FFwD - Shrimp and Cellophane Noodles

This week's French Fridays with Dorie selection is Shrimp and Cellophane Noodles - in Australia, that translates to prawns and cellophane noodles.  Basically, this dish comprises prawns, onions, garlic and mushrooms in a tomato sauce served on glass noodles.  It appears to be an amalgam of Asian and Italian rather than French, but what do I know.

My mushrooms were Shitake mushrooms, as that it the only form of dried mushroom that my supermarket carries.  I also threw in a few sliced button mushrooms because I had them in the house and wanted to use them up.

I bought Australian banana prawns (instead of imports), and had the usual joy that one experiences when peeling and deveining prawns.  I will never get to used to the goo in the prawn's head, and I cannot forget, now that I know, that the "vein" is actually the prawn's poo shoot - ahem.

Thankfully, I had just the right amount of tomato passata left in the fridge from another project, so I didn't have to buy any especially for this dish.

Peeling and deveining aside, Shrimp and Cellophane Noodles was quite a tasty dish.  I kicked mine up a notch with some mango and coconut chutney from Kitchen By Mike.  As an unrelated side dish, I boiled up some green beans.

I would make this again - it is rather a nice way to serve prawns if you happen to have some around.  To see what the other Dorie cooks thought, visit the LYL section of the website.

WWDH - Fried Rice

Yesterday was Melbourne Cup Day holiday in Melbourne, so I spent my time making my Christmas cake, pudding and fruit mince so that they mature for Christmas.  It was a pretty productive day, and a good one for staying in, as it rained a fair bit.  Prince Charles and Camilla of England were in Melbourne for the Cup, and presented the winning owner with the trophy for the Cup.  A horse called Green Moon won - a few people I know won money on it.  I didn't have a bet, so I didn't win anything.  I did win a day off though, which is good enough for me. 

It's Wednesday with Donna Hay, and my choice for November is Fried Rice from p148 of Modern Classics Book I.  This is a pretty traditional Asian style fried rice with prawns, but sans the frozen peas and egg.  It had a spicy kick to it with chillies, which made it a little different from your bland Chinese restaurant fried rice.

I quite enjoyed this for a change.  Kayte is on hiatus, but please visit Margaret and Chaya to see what they thought of this rice dish.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Tomato and Garlic Stew with Prawns

It's Wednesday with Donna Hay, and our host this week is Kayte, who chose Tomato and Garlic Stew with Prawns.  The recipe is in Off the Shelf, and is also online here. 

This stew is like a lovely, spicy tomato soup dotted liberally with prawns.  I was pleasantly surprised - this was a really delicious dish.  I added hokkien noodles to my stew so that I had some carbs (instead of eating it with crusty bread as Donna suggests), and served it with some steamed vegetables.  Look at how wonderful and rich this stew is:

I was unsure whether I'd like this dish - in fact, I loved it.  To see what Kayte, Margaret and Chaya thought, visit their websites on Wednesday, their time

FFwD - Warm scallop salad with corn, nectarines and basil

This week's French Friday with Dorie recipe is warm scallop salad with corn, nectarines and basil.  As nectarines are not in season here (it's winter!), I used tinned peaches in their stead.

I found making the basil coulis a bit of a faff that I could do without.  I think I would have been better to take my tube of ready to eat basil out of the fridge rather than make this basil coulis from scratch, and ended up with virtually the same result.

Overall, I enjoyed this salad - what's not to love about pan fried scallops.  The corn fascinated me, because it is not cooked in the usual way - rather, a lime dressing is drizzled over the uncooked kernels, presumably "cooking" it in acid, like the meat in a tartare.  However, this is definitely a summer dish, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been warmer than 10 degrees celsius outside.

To see what the other Doristas thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the FFwD website.

FFwD - Crab and Grapefruit Salad

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe was a rather unusual Crab and Grapefruit Salad.  At first, this did not appeal to me, as it contained raw chilli, onion and capsicum.  However, when I tasted the finished product, I was pleasantly surprised - the grapefruit and vegetables melded beautifully with crab, resulting in what would be a very elegant starter at a dinner party.

I have never cooked a crab before, so approached it with trepidation.  This is my blue swimmer crab prior to cooking:

Handsome, isn't he?  His lovely blue coat turns red as soon as he is added to the pot of boiling water (to which I added brown sugar and salt at the suggestion of a website):

Here is the crab, all cooked and sitting in a sinkful of cold water to halt the cooking process:

I found a Youtube video on how to shell a crab.  After removing the top plate (called the carapice, if you are interested), you break the crab in half:

Then you crack open the claws and shell to remove the meat, in my case using a nut cracker.  After all that, this was all the crab meat that resulted: 

Sigh ...  Oh well, it was a surprisingly good salad.

Visit the LYL section of the FFwD website to see what everyone else thought of this dish.

FFwD - Moules marinières

Yes, I know what you are thinking - this week's FFwD recipe was mussels and chorizo with or without pasta.  Uh huh, but I made the wrong recipe - so instead I present you with moules marinières (mussels in white wine).

This was quick and easy and tasty - I am not that fond of mussels, so I won't make it again soon, but the broth was especially good.  I combined my microwaved steamed veges with the leftover broth, which was an excellent way to lend flavour to the vegetables.  I hope you all enjoyed the mussels and chorizo with or without pasta.

Visit the LYL section of the FFwD website for takes on this week's FFwD recipe - the right one.

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