A favourite Recipe and other stuff

First of all, back to the 30 day thing. I envisaged I would rush through these, but since the 30 days of submission took me ages, I can't imagine why! Next on the list is a Favourite recipe. 

I love to cook, but prefer to cook for a person or people who appreciate the time and effort that goes in. Sometimes though you need to be able to prepare something tasty, and kind of special but you either have little time, or energy or maybe both. 

A couple of Christmas's ago I asked my son for the Jamie Oliver 30 minute recipe book and it has been a great addition to my library. I have to say that the recipes take longer than 30 minutes. Perhaps if you are Jamie and you have people to put all the ingredients into bowls etc you can do so. But as far as I am concerned a bit more time to cook a good meal is worth it. 

This recipe introduced my son to the joys of Thai food. Since then he has travelled and tried lots of cuisine. I have also cooked it for the wider family. It goes down well. 

The ingredients are:

• 2 stalks of lemongrass
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Optional: 4 kaffir lime leaves
• A bunch of fresh coriander
• 2 jarred red peppers in oil
• 1 heaped tsp tomato puree
• 1tbsp fish sauce
• 2tbsp soy sauce
• 1tsp sesame oil
• 2cm (¾in) piece of fresh ginger
• 8 large unpeeled raw tiger prawns
• 200g (7oz) sugar snap peas
• 220g (7½oz) small cooked prawns
• 1 x 400g tin of coconut milk
• 2 limes, to serve
• 1 bag of prawn crackers, to serve

Put a frying pan on a medium heat. Trim the ends and tough outer leaves of the lemongrass stalks, bash up the stalks with the side of a knife, then put into a food processor with 1 fresh red chilli (stalk removed), 2 peeled cloves of garlic, 4 lime leaves, a bunch of coriander, 2 jarred red peppers, 1 heaped tsp tomato purée, 1tbsp fish sauce, 2tbsp soy sauce and 1tsp sesame oil. Peel and add 2cm (¾in) fresh ginger. 

Blitz to a paste - you might need to stop and use a spatula to scrape down the sides so it all gets whizzed up. Drizzle some olive oil into the hot frying pan and add the unpeeled raw tiger prawns. Fry for around 1 minute, then add 1tbsp of the curry paste and fry for 1 more minute.

Tip into an ovenproof dish and put into the oven on the top shelf for about 8 to 10 minutes. Put the pan you cooked the prawns in back over a medium heat.

Drizzle in a little olive oil, then add the sugar snap peas, then the small prawns. Spoon in the rest of the curry paste, and stir and fry for a minute or two before adding the coconut milk. Stir as it melts down, then leave to simmer on a medium to low heat.

The recipe also includes jasmine rice and a cucumber salad (which I have made) and a papayer platter (which I have).  

You can find the full recipe here 

Thanks everyone for the comments on my last couple of posts. I was really worried when on Thursday, I discovered hubby had read my blog. Thursday  was a difficult enough day, since it was my last day at work and discovering my carelessness was really all I needed. My hunch was right though. He read just the page that was showing to view and read no further. While he was upset at seeing the content in black and white in front of him, he said he had suspected the kinds of things I was doing with Sir. He was also jealous that I am not in that kind of relationship with him.

We have tried to talk things through, but he is struggling with everything he has now discovered and he doesn't know what he wants. On one hand he still loves and cares for me, on the other he finds my need to have my needs met elsewhere a struggle. I in turn am unable to fully articulate why that is.

He continues to spend most of his time away from home and, given that I have more time on my hands I am in the process of looking at new activities that I can fill my time with. I don't know what will happen in the future, but for now the blog stays and it stays open to all. 

I have nothing to hide from him any more.