Sensational Sesame Prawn Toasts: a real winner from Ainsley

I totally agree with Ainsley Harriott that 'once you've made these prawn toasties, you'll be making them again and again' - as I have made them again, since first photographing them for this blog! These toasties are very moreish and go fabulously well with something like the Hairy Dieters sweet and sour chicken or any other Chinese inspired meal you happen to be cooking at the time. Equally they could be served as a starter. The recipe can be found in Ainsley Harriott's Gourmet Express 1 (2000) (page 112) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gourmet-Express-1-Ainsley-Harriott/dp/B006R5D4HS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363558222&sr=8-1.

I haven't had this book long as I picked it up in a second-hand book shop and although it was first published 13 years ago it really does have a contemporary feel! It is proving to be one of my favourite's. The recipes are fairly simple and yet so tasty! Partly I am biased as Ainsley does tend to lean towards the Orient and East with his influences, and if you've read any of my previous entries you know I can't beat anything with spice and tropical flavours. His puddings are also fabulously easy on the one hand and yet quite decadent on the other. He's come up unashamedly with a grown-up version of a strawberry sundae (page 159), there's  a rather lovely looking recipe for Iced caffe latte cups (page152) - very simple and yet a probable good choice for a dinner party. The other interesting selection of recipes are his sauces and relishes, so for example there's Real tartare sauce (page 137), Banana raita (page 140) - apparently a perfect accompaniment to curry; Sweet chilli sauce (page 143) - always a favourite in our household; how about giving his Easy mint chutney (page 135) a go - I'm just waiting for spring to arrive and the mint to mutate!

If I was to be slightly critical about this book, I would have liked more photographic images. Not every recipe has a photo, but maybe that's because we're spoiled with a new generation of cookbooks that go all-out for style and presentation.

A yummy plateful of these moreish toasts

Sesame prawn toasts (copyright Ainsley Harriott 2000)

Serves 4
175g cooked peeled prawns
2cm piece fresh root ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 egg white
2 teaspoons cornflour
1/4 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 thin slices of bread, crusts removed
2 tbsp sesame seeds
vegetable oil, for shallow frying

Blending the prawns, ginger and garlic

Mixing the ingredients with the frothy egg white

1. Place the prawns, ginger and garlic in a food processor or mini chopper and whizz until finely minced.
2. Whisk the egg white until frothy, then stir in the prawn mixture, cornflour, Chinese five-spice powder and salt until well blended.
3. Spread the mixture evenly on to the bread, then sprinkle over the sesame seeds, pressing them in firmly with your fingertips. Cut each slice into 4 squares or triangles or whatever shape takes your fancy!
4. Heat about 3-4 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over a high heat, when hot, reduce the heat before adding the toasts. Cook prawn side down for 2-3 minutes until golden, then turn over and cook the other side - if need be add a little more oil. Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm.

The prepared bread waiting to be fried.

Cooking the toasts

A nice large plate of sweet and sour chicken too!

These toasts are absolutely lovely! I've made similar ones before with added ingredients such as chopped coriander, but these ones are so simple and just as good!

Next time: I'm trying get some Easter baking treats on (but these are versatile bakes that can be had any time of the year!). I've already made some doughnuts courtesy of Richard Bertinet, so hope to post that recipe in the next couple of weeks.

Millionaire's Shortbread: just a fraction naughty

 A quick update: in case anyone is wondering how many books I have worked through so far, here is the total: 23! Doing the the maths means I've only got another 177 books to get through - keep them coming!

Millionaire's shortbread has got to be the ultimate sweet fix; all that gooey caramel filling, plain dark chocolate and shortbread biscuit base is to die for! Although I've made this a number of times I hadn't made this particular recipe from this particular book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Housekeeping-Cookery-Book-Companion/dp/184340592X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361311715&sr=1-1 .  The Good Housekeeping Cookery Book: The Cook's Classic Companion (2011) is a very comprehensive cookery book to say the least, with just about everything covered from stocks and stuffings, sauces and dressings, canapes to meat, poultry, game, eggs, cheese, rice , grains, pastry....the list goes on! You can see from the published date this hasn't been out long and I have to confess I haven't made much use of it yet (well actually, this is the first time!). It's one of those books that you can reliably turn to if you need a recipe for say sticky toffee pudding or meat loaf or stuffed chicken breasts or even lobster thermidor. That's right, it's got all the classics and more. So what else is springing off the pages of this book I hear you say? It's all those recipes that you haven't ever got round to doing and that you maybe want to try for the first time using recipes that have been triple-tested by the Good Housekeeping team. So for me, the panna cotta (page 379) is crying out to be made as is the raised pork pie on page 217 and I really must get round to doing my own spinach and ricotta canneloni at some stage (p.249).

A small slice is all you need of this decadent treat

Millionaire's Shortbread (copyright The National Magazine Company Limited and Collins & Brown 2011)

Makes 20 squares

175g unsalted butter at room temperature, diced
250g plain flour
75g golden caster sugar
For the topping
2x397g cans sweetened condensed milk
100g light muscovado sugar
100g butter
 250g plain chocolate, broken into pieces

Making breadcrumbs

Forming into a ball

Going into the oven to bake

Making the caramel topping

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and then grease and line a 33 x 23cm Swiss roll tin. Put the flour, caster sugar and butter into a food processor and blend until the mixture forms crumbs, then pulse a little more until it forms a ball. Alternatively rub the butter into the flour and sugar by hand and assemble into a ball. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead lightly to combine.
2. Press the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch and a very pale brown.
3. Now make the topping, put the condensed milk, muscavado sugar and butter into a non-stick pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring continuously until a fudge-like consistency. Spoon the caramel on to the shortbread, smooth over and allow to cool.
4. To finish, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water, then pour over the caramel layer. Leave to set at room temperature, then cut into 20 squares and enjoy with a cup of coffee!

Ready to set

The cooked shortbread

Somebody enjoying a slice!

The finished article

As I'd made this before, although using a slightly different recipe, I realised that we actually preferred a lighter version by having a thinner layer of caramel. Instead of using the quantities above, I actually halved the condensed milk, butter and sugar in this topping. The photographs in the book do show a thicker layer! Also don't worry if you haven't got any muscovado sugar, a light brown soft sugar is just as good.

Coming very soon: Chinese prawn toasts