Yesterday, after poaching prawns for a project I’m busy with, I was left with a whole lotta shells and a will to do something with them. You see, when I cook prawns for my family, I usually pan fry them with lots of chilli, garlic and lemon. I eat them like a proper neanderthal. Sucking on the shells, etc. because honestly, that’s where all the flavour is. So when I was left with all these hollow prawn shells yesterday, I felt a desperate need to to use them. I decided to make a bisque but after researching online, saw that a bisque is made using the meat of the prawns as…
Simply Delicious
A general food and cooking blog. I like to experiment and try all different types of cuisine and I have a passion for food photography and styling.
Archive for the ‘Seafood’ Category
Every afternoon, Chris (the husband) asks me what we’re having for dinner. Yesterday I answered with “Grilled Angelfish with lemon pilaf and salad”. I only hope I had a camera on hand to capture his facial expression. He was shocked. “But that’s a tropical fish. People keep them in their aquariums. I think my cousin had one once.” I laughed and said it couldn’t possibly be the same fish as I’m sure Woolworths isn’t selling precious tropical fish for human consumption. After some Googling, we saw that it was indeed, not the same fish but what we South Africans call Angelfish is also known as Brama Brama, Atlantic Angelfish or…
Today, most South Africans go back to work and after a much-needed break, so am I. And I won’t lie, I really don’t want to. Of course I am so excited for 2013 especially as I have some incredibly exciting things in the pipeline, making 2013 (hopefully) the year that I want it to be. But I still can’t stop thinking about falling asleep to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks a few metres away, the smell of salty, humid sea-air and toes in the sand. And so, the first meal I cooked when we got back home, was one that reminded me an awful lot of…
I really am easy to impress. I’ve been told my whole life that I’m ‘high maintenance’ and that I’m ‘difficult’ and I honestly don’t know what these people are on about. Yes, I do like things done a certain way and I spend more money on shoes than I should but in all honesty, all it takes to make me happy is good bread, good cheese, a Pâté and a few glasses of Muscato. Especially at this time of the year. Everyone is starting to feel the ‘Holiday vibes’ and all I really want is to lie under a tree and do nothing but relax. Of course, I can’t go longer…
I really love simple dinners where the ingredients are fresh as can be and it takes you a maximum of 20 minutes to knock everything together. Last night I made a simple pan-fried fish (hake) for dinner and instead of the usual garlic butter or simple lemon to serve it with, I decided to make a light lemon-cream sauce flavoured with pepper and garlic. The sauce complimented the fish beautifully and added just enough flavour without overpowering the delicate hake. I added a few capers to add a sharp, delicious zing and served the fish with steamed asparagus and fresh bread. This meal ticks all the boxes for a…
When I buy a tray of fresh prawns from my local fishmonger, the excitement can be likened to that of a child at the circus. I am never left without inspiration when I cook prawns and often feel like I want to make not only one but a few different dishes to really make the most of them. Especially as they are not the cheapest of ingredients and are considered quite a treat by my family and I. I decided to make a creamy coconut curry with the prawns over the weekend and wanted to use the shells and heads to infuse even more prawn flavour into the curry so…
When I entertain, most often I don’t serve a full 3-course meal. I find that puts too much pressure on me as the hostess and cook. When I do decide to go the 3-course route however, I like to keep things simple and re-work old favourites that are sure to impress. Here I decided to take the starter of my childhood, good ‘ol prawn cocktail and turn it into a chic salad using the same principles but adding some oomph with a home-made ‘Marie-Rose’ dressing, thinly sliced spring onions and micro leaves. I know ‘designer leaves’ are all the rage right now but I couldn’t imagine prawn cocktail without old…
As someone who loves fish and seafood I was surprised when a reader asked me for a recipe for fish cakes a while ago. I realised that I don’t have one! I have always liked fish cakes but for some reason, I’ve never made them for my family which is really quite bizarre as they are easy, delicious and served with a salad, they make a really great week-night meal! I set out to develop my recipe and thought of using smoked snoek only because I love it so very much. You can use smoked mackerel or smoked haddock as well if you can’t find smoked snoek but the snoek…
If I could only choose one breakfast to eat for the rest of my life, it would be Eggs Benedict. Sure, I wouldn’t be able to move after a while as the hollandaise alone is enough to make me gain weight by just looking at it, but I almost don’t mind. There is just something about the silky, butteriness of hollandaise that makes up for the fact that it’s so fattening. When I eat hollandaise I feel very much like Julie Powell in Julie&Julia when she says eating an egg is like eating white sauce. It has that same velvety texture and delicate flavour, and that is exactly what…
When you plan on serving something like taramosalata, you want to be sure that whatever you are serving it with is going to be a blank canvas to carry the incredible flavour of the taramosalata without over-powering or altering it. That’s why I decided to serve the tub of Mediterranean Delicacies Taramosalata with pita chips when I had guests over recently. The pita chips are incredibly easy to make and require no recipe. The way they go slightly crispy but still stay chewy is just wonderful and dipped into the aromatic and flavourful taramosalata, they make a great snack with drinks! You will need: 1 pita bread per person, cut…
