eG Foodblog: Prawncrackers (2010) - Cooking with Panda!

[Chris Amirault]

Should've been clearer. We have this little press thingie that also makes waffles with other inserts, and having heating elements on both sides really helps. But that sandwich looks really perfect to me....

[nickloman]

I was just playing. Looks like its been in a panini press to me, but I'm sure Prawny will tell us

[Prawncrackers]

It's a grilled cheese in name only as it's never grilled. I use a pan with a little butter and olive oil. When the butter's melted I put the sandwich in one half of the pan so one side of the sandwich is covered in butter. I immediately and carefully flip the sandwich over to the other half of the pan so the other side is covered with butter too. Then it's just a of case of pressing the bread down with a spatula till it's "grilled" on one side then flipping again and grilling the other side. I've bent many a spatula with my grilled cheeses!

[Fat Guy]

Prawncrackers, with respect I must state objections to mixing the egg in with the rice before cooking fried rice. I prefer actual pieces of egg in the finished product. If you mix the egg in completely, either before or during cooking, you get a barely perceptible egg coating but no actual egg you can sink your teeth into.

[Prawncrackers]

Objection noted Fat Guy! It also depends on how much egg you use but you don't get the big lumps of egg with this method unless you use a lot

[Fat Guy]

Have you ever tried the Jean-Georges method: plating the fried rice and topping with a fried egg? (Garnished with crispy minced ginger and garlic.) I highly recommend it for "company" fried rice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/dining/27mini.html?_r=1&ref=dining

Short of that, the only system I've ever been able to make work well has been to cook the egg first, cut it up and add it back in at the end. I've seen a Chinese-restaurant chef do it mid-cook, but I think that approach must require a hotter wok than I can achieve at home.

[Dejah]

Jean-George's "fried rice" doesn't even looked fried.

As for cooking the egg, taking it out, cutting it in pieces and adding it back at the end, that's the way we served it in our restaurant, unless it's deluxe fried rice. With the latter, the raw egg is added after everything else is incorporated and cooked in the wok, then the egg is cracked into a cleared space in the wok and worked into the fried rice. The result, there are flecks of fried egg thoughout the dish.

A question about "grilled cheese". What makes a grilled cheese a grilled cheese if it's not done in a frying pan or griddle? Enquiring mind needs this cleared up...

That's quite the "curing room" you've got Prawn. Great to see you blogging!

[nakji]

Have you ever tried the Jean-Georges method: plating the fried rice and topping with a fried egg? (Garnished with crispy minced ginger and garlic.) I highly recommend it for "company" fried rice.

That's quite a common method for fried rice in Korea. I prefer it, because you get the oozy yellow yolk to break over the rice. I'm not sure, but I feel like you can get fried rice variations with a fried egg in Malaysia as well. And, of course, nasi goreng often comes with a fried egg on the side.Something I've never been successfully recreated at is the "Thai Fried Rice" or "Omurice" - dishes that completely encase rice with an omelet.

[Prawncrackers]

One of the reasons why the French Label Rouge chickens are best for Chicken rice is you always get big plug of chicken fat in the cavity. Trust the French to know that this is a vital cooking ingredient, you will never find it in a chicken processed in the UK. Once it's rendered down with some excess skin (cooks treats) I slowly brown some shallots as the base for my chicken rice. That's why everyone who eats it loves my version of this classic:

(Knife spotters: tonight's knives - Global flexible boning, Murray Carter HG White Steel Funayuki and my brand new Misono Western Deba)

Preparing the turbot I can tell the freshness by the quality of the guts, in particular the liver looked good enough to eat raw (I didn't). The chicken was simmered for 15mins then immersed with the heat off for another 45mins and hung for a couple of hours. At the last minute the lobsters were dispatched, cut into pieces, sprinkled with cornflour, deep-fried, set-aside then stir-fried with Scallion and Ginger, chicken stock etc and served on a bed of soft egg noodles. Sorry I couldn't get more action shots but the cooking frenzy was upon me!

The second course was the chicken rice with chilli and ginger-scallion sauces. Turbot steamed for 13 minutes, I think this was everyone's favourite dish of the night. It was as predicted so fresh, the liver peeking below the garnish was sublime and all mine. Another cooks treat just for me. The last dish was Water Spinach with King Crab in Oyster Sauce. Luckily I remembered I had some frozen cooked king crab and it was a good opportunity to use it. Oh and some salted duck eggs. I forgot to photo the rice this time but you know all what savoury chicken rice looks like!

My guests did well, not only did they bring sticky toffee pudding but they brough the best sticky toffee pudding I've ever eaten. We had it with vanilla ice-cream and raspberries, fantastic meal all round, very satisfied indeed:

Edited November 11, 2010 by Prawncrackers (log)

[prasantrin]

That's like a restaurant meal! Next time I want Chinese food, I'm eating at Prawncrackers' house!

I think I need some of that sticky pudding, too.

[weinoo]

After that, what the hell are you making tomorrow?

[david goodfellow]

When we went to l'Enclume we stayed at the B and B next to the shop in Cartmel. We were recommended the sticky toffee pudding by the B n B owner and by golly it is amazing.

Will you still speak to me now you are famous Mr Crackers

Keep up the good work

[Prawncrackers]

I was definitely in my comfort zone with that meal, i've cooked it many times because we love eating all those dishes. I'm off to sleep now so see you in the morning for some more Cooking with Panda!

[Peter the eater]

At the last minute the lobsters were dispatched, cut into pieces, sprinkled with cornflour, deep-fried, set-aside then stir-fried with Scallion and Ginger, chicken stock etc and served on a bed of soft egg noodles.

Wow. Do you plate all the lobster parts or just the meaty bits?

[YSL]

Those salted duck eggs look IMMENSE! The yolks are very impressive

[Prawncrackers]

Will you still speak to me now you are famous Mr Crackers

Keep up the good work

David, you'll have to take a ticket and join the back of line like everyone else

Wow. Do you plate all the lobster parts or just the meaty bits?

Yes, two lobsters and noodles just barely made it onto the that 12" plate. I couldn't really do anything with the presentation, i think i may need a bigger plate for such occasions. I did cut the legs off though but left the heads in as i like to suck on those. The meaty tail bits and claws were offered to my guests first of course.

[Prawncrackers]

Lunch today was the leftovers from last night, chicken and veg. Just microwaved and eaten standing up!

After that, what the hell are you making tomorrow?

Tonight's main of course was always going to be Porchetta style belly pork because I thought I had a nice slab of pork stashed somewhere. But when I looked in the freezer on Tuesday and couldn't find it I remembered I'd actually used it to make pancetta. So yesterday I had to take an unplanned trip to my butcher in Berkswell. Having called ahead alreay I knew he had some available. Berkswell Traditional Farmstead Meats is a wonderful little operation, it really doesn't compromise on the quality of their meat. I've had all sorts of rare-breed pigs from here, Old SPots, Berkshires and Tamworth being the most readily available. Today the belly is from a Tamworth, you can tell by the ginger hair! I also picked up some Berkswell cheese Nickloman and will try some later today. The shop also had some White Park Beef, a massive wing rib, it was mightily impressive looking piece of meat, deep deep crimson and surprisingly well marbled for UK beef. Having never heard of that breed before I enquired about it, Phil the butcher said that it was Britain's oldest native breed and that he only gets it once a year. I looked at it and looked at it again but it was an odd cut, kinda fore-end of the rib almost becoming blade. The shape of it you would roast but as one side you would roast slow and the other fast - it was just too odd. If it was nice fore-end i think I would have snaffled it up and we'd be having beef tonight! I got a couple of freebies too, some pork back fat for salami making and a beef marrowbone. It's makes me laugh that marrow fat is so trendy and people will pay good money in a restaurant for what has always been a giveaway.

I trim the belly up yesterday and marinated the flesh side with garlic, fennel, lemon zest, bay, rosemary, sage, evoo and s&p ready for roasting today:

(My sweet little Nenox parer in pic)

[nickloman]

Wicked, if you want to cook with it Fergus Henderson does a recipe called 'Fennel & Berkswell' which isn't more complicated than it sounds. But I think its too good to cook with, just eat on its own. For those not familiar, its a hard ewes milk cheese with some similarity to pecorino. But better

[Prawncrackers]

The first time i came across egullet I was looking for information on sourdough bread, what made me stay was the knife maintenance tutorial. I used to bake a loaf of sourdough every week, it became quite a routine, feeding the starter and making sure it was okay. I did it for about a year until my starter died after I left it out whilst I was on holiday, I haven't baked bread since. To be honest with you though my sourdough was never that good and at the end the starter was getting very vinegary.

But I baked a loaf today, a spelt loaf using quick yeast and it was very nice. It's been a quite low impact day cooking wise - a lot of pottering around because tonight's guests weren't due till 8pm. In fact they came a little early so they nibbled on the bread, some quail eggs and the Berkswell cheese whilst i finished preparing the starter of razor clam linguine. Everyone loved the cheese, it's very reminiscent of Manchego, delicious. The bread came in handy to mop up the sweet briny juices from the pan:

The pork was rolled and roasted for about 3.5 hrs at 170C, the crackling was spectacular. I served it with roast potatoes, grilled chicory and cavalo nero sautéed with my own pancetta:

(Tonight's knife is my most treasured Itou 240mm Gyuto with stag horn handle)

Oh and a bakewell tart too, with clotted cream ice-cream.

[onrushpam]

Dear Mr. Prawncraker,

My dear husband recently enjoyed reading the biography of Sir Winston Churchill and apprised me of the fact Sir Winston's favorite dessert was the Bakewell tart. I utilitzed Google to find out what it is and have promised I would attempt to bake a Bakewell.

I just showed said husband your photos and he said, "You MUST get that recipe! I MUST have that!"

Because I love my husband, I will attempt to make his wish come true. Please help.

With deepest admiration,

The crazy greyhound lady

[Prawncrackers]

Sure thing, you're not the first person to ask me for my recipe for Bakewell tart! I've got the method already written down somewhere...

It's my favourite cake and the only proper dessert that I know how to make without reading a recipe. The following is for a 9inch shallow tin:

I'm sure you know how to make a sweet short pastry but just in case - take 200g plain flour and 100g cold diced butter, use a mixer or rub in by hand. Add 40g sugar then one egg beaten well with a pinch of salt. Form the dough and chill. Roll out and blind bake for 25-30 mins in a 180C oven. Spread a layer of jam (your choice but anything but strawberry is sacrilege!) onto the pastry case in readiness for the batter.

Make the batter by creaming 120g sugar with 120g soft butter, then add 120g ground almonds, 2 eggs & 1 yolk, 1/2 tsp of almond essence and mix well. Incorporate 40g of plain flour at the end. Pour the batter into the pastry case and add some flaked alomnds. Bake for around 50mins at 180C. I think the reason why I remember this recipe so easily is the 120/120/120 ratio of sugar/butter/almond. I liked it warmed a little with a dollop of ice-cream. Good luck with it.

[onrushpam]

Thank you much! I will attempt this at some point in coming weeks. I am SO not a pastry baker. But, I'll give it my best shot. I'll be sure to use strawberry jam (my favorite).

As a quick aside... my all-time favorite meal was one at the home of a friend in Lincs.

I don't remember all the details (lots of wine was consumed), but the high points were roasted partridge, swede, gratin potatoes and a fabulous treacle tart that "burst its dam". Good friends, good food, good wine and much laughter made for a night I'll never forget.

[kayb]

Stunning. I have no words. And it's all gorgeous.

[Chris Amirault]

Can we get a full knife battery photograph with labels? S'il vous plait?

[christine007]

Mr. Prawn I was going to ask, As a first generation American, what do you do as far as typical English food?