Prawn Spaghetti

Ciao!

Haha, since I'm posting an Italian recipe I thought I flashed a bit of my Italian vocabulary. Unfortunately, ciao is the only word I know along with other few. Once I tried to take a quick Italian lesson from my sister and it only lasted for a few days. I had a full page of notes in my A4 notebook and that was it! So there's nothing to be bragged anyway. Probably I'm not passionate enough to learn the language but I'm passionate to cook its delicious dishes. Hmmm...delicious dishes...they rhyme!


All right, actually I got this recipe from Italian Cooking Class Cookbook which belongs to my sister. It's called Misto di Mare or Seafood, and so easy to make. I just modified it a little bit. It requires dry white wine but since I'm a Muslim I don't include that. Also, it should have scallops and oysters in it too but when I cooked this for the first time I couldn't find any of them. Even if I could, I'm sure they would be lethally pricey. You don't have to use spaghetti although I think it's the best for this one. If you like you can substitute spaghetti with fettucine or tagliatelle to name a few examples. Anyway, trust me, even with just prawns it is soooo delizioso!

Without further wait, I present you the recipe.

Ingredients:

Up to 4 servings

250 grams spaghetti

500 grams (1 lb) prawns

60 grams (2 oz) butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed

300 ml cooking cream

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon cornflour

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

3 shallots, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1) Shell and devein prawns. You can also chop them into large pieces if you like.

2) Cook spaghetti as instructed on the package until al dente or tender. Usually it takes about 10 minutes. I always put 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and a little salt into the water before bringing it to boil. After the spaghetti is well-cooked, drain and set aside.

3) While waiting for the spaghetti, crush garlic, chop shallots and parsley.

4) Melt butter in pan, add crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute.

5) Add cream and bring to boil. Boil rapidly 3 to 4 minutes.

6) Combine water and cornflour, pour into cream mixture and stir until mixture boils.

7) Add lemon juice, salt and pepper.

8) Add prawns to sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes or until it's well-cooked.

9) Stir in parsley and chopped shallots.

Pour the sauce onto the spaghetti and mix thoroughly. You'll have this creamy pasta that'll make you drool and unable to resist a second helping. The second time I made this dish I tried it with bite-sized pieces of chicken breast instead of prawns. I like it with prawns a lot better.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Not just the taste, but also the cooking process. ;)

A presto!

- N -

Couscous Salad with Crabsticks

Hello again!

It has been a lazy Sunday today and for dinner I decided to make a light yet fulfilling dish. Couscous salad! Now this recipe is so easy to make and you can modify the ingredients according to your own taste. My sister gave me the idea of making this salad so I should thank her. ;)

Before the recipe, here's a little information about couscous. Being originally a North African dish, it has become popular in many countries. You'll find couscous in Lebanese, Moroccan, Italian and even French dishes, and those from other countries as well. It's made of durum wheat and it takes shorter time to cook than pasta. It can also be eaten alone, flavored or plain, warm or cold, or as a side dish.

So without further wait, here it is!

Ingredients:

Up to 3 servings

1/2 cup packaged dry couscous (mine is San Remo)

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

a pinch of salt

1/2 green pepper, chopped

2 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3 crabsticks, chopped

100 grams sweet corn kernels

For dressing:

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1) Combine water, olive oil and salt in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Remove from heat.

2) Add couscous and stir. Cover for 2-3 minutes.

3) Add butter and stir with a fork to separate the grains while heating it on very low heat for about 3 minutes.

4) Put couscous into a bowl. Set aside and let it cool.

5) In the meantime, chop green pepper, tomatoes and crabsticks.

6) Combine all ingredients for the dressing.

7) Finally, combine chopped green pepper, tomatoes, crabsticks, corn kernels with the couscous. Pour the dressing and mix thoroughly.

8) Put the couscous salad in the fridge for a few hours until cool.

The result is a refreshing salad with a  mixture of different flavours. I also like how colourful it turns out. Because of the couscous, it makes the dish milder than having pasta and it's healthy too. You can always add more amount of dressing into it. Some people really like the flavour of the red wine vinegar. One tip that I would like to share is: try not to add too much of the vegetables and crabsticks. Otherwise, you'll lose the couscous flavour which is the essential part of this dish.

Until next time! Cheers!


- N -

Sholeh Zard

Hello everyone! The Duo Chef's first post is the recipe considered to be one of the successful ones I've tried out. It's a famous Persian dessert called Sholeh Zard. It is a Saffron Rice Pudding and its distinguished by its vivid yellow colour. Zard means yellow in Persian.


As far as I know in Iran Sholeh Zard is also used as part of Nazri which means offering. Once I watched a documentary called A Taste of Iran. When the journalist arrived in Esfahan, he visited a martyrs cemetery and here's where the unique part came in. Apparently there is a tradition which the Esfahanis do every Friday: to visit the martyr cemetery and send their prayers for their loved ones who were killed during the Iran-Iraq war some time in 1980s. They bring some food as offerings who are intended for the soul of the martyrs. Sholeh Zard may be one of those food as well as others such as cakes, soup, juice, etc. I suppose it depends on the season. If it's warm season, they prefer to bring something cool and vice versa.


Honesty I'd had no experience in making it, let alone eating it so basically I'd had no idea how it tasted like. The last time E visited me he brought a small bunch of pistachios and almonds as part of request. I also still had a bit of saffron left and a half bottle of rose water so I thought of giving it a go.


Mind you, pistachios and almonds are very pricey here and they are only sold in supermarkets that sell imported products. Whereas in Iran, I think those things are cheap. I doubt if I can find any saffron here. Once I bought a packaged saffron which was as much as 1 teaspoon in Perth and it cost almost $15!


I have to say that I was nervous during the process of cooking Sholeh Zard because I was afraid it wouldn't turn out as expected. But I was wrong! Not sure if its taste would appeal to Persians' tastebuds but to me it was fantastic. My sister, her husband and my 2 friends tasted it too and they loved it! The most fun part was decorating the pudding with ground pistachios and cinnamon powder.


Enough talking now, here is the recipe!


Ingredients:
Up to 6 servings


1 cup white rice
10 cups water, divided into 8 and 2 cups
1 1/2 cup white sugar (I would suggest you to add 1 cup first to avoid it becoming too sweet)
1/4 olive oil
1/3 cup rose water
2 teaspoons saffron threads (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds
2 tablespoons ground pistachios
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon


Method:


1) Wash rice. Rinse and drain the rice several times until the water runs clear. Add the rice to a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2) Add 8 cups of water to the pot and partially cover with a lid. Bring the rice to a boil over medium heat, occasionally skimming the foam off the top.
3) Grind saffron threads and put it into 2 tbs hot water and set aside.
4) Once rice is soft and boiling (approximately 30 minutes), add sugar and stir gently to dissolve. Add an additional 2 cups of water and stir to combine. Keep the rice partially covered and continue to cook over a medium-low heat for approximately 20 more minutes. Stir occasionally.
5) Add olive oil, rose water and the ground saffron threads along with their water into the rice and stir thoroughly to combine. Continue to cook, partially-covered, for another 20 minutes over low heat.
6) Remove the lid and stir well. The mixture should start to look like a thick pudding-like cream; all the water should be boiled out at this point. Feel free to add more saffron. The more saffron you add the richer the flavour and colour of the pudding will be. Add more sugar too to reach your desired sweetness. You might add less or more than 1/2 cup but be careful not to make it too sweet!
7) Add the blanched slivered almonds and continue cooking over medium-low heat until a pudding-like texture develops (approximately 30 more minutes).
8) Once thickened, remove the pot from the stove and pour the Sholeh Zard into a large, shallow plate and let it cool. Once the top has dried into a thin, yet hard, layer you can decorate with the cinnamon and pistachios in a pretty pattern.
9) Once cool, cover the plate with a plastic wrap, put it into the refrigerator and continue chilling until the pudding has transformed into a jello-like consistency.


Now you notice how long it takes to cook Sholeh Zard. So if you use a gas stove make sure you have enough gas.


At the end you will face this exquisite dessert that will everyone interested to taste. Not only the taste that you will enjoy, but also the fragrance emanating from the pudding and cinnamon.


Cheers!


- N -