Tuna Carpaccio
Fried eschallot encrusted tuna with limes and coconut..the Joust ingredients
It's that time of the month again. The Royal Foodie Joust is being held over at Jenn's. Well ok, it runs for the whole month but its time for me to enter my recipe for the competition. Val, who won last months competition chose seafood, lemons or limes and coconut. As per usual, I had a whole heap of things I wanted to make and "ummed and aahed" until I decided to try something a little different. I'm doing a tuna carpaccio. Carpaccio traditionally uses beef as the protein. It's finely sliced (shaved?) and dressed with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and parmesan. Recently I've seen tuna used in carpaccios but always done with Italian ingredients. By using the RFJ's ingredients I could play with the whole carpaccio concept by adding an Asian twist to it. The Asian ingredients lie somewhere between Thailand and Vietnam. I wanted to use sashimi but I wasn't game to get up at 5 am and brave the Sydney Seafood Markets!
Instead, I bought small fresh tuna steaks from my local Greek fishmonger, Nick (there's always called Nick!). Before i sliced them I rolled them in fried eschallots and this provided a nice crust for the tuna. I wanted to use toasted sesame seeds but I had run out! No problem. It's all about being creative and thats why I like the Royal Foodie Joust. I dressed the thinly sliced tuna in a coconut vinaigrette. I made the dressing using a splash of olive oil, a small knob of grated ginger, a finely diced chilli, a teaspoon of palm sugar, fish sauce , soy sauce, the juice of half a lime, a tablespoon of coconut cream and some of the coconut water from my freshly cracked coconut. Phew! It sounds very complex but really its very complementary to the tuna. Its fresh, tangy and the coconut cream adds a subtle richness. The final touch was to garnish each tuna slice with a fresh mint leave and some finely sliced chilli. Hope you enjoy and good luck to everyone!
Fried Prawn cakes
Fried prawn cakes...on a bed of watercress. Served with a glass of cold beer.
Before this turns out to be a blog about the weather, let me just clarify about the kind of weather we have here in Sydney during the summer months. Whilst we can have traditional "hot" days, with blazing sunshine and high temperatures we also experience sub tropical weather. Think sticky, humid and thunderstorms. Its quite unique and something I still cant bear. I find myself showering three times a day during the humid months. But I digress... I wanted to showcase some more summer recipes. Primarily, food that you can enjoy with a glass of cold beer. Admittedly you will be frying these lovely morsels but I promise it won't be too long.
I found a recipe for fried prawn cakes made by the domestic goddess herself. They're very easy, very simple and you won't be able to stop at just one. They have a bit of a Spanish influence with the addition of sherry but you could easily "Thai" them up! (We'll get to that in a second). I have to admit to two things here. Firstly, I'm not a big fan of Nigella but these looked too good to pass up. And the recipe turned out quite nicely. Secondly, I'm not a big fan of deep frying. I have no patience waiting for the oil to get to the perfect frying temperature. But I am learning as I go along. I wait for the oil to heat up on a medium temperature and that way it ensures everything is cooked evenly and not too quickly. Once they're cooked enjoy them with a glass of your favourite cold brew. Perfect tropical eating...
FRIED PRAWN CAKES RECIPE (Adapted from Nigella Lawson's "How to eat")
500 g of shelled, cleaned and deveined prawns finely chopped (thats shrimp to our North American cousins)
2 garlic cloves finely minced
4 spring onions finely chopped
1 tsp of dried chili flakes
salt and pepper to taste
50 ml of sherry
120g of plain flour
sunflower oil for frying
Mix all the ingredients together with enough water to make a batter. Look to make a "thickish" batter. Let it stand for a few hours covered with plastic wrap. Once your oil has come to a nice cooking temperature, drop teaspoonfuls of the batter into the oil and fry evenly. Drain the cakes on a paper towel. Serve sprinkled with sea salt and lemon wedges. Aioli would also work well as a dipping sauce for the prawn cakes.
You may also want to make a Thai version of these as well. I thought about his after I had made them. Perhaps substituting the sherry for fish sauce and adding some coriander, lime juice and a small portion of palm sugar. Its fun to play around with food ideas isn't it? Now where's that beer?..
Tis The Season...Party Foods
Prawn Ceviche in Mini Tortilla Cups
It's that crazy time of the year again. Shoppers scramble to find presents for loved ones in crowded shopping centres. Children draw up lists of presents hoping that Santa will deliver them on Christmas morning. And more importantly, passionate foodies plan mouth watering menus to feed their guests. This year I have opted for a quiet Christmas day but am attending a big party on the night itself. A few days before the 25th of December I will be hosting a Xmas cocktail party. With that in mind I thought I would run through some of the canapes and other goodies I will be serving up. Each day I'll be posting a different recipe. You may even choose to serve some of these very easy party foods with drinks, to settle your guests.
In this part of the world we have hot Christmases. It's very hard for folks on the other side of the world to fathom that there will be no snow or cold weather to enjoy a "traditional Christmas". But here in Australia, we're used to it. So we tend to enjoy "festive" foods much suited to the warmer climate. Hot turkey and gravy? No thanks! I'm thinking cool, calm canapes to enjoy with my champagne. I came across this recipe a few years ago on the internet. It can be prepared a day before and just served on the day. I love it and its extremely easy. Prawn or shrimp "ceviche" in mini tortilla cups. Its not a traditional ceviche in the South and Central American sense. But it's pretty close and tastes mighty good and looks cute too. The recipes cater for about 10 or 12 guests.
For the Ceviche
250-350 grams of finely chopped raw prawns, cleaned and deveined
1/4 of a finely chopped red onion
1or 2 finely diced red chillies
a bunch of coriander leaves finely chopped
a squeeze of half or a whole lime
a good splash of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything together and let it marinate for a few hours or even better leave it overnight. Watch the lime juice do its magic as it cooks the prawns and they absorb the wonderful fresh flavours.
For the Mini Tortilla Cups
6-8 large tortillas. The corn variety preferably
olive oil spray
6 inch cookie cutter
mini muffin pan
Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. In a hot pan warm the tortillas on each side making sure not to overdo them or burn them. Whilst they are still hot place on a flat surface and begin to cut them using the cookie cutter. Once you have a circle cut place it in the mini muffin pan that has been pre sprayed with the olive oil. Push the mini tortillas into the pan ensuring they are covering the sides and fit snugly and neatly. When the mini muffin pan is full, place it in the oven and let them cook for a further 5-6 minutes. Remove them when done and let them cool on a wire rack. This process may seem a little fiddly but it's really quite easy. You just have to be a little fast.
Before you plate them up make sure that the ceviche has come to room temperature. Fill the mini tortilla cups with the prawn mixture and serve. You may wish to garnish them with a small coriander leaf. Sip champagne and enjoy!
Tasty canape treats...
Coleslaw With Prawns
Coleslaw with Prawns
After a hectic eating schedule in Greece which included a lot of rich, yummy foods I needed to get back on track with some lighter eating. Salads are a good way to do this but they don't have to be boring by any means. They can be a decent meal themselves. Just make sure you follow the "fresh is best" principle and you can't go wrong. I was inspired by the many flavours I encountered in Greece and as a good food blogger I came back to experiment. Many of the salad dressings I tasted there were quite basic. But they weren't boring. The simplicity of extra virgin olive oil mixed with lemon juice was just magical on the taste buds.
Drawing inspiration from those fresh flavours I decided to make coleslaw and give it a slight twist. I've never really had a good relationship with coleslaw over the years. As a child, I had to endure eating this dish drowned in really bad mayonnaise. It was devoid of any character or taste. When I set myself the task of making this I wanted it to be fresh and summery. It's very easy to construct. I shredded a small portion of both red and white cabbages. I grated a carrot and thinly sliced some cucumbers on my mandoline. I also thinly sliced some red onions and added some freshly grated green papaya or green mango. The addition of the papaya gave it that extra lift. I just wish I had more to add as it didn't really generate much from a single grating. And finally, I blanched some king green prawns and added them on top to make a complete meal. (I bought my prawns all cleaned and shelled. I love saving time!). The dressing was, you guessed it. A blend of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice with some fresh sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. It was crunchy, slightly sweet, slippery and tangy at the same time. A really nice twist on an old favourite and much better this time around. Enjoy!
Pete