Creamy Garlic Sauce and a Tasty Salad

 

I love prawns and will them eat them every way, even raw if it’s been prepared by a professional. This is a garlic prawn that is available in almost every cafe and I’ve taken to copying the recipe by taste.

 

I’ve blached the asparagus to go in the green salad and the cream adds as a dressing. Oh so rich and yummy.

seagrass

For my birthday I was taken to seagrass Restaurant and Bar, www.seagrassrestaurant.com.au  in South Bank. The staff were elegant and professional, the place beautiful stylish with a glass wall desplay of large glass vases and decanters and benches full of fresh white and green flowers. We sat over looking the river and glancing over that the crowds watching buskers on the bank.

 

The menu Changes every day.

 

This is what we ordered:

Freshly shucked oysters with lemon and lime and a hint of something sweet

Confit pork belly, Moreton Bay bugs, apple hazelnut salad, apple balsamic

Caramelised Canadian scallops, truffle polenta, chorizo foam

Grilled Moreton Bay bugs, cherry tomato, radish & witlof salad. anchovy, garlic & herb butter.

 

So it was very comfortable and very fine and I felt right at home

Orange Glazed Duck

This for someone very special. The glaze has veal stock and orange rind and it simmers down till it’s like syrup, and just perfect.  The duck breast is seared on the pan before going straight into the oven for baking. Yum.

So Quick Prawn Salad

If you can’t be bothered peeling them yourself then get those large packs of frozen uncooked prawns. To make them open up a bit more just cut deeper along the vein line. Prawns are so easy because they absorb flavouring so well. I change the marinade every time I make this dish. I alway put a bit of oil (peanut and sesame oil always gets people talking about the nuttiness of it), a sprinkle of salt, sometimes chilli, or curry paste, or mirin, the list goes on. Heat pan, add oil and garlic if you want or onions, and brown and throw the prawns in for only a little while, just until the prawns start to butterfly and then turn the heat off and leave on stove for maybe another minute. Pour the prawns over an adventurous garden salad.

Soup with Pork Bones and Water Cres

This is the easiest soup. You just put some water in a large sauce pan, add pork bones and a garlic clove the you’ve just bruised. I find the garlic makes the soup smell nicer during the cooking process, you don’t have that full on pork smell going through your house. In 20 min to 1/2 hour after simmering add some chopped carrots and a generous amount of fish sauce, to taste. When the meat is tender add in the water cress and be ready to serve.  You could also use cabbage as well.

This has been a family dish since I can remember and it’s a winner with the children.  Add steamed rice into the soup bowl and break off the meat and serve it to even babies who can’t get enough.

Another Spicey Day!

Just look at me go making this chinese five spice chicken!

Cooking, Lots

 

I’ve been spending a heap of time in the kitchen making adventurous dishes from scratch, pounding spices like star anise and coriander seeds for a five spice braise. Maybe it’s because winter is coming, or maybe it;s because I know I should cut down on my calorie intake and do it to spite myself. What ever it is I’m turning out delightful dishes. The whole buiding smells of garlic, tumeric, coriander, and even tamarind.

The other night I made a traditional Cambodian beef sour soup with lemon grass and water spinach, yum! I think even my mum would have given me the thumbs up for that!