Paper Chef - December Issue

Its my favourite time of the month - Paper Chef time!
Last months winners, MizD & Chopper Dave from Belly Timber had the privilege of selecting 3 random ingredients from the nominated list & one of their own choosing. So what combination did we get to cook with?
Rice
Brandy
Blood Orange
& their selection of Crustacean (lobster, crab, prawn etc).

There was a bit of leeway with the type of crustacean. I decided to go with prawns, though the Morton Bay Bugs I saw at the market last week had me tempted. As I usually do I went through a process of ideas that were quickly rejected (blood orange & prawn risotto?) and settled on an Asian influence with sweet & spicy flavours: Blood Orange & Brandy marinated Prawns with Coconut Rice.
After fighting the crowds to get to Prahran Markets I found my favourite fishmonger had some unusual prawns available, Schooling Prawns to be precise. these were quite small, about the size of your finger or smaller. Never having cooked with them before, & it being a Paper Chef challenge, I thought why not? Being so small I asked if they were easy to peel? & the response I got was - they can be eaten as is, like whitebait.
Next time I'm peeling them. While they were eatable with the shells, the texture wasn't that pleasant. Live & learn I guess.

Blood Orange & Brandy marinated Prawns with Coconut Rice.

For the marinade:

Ingredients:
30ml Brandy
juice & zest from 1 blood orange (about 1/3 cup)
1 tbsp Balsamic or sherry vinegar
1 ½ tsp capers
1 tbsp slivered almonds, roasted
1 tbsp olive oil
1/8 cup finely chopped parsley
½ tsp dried chili or 1tsp finely chopped, de-seeded fresh red chili (add more or less to taste)

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until well blended.
Let stand at least 1 hour.

Coconut rice:
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
½ cups water
½ cup coconut milk
1 cup jasmine or long-grain rice

Method
Rice cooker:
Rinse the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear to remove any starch.
Place all the ingredients into a rice cooker & cook.
When ready fluff with a fork.
Stove top (you will need to double the amount of liquid):
Place water and coconut milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Add the rice, return to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and stir well.
Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside, covered, for 5 minutes.
Drain and fluff with a fork.

Blood Orange & Brandy marinated Prawns:
Ingredients:

200g uncooked whole prawns

Marinade made earlier
1 blood orange, segmented & cut into pieces & allowed to drain

Method:
Shell the prawns & place in a bowl
Add the prepared marinade & marinade for 30-60 minutes.
Heat a little oil in a pan & add the prawns & marinade
Fry the prawns until they are just cooked.
Remove the prawns & cook the marinade until its sticky & thick.
Add segmented orange pieces & heat through.
Return the prawns & coat with the sauce.
Serve immediately with the coconut rice & Asian greens or rocket salad.

Paper Chef - October

The start of a new month brings with it joys, hopes, a new season (sometimes) and always a daring instalment of The Paper Chef.
I'm excited by the concept of Paper Chef. My partner Paul, on the other hand, is not looking forward to the “science experiment” that I will invetibly come up with. My creations haven't been that bad! Seriously... But this month, upon learning the ingredients Paul announced he was cooking. How weird could I get using this months ingredients: Beetroot, Apple, Ginger & Rice??
So I am proud to present Paul's entry for the paper chef: Green Apple Risotto with Beetroot and Ginger “agrodolce” and Walnuts.

Ingredients

Risotto:

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

1 stick celery, finely chopped
A splash olive oil

200g aborio rice

50ml dry white wine

Chicken stock, heated

Fresh black pepper

Sea salt

Cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese

Unsalted butter

200g Granny Smith apple

Freshly roasted walnuts, chopped
Agrodolce:

6 beetroot (golf ball size)
Ginger, microplaned (to taste)
10ml balsamic vinegar
10ml vincotto
pinch sugar
30ml extra virgin olive oil
Parsley leaves

Method
Wrap the beetroots & apple in foil and bake in a 180c oven until tender.
Puree the apple.
Peel & neatly chop the beetroot into 1cm cubes.
Combine the vinegar, vincotto, ginger, sugar and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the beetroot and allow to marinate at room temperature.
Over a low heat sweat the olive oil, onion, celery for 10 minutes- do not allow to colour.
Add the rice and cook gently for a few minutes.
Add the wine, turn the heat to medium and allow the wine to absorb and reduce. Now begin to add the hot stock, ladle by ladle. Allow each ladle of stock to be fully absorbed before adding the next ladleful. Give the rice a stir with every ladleful of stock.
Once the rice is al dente, add the apple puree and heat through.

Turn off the heat.
Add a generous knob of butter, parmesan and cheddar.

Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange the risotto on a plate with the beetroot and ginger “agrodolce” and sprinkle with the roasted walnuts. Garnish with parsley leaves.