In February I received some great news. I have kindly been placed on to a Camp America program for the summer. YAY!! Guess where this incredible adventure will take me? GUESS! Okay, I'll have to tell you. Mississippi! The great and mighty! I decided to get a head start in exploring the wonders of this amazing place through their diverse culture and cuisine. This recipe was inspired by their hugely popular seafood tradition, incorporated with their 'fried foods & mashed potato' trademark. I took some prawns (washed & cleaned), then dipped them in a mixture of milk and malt vinegar (sounds crazy, I know! They use buttermilk, and this is an easy alternative!), drop the prawns into some plain flour, and repeat. The combination is really good, as it binds well and sticks on to the prawns. Meanwhile, prep some veggies. I put on a pan of peeled and chopped potatoes to boil. I then seared some green bell pepper (they love this), tomatoes, red onion and chorizo (for extra spice and richness) in another pan. Once your potatoes are about done and your veg mix is breaking down nicely, get a deep pan of vegetable or sunflower oil to the boil. (Be really careful when doing this!) Fill it up about half way, you may have to batch fry your prawns. Test the oil with a drop of bread. As soon as it's hot enough, drop in the prawns, and leave them to go crisp and golden. When finished, drain them on kitchen towel. Plate up all your ingredients in a nice bundle of love. It may sound mad, but it is really good! Stick on some B.B.King, and I'll see you in Mississippi.
Proper Paella. This is my Dad's recipe. This can be called a Paella, because my Dad has a rather lovely, large, paella dish pan. (Although we do use it for other dishes too) Anyway, in this recipe, we have included, fried onions, peppers, mushrooms, peas, prawns, mussels, and chicken thighs on the bone. Our seasonings are turmeric (for the yellow factor), paprika, pinch of chili powder, salt and pepper, that is about it! (OH WAIT.) I must add- we cheekily do not use proper Paella rice... Confession! We use Arborio Risotto rice, which is fairly similar, you want a nice absorbent rice. Alas, that is that! Give it a try! Olé, Olé, Olé!
This was my quick and tasty one pan dinner. Now, it has lots of similar ingredients to a paella, but I simply cannot call it one, because firstly I didn't add any turmeric or saffron to the rice, and I didn't cook it in an awesome paella pan. Which you must do if your making a paella! Anyway, I boiled some long grain rice, and once it was almost soft I removed it from the pan, in to a bowl. I then fried some onions and bacon. Once softened I added prawns and chorizo. Then when cooked through, some frozen peas and loads of parsley. I then added the rice back to the pan and mixed it through. Was really nice and oddly refreshing. :)
This was another Lorraine Pascale recipe attempt. I altered it slightly because I didn't have red wine or balsamic vinegar! But it was still awesome! You basically brown of the meat first, whilst simmering a mixture of beef stock, vinegar (I had to use malt... so only a little) and garlic (I also added a spoon of raspberry jam, for sweetness!). Then you plonk the lamb in the stock etc. Chuck in a some chopped carrots and onion. Then put it in the oven for an hour with the lid on! (If your doing more than one, you'll probably need to do it for longer.) After the hour, place in some sliced chorizo and more garlic! I cooked it away for another 40 minutes. 40 minutes later I put on some potatoes to boil to serve with it! I also removed the lid to let the sauce thicken for the last twenty minutes. Then finally- strain off the meat and veg, keep it warm, and bring the remaining sauce to the boil on the hob. This makes a lovely rich gravy! And then- plate up, serve with the mash! Delicious! :)
