Sunday, March 22, 2009
Salmon and Prawns with Stir-Fried Vegetables
Whenever I'm too lazy to cook, we have something from my imaginary book of quick dinners. During the winter the main staple tended to be bangers and mash, which is a brilliant winter warmer that can be made quickly. The one thing to remember is to make biggish batches of gravy when you've got the time and freeze them for when you don't. But yesterday was a bright sunny day and we were really not in the mood for winter food. So what to do?Springtime quickies are a bit more difficult to come up with. It's not hot enough for the summer favourites of salad or sushi and too warm for stews and the like. But there is a way out...fish! It's quick to prepare (I promise, scaling gets easier with practice) and even quicker to cook. And served with some super fast stir-fried vegetables, it makes a lovely spring time dinner in about 20 minutes.
2 salmon fillets, cleaned (about 150g each)
250 g of prawns
a medley of your favourite vegetables, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, carrots and baby corn)
½ onion, sliced lengthwise
1 clove of garlic, sliced
¼ lemon, zest only
¼ tsp stock granules
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
oil for the pans
Pat the salmon and the prawns dry using a paper towel. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Blanch those vegetables that may not get tender enough simply through stir-frying. I gave the whole baby carrots 5 minutes, the asparagus 3 and the broccoli 2, but this step depends entirely on your taste and the vegetables you use. When the vegetables are done, remove them from the water, drain and refresh in cold water to stop them cooking in their own steam.
Keep the veggie water boiling to reduce it, this will be the base of a little bit of sauce later.
Heat some oil in two frying pans, one over medium high, one over medium low heat.
Add the salmon fillets to the hotter pan, skin side down. Fry without disturbing (too much moving and prodding will prevent the skin from going crispy) for about 3 to 4 minutes.
The other pan is for your vegetables. Add the onion and fry for a minute. Then add the garlic and fry together for another minute. As my mushrooms wanted high heat, I then removed the onion/garlic mix from the pan, turned up the heat and added some more oil. I then fried the quartered mushrooms without too much stirring until they were golden brown, about 4 minutes. Return the heat to medium low.
Turn the salmon fillets over and, once again, fry without disturbing for about 3 minutes.
Add all the remaining vegetables to the mushrooms along with the garlic, onion and lemon zest and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Then add some of your reduced vegetable water along with the stock granules. Toss to coat the vegetables. Add the butter and toss some more. You should have a rich, thick glaze coating your vegetables. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
When the salmon is crispy, turn it over one last time and move it to one side of the pan. Then add the prawns to the pan. Fry on both sides until pink and slightly crispy.
When all is done, arrange your vegetables on a plate, add the salmon and throw the prawns on top. Drizzle with any pan juices you fancy.
Christine at 2:00 pm
