Written by Karen Watts
Photography by Babble
Welcome to the latest Kalliopi Kitchen. With all things creative, some times we get blocked. Writer’s block has been well documented but the drying up of creative juices occurs in cooking too. Any writer who has lain awake all night trying to find the perfect opening sentence, any visual artist who cannot seem to take the vision from inside his head and translate it to his chosen medium can tell you that you simply cannot force things. When this happens culinarily the best thing to do is just eat out. A lot. Forcing creative cooking can only result in lacklustre food at best, disastrous dinners at worst.
The past few months I have been in such a slump. No desire to cook, let alone invent new recipes. No waking up in the middle of the night with the perfect lines in my head that just have to be written down right then in case they are lost by the morning.
During this time Rodos has experienced the mildest of Oktobers – no rain, temperatures well above normal for the time of year, clear skies and not a hint of “Autumn” in the air. And, best of all, my feeling for food is back.
Prawns & Shrimps
112 gr Flour
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
120 ml Chilled Water
20 Medium Sized Fresh Prawns, de-headed and peeled but with the tails left on
Corn Oil for Deep Frying
300 ml Fish Stock, preferably home made (or boil up the Prawn Shells)
42 gr Butter
42 gr Flour
1 Lemon, juiced
120 ml Cream
Cayenne Pepper
450 gr peeled Shrimps, frozen is fine, fresh is better
2 Dried Truffles or Ceps, chopped
2 Medium Sized Mushrooms, cut into 8ths
A Generous Handful of Sliced Bamboo Shoots, drained
Sweet Paprika
Steamed Rice to Serve
Make a batter with the flour, eggs, olive oil and water. Immerse the prawns in the batter, cover and set aside.
Fry the butter and the flour together and cook stirring for one minute. Add the fish stock and stir constantly till it boils. Add the lemon juice, cream and a pinch of Cayenne. Turn the heat down and add the shrimps, ceps or truffles, mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Simmer, stirring occasionally while you heat your oil. When the oil is hot enough – drop a little of the batter in, it should rise to the surface and be crispy in about 30 seconds, deep fry the prawns.
Serve the sauce on the side of the rice topped with the crunchy battered prawns. Sprinkle with sweet paprika.
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