Home made prawn and chicken rice paper rolls

On those days when I'm in a hurry and happen to run past an asian takeaway, I'll scoff down some rice paper rolls as a healthy and delicious option.  For the first time tonight, my husband and I made our own - and they were just like the ones you buy in the shop (although perhaps not quite as pretty).

Rather than tell you how to make them and what ingredients to use, the best thing is for you to just buy some rice paper wrappers and wing it yourself.  Look in the asian food section of your local supermarket - usually the pack will have some suggestions and folding instructions on the back.  Good luck!

Making dumplings with my Dumpling

Okay. So the title is a bit corny; but those of you who know me, understand I'm not often given to random acts of cheesy-ness (figuratively speaking). But tonight I arrived home from another day at the office to a slightly down in the dumps husband in need of a wifely chat, a cuddle, and some comfort food.

For some reason, we best communicate in the kitchen, usually while cooking. It struck me tonight that we hadn't cooked together in quite some time - between my working hours and his small business, it's a rarity to both be in the house before 7pm - so our marriage was probably long overdue for some maintenance. We set up a small production line of gow gee & won ton skins, and a mix of minced chicken & prawn, coriander, garlic, ginger, soy, sesame oil and spring onions (all pulsed in a food processor). We stood together side by side - Tim on gow gee duty, folding them "half moon" style, and me on won ton duty, folding them into "nurses caps" (no photos this time, but look up you tube for good dumpling folding instructions). And as we stood there, (folding, chatting, folding, chatting) a pleasant sort of calm descended with the simple, gentle repetitiveness of the activity.

The nurses caps were simmered in a basic chicken stock + soy and chilli sauce; while the half moons were fried in the pan in canola oil. Both were served with love, along with Tim's home made "dumpling sauce" consisting of a bunch of chopped fresh coriander, minced ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, a chopped chilli from the garden and half a cup of dark asian vinegar.

Bruce's Surf and Turf with stir fried greens

Until recently requested to produce a "good surf and turf recipe", I had almost forgotten: I. am. the. master. of. surf. and. turf.

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

two x one inch thick eye fillet steaks (get a butcher to cut them up for you)

garlic

chopped fresh herbs (i chose coriander)

12 raw prawns with tails intact

butter & olive oil

6 thin slices prosciutto

bunch of asparagus (or other green vegies)

good quality mayonnaise

one lime

Method:

Before doing anything, thoroughly pat dry the steaks with absorbent paper towel and rub with olive oil. Wrap prosciutto slices around steaks and pin into place with tooth picks (as shown), season with salt and pepper, and brown for a few minutes on each side in pan on a high heat. Put steaks on a tray and into an oven warmed to 16o degrees celsius - set the timer to 10 minutes for medium-rare (or 15 mins medium, 20 mins well done).

Put a knob of butter in the same pan with a splash of olive oil, add some finely choped garlic and the prawns, stir fry on high heat until just opaque - at the last minute, throw in some fresh herbs. Set prawns + garlic butter aside in a warm place, then add the chopped asparagus to the pan and stir fry until just cooked (nobody likes overcooked asparagus - keep it crunchy!)

Serve the asparagus separately (as shown) with a dollop of whole egg mayo and sprinkled with lime juice. Plate up the steaks and place the prawns + garlic butter over the top, squeeze some more lime juice over the prawns to give it a nice fresh flavour.

Prawn and Mango salad

Thrown together today in about three minutes, with almost zero mental function left after a challenging day at work:

Thai prawn and mango salad

Ingredients: mango, cooked prawns, snow peas, garlic, chilli, ginger, coriander, sesame oil, fish sauce, lime, lemon.

Method: peel & devein prawns, toss together with snow peas. Slice mango and arrange over the top. In a mortar and pestle, grind together garlic, ginger, coriander and add sesame oil, fish sauce, and fresh lemon and lime juice together, tasting as you go to get the right flavour. Chop chilli and add to mix. Drizzle over the salad.

The verdict: Not bad, I think next time I'll marinade the prawns in half of the mixture and grill them first.