Prawn Patia for #RandomRecipeChallenge

I am either very brave or rather reckless.  The other night, I invited folks over for dinner to try out a whole new randomly chosen recipe, one I had never made before.  Granted, they were mostly college students and two of them were my daughters so it wasn’t a tough crowd.  But time was getting short (again!) for participating in +belleau kitchen's Random Recipe Challenge where, according to this month’s rules, we were supposed to make a recipe we had clipped and saved from a magazine or newspaper and this was the clipping I had chosen for this month.

It has been among my recipe clippings for a very long time but I had yet to try it.  I have no idea of its provenance so I can’t give credit where due.  But I looked up Prawn Patia on the ever-helpful internet to discover that it is originally a Persian dish that made its way to India with the Parsees.  Who knew?  All I can tell you is that it was roundly acclaimed delicious and I am sorry it took me so long to get around to cooking it.  If you have cookbooks you are under-using or clippings that have been neglected, you might want to start accepting the Random Recipe Challenge as well!

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs or 600g raw prawns or shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon turmeric (I screwed up and used ground cumin instead – didn’t miss it, still delicious.  If you are a fan of cumin, you might want to do the same.)
1 teaspoon cayenne
3 onions
3 large tomatoes or 5 Roma tomatoes
Olive oil
1 large bunch cilantro or fresh coriander
1-2 green chilies or jalapeños
3 cloves garlic
2 inches or 5cm piece fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (As you can see, the original recipe called for tamarind but I couldn’t find any here in Providence.)

Method
Put your prawns in a large bowl and sprinkle on the salt, cayenne and turmeric (or cumin - see note above in Ingredients.)  Give the whole thing a good stir and set aside.

Slice your onions finely then chop your tomatoes.

Sauté the onions, with a good couple of glugs of olive oil, in a large pot that is big enough for all of your ingredients.

Meanwhile, peel and mince the ginger and garlic.  Finely chop your fresh pepper/s.

Wash the cilantro and chop the stem end of the bunch.  Add the chopped stems to the prawns and stir.  Chop the rest of the cilantro roughly and set aside.

Yeah, there are some leaves in there too.  Don't sweat the small stuff. 

Cook the onions down until they are completely soft and possibly a little golden in color.  Add the garlic, ginger and peppers to the pot and cook briefly before adding in the tomatoes.

Cook until the onions and tomatoes have melted into a sauce.  Add in the cumin and stir well.

Add the prawns and half of the chopped cilantro. and cook until the prawns are done, which shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes.  Taste for salt and add a little more, if necessary.

Add in your fresh lime juice and brown sugar.  Stir well and serve.

Use the balance of the chopped cilantro for garnish.  I served this on top of coconut rice that my younger daughter made with this recipe except we skipped the extra grated coconut.  The coconut flavor made a lovely addition to the dish.  In fact next time, I might just add the coconut milk to the prawns and serve this over normal white rice.

Enjoy!

Head on over to Dom’s blog and have a look at all the lovely Random Recipes my fellow bloggers have posted this month.  

Caesar Dressing with Anchovies OR Capers

This creamy Caesar dressing with anchovies OR capers is perfect tossed with crisp Romaine leaves. The caper version is ideal when you are hosting vegetarian or vegan friends. Omni friends will not notice the missing anchovies. 

Among friends in Kuala Lumpur, my most requested dish to bring to a potluck is my Caesar salad.  I always made it just by pouring a little of this and a lot of that in a large measuring cup while not actually measuring.  But when folks started requesting the recipe, I had to take measure.  

Caesar Dressing with Anchovies OR Capers

My original recipe calls for a small can of anchovies. I would like to give credit for the caper substitution for vegetarians to my elder daughter’s roommate, Molly. 

Molly is a creative cook as well as a talented artist.  Last year she spent a semester in Italy and I thoroughly enjoyed following her exploits and getting to know her through her sketchbook blog.  And I drooled over her Facebook photos of the rustic tarts she made for a potluck.  

Ingredients

2 tablespoons fresh or reconstituted lime or lemon juice (You can also use vinegar, in a pinch.  Desperate times have called for desperate measures.)

3/4 cup or 180ml olive oil

1/4 cup or 60ml cold water (Using cold water helps the dressing emulsify.)

1 small (1.6 oz or 45g) can anchovies in olive oil OR two generous tablespoons drained tiny capers

1/4 teaspoon powdered English mustard (Colemans)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 large cloves garlic, peeled

1/4 teaspoon sea salt or to taste  (You can add the salt after blending if you’d like.  Some anchovies and capers are saltier than others.  We don’t mind salty so I just go for it with a 1/4 teaspoon.  And add more after if necessary.)

Method

This is so easy.  Puree all the ingredients in a blender or with a hand blender until emulsified. 

Give it a quick taste and add more salt, if necessary.

If you are using capers, the resulting dressing may be a tiny bit more green.

This dressing is best served tossed with crisp romaine leaves which you then sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese or a suitable substitute, if needed.  It will keep for a couple of weeks stored in the refrigerator in a closed jar.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter M&M Muffins #MuffinMonday

Way back when I was a freshman (first year) at the University of Texas at Austin, I lived in an all-girls dorm called Contessa West.  It was suite-style, which meant three bedrooms with two girls each and a tiny common area in which you could not swing the proverbial cat, with a round table, four chairs, a two-burner electric stove, a hotel refrigerator and a bathroom-sized kitchen sink.  And that is all.  I am staying with my younger daughter in her campus apartment for a few days and, while student housing undoubtedly varies from school to school, I can only say, it’s lovely.  Three bedrooms with only one girl each and a fairly well equipped kitchen.  It has a real stove with an OVEN, a full-sized fridge and actual counter top space for food prep.  Her corner bedroom is full of light from three big windows and from my vantage point, perched in her bed writing this, I can see the beautiful dome of the Rhode Island State Building.  It’s a far cry from Contessa West, back in the Dark Ages, I can tell you.  Tell me, was your campus housing anything like this?  (Disclaimer:  Any mess you see is mine!  Amazingly, they keep their common area quite clean and my daughter's bedroom is fairly tidy.)

I could swing a few cats in here! 

My cardigan on the chair!

Check out all those windows!  And, yes, that is my unmade bed, where I am perched writing and my stuff on the desk.

Last night we were making gyozas from this recipe and I didn’t take a single photo but I can tell you they were delicious.  But yesterday morning, I was baking muffins and, since it’s Muffin Monday, I will share.  Our ingredient this week is peanut butter and since nothing goes better with peanut butter than more nuts and chocolate, I added in Nutella and Easter M&Ms.  My younger daughter and one of her roommates enjoyed a couple and then we took a few up to my elder daughter who works on Sundays at RISD|Works for her to share with her colleagues.  They were a hit!

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g all-purpose flour
1/2 cup or 115g sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml peanut butter
1/4 cup or 60ml Nutella or other hazelnut chocolate spread
3/4 cup or 180ml milk (I used Rice Dream because that is what my daughter had. Worked great!)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil
1/2 cup or 100g milk chocolate M&Ms plus extra for decoration

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan using non-stick spray, butter or by lining it with paper muffin cups.

Put your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl and give it a good stir to combine.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, Nutella, milk, vanilla, egg and canola oil.

Pour that luscious, chocolately peanutty mixture into your dry ingredients and mix until it is just coming together.  You’ll still see a little flour, but that’s perfect.

See that?  That's how you know this muffin will be delicious. 

Fold in the M&Ms.

Divide the batter between your muffin cups and poke a few more M&Ms into the batter for decoration.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove to finish cooling.  I didn’t have a wire rack here so I put them on another baking tray that was chilled from the cold weather we are experiencing.  And several were eaten warm, almost straight from the oven.  Yum!

Enjoy!