Crumbed Prawns on a Sweet Veggie Salad

Ahh seafood, a luxury for a student like myself. How is it that something so simple can brighten up my day in an instant? When I scurried into Harbour Fish yesterday, I was shocked to see a whole bag of crumbed prawns for five dollars. Lucky me.

Prawns. Crumbed prawns. What do people have with prawns? Being such a luxury, I had never cooked them before and rarely get the opportunity to eat them. So I searched high and low in my fridge and decided to use what I had. A few desperate vegetables and a lemon. It was going to be one of those experimental meals. I quickly ran to warn my boyfriend of the potential failure that was ahead, and then started chopping like crazy.

This is often the way my kitchen works. I have learnt to be economical and use up as much as I can whenever I cook. People often ask me how I can afford to cook so many meals that often have  expensive ingredients such as prawns, when I am a student. My answer? Honestly I am still learning but I guess I'll start by saying, don’t go to the supermarket with a strict list, buy what is in season and what's on special, and then come up with your meals. Use leftovers, create recipes, and always keep your spice rack full! You might have the odd disaster, but it is all a learning experience. And sometimes you might just have a wonderful outcome, like I did last night.

A simple cauliflower, broccoli, calvo nerco (kale), and date salad with pre-crumbed prawns. Obviously you can opt to crumb your own prawns or even keep them fresh, but like I said, I bought what was on special at the fish store. With a touch of seasoning and some lemon juice, this dish was divine.

Serves two

Ingredients

1 small head cauliflower

1 small head broccoli

Handful of calvo nero (dark kale)

Moroccan seasoning (season to taste)

Salt and pepper

Garlic

1/2 cup dates 

Rice bran oil for frying

1 lemon (zest and juice)

16 prawns (crumbed or fresh)

Grate the broccoli and cauliflower, and finely chop the calvo nero and dates. Fry the calvo nero in the oil until softened. Add the cauliflower, broccoli, dates, Moroccan seasoning, garlic, and lemon juice. Fry together over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the mean time you can either bake or fry the prawns. To bake the prawns, drizzled them in a touch of oil and lemon juice and then bake at 200°C for 10 minutes or until nice and crispy. To fry the prawns, heat some oil in a pan and fry the prawns for a few minutes on each side or until nice and crispy. 

Serve up your veggie salad, place the prawns on top and drizzle with a bit of lemon juice.

This is such a fast and easy meal, enjoy!

-Sophea

Simply Sweet Cinnamon Scrolls

Oh sweet buns, why do you have to look so delicious in the evenings?

Sugar, my guilty pleasure.

Baking has to pretty close to the top of my favourite-things-to-do list. The whole process is so enjoyable for me. It's all about creating something so sweetly satisfying that makes your house smell like a home. However, as unfortunate as it is, eating the baking is even closer to the top of my favourite-things-to-do list. Yes, I love to eat the final result and this is why I don't do a whole lot of baking. It's far too dangerous for me to have muffins, cookies, or loaves lurking in the pantry at night time. I just know I will give in to temptation. 

And this is why I need a bit of a push, an excuse, any excuse to do some baking. Visitors are coming? Great I will make some slice. Someone's birthday? Cake it is. Chocolate was on special? Cookies, I'll see you soon.

So when it was requested to me this week that I do a blog on cinnamon scrolls, I jumped at the opportunity.  Not only did I have a whole day off from study, but my flat mate's new camera equipment arrived this week. Excuses were flying at me from every angle. Why not spend a day researching cinnamon scrolls (seeing as I had never made them before), making and trialing recipes, and taking photos of the final result. The perfect Friday afternoon!

So here we have it, my final result. Sweet Cinnamon Scrolls glazed with icing. I chose to go with a recipe that is simple because as I have discovered, a lot of recipes for sweet scrolls are quite complicated. And honestly, the simpler the better. Not everyone has time to spend hours baking. Even for me this was an odd occasion. So please do give them a go, don't be scared of making the dough, it's easy I promise!

There is only one problem... these beauties taunt me at night time. They are dangerously awesome so make sure you have guests coming over when you make them - they are best eaten on the day!

Ingredients 
Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp dry activated yeast
1/2 cup water
1/4 milk
50 grams butter
1 egg

Filling
60 grams butter melted
2 Tbsp cinnamon
2 heaped Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Basic Icing
50 grams butter
1-2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
boiling water as needed

How to
1. Preheat your oven to 100°C. Grease a pie dish with butter and set aside.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast and then set aside.

3. In a sauce pan heat butter, water, and milk over a medium heat until hot (do not boil). Once hot, pour into the flour mixture, add the egg and mix to make a soft dough. The dough should not be sticky but rather soft and elastic. If it is sticky, add a Tbsp of flour at a time till it comes right.
Once you have a soft ball of dough kneed it on a floured surface for 5 minutes and then let it rest for 10 minutes.

4. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle ready to coat with the filling.

5. In a bowl mix the sugars and cinnamon together. Cover the dough in the melted butter and then sprinkle the sugar mixture on the top.

6. Starting from one end, tightly roll the dough into one long scroll. With a serrated knife, cut the dough into about 10 or 11 different pieces.

7. Place the scrolls in your prepared dish and cover with tin foil. Place them in your preheated oven and then turn the oven off! This will help your scrolls rise in the perfect environment. Now leave them there for 1 1/2 hours.

8. Once, risen bake scrolls uncovered for 20-25 minutes until nicely browned.

Icing
For the scrolls I recommend two different types of icing. Just use the basic icing recipe ingredients and then add these yummy extras. You choose! I know this recipe for icing is vague but every time I make icing I do it differently. It really depends how much icing you want and what kind of texture you want.

Brown Sugar Icing
Cream the butter and add 2 Tbsp brown sugar. Whisk until smooth. Add 1-2 cups of icing sugar and vanilla essence then whisk all together. Too thick? Add  tsp of boiling water at a time to thin it out. Too runny? Add 1/2 cup icing sugar at a time to thicken it up.

Coffee Icing
To make this icing instead of adding the brown sugar like above, add a shot of coffee! Dissolve as much coffee as you want (I use 1-2 tsp grounded coffee) in a small (less than 1/4 cup!) amount of boiling water. Coffee icing on cinnamon scrolls is amazing!

Once the icing is made literally drizzle it over the warm sweet buns and you are done. Don't they look beautiful?

I hope you enjoy these as much as my house hold has enjoyed the numerous times I have made them recently. Happy baking everyone, try not to turn into your own personal version of a cinnamon scroll!

-Sophea

Japanese Inspired Spicy Chicken

I would gladly live in Japan just to be able to eat their glorious cuisine daily. 

About a month ago I went to what is now one of my favourite restaurants in Dunedin, Yuki. Located just near the octagon, Yuki has to be the cutest restaurant out. Its' cozy and authentic vibe makes for a sensational experience. Although, right now I'm not going to go off on a tangent about Yuki. I'll save that for another time.

Spicy chicken. It is unquestionably my most favourite dish from Yuki. Ever since my last visit to Yuki, those long four weeks ago, spicy chicken has been running through my mind. Delicious tender chicken covered in a hot spicy sauce. So simple but so satisfying. I love spicy food, it adds a kick of excitement to so many dishes. And to be honest, without the spice in that sauce it would not be worthy enough to write about.

I think I have made it clear how much I love Yuki and how much I LOVE the spicy chicken. And now that your mouth is watering just like mine at the thought of it, I'll share with you what I have done. Yesterday I spent a good couple of hours getting lost in Pinterest searching for 'spicy chicken sauce', 'spicy Japanese sauce' or even just 'spicy sauce'. Nothing made the cut. So I have made my own spicy sauce recipe and instead of just being for chicken, this sauce can be made to drizzle over your whole meal if you please. 

It might not be the most good looking of sauces but come on, just look at it, in all of its saucy sauciness. 

Here's what I did:

This recipe is for two people

1cup rice

1tblsp rice vinegar 

2tsp sugar

Green vegetables of choice

1 chicken breast

2 eggs slightly beaten

1/2 cup cornflour 

To make the sauce you will need:

1tblsp sesame oil

2tblsp good soy sauce

6tblsp chilli tomato (I use delmaine tomato sauce with chilli)

1tsp Honey

2 chopped spring onions

1/2 chopped medium red onion

2tsp (heaped) crushed garlic 

1tsp (heaped) finely chopped ginger

1tsp coriander 

1/2 tsp garam masala 

1tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric 

Salt to season

The first thing I did was prepare the rice and broccoli. I wouldn't normally use broccoli in a dish like this but it was there and needed to be eaten. Snow peas or even just green beans would go lovely. Place your greens of choice in a steamer over a pot of cold water and put on a low heat (they should be ready to serve when everything else is done.) To make semi-sticky rice, put one cup of rice and 1 cup of water in a pot. Season with salt, add another two table spoons of water and then place on a low heat with the lid on. Keep an eye on your rice as you cook everything else, when all the water has gone turn the heat off pour in the rice vinegar and sugar and leave in the pot until you are ready to serve. It should be fluffy with a small amount of stick, none of that sloppy crap!

While the rice and greens look after themselves chop your chicken up into smallish slices. Cover each piece in corn flour and then dip into the egg mixture and put on a plate ready for frying. 

To prepare the sauce make sure everything is chopped up at your finger tips ready to use. While the chicken cooks you can make the sauce. Whisk the soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli tomato sauce and honey in a small bowl.

Now it's time to start your frying and your saucing. The reason I do these at the same time is to ensure the chicken stays crispy and the sauce stays hot and fresh when you serve. Oil a large pan and place on a medium high heat and oil a medium pan and place on a low heat. Once hot, place all the chicken into the large pan to start browning. Let it sizzle in the hot oil and take a moment to admire the delicious sound. Remember to keep checking the chicken when you make the sauce. It should take a few minutes on each side and should be brown and crispy. 

In the smaller pan fry the onions, ginger and garlic for a minute or so or until nice and soft. Add the sauce mixture to the pan and let it bubble for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Once it has bubbled for a minute or so, add the coriander and remaining spices. Salt to season. Now try your sauce, if it's too strong for you, you can always add some water to tone it down a little. I try to keep things rather exciting so I like it quite strong. It's quite a nudge to your taste buds. 

And your done! Serve your crispy chicken with the green vegetables and rice. You may just like to pour the sauce on your chicken, but I'm a saucy girl (pun intended), so I cover everything in the spicy treasure.

And when you serve food and beer at the same time, well that's one happy man. 

-Fee

Simple Pan-Fried Salmon

Did someone say Salmon? 

Simple pan fried salmon on a bed of mashed kumara and accompanied with baby spinach, garden peas, and balsamic roasted carrot chips. Sounds fancy. 

Yesterday was the most perfect day. Like any other Saturday, I went to the farmers market to get the usual fruit and veg and try whatever food was on offer. Yesterday a lovely lady was serving raw chocolate, walnut and apricot fudge, spring carrot salad cups, and raw chocolate dipping sauce and oh my, it was beautiful. I love the different recipes they have each week and I love how they only use food from other farmers market stools. Decadent jams, stews, cakes, sauces and breads. Feast your hungry little eyes on all their glorious recipes here http://www.otagofarmersmarket.org.nz/pages/18/Recipes

So after trying to make as much conversation as I could in order to keep eating samples I made my way over to the fish stool and saw a lovely salmon fillet for only $10. It was then I decided I was going to have salmon for dinner. Matt, my boy friend and partner in eating food together forever was over the moon. 

I had never cooked a salmon before and I don't have many ingredients at the moment due to being in-between houses, so that is why I call this recipe 'simple salmon'. Matt complimented this dish by saying it was on par with, if not better than any salmon he has had in any restaurant plus, when you cook salmon at home you get a much bigger piece and pay about a fifth of the price! 

Make sure to buy your salmon fresh, a fish supplier shop or any kind of market is usually best. That way you can guarantee freshness. Some supermarkets cannot be trusted. Those sneaky devils put so much crap into food it scares me. So, best to stay clear. 

Want to make a restaurant quality salmon dish at home? Here's how.

You will need

A 350g salmon fillet cut in half. (It really doesn't matter on size and how many pieces you want, this is just what I did)

1 large kumara (sweet potato)

5 small carrots

2tblsp Olive oil

2tblsp balsamic vinegar

Handful of baby spinach

Garden peas

Fresh Italian parsley

Salt and pepper

2tblsp cream

25g butter

Oil to fry salmon in (I used avocado oil infused with lime)

To make the balsamic roasted carrots I whisked the balsamic vinegar and olive oil together with course sea salt and pepper and then poured over the thinly sliced carrot pieces that were on a prepared baking dish. I then roughly chopped some parsley up and sprinkled over top before baking the at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes or until nice and crunchy. 

Once they were on their way to delightful crunchy heaven I chopped and boiled the kumara. While the kumara was boiling I got out a couple of plates, placed some spinach in each, steamed the peas and de-boned the salmon. 

To de-bone a salmon fillet, keep it skin-side down and with one hand underneath to push up, use your other hand to feel for the spiky bones sticking out the top. To remove each bone I use tweasers to grab them and gently wiggle them out. This way they don't break when you try to remove them! When done, season your salmon with sea salt and pepper ready for frying.

When the kumara became soft, I mixed it with butter, cream and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. Once mashed and then whipped with a fork to make light and creamy I put the pot lid back on to keep the kumara mash hot while I fried the salmon. 

Now the fun part! I oiled my non-stick frying pan so it's covered and then placed it on a high heat. Once hot, I fried the salmon skin-side down for about two minutes, until brown and crispy. Then I fried the other side for another two minutes. You know it's cooked once the middle falls apart nicely with a fork. If I buy a fat fillet I like to make sure all sides have been seared slightly. Beautiful and crispy on the outside and so soft on the inside. 

Serve the salmon on the bed of mashed kumara and baby spinach with a side of garden peas and balsamic roasted carrots. Garnish with Italian parsley. Bon-appetite! 

Now pour a glass of wine and enjoy your five star meal at home.

-Fee