I have said how I want to move us along from eating heavy stews and cream-laden this that and the others - which is okay during the winter (to a certain extent), but doesn't do for spring or summer.
As such, I found a recipe on Yummly that got my brain ticking over as regards a pasta dish. I was looking for a lighter pasta dish anyway and although the one in question (Creamy Shrimp & Mushroom Pasta) didn't really fit the bill owing to its use of linguine (which hubby has requested we steer clear of for a while) and mushrooms (which Son & heir can't abide), it only needed a change in ingredients to make it a viable proposition.
The trouble was, I then had a bit of brain-fade about what to use instead of mushrooms, that would make it "spring like". Owing to said brain-fade, I wound up using baby corn and sugar snap peas. Which were fine - but it required something else to give it another dimension. As I was cooking it, I was wishing I had a bunch of spring onions in the fridge. I'm sure they would have done the trick.
I was also aware that a whole pack of cream cheese wasn't exactly following the "steer clear of creamy stuff" brief, but having changed the recipe to include a low fat cream cheese, figured that was enough of a compromise.
The end result was nice, but requires some work. When I do it again (and I will, because I am convinced there's a nice dish in here somewhere), I'll change the low fat cream cheese to low fat creme fraiche, lose the garlic (as it didn't sit very well with the "spring" theme) and add spring onions and maybe some dill or tarragon along with a good scrunge or four of freshly ground black pepper. (A "scrunge", for those not in the know, is a turn of the peppermill. "Scrunge" is our description of the sound it makes!).
So, unusually, the recipe you have here is the untried and untested, mark II version. Do let me know what it's like, if you try it before I do!
SPRINGTIME PRAWN PASTA (feeds 3-4)
Ingredients :
Enough Fusilli pasta for the assembled throng. I usually use around 4-500g for 3 of us.
a knob of butter
a bunch of spring onions, trimmed and chopped quite fine
300ml pot of creme fraiche
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped dill or tarragon (not both!)
1 tbsp chopped basil
300g prawns (I used frozen cooked peeled prawns, defrosted)
100g baby corn, broken into quarters
100g sugar snap peas
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.
METHOD :
1. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Once boiling, add the pasta to it and cook as it says on the packet. However, seven minutes before it is ready, add the baby corn and four minutes before it is ready, add the sugar snap peas. It is best if they are at room temperature before adding, so as not to cool the water too much.
2. In a frying pan, melt the knob of butter and add the spring onions. Cook them gently until they are beginning to soften.
3. Then, add the creme fraiche and warm through gently, stirring all the time.
4. Add the herbs and stir through, along with a good quantity of the black pepper.
5. Making sure that the creamy mixture is quite thick (reduce it a little further, if not), add the prawns and stir them through. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer, then check for seasoning and adjust if needs be.
6. When the pasta is done, drain in a colander and replace into the pan.
7. Add the prawns to the pasta and stir through, then serve immediately.
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Hubby suggested we have a "proper" beef curry - and I liked that idea. I liked it a lot more when I saw that the only day I could commit that kind of time in the cooking, was Sunday. I was looking for an excuse to not do a roast dinner for once!
Much as I love roast dinners, I was ready for a break - and making a curry was the perfect answer.
Having used Brisket of beef in two or three recipes just lately, I knew that Brisket would not only be the perfect cut of beef for the curry, but had the depth of flavour that would be required to stand up against the spice. There then ensued a lengthy discussion about how much Brisket to buy, to make a princely curry with enough beef in large chunks. We generally reckon that 400g of something is enough to make a dinner for three of us, however we were after a "princely" curry and 400g just didn't feel like enough. I was swithering between 500g, 600g and 700g - but hubby beat that by suggesting 800g! In the end, commonsense won and we opted for 650g - which turned out to be the perfect amount.
Method :
1. Heat the butter and oil in a deep sided frying pan and cook the onion, on a medium heat, until it is turning golden brown. It is good if some of the smaller pieces of onion are a darker brown, as this all adds to the flavour. Remove from the pan and set aside to keep warm.
2. Turn the heat up high and once the pan is hot, sizzle the meat in order to brown it. It is good to obtain some caramelisation on some pieces - you definitely don't want it to braise, so brown in two batches rather than overfill the pan. Season the meat just before it is finished. Place the meat into the casserole dish and put to keep warm.
3. Pre-heat your oven, to 160deg C.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and replace the onions into the pan - it is worth doing it this way around, as the meat takes on some of the onion flavour and the meat juices are amalgamated into the onions - and add the garlic, ginger, chilli, potatoes and sage and allow to cook through. It is important not to burn the garlic, but to have everything beginning to soften.
5. Reducing the heat again, add the Garam Masala, curry powder, Cumin, Coriander and Black pepper. Stir through and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir through and allow to cook for another 1-2 minutes. They should be small enough that they are beginning to soften.
7. Add the tinned tomatoes, crumble over the Oxo cube and add enough water (I used the tomato tin) to achieve a good wet saucy mixture. Add the tomato puree and give everything a good stir.
8. Decant the sauce into the casserole dish and stir so that the meat is well covered and everything is combined.
9. Cover and place into the oven for 2 hours.
10. When the 2 hours are up, remove from the oven and give a good stir. Add the baby corn and make sure they are below the sauce level. If the sauce is looking a little thin, put back into the oven uncovered. Otherwise, cover and replace in the oven for another 30 minutes.
11. Just before serving, stir through three quarters of the chopped coriander - and save a quarter for sprinkling over.
Serve with white rice and a good dollop of thick plain yoghurt.
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