanwhile…….

A traditional bouillabaisse has a ‘tomatoey’ sauce flavour, however, I have adapted various recipes to bring out the best in the flavours I like best. Feel free to skip this step but it wholeheartedly adds a deep, rich, fishy punch to the soup base. Here I have made a prawn stock/reduction using the reserved shells.

Fry the reserved prawn/crevette shells and heads in a little oil for about 5 minutes, until they turn a beautiful deep orange and release their juices
Add a splash of wine and simmer for 1 minute, before adding a large spoonful of the simmering soup base and then top up with about 200ml of fish stock.
Bring to the boil, then simmer for 25 minutes.
After this time, strain and retain the prawn stock, season and discard the shells.

8. After 1 hour, puree the soup with a hand blender (not too smooth, don’t worry if there are a few lumps) and add the prawn reduction (If not using, add fish stock to obtain your required consistency)

9. Finally, add the chunks of fish and on a very low simmer, cook the fish for about 6-7 minutes before adding the shelled prawns and mussels. With a lid on, cook for a few minutes until the mussels are open and the prawns are cooked.

10. Serve in deep, warmed bowls topped with samphire and scattered with chopped parsley and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. I devoured mine with the traditional mayonnaise- Rouille and giant sourdough croutons