One-Pan Prawns with Potatoes and Courgettes

We had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend with lots of good company and good food. By Monday, I was left with a fridge full of odds and sods and a strong desire to create some space without wasting anything. We didn't have enough pasta left for everyone to have the family spaghetti "bolognaise", so I cobbled this dish together as an alternative for husband and I. I used Jamie Oliver's simple tomato sauce - it's great to have a few servings of this in the freezer for quick dinners.

The dish was slightly sharp, probably due to too much lemon juice. Next time I might try red wine or balsamic vinegar as a replacement.

Ingredients

• Approx. 400g of Jamie Oliver's simple tomato sauce
• A handful of prawns, peeled and de-veined
• 1 heaped dessert spoon of pancetta cubes, or sliced streaky bacon
• 200g new potatoes, washed and sliced at 3mm thickness
• 1 courgette, half-peeled (for the stripy effect) and sliced diagonally at 3mm thickness
• A tiny squeeze of lemon juice
• Handful of fresh, torn basil leaves
• (Optional) Grated hard cheese (I used cheddar) to serve
• Olive oil for frying
• Ground black pepper to taste

Serves 2

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the pancetta cubes and shake around until browned
• Add the sliced new potatoes and stir occasionally for 2-3 minutes - let sit in the pan to brown
• Add the courgettes and stir-occasionally for 2-3 minutes, browning nicely
• Add the tomato sauce and a tiny squeeze of lemon juice, and the black pepper. Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 5 minutes
• Add the prawns, replace the cover and simmer for another few minutes, until the prawns are just cooked
• Add the basil leaves, stir and remove from the heat. Serve in warmed serving bowls, with a little grated cheese on top

One-Pan Prawns with Potatoes and Courgettes

Jamie Oliver's Simple Tomato Sauce

This recipe is taken from Jamie's Dinners, and makes a lovely base tomato sauce. It's very easy, and useful to rustle up in batches - I panic a bit if I haven't got at least one portion in the freezer. You can use it for pasta sauces and bakes, and a concentrated version would probably make a tasty pizza topping - in his book, Jamie shares plenty of tasty-sounding suggestions. It's surprising how just a few simple ingredients can transform a bog standard tin of tomatoes.

Ingredients

• 2 - 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 1 whole red chilli, pierced with a skewer or sharp knife, so that it doesn't explode when cooking
• 2 x 400g tins of peeled plum tomatoes
• A pinch of dried oregano (or Italian mixed herbs)
• Olive oil for frying
• Tiny amount (1/2 tsp) red wine vinegar
• Salt and ground black pepper to season

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil gently in a pan and allow the chopped garlic, oregano and chilli to cook slowly and infuse the oil for a minute or so - don't let the garlic burn
• Add the tins of plum tomatoes, and leave whole. Lightly season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and allow to simmer gently for 30 minutes
• Remove the chilli, and mush the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon. Check and correct the seasoning, then add a tiny amount of red wine vinegar, to give the sauce a little sharpness. For a sweeter taste, substitute the red wine vinegar with balsamic vinegar

Family Spaghetti "Bolognese"

This is bolognese in a loose sense of the word - purists would probably raise an eyebrow.

In my ideal world, there would be a glass of red wine and perhaps a chopped chicken liver or five in this recipe. I tend to chop the vegetables into very small pieces, and put the mushrooms into a food processor, which works well with the children. You can really bulk out the mix with lots of vegetables, and also add red lentils if you like. This one is a firm favourite with the middle child, who loves helping me to cook it, cleans his bowl and always asks for seconds.

 

Ingredients

• 2 onions, chopped finely
• 2 large carrots, chopped finely
• 1 stick of celery, chopped finely
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 2 heaped dessert spoons of pancetta cubes or sliced streaky bacon
• 500g beef mince
• 1 X 400g tin of peeled plum tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon worcester sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• A handful of mushrooms, chopped finely (or whizzed in a food processor for the fungus-phobic)
• 1 dessert spoon dried, mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary etc.)
• A splash of milk
• 1 beef stock cube, made up with 300ml boiling water
• (Optional) 1/2 a glass of red wine
• Sunflower oil for frying
• Splash of extra virgin olive oil to serve
• Ground black pepper to taste

Serves 8

 

Instructions

• Heat a splash of sunflower oil in a large, heavy-bottommed pan and add the pancetta when very hot. Stir around the pan, allowing it to brown
• Add the onions and stir until they soften and turn glossy
• Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, before adding the beef. Turn the heat to high and brown the mince all over
• Add the worcester sauce, carrots, celery, mushrooms and mixed herbs and mix well
• Add the tinned tomatoes, beef stock (and wine) and tomato puree. Bring to the boil, mixing well
• Add a splash of milk, which will make your sauce take on a more silky texture
• Add plenty of ground black pepper, lower the heat, partially cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. If necessary, break up the plum tomatoes at the end of the cooking time
• Add a splash of extra virgin olive oil to serve

The sauce improves in flavour if left overnight, and can be frozen in batches. My pasta of choice would be linguine or maybe tagliatelle, but any long pasta will do. The children like grated cheddar on top of the bolognese sauce, so I usually serve a bowl at the table, and they help themselves.

Family Spaghetti "Bolognaise"

Slow-Cooked Beef Flank with Mooli (牛腩炆蘿蔔)

This is my Dad's recipe, which is loved by all who taste it. You have to be bold with the flavours, and I think it will take me a couple of attempts to get it right. Mooli (or daikon) is a long white radish, which can be found in Asian grocery stores and larger supermarkets (or you could grow your own!).

Some of the ingredients will be hard to find outside of a Chinese supermarket - the rock sugar can be substituted with brown sugar, but I don't think you can replace the fermented red bean curd:

Red Fermented Beancurd (南乳)

Dad bought me a muslin pouch to hold the spices, which improves the texture of the final dish - once the spices have done their job, you can just remove the pouch from the stew. The end result is sticky and gelatinous, and goes well with rice or noodles.

I've made this dish in a slow-cooker, but it can also be made in a pan in an hour and a half - just make sure it doesn't cook too vigorously, or the beef will be tough.

Ingredients

• 450g beef tendon, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1kg beef flank, cut into large pieces - 4 to 5cm
• 1 mooli, roll-cut into wedges
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1-2 star anise
• 3 cubes of red fermented beancurd (南乳) and a few spoonfuls of the sauce from the jar
• 5-6 slices peeled fresh ginger, bashed with the flat of a cleaver
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and bashed with the flat of a cleaver
• Small amount of rock sugar, approx. 1-2cm cube
• Cornflour for thickening
• Sunflower oil for frying
• (Optional) oyster sauce
• Few drops of sesame oil
• Chopped spring onion or coriander leaves to garnish

Serves 8-10

Instructions

• Heat the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, Sichuan peppercorns and star anise in a dry pan, moving around until aromatic. Allow to cool, place in the spice pouch and tie securely
• Place the tendon and the beef flank into a large pan, cover with water and bring to a slow simmer, to allow the scum to rise to the surface. After around 5 minutes, drain the beef and rinse away any scum
• Heat a couple of spoonfuls of oil in a wok or large pan, and add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry until aromatic
• Add the beef flank and tendon, and stir-fry until the mixture is coated in the oil and slightly browned. Add the fermented beancurd and 2-3 dessert spoons of cornflour and mix well
• Transfer the mixture into a crockpot, add water to just below the surface and add the spice pouch and rock sugar. Set the crockpot to cook on low for 10 hours
• After 3 hours, add the mooli to the crockpot and mix well
• At the end of the cooking time, taste the sauce and add a few lugs of oyster sauce if it is not salty enough. If the sauce is not thick enough, add more cornflour/water mixture and bring back to the boil, stirring until thickened
• Remove from the heat, add a few shakes of sesame oil and garnish with chopped spring onions or coriander leaves

Beef Flank Slow-Cooked with Mooli

Prawn Fried Rice (蝦炒飯)

Once you know the basics, fried rice is easy peasy. The most important thing is that the rice needs to be cooked and left to cool - so cooked one evening and refrigerated until the next day, or cooked in the morning for use in the evening. Try and get as much moisture out of the rice as possible, so don't cover it whilst it's cooling, and stick it by a window if you can. Also - break it up before you add it to the wok, so that it stir-fries more easily.

My Mum and Dad bought me a stone pan, which needs very little oil and is non-stick too. I've taken to using it as a replacement for my wok, but this recipe is originally intended for wok cooking. I have trouble with the rice sticking in the bottom of my wok - you need to make sure the oil is really hot before you add it.

The essential ingredients, apart from the rice, are spring onions, peas (petits pois are nicer) and egg. Anything else is optional really. Cooked chicken, ham, bacon, prawns or 叉燒 (char siu) pork are tasty additions, as well as cooked salmon. I used some fine beans in this recipe, which went down like a lead balloon with the older two. Fortunately the toddler was hungry, so leaned across the table at dinner time to grab his siblings' leftovers.

Ingredients

• 4 bowls of cooked rice, cooled and refrigerated for at least 1/2 a day
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 150g prawns, peeled and deveined
• A handful of fine beans, topped, tailed and chopped into 1cm lengths
• 1 handful of frozen petits pois
• 3 spring onions, chopped finely
• Seasoned soy sauce for seafood (or light soy)
• Ground white pepper
• Sunflower oil for frying
• Few drops of sesame oil
• (Optional) 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
• (Optional) 1/2 teaspoon of Knorr chicken powder or salt to taste

Serves 4

Instructions

• Heat some sunflower oil in a wok and add the beaten egg. Swirl around the wok and scramble into small pieces. Put to one side and wipe the wok clean
• Put a small amount of sunflower oil into the wok and add the prawns. Stir-fry quickly until sealed, but don't cook through. Put to one side and wipe the wok clean
• Boil some water in a pan and put the fine beans in. Boil for about 30 seconds, drain and cool under the tap. Shake off as much water as you can and put to one side
• Heat a few tablespoons of sunflower oil in the wok until very hot. Add the rice and let it sit in the wok for a few moments, before beginning to stir fry
• When the rice is nice and hot, add the prawns, fine beans, petits pois and spring onion (and optional sesame seeds) and continue to stir-fry for 2-3 minutes
• Add 2-3 splashes of soy sauce, a shake of ground white pepper (and optional chicken powder) to the pan and stir-fry until well mixed
• Add the egg and heat through. Add a few drops of sesame oil, remove from the heat, stir and serve in warmed bowls

Prawn Fried Rice