Citrus Pudding

I have just spent the most wonderful week in northern Italy, nestled at the foot of the mountains with the breathtaking sight of Lake Garda stretching out before me. The weather was forecast to be terrible but our saving grace we thought was the fantastic food we would have the pleasure of experiencing; it didn’t disappoint and thankfully, neither did the weather.

The food was so simple, stripped back to let the flavours of the bare essential ingredients speak for themselves and devoid of the complicated herbal concoctions and lashings of garlic that seem to be added when recreated in this country; just good pure wholesome food.  Having visited Italy a few times previously I was prepared for the famous gelato in all of its varieties and take advantage of it I certainly did as my jeans knew all too well when they had to deal with my body being squeezed back into them after a full week’s worth of food indulgence.

The only thing that was lacking (if you could even call it that with all the ice cream), was the pudding list.  Yes, it’s true, the country is famous for the tiramisu…not my cup of tea, or should I say coffee (as I don’t drink either) I was searching for profiteroles, which I eventually found but other than a basic panna cotta, there was not much else on offer.  I felt myself craving a good pud and on my return to England, I naturally started planning my pudding list to work my way through.

There was, however the slight issue of the side effects that my previously mentioned indulgence had created…the tight jeans…the “filling out” of my stomach, thigh and probably bottom area…so the pud had to be a light one, to give the air of being deceptively healthy…I had just the recipe.

Citrus pudding is a Delia Smith recipe, which Mum used to make us when growing up, it is light and airy and a self saucing pudding, so I have it in it’s purest form; nothing on the side.  Now the recipe Mum shared with me slightly differs from Delia’s so if you want to compare the two, just click here.

Feeds 4

Ingredients

The juice & rind of 1 lemon

4 oz caster sugar

1 oz self-raising flour

2 oz margarine

¼ pint milk

2 eggs, separated

Method

1. Cream the margarine and sugar and meanwhile whisk the egg whites until the form firm peaks.
2. To the margarine mixture, add the lemon rind, juice and egg yolks, followed by the flour.
3. Fold in the egg whites (do it with a metal spoon – I think that is a Delia tip also). At this stage the mixture may look slightly curdled but don’t worry, it is fine.
4. Now pour the mixture into an oven proof dish, but make sure you can put that dish inside a bigger one, this pudding is cooked in a water bath so to speak.
5. Once your dish containing the mixture is sat inside the bigger dish, put them in a preheated oven at 150 degrees centigrade and then pour boiling water into the bigger dish so that it comes up the side of the smaller dish containing your pudding.  You want the water level to rise up the side of the inner dish by between ¼ and ½ of an inch.
6. The secret to this pudding is the higher the water comes up the side of the pudding dish, the more sauce you get.
7. Cook the pudding for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden and just firm.
8. Remove and serve warm, on it’s own or with cream.

A deceptively innocent dessert and devilishly moreish!

Cod with a bacon, lettuce & pea broth

I am sure I have mentioned this before, but I have to be in the mood to eat fish.  I would never automatically go for fish on the menu I would always choose meet first.  Over and over though, we are told fish is good for you, fish is healthy, everyone should eat more fish, and so I find myself planning a fish dish once a week, quite like one would plan to go to the gym or do some exercise or take vitamins, I am doing it because it is good for me.  Thus I am forever looking out for recipes that will really wow me, take me by the hand and present fish as the star it should be, want to make me choose fish first and appreciate it in all its finery.

This recipe is a keeper…it is a bit like a fish stew or broth, I believe you could have this in Summer and Winter, and actually it is really quite filling, It is a goodfood recipe, which you can find by following the link but here it is anyway and it serves 2 so double up as necessary:

2tbsp sunflower oil
2 rashers of bacon cut up into small pieces
1small shallot or onion diced
2 x cod fillet pieces

140g/5oz frozen peas

200ml/7 fl oz chicken stock

2 little gem lettuces, shredded

2tbsp half-fat crème fraiche

2 thick slices of fresh bread to serve.

Method

§         Heat the oil in the frying pan and then add the bacon and onion. Cook gently for 2 mins then remove from the pan and set aside.

§         I chose to use cod with the skin still on, because I like the look, but the recipe says skinless, it is up to you really.  Season the cod with pepper alone, you have bacon in the dish so there is enough salt already. Fry in the pan skin side down until nice and crispy.  Now the recipe recommends that you cook the fish on one side for 2 minutes first then turnover and cook until cooked but that can verify per piece of fish.  Using common sense you know if the fish is thick, it will take longer to cook through.  If you over cook it, it will go rubbery, but if it is still translucent, it is not cooked enough.  If you are inexperienced, don’t be afraid to cut the fish in half and check it is cooked through in the middle, you are not producing food for a restaurant here, this is good, home cooked food; taste comes before beauty.

§         Anyway, back to the recipe…cook until the skin is crispy then turnover.  Add the peas and stock and bring to a simmer, cook for a further 2 minutes then add back your bacon and onion; then add the lettuce and crème fraiche.

§         Cook for a couple more minutes until the fish is cooked and the lettuce has wilted.

§         Serve with the fresh bread lathered in butter.

Tips

This recipe uses cod, but would work equally well with haddock, coley or pollock.

Casual Dinner Party for 4

One of the major faux pas of hosting a dinner party is leaving your guests unattended for too long.  This is not so much of a problem if you either have a better half who radiates in the role of front of house, or if you enjoy the open plan living and can easily see and interact with your guests from behind the cooker or kitchen sink. If you do not find yourself in such a situation however, then you need to plan out your dinner menu in such a way that everything is done ahead of time.  Preparation is key.

Of course to make life a little easier, you could always buy certain things ready-made.  Yes it may be cheating but if Delia Smith says it's fine, then you can't argue with that.

I was planning a midweek dinner party, very casual; very relaxed and nothing elaborate; just good food. The menu was as follows:

Starter

Goats' cheese and red onion marmalade bruschetta with a balsamic glazed salad.

Main

Tomato and mascarpone tagliatelle, with bacon, mushrooms and peas.

Dessert

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients are as follows:

For the starter

Bag of pre-prepared salad

Stick of bread, you can choose any you like, ciabatta, baguette, tiger loaf etc

Goats' Cheese

Good Quality Olive Oil

Balsamic vinegar (2 tblsp plus extra to serve)

3 red onions sliced into half moons.

Vegetable oil (1 tblsp)

Brown sugar (50g)

Red Wine (100ml)

For the main

1 Bag of fresh pasta

Frozen peas (2-3 ramekins full)

Mushrooms, sliced (a punnet)

Bacon, diced (8 thick rashers)

Fresh Tomatoes, chopped ( 450g)

1 White onion diced

Mascarpone (100g)

Tomato Puree (1 tblsp)

White wine (optional) 50ml

Parmesan or Grana Padano (50g grated and extra to serve)

For Dessert

Pre made sweet pastry case

1 lemon (grated rind and juice)

Cornflour 25g (1oz)

Boiling Water 150ml (1/4pt)

Caster Sugar 225g (8oz)

2 medium eggs, separated

Method

1.  Plan for time in advance of your guests arriving...if you cook regularly and are confident, I would allow an hour in advance, if you are less confident, then plan for longer. 
2.  Heat the table spoon of vegetable oil in a frying pan and meanwhile peel and slice the red onions.
3.  When the pan is hot throw in the onions, mix them round so they are coated then pour in the red wine (at this moment you want the pan to be hot, so that it will burn off the alcohol) sprinkle over the sugar then the balsamic vinegar; stir again then reduce the heat to the lowest it will go. Cook at this heat for around 10 minutes until the onions are soft and jammy.
4. Now move on to prepare the main course; chop the vegetables and put into bowls ready to cook later. Chop the bacon, grate the cheese and weigh out all the rest of your main course ingredients.
5.  Next you need to make your dessert; I always use the Be-Ro recipe for lemon meringue pie.
6. Place the ready-made pastry case on a baking tray, preferably with a lip around the edge so your beautiful creation doesn't slip off and smash at any point.
7. Place the egg yolks with 100g of the sugar, lemon juice, grated rind and boiling water in a saucepan and mix well.
8. ****TIP**** If you like a tart lemon pie, add the grated rind of another lemon. 
9. Blend the cornflour with a little cold water and add to the lemon mix.  Stir constantly and you will start to see and feel the mixture thicken to look more like lemon curd; at this point, take the pan off the heat and pour the lemon curd into the tart case. 
10.  Now to make the meringue, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.  To test, turn the bowl upside down above your head, if you end up clean, they have reached the correct consistency; if you end up with egg on your face, you will need to start again.
11. Once stiff peaks have been achieved, gradually whisk in the rest of the sugar, then pour over the lemon mix and spread out with a pallet knife or a spatula.
12.  Place the pie to one side but turn the oven on to pre-heat to 150 degrees, 300F or gas mark 2 and continue to prepare your starter.
13. Slice your bread and put through the toaster on the lowest setting.
14.  Drizzle each piece of bread with a little olive oil then place on your red onion marmalade, be generous!
15. Slice the goats' cheese and lay 2-3 rounds per slice on top of the marmalade, place under the grill for 2-3 minutes until the goats' cheese has just started to melt and brown, but be careful that the bread doesn't burn.
16.  Whilst grilling your bruschetta dress the plates with a handful of the washed salad tossed in a little balsamic vinegar.
17.  ****TIP****There are some delicious balsamic vinegars out there, with hints of chillies or blackberry; it is worth investing the time to find some.  Try speciality cheese shops or a local farm shop/deli for a bit more variety than the usual supermarket stock.
18. Once your bruschettas are cooked, remove them from the oven immediately, place on top of the bed of salad and drizzle a little more balsamic over the cheese.
19. Hopefully you have timed it just right and should now be ready to eat the starter, so place the lemon meringue pie in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or until the pie is golden in colour. REMEMBER every cooker is different, your pie may take a little less or a little longer, adjust as necessary, if you aren't sure, check your pie sooner than 25 minutes to avoid a disaster. Once cooked, set aside until you are ready to serve it.
20. ****TIP**** Always set a timer, that way if you are a chatterbox you will have something to remind you to attend to your food.
21. Your main will take about 10 - 15 minutes to cook, no longer.  Once your starter has finished nip into the kitchen and place a little vegetable oil in the pan and begin to heat, meanwhile put the kettle on to boil.
22. Once the pan is up to heat, add the bacon and fry for 1-2 minutes then add the onion and fry for a further 2 minutes. 
23. Add your boiling water to a separate pan and put on a medium heat to get ready for the pasta.
24. Add the wine to the hot pan with the bacon and onion.  Allow to bubble for a few seconds to burn off the alcohol then add the tomatoes and puree and leave to reduce for about 3 -4 minutes.
25. Set a timer and nip back through to talk to your guests.
26. Once reduced, add the mushrooms to your mixture and coat in the sauce then mix in the mascarpone.
27. Put the pasta on to boil (see the packet instructions) for just less than recommended, you don't want to over cook the pasta in the second stage when it gets coated in the sauce.
28. Once the pasta has cooked, drain and add to the bacon mix along with the peas.  Mix thoroughly and add in the parmesan. 
29. Allow the peas to warm through then serve.

Although there are many bullet points to this dinner, it is in actual fact really easy to make.  I have given you a step by step guide in the order I think you should cook this and as long as you give yourself sufficient time, you should be absolutely fine.  You may even find yourself having to do a few more dinner parties after this meal.

My advice to you:

·         Read through the recipe in full before you start.

·         Give yourself plenty of time to prepare.

·         Stay calm and good luck!!

P.S. sorry for the lack of pictures for this one, I am still getting used to photographing my food before I tuck in!

Comfort Food - Macaroni Cheese

Despite this being a common pasta dish, I have to confess I only came to this recently.  This is not a dish we had when we were growing up at home, and having tried a few failed versions at pubs throughout my life it wasn’t a meal that I was really keen on making myself.  But it always sounds so good, and when you see it in magazines it always looks so good and the concept…pasta, cheese sauce…what’s not to like?

 I decided I would give it a go and make my own version and I have loved it ever since.  It is naturally loaded in calories but if you are feeling down or poorly this is a great tasty dish that will have you glowing on the inside.  Recently I have been ill and this was all I could think of to bring me out of my gloomy self pity and it worked a treat.

Ingredients (to feed 4)

Dried macaroni pasta (250-300g)
1 onion diced
1 packed of back bacon/ 8 rashers (can be smoked or unsmoked)
Butternut squash cubed (250g)
Breadcrumbs

 For the cheese sauce

1/2 a pint (300ml) milk
1-2 tbsp of plain flour
Knob of butter (1/2 - 1oz)
150g grated cheese
English mustard (2 pea sized drops)
Salt and Pepper

 Method

§         Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

§         Prepare your butternut squash (or pumpkin). Peel away the skin to reveal the vivid flesh beneath and remove the seeds.  Dice into 2cm chunks and put on to boil for 10 minutes.

§         Measure out the pasta by selecting a suitably sized ovenproof dish and covering the bottom of the dish with a healthy layer of the dried pasta.  Don’t forget that pasta doubles in size once cooked. This is the way I measure out my pasta for these types of dishes; if you want to be really precise, I have provided a measure, but it really depends on the size of the appetites you are trying to satisfy.

§         Put your macaroni on to boil in salted water as per the packet instructions, but cook it for just less than the advised time.  If it says cook for 10 minutes, only boil for 8.  You want it to be almost there but not quite, otherwise it would over cook when you put it in the oven later.  You can of course use other pasta shapes; penne, farfalle, fusili, conchiglie, even rigatoni would all be good shapes, if you don’t have any macaroni. 

§         While your pasta and squash are cooking you want to cut up the bacon into strips and gently fry in a little oil for a couple of minutes, then add the onion, season with pepper only (as the bacon is salty enough) and gently fry for a further 2-3 minutes.  You don’t want to overcook anything.

§         For the cheese sauce…first you need to make a basic white sauce.  You start by making a roux, which involves equal quantities of butter and milk.  You melt the butter in either a pan or microwaveable jug. Then add the flour and stir quite vigorously to make sure there are no lumps. 

§         Little by little you add your milk, always stirring to ensure there are no lumps.

§         Once all the milk has been combined you heat until the sauce thickens. 

§         Now add half the cheese and heat/stir until all melted into the sauce and then add the two pea sized amounts of English mustard (you do not want to ruin the dish with the over powering taste of mustard, so proceed with caution).

§         Season with salt and pepper then add the rest of the cheese; stir until all melted and combined.

§         You don’t want the sauce to be too thick, but then again you don’t want it to be too thin.  It needs to be able to coat the pasta and add some luxury to the dish.  If it is not thick enough you should add more flour, if too thick, add a little more milk.  Remember you can always add more; you can never take away so keep a steady hand and taste, taste, taste!

§         Once you have made the sauce, everything is ready to combine, take your oven proof dish and put in the pasta, squash and bacon and onion mixture, mix up a little, then pour over the cheese sauce so everything is covered; give it another little mix.

§         Finally cover the top with breadcrumbs and place in the preheated oven on 180 for 15-20 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs have turned a golden brown colour.

Very comforting, very more-ish, this one will have people coming back time and time again.

Chicken leftovers....Chicken Fricassée?

This is a great dish to use up all those roast chicken dinner leftovers, including the roasted vegetables.  I came across this recipe in the M&S bible and it has been a firm favourite ever since, not only does it sound very sophisticated but it also can easily be doubled or tripled to feed the 5 thousand.  As always I have added my own twist to the recipe and I encourage you to do the same.

 Ingredients (feeds 2-4)

Leftover cooked chicken pieces

1 onion diced

4-5 floz chicken stock

2 carrots, diced

2 celery sticks, diced

8oz frozen peas

1 pepper, deseeded and diced.

4oz mushrooms sliced

4floz natural yoghurt (crème fraiche or soured cream is absolutely fine)

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Salt and Pepper

Rice (50g per person)

Parmesan or other hard Italian cheese, grated (25g)

All the vegetables in the above list are optional; if you don’t like them you can remove/replace them.  I also find that butternut squash, sweet potato, new potato and courgette all of which have been previously roasted, work really well in this dish also.  The Marks and Spencer recipe doesn’t include rice, but I always do, it goes really well and you can either make a big risotto type dish, or you can add the rice on the side.

 Method

§  Put the rice in boiling water and cook according to the instructions on the packet, drain in a sieve.

§  Heat some oil in a pan and add the onion, carrots, celery and pepper and gently fry off for 5 minutes.

§  Add the cooked chicken pieces and stock and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer away for 5-8 minutes more until the liquid has reduced by half.

§  Now add the soft vegetables – the left over roast vegetables, the mushrooms and the peas and then add your yoghurt.  I find that it really doesn’t matter whether you use yoghurt, or crème fraiche or soured cream, whatever you have in the fridge.  I do think cream is a little rich, but add a dash or two of lemon juice to give it some bite and this would be ok too.

§  Add the cooked rice to the dish and heat until everything has warmed through.

§  Finish with stirring in the Parmesan and sprinkle over the fresh parsley.

 Absolutely scrummy!

Midweek Roast

When you think of a roast dinner, you associate it with Sunday, as is tradition in England, but it doesn’t have to be the only day of the week to enjoy this feast.  Chris Evans, Radio 2 breakfast presenter often talks about his Sunday Dinner on a Monday and I completely agree, what is stopping us having a midweek roast?  That is exactly what we do and it is great if you have company, no more work necessary (except maybe a few more veg).

The other night, we had the in-laws round and always keen to show their son bagged a good one, I cooked a lemon roast chicken with lemon and parsley stuffing, followed by an apple and blackberry crumble.  Absolutely delicious and totally satisfying!  As a commuter I had to make sure I came home that bit earlier from work because if there is one part of cooking I am absolutely rubbish at…it’s my timings, but I will talk you through my recipes:

 Ingredients to feed 4-5

(For the main course)                                    (For the Pudding)

1 Chicken (mine was 1.750 kg)                      1lb 7oz dessert apples (braeburn or cox

2 lemons                                                          orange pippin)

5 slices of bread (crusts if possible)                Punnet of blackberries

1 onion diced                                                  Granulated sugar 1oz (30g)

30g of fresh parsley chopped                          Squeeze of lemon juice

1 egg                                                               Plain flour 4oz (100g)

White wine (50ml)                                          Butter or marg 3oz (90g)

Salt & Pepper                                                  Demerara/brown sugar 2 oz (60g)

                                                                        Porridge Oats 2oz (60g)

                                                                        Drizzle of golden syrup

The Main

·         First of all, if you have your chicken in the fridge, take it out half an hour before you put it in the oven to let it warm up to room temperature.

·         Prepare your stuffing.  Gently fry off your onion in a little oil until soft and while it is cooking, blitz the bread into bread crumbs with a hand blender or food processor. 

·         Chop the parsley finely and combine with the bread crumbs and onion and squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon. 

·         Add a beaten egg and mix the whole lot until it has combined nicely, you still want it a little loose, not clumped together in a gooey mess.

·         Next take your chicken and place in a roasting tin, from the neck end (with the big flap of skin) using a spoon, wiggle it underneath the skin to ease it away from the body of the chicken to create a pocket in which to place about half of your stuffing.

·         Once the stuffing is underneath the skin, place the other half in a small oven proof dish (you can cook this off in the oven for 20 minutes and serve it as an extra side).

·         Now take your other lemon and slice it up placing the lemons on top of the chicken, just resting on the bird. You can secure them with cocktail sticks if you like, but this is not necessary.

·         Finally pour 150ml of boiling water and the wine into the bottom of the roasting dish and cover with tin foil.  Place in the oven on 180 degrees for 1 hour, after which you remove the foil and cook for a further 20-30 minutes, until the skin is golden and crispy and the juices run clear when pricked with a fork.  Take the chicken from the oven, cover with the foil and leave to rest for half an hour to let the meat relax, making it more tender.

Sides

I did roasted veg with my chicken.  I always find this an easy side when entertaining because very little effort is involved.  Always keep your veg big and chunky because they will shrink when roasted. If using potatoes or other hard veg, I would par boil them for half the time they usually take to cook, then toss your veg in a drizzle of sunflower oil, salt and pepper.  Cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes on 180 degrees.

The gravy

When doing a roast of any meat, always using the roasting tin to make your gravy in because that is where the real flavour is.  For this recipe, I moved the chicken to a warm plate, to allow it to rest. Meanwhile I moved the roasting tin to the hob and put on a low heat.  Once all the scraps and meat juices begin to sizzle, you want to de-glaze the pan with wine (or water if you don’t want to use alcohol)….this simply means you add a few glugs of wine (white for chicken/white meats and red for beef/dark meats) to the pan and stir with a whisk to get all those meaty fragments and juices mixed in.  Make some instant chicken gravy up, by following the instructions on the packet (I used good old Bisto) and add this to the pan.  When it has all heated through, strain into a serving jug.  Using the meat juices enhances this gravy ten-fold; it will have bags more flavour and elevates the whole dish.

The Pudding
You want to prepare this in the first hour of your chicken being in the oven.  The essential ingredients above come from Mary Berry’s cook book on puddings, but I have added my own little twist.

·         Peel and core all your apples then thinly slice them. 

·         Place in a bowl with the granulated sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice and toss so that everything is coated.  The lemon juice prevents the apple slices from going brown when they become exposde to the air.

·         Find a suitable oven proof dish, about 8 inches wide and 2-3 inches deep. And layer up the apples, dotting the blackberries in and amongst and then get on with the crumble topping.

·         Put the plain flour, brown sugar and butter in the same bowl and rub together between your fingertips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

·         Now add the oats and stir through.

·         Finally add a drizzle of golden syrup, I add this to my crumbles to get a little bit of a chewy top, it is completely optional, it is just the way I like my crumbles.

·         Cover the fruit with an even layer of crumble mix then bake in the oven for about 40 minutes on 180 degrees or until the top has gone brown and the fruit is bubbling around the edges of the dish.

Tips for a good roast

1.      Always plan and read the recipe in full, before you begin, so that you can allocate enough time to prepare your meal.

2.      Wash/clear up as you go along, especially if you have a small area because a roast takes up a lot of room.

3.      The meat in the tin is heavy, bear this in mind when lifting it in and out of the oven; unlike me who overcompensated when lifting and burnt my arm on the tray above, I now have an impressive memento on my forearm.

So there you have it, a roast fit for a Sunday or any other time of the week, next time I will give you an idea of what to do with your left overs.

Fish Supper

When I hear the phrase "fish supper" I conjure up an image of a rather posh couple on balcony with antiqued railings overlooking a shimmering bay below with the sun quivering just above the horizon.  There will be a couple of glasses of Chardonnay and some candles flickering and both will appear relaxed and content.  This would be the ideal setting for my fish supper, not sadly a soggy cold night in England.  However I do believe fish suppers have their place here.

We all hear of the importance of getting our fill of the slippery little creatures, with all their omega and oils and vitamins but I often find I have to work myself up to a fish dinner.  I consciously make the effort to have fish at home, it is rarely a choice I would make in a restaurant, being primarily a meat eater, but there is one ingredient that trumps them all for me when it comes to a menu and that is prawns.

I find king prawns make an excellent fish supper, especially if you are eating late and you want to avoid something heavy that will lie on your stomach later and keep you awake.  They are also great for a celebration supper or as a sharing platter with friends and my dish is unbelievably simple.

Ingredients

King prawns (raw)

Onion diced

Lemon juice

White wine

Double Cream

Flat Leaf Parsley (finely chopped)

Salt and Pepper

To serve

Hot crusty bread

·         Numbers of prawns really depend on number of people, I would say for a main meal you want about 6 prawns each and for a starter 3-4.

·         Dice half an onion (for 2 people, increase as necessary) into small chunks and fry off in a little butter in a frying pan.

·         Once the pan is hot with the onions, add a good glug of wine, I use the small bottles and I would use just under half for 2 people so I would say about 75ml and let that bubble away with a squeeze of lemon juice.

·         Now add your prawns and season (raw is best, but if you can only find the cooked ones, you will want to add your cream first).  Prawns take very little time to cook, and it is easy to over-do them.  When they are fully pink they are ready.

·         Once your prawns have been in the mix for about 2 minutes, check to see how pink they are, if they are pink on that side, flip them over and add a glug of cream (about 50ml).

·         Let this bubble for the rest of the time it takes the prawns to cook (another 2-3 mins).

·         Serve in the pan with the flat leaf parsley sprinkled over the top and hot crusty bread on the side to mop up all that delicious sauce.

Alternatives

·         You can always drop the cream if you are not a big fan and go for a lemon, wine and butter sauce.  Same premise as before only add more lemon juice and a knob of butter (1 ounce).  I call these Prawns a la Portugal because I often have prawns in garlic butter (minus the garlic) when I am out there.

·         Why not try prawns in a spicy tomato sauce.  Start with your onion base and add either fresh or canned chopped tomatoes. Season and add herbs of your choice; I would go for basil, and then add some chilli -powder or flakes are fine.  Always taste.  I was taught that you can always add more, you can never take away and with prawns being an expensive ingredient you really don't want to ruin them.

Tips

If you feel your sauce isn't going to plan, it hasn't reduced enough or it just doesn't taste right... you can always remove your prawns and set them aside, then work on a new batch of sauce and throw in your prawns at the very last minute.

This dish makes a very tasty and satisfying meal in under 5 minutes, and the best bit....prawns are very low in calories (we will ignore the cream). Enjoy!

Oh and by the way...I am still getting used to photographing my food before I eat and kind of couldn't help jumping in before taking this photo, there were a lot more prawns!