I cooked this for dinner the other night and Don was so amazed with it. Something I take pleasure in especially when I hear him say, “Wow!”, multiple times! I wouldn’t say I’m the greatest chef ever. I don’t have that much industry experience per se, but I like to experiment, try to re-create and innovate from time to time. Some come out as great successes and some are total flops! This time, it was a definite win.
I would usually clean, fabricate and marinate meats and seafood right after we buy them in the market. Our meals are pre-planned for at least a week. Then I come up with other meals using whatever food is left in the fridge for the succeeding week or until we go back to the market.
Preparing your ingredients is important. You don’t want to go around the kitchen looking for that one ingredient you are missing.
This recipe is only good for 2 people, but you can multiply the recipe as needed. I hope you enjoy this meal like we have. Happy cooking!
Prawns Thermidor
Ingredients
- 12 Prawns, medium-sized or bigger, deveined, cleaned and butterflied
- 15g Butter, unsalted
- 1Tbsp Flour
- 2Tbsp White Onions, chopped
- 1Tbsp Garlic, minced
- 1Tbsp Celery, chopped
- 1Tbsp Capsicum, chopped
- Olive Oil, as needed
- ½ cup Seafood Stock
- ½ cup Milk or Cooking Cream
- pinch Nutmeg
- Cheddar Cheese, grated, as needed
- Mozzarella Cheese, grated, as needed
- Parmesan Cheese, grated, as needed
- Cayenne Pepper, as needed
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions
- In a skillet, melt butter and mix in flour to make roux. Add a little more flour if roux is sticky or wet. It should come together and look like soft clay. Set aside.
- In the same skillet, saute onions, garlic, celery and capsicum until caramelized.
- Put the roux back in the skillet then add the seafood stock and stir continuously using a wire whisk. This will immediately thicken.
- Add in the milk/cream and continue stirring until there are no more lumps. Let it simmer until it thickens.
- Add the cheeses if using. This will also help thicken the sauce.
- Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. The sauce should not be flowy. If so, make more roux and add it in. Set aside to cool a bit.
- Lay the butterflied prawns in a baking sheet. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on each piece. Then drizzle with olive oil so they will not dry out.
- Put this inside the oven at 350F for about 3-5 minutes, only until half cooked. {I didn’t even need to preheat the oven, it turned pink in 3 minutes.}
- Take it out of the oven and spoon the thickened sauce on top of each prawn.
- Top each prawn with more mozzarella or cheddar cheese.
- Finish by sprinkling cayenne pepper on each prawn.
- Using the broiler setting of the oven, bake these for 4-5 minutes or until fully cooked through and cheese has caramelized.
- Remove from the oven and plate! Enjoy! 🙂
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