Comfort Food

[jadesfire]

I had a really bad case of the munchies, and just made myself the recipe below. It's probably completely inauthentic, but it's yummy and it's fat free, so I adore it. Apologies for the rough and ready instructions, but it's what I think of as an 'As You Like It' recipe, where I slightly change the quantities each time, depending on what I've got to hand and how I'm feeling.



Ingredients (all amounts approximate):
For the sauce:
1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 pint chicken stock
6-8 tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh coriander
salt and pepper

For the prawns:
As many prawns as you want to eat (duh)
1-2 limes
1 garlic clove
handful fresh coriander
salt and pepper

METHOD:

1. Chop 1 onion, and 3 cloves of garlic. Put in a pan with 1/2 pint of chicken stock (I use the bovril version, which is almost fat free). Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the onions are golden and syrupy. Depending on the size of your pan, this takes 5-20 minutes! (I was expecting 20 and nearly burnt all mine...)

2. Meanwhile, put fresh prawns in a bowl (I had 8 tiger prawns today - adjust for appetite!). Cover with the juice of 1-2 limes, a handful of coriander and 1 garlic clove. Leave to marinate while the rest cooks - the prawns will start to cook in the acid of the lime juice. My grey prawns went pink, which is always very cool.

3. Once the onion mixture is reduced, add about 6 medium tomatoes, skinned* and chopped, 2tbsp fresh coriander, as much fresh chilli as you can stand (I use EPC's Very Lazy Chilli - about 1/2 tsp), salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally.

4. Once the sauce looks like a sauce rather than just ingredients in a pan, grill the prawns. We line a baking tray with foil so that we can grill them in the marinade, which tastes fantastic. They generally need about 5-7 minutes on each side, depending on your grill.

*Don't worry if you can't skin them in advance. I just chuck them in, then use a pair of tongs to fish out the skin. You can eat it, of course, but the texture's nicer without.


Serve with rice or just eat on its own. If we have rice, we generally pour the remaining marinade on that before topping it with the prawns and sauce. If I could, I'd eat the sauce on practically everything in the house, including the roast lamb we're having later on. Nom.

Damn I need a food icon...

Comments

[hllangel]

that does sound absolutely delicious. I might have to give it a try sometime.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

It's so very yummy. I meant to add that if you skimp on the chilli, you can always top up with tabasco if it's not hot enough. But it's cheap (we only buy prawns when they're half price!) and filling - definitely worth a go :)

[greyias.livejournal.com]

(This is the closest I have to a "NOM!" icon)

That recipe definitely sounds nummy. But dang it, now I'm all hungry.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I had such bad munchies, but this definitely cured them! er...sorry?

[greyias.livejournal.com]

Luckily lunch is around the corner, and I have my chocolate covered Altoids to keep me company until then! :D Definitely going to try this recipe out at a later date. Me wonders how it would taste with crawfish :9

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

That sounds delicious! Do you have an outdoor grill, or is there some way to grill in the oven?

it's what I think of as an 'As You Like It' recipe, where I slightly change the quantities each time, depending on what I've got to hand and how I'm feeling.

Heh. That's every recipe I make, ever. I've changed my banana bread recipe 7 times in the last 7 times I've made it. I like to experiment! (Though occasionally this leads to failure...)

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Do you have an outdoor grill, or is there some way to grill in the oven?
Most British ovens have grills in them - what you would call broiling, where the heat comes from above down onto the food. Given the British weather, we don't really do the 'putting things on the grill' thing ;) It's all very confusing...

The experimenting thing I find works better with savoury stuff than cakes - mess around with cakes too much and the chemistry tends to go wrong! Although I've successfully substituted about half the ingredients before now and it's been fine - I think it's a case of making sure the proportions stay right. I've had some interesting disasters as well, although the all time best was the ministrone soup that came out like pie...

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

Given the British weather, we don't really do the 'putting things on the grill' thing ;)

Ah, I didn't think so. :) The broiler makes sense. I live in an apartment here and was surprised to discover the lengths to which Americans will go to cook outdoors, even when they barely have any outdoors to cook in. *Most* of my neighbors have outdoor grills!

I agree, experimentation works better with cooking than with baking. But I'm always trying to see how much whole wheat flour I can substitute, applesauce and flaxseed meal for oil, things like that. Though more for breads than cakes. My biggest disasters have been along the lines of "hard as a rock." Of course, I still forced myself to eat them. I have a bit of a problem.

the ministrone soup that came out like pie...

I am so impressed! Hee. That's... wow. *g*

[dune-drd.livejournal.com]

hmmmmmm... prawns.... *drools*

Have to try that one day *mems*

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*grin* That was my feeling. I was in a 'must have meat' mood, and this so did the trick. And it's so incredibly easy - I must have it more often!

[hllangel]

that does sound absolutely delicious. I might have to give it a try sometime.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

It's so very yummy. I meant to add that if you skimp on the chilli, you can always top up with tabasco if it's not hot enough. But it's cheap (we only buy prawns when they're half price!) and filling - definitely worth a go :)

[greyias.livejournal.com]

(This is the closest I have to a "NOM!" icon)

That recipe definitely sounds nummy. But dang it, now I'm all hungry.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I had such bad munchies, but this definitely cured them! er...sorry?

[greyias.livejournal.com]

Luckily lunch is around the corner, and I have my chocolate covered Altoids to keep me company until then! :D Definitely going to try this recipe out at a later date. Me wonders how it would taste with crawfish :9

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

That sounds delicious! Do you have an outdoor grill, or is there some way to grill in the oven?

it's what I think of as an 'As You Like It' recipe, where I slightly change the quantities each time, depending on what I've got to hand and how I'm feeling.

Heh. That's every recipe I make, ever. I've changed my banana bread recipe 7 times in the last 7 times I've made it. I like to experiment! (Though occasionally this leads to failure...)

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Do you have an outdoor grill, or is there some way to grill in the oven?
Most British ovens have grills in them - what you would call broiling, where the heat comes from above down onto the food. Given the British weather, we don't really do the 'putting things on the grill' thing ;) It's all very confusing...

The experimenting thing I find works better with savoury stuff than cakes - mess around with cakes too much and the chemistry tends to go wrong! Although I've successfully substituted about half the ingredients before now and it's been fine - I think it's a case of making sure the proportions stay right. I've had some interesting disasters as well, although the all time best was the ministrone soup that came out like pie...

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

Given the British weather, we don't really do the 'putting things on the grill' thing ;)

Ah, I didn't think so. :) The broiler makes sense. I live in an apartment here and was surprised to discover the lengths to which Americans will go to cook outdoors, even when they barely have any outdoors to cook in. *Most* of my neighbors have outdoor grills!

I agree, experimentation works better with cooking than with baking. But I'm always trying to see how much whole wheat flour I can substitute, applesauce and flaxseed meal for oil, things like that. Though more for breads than cakes. My biggest disasters have been along the lines of "hard as a rock." Of course, I still forced myself to eat them. I have a bit of a problem.

the ministrone soup that came out like pie...

I am so impressed! Hee. That's... wow. *g*

[dune-drd.livejournal.com]

hmmmmmm... prawns.... *drools*

Have to try that one day *mems*

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*grin* That was my feeling. I was in a 'must have meat' mood, and this so did the trick. And it's so incredibly easy - I must have it more often!