Linguine with Salmon Cajun and Prawns au naturale
History:
I think a little explanation is in order, regarding the use of packeted cheese sauce. I'm a huge fan of making ingredients from scratch, but Yx and I experimented with cajun cheese sauce with absolutely no success at all! After spending half an hour in the kitchen with milk, parmesan and olive oil, we ended up with a congealed gunk that looked (and smelt) like vomit. This dish was made today as a little snack, to test out the packeted cheese sauce. One word of warning - beware of hungry Brownies (or any other dog for that matter) gobbling up salmon and linguine!
Ingredients:
I think a little explanation is in order, regarding the use of packeted cheese sauce. I'm a huge fan of making ingredients from scratch, but Yx and I experimented with cajun cheese sauce with absolutely no success at all! After spending half an hour in the kitchen with milk, parmesan and olive oil, we ended up with a congealed gunk that looked (and smelt) like vomit. This dish was made today as a little snack, to test out the packeted cheese sauce. One word of warning - beware of hungry Brownies (or any other dog for that matter) gobbling up salmon and linguine!
Ingredients:
- Salmon fillet
- White wine
- Linguine pasta
- Cheese sauce / cajun - packeted
- Large prawns
- Butter
- Salt & Pepper
- Dried tarragon
- Olive oil
- For the salmon - rinse the fillet and rub with rock salt, then marinate with full strength white wine for half an hour at least. I did this one overnight, and it was great! Quickly poach the salmon in boiling salted water, cool and tear up into flakes.
- For the linguine - Bring a pot of salt, water and olive oil to a rapid boil, then add the pasta. Cook for 20 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Sieve out the pasta, cool under tap water, and toss with a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
- For the cajun cheese sauce - Follow instructions on packet. Milk is required for most instant packet formulas.
- For the Prawns au naturale - use only very, very, very fresh prawns for this dish, since no marinate is used at all for the prawns! Remove the shell, but leave the head and tail on. Keep the whiskers on especially - these will char very nicely in the pan to produce delightful prawn-ey smells. Slit the prawn's body part-way down the middle (do not end up cutting it into 2!) and remove the innards. To cook, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a shallow saucepan, throw in a pinch of salt (roughly 1/2 teaspoon) and a few twists of ground peppers. Arrange the prawns in the saucepan in a nice curved shape, and sear each side for 2 minutes. The 2 sides of the pranws will fan out nicely while cooking, and finally sear the fanned-out portion (now the top of the prawn) for a minute or 2 till just that wee bit brown.
- Putting it all together - toss in the salmon flakes, cajun cheese sauce and linguine in a plate, toss well together, then sprinkle generously with dried tarragon over the top to add some colour and taste. Arrange the cooked prawns by the side, and serve - ideally with a chilled glass of blanc.
