Pan-Fried Leatherjacket with Tapenade, Tomato and Basil

With the hot summer weather lingering well into March, it has been difficult to feel inspired to cook anything at all. However, seafood has proven to be a good option this year, now that B18 has gone away to uni (he doesn't like seafood, so we haven't cooked it very often in the past).

The latest offering comes from Mark Best in the Sydney Seafood School Cookbook.

Sydney Seafood School was opened in November 1989....Almost all of Australia's leading chefs have taught at the Seafood School.

The book is full of recipes from various well-known Aussie chefs; some of the recipes are easier than others, but they're all packed with tasty, sustainable ingredients.

Our Journey with the Recipe:

We substituted the leatherjacket with snapper (as suggested by Best in his alternative species box at the bottom of the recipe) but I didn't add the tapenade to the top of the cooked fish (couldn't be bothered to make it to be honest with you!)

The tomato salsa was very strong thanks to the scallions overpowering the rest of the ingredients.

I also blanched some bok choy leaves we had leftover in the fridge to act as a bed for the fish.

We still haven't mastered our cooking times when grilling/frying fish, so the fleshy bits where lovely, but the thinner sections were too dry *sigh*.

Looking back over the photos, I may not have used enough tomato to scallions in the salsa...there's always next time!

Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to link up anytime over the weekend.

Buttered Prawns With Tomato, Olives and Arak

During the week, I felt the need to explore another Ottolenghi recipe. I wanted something light and tasty and Buttered Prawns With Tomato, Olives and Arak from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook was the ultimate winner!

I needed:
4 plum tomatoes
12 tiger or king prawns
3½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¹⁄3 cup kalamata olives, pitted
4 teaspoons arak or Pernod
3 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Coarse sea salt

Instructions:

1. Start by preparing the tomatoes. Make a tiny shallow cross with a sharp knife at the bottom of each one and put them in boiling water for 30 seconds.
2. Remove, refresh under plenty of cold water, then drain. Now peel the skin away and cut each tomato into 4 to 6 wedges. Set aside.
3. To prepare the prawns, peel the shells away from the bodies, keeping the tail segment of the shell on.
4. Cut a shallow slit along the back of each prawn and use the tip of a small knife to remove the dark vein.
5. Place a frying pan over high heat. When very hot, add 1½ tablespoons of the butter and sauté the prawns quickly for 2 minutes, shaking the pan as you go.
6. Add the tomatoes, pepper flakes and olives and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the prawns are nearly cooked through.
7. Add the arak carefully (it tends to catch fire).
8. Let the alcohol evaporate for a minute before quickly adding the remaining 2 tablespoons butter along with the garlic, parsley and some salt. Toss for a second for everything to come together in a runny sauce, then serve immediately.

Note: Arak is a Middle Eastern liquor made from aniseed and distilled grapes.

Our Journey with the Recipe:
Everything was easy to source or substitute at short notice, except for the arak. We decided, given the other ingredients, and our previous history with other prawn and tomato dishes, that a splash of white wine would suffice for this time.

Curiously fresh parsley was not to be seen anywhere either. Perhaps the long, hot summer and drought conditions have affected the herb market this year? A pack of 'lightly dried' parsley had to make do. I also prefer fresh chilli to red pepper flakes.

The other problem turned out to be the prawns. All the green prawns were gone by the time I was heading home after work. I had to use cooked prawns instead.

Normally I would be reluctant to use so much butter in a tomato based sauce, but it was divine.

Because I was using cooked prawns, we tossed them into the pan right at the end of the cooking process instead at point 5.

Ottolenghi says that all their "recipes evolve and develop" over time but

there are certain threads – or combinations of ingredients – holding things together. Prawns, tomatoes and Arak are one of these combinations. New ingredients share the stage – chunks of feta, the addition of more fish, bringing in a new herb or a different vegetable – but the trilogy still holds tight. This – the simplest and quickest version – remains the classic, the template against which all others are measured. It needs to be eaten as soon as it’s made, served as a starter, with fresh crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Given this holy trinity of ingredients, next time I will wait until I can source some arak, although it tasted just fine the way it was!

Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to link up anytime over the weekend.

The Australian Women's Weekly Basics - Paella

In the two years since The Australian Women's Weekly Basics: Simple Easy to Follow Recipes with Step-By-Step Photos (2016) found it's way into my kitchen, I've been wishing it had happened much sooner. It's the perfect book for working parents, trying to find quick, easy but interesting meals to feed the family. It would also be a great gift to that young adult in your life when they finally leave home for the first time.

All the meals are tasty and easy to make with regular ingredients. Substitute ingredients are provided and various sauces, sides or toppings are provided so that you change up your favourite meal every so often. We regularly make the burritos, san choy bow and the paella.

Last night, though, we nearly had a rice crisis with the paella, which I thought might be worth documenting.

The recipe clearly asks for Calasparra rice (with a possible substitute option of arborio rice). Previously I had been able to source the real deal from the David Jones food hall in the city, but when I went in yesterday morning they were out of stock...and not expecting more for another month!

A quick google showed that it wold be very difficult for me to find another nearby source for Calasparra rice. The next best option was a Sollana rice from Harris Farm. Fortunately, Mr Seasons was out doing his President of the Football Association thing, which meant driving by a Harris Farm on his way home. Crisis averted!

But what was it about this rice that made it so hard to come by and so precious for paella?

The back of the linen bag that the Calasparra is packaged in tells us that,

The fresh mountain water around the town of Calasparra in Murcia provides the perfect environment for paella rice. The rice planted in the area takes 30% longer to mature because it is grown in cool flowing water. A denser, more absorbent grain is the result, perfect for absorbing the flavourful broth of paella and other dishes. For this reason, Calasparra rice has Denomination of Origin status, acknowledging and protecting its unique qualities.

A bit more research told me that Calasparra is situated in a mountainous area surrounded by four rivers, including the Segura and Argos. The rice has been grown in 'arrozales' since the 14th century.

The paddies are small and the production of rice is also small compared to other rice growing regions around the world. But Calasparra rice is of a superior quality with an unequalled absorption capacity. The farmers use the Roman aquaducts to irrigate their paddies. They also rotate crops each year and sometimes let a field lie fallow. The seeds are hand-sown and then thinned by hand as well. The rice is hand packed, then 'about six women in blue uniforms and hairnets sew shut the individual white cloth sacks.' *

The rice varieties that are currently grown in the Calasparra region are:

• Arroz Balillax x Sollana or Arroz Sollana (sometimes simply called Arroz Calasparra & suitable for paella)
• Arroz Bomba (the very best rice for paella)

Bomba and Sollana rice are the only ones in Spain awarded the Denomination of Origin distinction.

Spanish rice is also grown in the neighbouring region of Valencia.

The rice varieties of Valencia are:

• Arroz Fonsa (very suitable for paella)
• Arroz Gleva (very suitable for paella)
• Arroz Bahia (very suitable for paella)
• Arroz Senia (very suitable for paella)
• Arroz Bomba (the best rice for paella)

Last night's chicken and chorizo paella recipe looked a little like this:

Lots of yummy tomato, chicken and chorizo...

...and lots of yummy prawns and mussels to top it all off!

Buon appetito!

* La Tienda website

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme.