Author: Alex Prichard

Prawn Fajitas

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

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As you might know, we’re big fans of Mexican food in this household. Chilli is a big draw card but, in addition, the dishes are usually quick to make and very fresh and full of both vegetables and crunch. We’ll often have our chicken quesadillas as a quick, mid week dinner.

Last night I had prawns defrosted and ready to go and no opportunity to head to the shops (yes, thanks to Mr Sleepy Toddler again) so dinner had to be magicked up with whatever we could get from our local shop (excellent for basics, not so excellent for anything too exotic).

The first recipe that popped up in my delicious feed was prawn fajitas, from The Family Kitchen (link now lost to the ethernet I’m afraid). Excellent idea! We (naturally) had to do some tweaking (seriously, who puts together a Mexican recipe with NO CHILLI in it?) but in under half an hour* we had a very tasty meal ready to go.

We wouldn’t normally add fennel seeds to a Mexican dish but the combination of crunch and aniseed flavour was a big win. And, of course, if you don’t have prawns, substitute protein of your choice.

Definitely a dish we’ll be doing again!

The following recipe serves two.

* Add on time if you’re needing to peel your prawns!

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Easy Prawn Fajitas

Ingredients

  • neutral flavoured oil for frying
  • half a red capsicum, finely chopped
  • 1 brown onion, finely sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • chilli flakes to taste
  • 10 prawns, peeled and deveined
  • lime
  • half an avocado
  • plain yoghurt
  • tortillas

Instructions

  1. Begin by heating some oil in a frying pan and frying the onion, garlic and capsicum until soft and the onion has started to caramelise. Set aside.
  2. In the same pan, heat some more oil and add the spices. Fry briefly and add the prawns. Cook until the prawns are done. Finish with a generous squeeze of lime.
  3. Take a tortilla, spread with a spoonful of the yoghurt, top with prawns, onion mix and avocado.
  4. Wrap, serve and eat!
  5. If you want you can add lettuce, tomato, raw red onion or even a salsa. Or perhaps just a green salad on the side.
https://eatingadelaide.com/prawn-fajitas/

Salmon en Papillote

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We eat a reasonable amount of salmon. I’m quite conscious of the fact we should eat more fish and everyone in the household likes salmon. Australian farmed salmon is also quite readily available, so if I find myself buying fish at the supermarket (which I prefer not to do) it’s often the ONLY fresh, Australian option on offer.

My plan last week had been to visit the fishmonger and buy some gar or whiting and have it simply pan fried. Unfortunately, a small child who slept for ages and announced “not going out, not go to shops, stay home” put paid to that plan. Salmon it was. And skinless at that!

I was wondering how to jazz it up a bit and remembered that we haven’t done ‘en papillote’ for ages (indeed, if at all since moving back to Australia). ‘en papillote’ is method of cooking where, whatever you are cooking is wrapped first in baking paper and then in tin foil and then cooked in the oven. The protein is effectively steamed, so it’s a very healthy way of cooking and it also means that the protein stays very moist.

Of course, just a bit of fish cooked in its own steam is likely to be a bit dull, so it’s up to you to add a few bits and pieces, a few flavourings that you like.

Salmon, being quite fatty and rich, can stand up to strong flavours, but if you were working with a more delicately flavoured fish (such as whiting, or even flathead) you might opt for a simple topping of a lemon slice or two and some dill, along with a tiny drizzle of olive oil. Also choose your toppings with an eye on cooking time. If you want to include carrot, for example, you’ll have to chop it extremely finely, and prefer spring onion to onion. Salmon only takes about 12 minutes to cook in the oven, but a fish like gar or whiting will take even less time so chop finely or leave more substantial vegetables for side dishes.

This is not really a cooking technique that needs mastering. Understand flavours that work and that you like, and all that is left to do is ensure the parcels are well sealed – you want to trap the steam!

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Asian Style Salmon en Papillote

Ingredients

  • a piece of salmon
  • a few drops of sesame oil
  • a teaspoon of soy sauce
  • very finely sliced ginger, to taste
  • crushed garlic, to taste
  • finely slice chilli, to taste
  • 1 spring onion, finely chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan.
  2. Spread out a large piece of tin foil on the bench and place a slightly smaller piece of baking paper on top of it. The baking paper should be large enough to wrap the piece of salmon quite loosely.
  3. Place the salmon on the baking paper and fold up the edges of the tin foil to create a makeshift tray (to prevent toppings for going everywhere).
  4. Top the salmon with the ginger, garlic, chilli and spring onion and sprinkle over the sesame oil and soy sauce.
  5. Wrap the salmon loosely in the baking paper, forming a sort of envelope. Wrap that parcel in the tin foil, ensuring a tight seal.
  6. Place on a baking tray or in a roasting dish and cook in the preheated oven for approximately 12 minutes. This is a pretty forgiving method of cooking but don't leave the salmon in the oven too long!
  7. Remove from the oven, open the package and serve the salmon on some stir fried soba noodles, and pour the sauce from the package over the top.
  8. Garnish with coriander if you wish.
https://eatingadelaide.com/salmon-en-papillote/

Ergo Cafe, Marion

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date of visit: Saturday 14 September 2013

I walked past the very new Ergo a couple of weeks ago. It’s taken up the space previously occupied by McDonalds and has a very pared down, hipster coffee shop feel to it.

We’d dragged ourselves to Marion on a Saturday in the hope of buying the toddler some new sandals. I really should have rung ahead to see if the store had new stock in because it turned out that was a fruitless venture and we were both about to tear our hair out. But at least it gave us the opportunity to try out Ergo – so new* I can’t find a Facebook page, entry in the online white pages or even a mention on the Westfield site. Still, if you’re familiar with Marion, down the Woolworths end, opposite Charlesworths and where Maccas used to be.

There was an interesting selection of savoury and sweet snacks available and I was pleased to note that they weren’t all massive. So many places have such ridiculously large portions of cakes (in particular) that it just puts me off buying one.

Andy chose a caramel slice (here’s a question – do you call it a caramel slice or millionaire’s shortbread?) and I opted for the chocolate brownie. Andy rated the caramel slice far above other (more giant) caramel slices available at Marion, but the toddler wasn’t so sure.

The chocolate brownie, however, was absolutely delicious. Studded with walnuts, it was crispy on the outside, dense, fudgy and chocolatey on the inside. I am hesitant to say this but I think this was the best chocolate brownie I have ever eaten while out and about (clearly it is not a patch on one I might make myself!).

The coffees were good and the babycino came with two very large marshmallows. This caused a great deal of excitement because the toddler thought there was just one. The surprise when he spotted the second hiding behind his cup was hilarious!

Ergo is absolutely a welcome addition to the Marion café scene.

* I will update this post with details as I find them.