Me: I'm gonna make dinner tonight but I don't know what yet.
Mo: Cool. Just turn the next page in the recipe book... choose that.
Me: Sure. Why not?
187. Prawns with Garlic and Chilli (One & Two)
Dad and I went to Box Hill in the afternoon to get the ingredients. I can't believe I haven't made this one before, as all the ingredients are extremely easy to access, and quick to cook. Garlic, red chilli, olive oil, prawns and white wine are cooked in a large pan, using that steaming/stir-frying/pan-shaking technique that you would expect to use to cook mussels. It's impressive too.
Mum: Ooh, we're having prawns? What's the special occasion?
Once cooked, the remaining liquid is gratifyingly bright orange. I removed all the cooked prawns with a slotted spoon to let the sauce bubble away and reduce without danger of the prawns overcooking.
Sauce
Prawns with garlic and chilli
Nigella says to serve the prawns with baguette, but I forgot to buy any, so we had rice instead.
Dad: I'm glad we're eating this with rice and not bread. The rice goes better.
I'm inclined to agree with him.
Dinner
Nigella says that she eats these "carapace, head and all". Whilst we are great shell-suckers, and do not like to waste a single scrap of prawn meat, (Make sure you get the meat out of the tail! And suck the brains out!), we weren't quite able to bring ourselves to actually eat the shells. I started off quite civilised, peeling the prawns with my hands and then using my fork and spoon to eat them, but after the third prawn, I gave up on the cutlery idea and just dug in with my hands, Malaysian curry style.
carapace mountain
Actually, the incredible mess which occurs whilst eating this dish means that it's probably a good thing that the recipe only serves one. I tripled her recipe for my parents and I, who, luckily, are not anal-retentive when it comes to table manners at home. However, as you might expect, tripling the recipe gave us heaps of leftovers. Enough for my brother to have the remaining prawns, straight from the fridge, as a proper meal after coming back from work.
These prawns were so delicious, and so simple! I can totally see myself making this again, and soon.
2 comments:
Those prawns look beautiful & delicious! Hemingway used to push people to eat the shells, saying that it was manly...but then he was drunk most of the time.
Lisa xo
hee hee - I made and posted about that same recipe just a few weeks ago. I want to try it again with the splash of brandy she recommends. And more chilli - we didn't really get any chilli hit from it!
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