Pistachio and Pesto Stuffed Prawn

Found these enormous fresh and juicy prawns at my fish monger's today, and jumped at them. I've always felt grilling shows off the flavours of ingredient, and to add a little punch, I stuffed the prawns with some tangy pesto rosso (red pesto) and pistachios, and served it up on a bed of lemony coucous. Stuffing is really easy with large meaty prawns, and is a great way of playing with flavours and getting that balance. In this, the pesto rosso adds sourness and the pistachios a light sweetness, with a light smokiness through smoked paprika. I also added a little garlic, for its wonderful pungency. The base was a simple mix of couscous with preserved lime and sumac.

Ingredients

• 6 large prawns, cleaned and deveined (with the tail on)
• 3 tsp pesto rosso
• 8 pistachios, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp smoked paprika

Method

1. Clean and pat dry the prawns. Rub some salt into the exterior.
2. Turn the prawn around, so the underside is facing you. Cut into the underside, till 3/4th through, and slide your knife through from the tail to the head. 
3. Mix the pesto, pistachios, garlic, oregano and paprika, and take half a tsp of the stuffing and drive it into the cavity that you've made in each prawn.
4. Oil a grill and heat to medium. Add the prawns, and cook on each side for around a minute each, until the prawns are cooked and tender, and have turned a light pink on each side.
5. Serve up with a garnish of fresh lemon, or with on a bed of lemony couscous.

Mushroom Pilaf

I had some dried prochini and oyster mushrooms left over, but wanted to try something other than risotto. Fresh pasta was an option, but who'd go through all that trouble in making the dough and rolling it out, bleh. So, decided to incorporate them in a light pilaf. The original pilaf recipe was from across the Italian border, a Cèpes Pilaf, with pecans for bite and cranberries for sweetness, which I decided to substitute with almonds and raisins, for a more Moroccan feel. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup long-grained rice, washed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 7-8 almonds, roughly chopped
• 7-8 raisins
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp dried mixed mushrooms (oyster and porchini)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Clean the dried mushrooms in running water. Then add the dried mushrooms and raisins in a bowl with a tight fitting lid, add the hot water and cover. Leave aside to rehydrate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Once the mushrooms and raisins rehydrate, chop them roughly and reserve the mushroom liquor.
3. Heat the almonds in a pan and lightly roast them. Remove and keep aside.
4. Heat the oil in a pan, and add the garlic and onions. Fry until the onions turn translucent.
5. Add mushrooms and pepper, and cook on high heat, until the mushrooms dry out.
6. Add the rice and stir until it turns opaque. Add the vinegar and stir vigourously. 
7. Once the rice absorbs the vinegar, add the mushroom liquor and remaining water, and add the bayleaf and salt.
8. Cover with a lid and continue cooking on high heat, until the water is completed absorbed.
9. Check the rice, it should be cooked through but with some bite at the centre.
10. Switch off the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes.
11. Serve up immediately.

Pan Seared Fish with Lemon Caper Sauce

The local store today have this wonderfully vibrant parrot fish, with its glistening blue skin and thick meaty steaks. I've only ever seen this bounding in and out of coral reefs on Discovery, so was curious about how it would taste. Like other reef fishes, like the Dotted Cod, it is a firm white fish but with a much deeper flavour. It also helps that this fish is neither commercially exploited nor farmed, so its flavour matures naturally. Since I was trying it for the first time, I decided to season it sparingly, and just pan-searing it, then deglazing the pan to create a lemon caper sauce. As the fish was a mature 2 footer, the thick skin-on that I got out of it had few bones, that a simple tug dislodged. Along with the fish, I served plain rice to mop up the sauce. 

Also, for that yummy crispy skin, I used a non-stick steel pan and a rice bran oil, to get the temperature up to high. Any other oil with a high smoke point can be used, like canola or refined safflower. 

Ingredients

Fish

• 2 skin-on parrot fish filets, or any other white fish.
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp rice bran oil
• 2 tbsp butter

Lemon Caper sauce

• Juice of half a lime
• 8-10 pickled capers, whole
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 cilantro stalks, chopped
• Rice to serve

Method

1. Salt the fish filets liberally on both sides, and rub the salt into the flesh. If you're using thick steaks there's no need to score the skin, but for thin filets, lightly score the skin. Sprinkle the pepper on the flesh side.
2. Leave aside for 10 minutes at room temperature. 
3. Heat the oil in a steel pan on high heat. If the oil starts smoking, take it off the heat and let it cool slightly. Then put it back on high heat and immediately add the fish filets skin side down. Jiggle the pan when the fish hits the oil to dislodge it slightly, as it keeps it from sticking. Cook uncovered on high heat for a minute, and don't move the fish around. 
4. Add the butter and lower the heat to mid-high for a thin filet and medium for a thick filet (thicker than an inch).
5. Melt the butter and pour over the fish. Keep basting it till the butter soaks into the fish.
6. Cook covered for a minute, until the fish is cooked 2/3 of the way. Using a sharp firm spatula, drive it under the fish and gently flip it over. A bit of the skin may stick, but most of it should come away easily.
7. Baste again with the cooking liquour and cook on medium-high or medium (on the basis of filet thickness) until the fish is completely cooked.
8. Place on a plate with the skin-side up to show off the golden brown skin.
9. Raise the heat and cdd the garlic and capers to the butter-oil mixture in the pan. Crispen the garlic and capers slightly and deglaze with the wine. Stir vigourously to dislodge the bits stuck to the pan and cook until the wine reduces to half.
10. Add the remaining butter to the pan and melt it to create an thin emulsion. Take off the heat and add the lemon juice, pepper and cilantro. Avoid cooking the lemon juice as it makes it bitter.
11. Pour over the fish and serve immediately with rice. Fish with its delicate texture does really need any resting time.