Last updated at 15:21, Thursday, 30 July 2009

THIS is a lovely, light meal for a summer’s evening and very easy to prepare with little effort. The dish looks impressive and will be on the table in only 20 minutes. I have used large prawns sometimes know as Tiger prawns for this.

I love all fish and shellfish so it is hard to accept that despite living only two miles from a fishing port it is not possible to buy the local catch from a ‘wet’ fish shop. Unfortunately Donnan’s fish shop went many years ago and the small fish shop in Cleator Moor closed earlier this month. The sign in his shop window gave the shop opening times, which was only three or four days a week because for the rest of the time he was ‘busy out fishing for it’!

Most of the fish and shellfish landed at Whitehaven is whisked away directly to fish processing factories or to the large fish markets such as Fleetwood. If you love fresh fish it makes sense to seek out local fishermen and stay friends with them!

It is important to use raw prawns in this recipe for the better flavour. These will be grey when you buy them and then turn pink after a brief cooking period. Also buy them in the shell which helps to preserve their flavour.

Even the ‘ordinary’ prawns, in their shells, and available on supermarket fish counters will have a much better flavour than the peeled ones. It takes a little extra time to prepare them but it is worth it for the superior taste.

With the exception of ‘local catch’ most prawns available will have been frozen even if they are defrosted on the fish counter for sale. They freeze well but don’t travel well or keep so it is best to buy good quality frozen prawns.

Always de-frost them in the fridge either on kitchen paper (on a plate) or in a colander over a bowl to make sure that they don’t sit in water and the flavour into which the flavour will leech out. Wherever you buy them from they should smell ‘fresh’ and not ‘fishy’ and should not have any darkening or black spots on the shell.

Once the prawns are de-frosted they lose their flavour very quickly, so if you are buying them ‘fresh’ makes sure that the flesh is firm and the shells are intact and not dull-looking and eat then straight away. Buying the frozen, raw prawns does gives you control over the whole fishy process! I bought mine from Riverside Foods in Frizington, see panel for more details.

Tiger prawn and lemon linguine

Serves 2
Ingredients
200g (8 oz) egg linguine or plain Durum wheat pasta
Generous knob of butter
200g (8 oz) Frozen, un-cooked Tiger or King Prawns, defrosted
1 garlic clove finely chopped
100ml (3 ½ fl oz) dry, white wine
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
1. Drop the pasta into a large pan of boiling, salted water and cook according to the pack instructions-usually about 10 minutes for the finer, egg linguine or 15-20 minutes for the ordinary durum wheat pasta. Peel the prawns if necessary.
2. Meanwhile, heat half the butter in a frying pan. When it starts to bubble add the prawns and fry for one minute until they start to change colour. Raw prawns are grey in colour and they go pink on cooking.
3. Add the garlic and sizzle for one minute (be careful not to burn it) and then add the wine.
4. Add the rest of the butter, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and the lemon juice and then stir in the parsley. Take off the heat immediately.
5. When the pasta is cooked, drain and then pour back into the pan. Add the prawn mixture and gently turn the pasta in the sauce. Serve in warmed bowls straight away. A fresh green salad would go well with this.

When prawns become shrimps

THE classification and names of prawns can be confusing and open to interpretation! Generally speaking:
We buy prawns in this country small, medium or large. These may also be known as tiger prawns or king prawns for the larger ones or North Atlantic Prawns. Most prawns are called shrimps in the USA. We do, however, in this part of the world fish very small brown prawns which we call shrimps. These delicious brown shrimps are fished along the Solway coast and down to Morecambe. We can buy them at Silloth from the Lomas family fish shop which is just off the front and is signposted. These tiny shrimps are lovingly hand peeled and when potted up with butter and a little mace are a true Cumbrian delicacy. The Mediterranean prawns are sometimes called crevettes.
Dublin Bay prawns (also known as Langoustines or scampi) are much larger and look like little lobsters complete with head, eyes and claws! If buying them cooked give the tails a flick, there should be some spring left in them, indicating that the muscle was in good condition when the prawn was cooked.

WOODEND COOKERY

TO find out details of current demon strations or to be added to the mailing list for information about future events please get in touch.
All Grainne’s recipes featured in The Whitehaven News are available from the Woodend Cookery website; just follow the links to Recipes.

Contact: Woodend Cookery, Woodend House, Woodend, Egremont CA22 2TA
Phone: (01946) 813017
Email: gmjakobson@sky.com
Website: www.woodendcookery.co.uk

First published at 15:43, Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk