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The Bakedin Blog

Feast Your Eyes - Patrick, Sales Director

July 07, 2021

Feast Your Eyes - Patrick, Sales Director

For me starters should be a treat and Panko en-crusted crispy king prawns are a definite luxury. Served with a rich aioli and fresh chilli sauce there’s a perfect balance of punchy and delicate flavours.

Pasta alla Norma is one of my all-time favourite dishes. Easy enough to rustle up mid-week but when the best ingredients are used it makes an understated but incredibly delicious dinner party main. I’m sure there will be plenty of Italian grandmothers who will be livid at my interpretation of this classic Sicilian dish and for that I’m sorry (not sorry).

Crème Brulee, essentially a bowl of cold custard but somehow the combination of textures, flavours and the satisfying crack of the sugar elevates these humble ingredients to what is in my opinion the greatest....dessert….EVER!

Panko En-Crusted Crispy King Prawns

Breading and frying things is in my blood having been brought up on my Austrian grandfather’s Schnitzel which if not served at family gatherings there’s serious tension. If you can think of an ingredient that isn’t elevated by dipping in flour, egg, breadcrumbs and frying then put it on a postcard and send it to me and I will put that postcard straight in the bin whilst doing my patented eye roll.

Note from the ingredient weights that I forgot to weigh them so I'm just guessing.

You want enough flour, egg and breadcrumbs for the job at hand. Not too much that you’re left with waste but enough. Enough said? Once you master breading things you’ll never look back but be warned that things that are not breaded will soon become sad shells of what your mind once considered acceptable foodstuffs.

YOU WILL NEED

  • 100g - Panko breadcrumbs
  • 25g - Plain Flour
  • 2 Eggs
  • 250g - Raw King Prawns
  • 500g - Oil (rapeseed/sunflower/light olive oil)
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • 1 Lemon
  1. Carefully slice each prawns lengthwise to both remove any gunk but also it butterflies them slightly which improves the texture when cooked..
  2. Season with salt and pepper and squeeze the juice of around a quarter of the lemon on them and leave to marinate whilst you get your breading station set up.
  3. Put the flour, beaten egg and panko breadcrumbs in 3 separate bowls and get a spare plate ready.
  4. Dip each prawn in the flour then egg then breadcrumbs. Life changing tip to prevent breading your fingers is to use one hand for dredging the prawns in the flour and dropping into the egg then the other hand for swirling in the egg and dropping in the breadcrumbs and then back to the dry hand for the breadcrumbs and removing to the spare plate.
  5. Heat the oil in a deep pan or deep fryer (you can test with a piece of bread- it should sizzle and brown fairly quickly) and fry the prawns for a couple of minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and preferably leave to drain on a rack.
  6. Serve with slices of lemon and with whatever dips take your fancy- for this Mediterranean themed feast I went for a quick aioli (mayonnaise, crushed garlic and lemon juice) and homemade chilli sauce (just chopped red chilli with the seeds and membrane removed and extra virgin olive oil) but they also work incredibly well with sriracha, BBQ sauce, tomato chutney, ketchup manis, katsu curry sauce, sweet and sour...the limit is your imagination).

Pasta alla Norma

I love that Italians are so passionate (a bit of an overused word but I think it applies to Italians and food) and protective about the heritage of their cuisine but I also quite like being a bit rebellious and breaking the rules.

I haven’t been arrested since my roller-blading days in my youth so now I’ve settled down and have a mortgage and a family just taking a classic Sicilian pasta dish and changing it to the point that an Italian would get a little bit annoyed makes me feel a bit naughty.

I use parmesan instead of the traditional ricotta salata, change whichever pasta shape I use depending on the weather and probably do all sorts of things that would get me a sharp smack on the head with a wooden spoon by an Italian nonna.

YOU WILL NEED

  • 2 Aubergines
  • 1 x 400g tinned Italian plum tomatoes (I recommend San Marzano but any brand will do)
  • 200g dried or 300g of fresh pasta (spaghetti or shapes it's up to you!)
  • An ungodly amount of Parmesan
  • Chilli Flakes - as much as your heart desires!
  • 4 Garlic cloves - sliced
  • 20g - Fresh Basil
  • 2tbsp - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Salt & Pepper to season
  1. Preheat your oven to 220oc fan
  2. Shave a few strips lengthwise off each aubergine (to create a zebra effect and slice into circles around 1.5cm thick. Season with too much pepper and some sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Lay the slices out on a lined baking tray and bake for around 25mins
  3. Whilst your aubergines are roasting, gently fry your garlic and dried chilli flakes for a few seconds being careful not to over brown the garlic. Add your tin tomatoes (either 1 or 2 tins depending on how saucey you like your pasta. I generally go for 1 but a change is as good as a holiday). Add salt and pepper to taste and gently bubble away for around the same time as your aubergines are cooking. Some recipes use fresh tomatoes, some cook the sauce until it is reduced and sweet whilst others just for a few minutes so it’s more fresh and tart. Don’t let anyone judge your tomato sauce, you do you.
  4. Cook your pasta according to the instructions on the pack but try and keep it al dente or you might push the Italians over the edge.
  5. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce and add in an ungodly amount of parmesan but keep another ridiculous pile aside for sprinkling on top (or just use however much you like). Mix in half of the basil too.
  6. Divide between bowls and top with the aubergine, pushing a few pieces into the pasta but leaving some on top to stay crispy. Top with the rest of your parmesan and basil. Serve with some fresh bread and google whether Italians eat bread with pasta whilst singing God Save the Queen.

Crème Brûlée

I’m an experimental chef and rarely use recipes and if I do then I like to tinker with them to the point that I can’t remember what I did so can rarely recreate them if they’re successful. However, I don’t think Crème Brûlée is the sort of thing you mess with. It doesn’t need to be flavoured with raspberry or ginger and it’s too much effort to risk it failing because you’ve messed with the quantities or cooking times.

This recipe from Angela Nilsen is a winner. Top tip is to use really good eggs. I love Burford Browns with their deep golden yolks. You can save the egg whites to make an egg white omelette the next day and hit the gym to burn off this feast….or just think “In for a penny, in for a pound” and whip up some meringues!

GET THE RECIPE

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