Another for the "WIN!" category

First of all, there are no photos of this delightful little dish.  That’s because the meal just sort of evolved, and “happened”, and by the time it was done I suspected it might not be worthy of a photo op let alone a blog post anyways. 

I was wrong.  It was amazing.

I had started out making a basic salad for dinner, and decided some prawns might be a handsome protein accompaniment.  Well, you know how things go: you start prepping a marinade, you get inspired, you find yourself chopping aromatics, and mixing spices, then suddenly realize that although you have a billion salad toppings, you actually only have about 3 leaves of wilted baby romaine gasping away in the fridge.

Plan B, wherefore art thou?!

So here’s what ended up being on hand, and got conscripted to the understudy role of “Dinner”:

Prawn Soba

Prawns:

·      1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

·      1 clove garlic, mashed fine

·      1 tsp lime juice

·      1-2 Tbsp olive oil (I had a fun garlic-infused one on hand)

·      pinch salt

·      few grinds pepper

·      slight drizzle sesame oil

·      About a dozen prawns, peeled (thawed if frozen)

·      ½ red pepper, sliced thin

Noodles:

·      Soba noodles (about half a package of dry noodles)

·      ½ c chopped frozen spinach

·      ½ c chopped cilantro

Dressing:

·      3 Tbsp soy sauce

·      2 Tbsp rice vinegar

·      2 Tbsp maple syrup (or sugar, but hey, you don’t have to dissolve the maple syrup)

·      scant 1/4 tsp sesame oil

·      2 green onions, sliced thin

*Optional, but highly recommended: Japanese chili spice (Nanami Togarashi)

Mix the first 7 ingredients of the prawn marinade together before adding in the prawns and tossing to coat.  Add a bit more oil if needed.

Put water in a medium pot to boil.  While waiting for water to come to a boil, prepare the dressing.  Adjust sweet (syrup), salty (soy), sour (vinegar or lime juice) to taste, and set aside.

When water is boiling, add the soba, and cook according to package directions.   About a minute before end of recommended cooking time for the noodles, add the chopped spinach.  When noodles are tender, drain in sink, running cold water over them to stop cooking.  Drain thoroughly.  Place in a large bowl, sprinkle the cilantro and drizzle the dressing and toss to mix.

Heat a skillet or wok over med-high heat.  When water hisses in the pan, add about a tsp olive oil, and toss in the red pepper.  Stir to coat with oil, then add the prawns, scraping as much of the marinade into the skillet as you can muster. 

Cook, stirring frequently until prawns are pink, and cooked through (3-4 minutes).

Immediately pour prawn mixture over cold noodles, and toss thoroughly, adding Japanese chili powder to taste if you want a bit of kick.

This is another one of those dishes which hit that “happy place” in my brain.  Perhaps there’s some sort of mood-elevating alchemy in the sweet/sour/salty/spicy premise which finds its way into so many Asian cuisines.  I seem to go back to the four “S”s by accident, often, willingly, and happily.  I’m not gonna overthink it.  It’s cheaper than therapy.

Prawn Saganaki

Ah!  Spring is upon us (sort of).  As such, I’ll be scaling the posts back to once a week.  The yard calls to me, and I find myself spending an absurd amount of time “tweaking” the plants, mosses and anthills (where the hell do these guys come from?!) into a suitable and eye-pleasing formation.  My time to make meals has been scaled back, let alone the time to document and take photos of them. 

This time of year always messes with my head.  On the one hand, we start seeing more fresh local ingredients available.  On the other, we’re still stocked up with 10 trillion root veggies and squash (can you say “winter hoarding?”) which need to be used up.  The following recipe barely addresses either.

However, it comes from a my friend Liz in Australia.  Since it’s technically autumn in Oz, yet spring here, I thought this recipe was a great way to celebrate the no-man’s land of seasonal transition, and the “What the hell do I make in unsettled weather like this?” question.

Prawn Saganaki (recipe and instructions cut and pasted with a few annotations and conversions from Liz’s blog.  I also quite admire her technique for getting the recipe.  Technology and good manners concisely wrapped up in one gesture)   

In our house this served two.  Adjust accordingly.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
400 g vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped (I think that’s about 3-4 tomatoes)
1 red banana chili, seeds removed, coarsely chopped (or chili to taste)
1/2 c dry white wine
1/2 tbsp dried thyme or 2tbsp of fresh.
1 fresh bay leaf
100g feta (I used Macedonian feta.  Creamier, less salty, and doesn’t have the same “pong” as Greek feta.  Not saying anything against pongy feta…)
12 large prawns, peeled, cleaned

1. Preheat oven to 220C (about 400F).
2. Heat oil in a large casserole over medium-high heat, add onion and garlic and sauté until starting to soften (2-3 minutes), add tomato and chili and sauté until starting to soften (2-3 minutes).
3. Add wine and herbs and reduce until slightly thickened (1-2 minutes).
4. Crumble feta over top, transfer casserole to oven and roast until sauce thickens and feta begins to melt (15 minutes). 

5. Remove from oven, gently push prawns into sauce, return to oven and roast until prawns are heated through (3-5 minutes).

Serve hot with crusty white bread and green salad.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did.  As Liz mentions in her blog, I agree that prawns are generally best left unadulterated.  This is a screaming exception to that notion. 

I can already picture serving this outside as a summer dinner (ANOTHER season this bad-boy invokes).  Friends tottering on wine-softened legs, a playlist featuring Journey’s “Don’t Stop” battling with the neighbour’s fumbling attempts to pick out Paul Simon songs on the guitar, and a big oozing mound of prawns and feta-laden, tomatoey goodness plonked down on the table to the slurred exclamations of “Awwwwwnnngg… thad smellsh amAYshing…”

Prawn purist though I be, I’m glad I allowed myself to delve into this little ditty.  To quote the wise words of drug pushers from the 60’s onward:  “Try it.  You’ll like it.”