Plain Broiled Gambas....Now That's A Starter To Make Your Mouth Water!!

These Gambas Come 6-8 Pieces To The Kilo
I have one culinary souvenir from my days working in the Red Sea Area of Egypt and this is the size, ease and low price I could come back home in Cairo with nearly 10 kilos of these huge, shrimp/prawns/gambas fresh out of the sea. Always kept a big ice chest in my Chevrolet 4 x 4 for such occasions.

For somebody who really likes prawns, the best way to eat them is plain with just lemon and olive oil.  A kind of sauce can be made on the side just in case someone wants to dip his prawn in it.

The other day was my 65th birthday, a milestone in my life.  So I decided to have some friends over to give them (and myself) a real treat.... here's how:
Went to the central fish market of Athens (another post) visited my fish monger who did not have any but introduced to someone else who did...that's how it goes: We were 5 for dinner so figured 3 per person would be ample especially that we also had a main course after that.
Prawns ready to be put under the broiler

 Method:
-  Wash all 15 prawns well with fresh water and drain in a colander.
-  Using a pair of kitchen scissors cut each shell along the top till the tail.
-  Separate lightly the shell from the meat still keeping the shells on
-  Cut the "back" to get rid of all sand and black vein.
-  Wash, strain and place on a tray.
-  Add salt, freshly ground pepper, (some cumin powder, very optional) lemon and extra virgin olive oil to each and every prawn.
-  Place prawns (as in picture on the right)on a cookie sheet ready to insert under the broiler.
-  Get your broiler hot and ready.
-  When it is time to sit at table, broil 2½ minutes on one side.
-  Take out from oven and overturn each shrimp and insert under broiler for another 2½ minutes.
Note: Prawns become rubbery when over cooked.  When all the shell turns yellow, they are ready.

Sauce Suggestion:
-  3 Tbsp. good quality mayonnaise (better if home made).
-  3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard with honey.
-  1 Tbsp. Basamic Vinegar.
-  1 Tbsp. Lemon juice.
-  1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
-  1 Tbsp. Cognac (optional).
-  1 tsp. Lea & Perrins sauce (Worcestershire sauce).
-  1 tsp. smoked paprika.
-  Salt and freshly ground pepper.
Mix above very well till blended and creamy.

Serving suggestion:
-  Using a little ladle add in a zig-zag motion some sauce on the plate.
-  Place three prawns on top.
-  Sprinkle some finely chopped parsley on top of the prawns.

Enjoy!
Stelio

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bamia Mafroukeh--Ladies fingers with beef or lamg -Taste of Sudan.

S udan is the largest country in Africa. Lately there was a quarrel between the North and South (Juba). The reason: Oil. Chevron and other Petroleum companies found lots of Oil reserves in the South and so the fight started. I personally visited the village of Bentu, in the South during one of my visits to Chevron Oil Company in the South. As all countries, the Sudan also has its local foods. A very popular one is Molokhia which grows only in summer. Bamia, in Arabic, lady's fingers or internationally known as Okra can be readily found all year round. Bamia Mafroukeh is a delicious food eaten with the Sudanese bread called Kisra. The term Mafroukeh is act of breaking down the bamia when it well cooked to turn it into a thick, soup. There is special wooden utensil the Sudanese use. Ingredients: - 1 kg bamia Lady's fingers or Okra. - 1 kg beef or lamb bone free. - 1/2 kg fresh tomatoes cut in quarters. - 1 big onion roughly cut. - 6 cloves of garlic finely cut. - ...
Read more

Mistake recovery

My dear readers I have to announce my first mess up in this wonderful blog of mine. The dish I so elaborately wrote about regarding oven scalloped potatoes is called. Gratin Dauphinois and not Pommes Dauphines. Thanks
Read more

First Post (after a long time) January14th 2020 Pommes Dauphinoise

Image
A  most delicious common side dish for the Christmas Holidays, where fresh cream may be consumed without too much worry, is baked dish of sliced cream potatoes or culinarily the French would call  Pommes Dauphinoise. Please bear with me as it has been over 3 years I haven't blogged or used this program. Ingredient: - 1.4 kg of potatoes. - 500 ml full cream 35% - 500 ml full fat milk. - 2 cloves of garlic very finely cut. - some butter, salt and pepper to taste. Procedure: - Buy the potatoes as clean as possible. Peel and slice without washing into half inch slices. -  Mix sliced potatoes into a pan which can withstand the fire of the hob,all the milk and all the cream. Mix well. - Add the garlic. - Season with salt. pepper and nutmeg to taste. - Boil the potato mix till the potatoes are nearly soft. - At this point scatter a few pieces of butter around the pan and immediately transfer the pan into the oven till a nice color is obtained. 40 to 60 minut...
Read more