King Prawns With Honey Garlic Sauce and Pulled Pork Burritos

What's on the Menu this weekend?

When I started this I thought I would only share with you the successful meals that I made - but is that what it is all about? No everything you make is not going to be great - well perhaps it is - but not in your eyes.

Last night's meal was an example. I am sure to some it would have been perfectly OK - but to me it wasn't what I was hoping it was going to be. It was called "Slow-Roasted Sicilian Style Lamb". The picture made me salivate - seemed simple to prepare - but it turned out to be a "Manu meal" "it was not to my liking". Perhaps the words "slow cooked lamb" gave the impression that the meat would fall apart. Perhaps it was that I used a leg instead of a shoulder of lamb (my butcher friend told me that it would be perfectly ok).

The flavours were there - but the lamb was chewy. Next time I will do it differently. It was a one pot meal - consisting of the boned lamb, a quartered red onion, sage, parsley, garlic, cannellini beans, and white wine. This was all coated in fresh breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.

Into the oven for 2 hours! After 45 minutes you were to add quartered tomatoes. I basted every 30 minutes - but still it was dry and chewy. Perhaps next time leave off the crust and bake for longer (perhaps 3-4 hours) then add the crust during the last 30 minutes? Anyway needless to say we have lots of leftovers, either the dog will fare well or I will have to come up with a way of turning it all into a pizza topping!

So let's get to successes - Friday night's meal was a winner!

King Prawns with Honey and Garlic Sauce

1 kg green prawns - I used beautiful Tiger Prawns
4 tsp light soy sauce
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tsp sesame oil

Combine the soy, eggs and oil to make your batter. Add the prawns and make sure they are well coated.

To make the sauce combine
4 tsp honey
4 tbs shaoxing wine
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp light soy

Heat some oil on medium high heat (I used rice bran oil) in a wok. Deep fry the prawns 4 at a time for about 1 minute, or until opaque. Drain on a paper towel while cooking the rest.

Drain out the oil and wipe the wok out with a paper towel.

Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and simmer for a couple of minutes, until thickened slightly.

Add the prawns and stir fry for about 30 seconds, or until heated through.

Serve with steamed Jasmine Rice and garnished with toasted sesame seeds.

YUM!!

Now to tonight's meal - Pulled Pork Burritos and a Light Vanilla Panna Cotta with Mandarin Salad for dessert

Really simple meal - into the crock pot I put

1 onion, cut into wedges,
garlic
400 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp oregano leaves
pinch of dried chilli flakes

Then I put a whole pork roast in (with the skin and excess fat removed) - made sure the meat was covered in sauce - put the lid on and walked away.

The hardest part of this meal will be shredding it with 2 forks when it is cooked.

When the meat is shredded I will add some red kidney beans and serve the meat wrapped in a tortilla with sour cream and avocado (I am sure the "darlings" will add cheese too - but really I don't think it is needed. Who said burritos had to be made with mince? In fact authentic burritos are not made with mince at all. While I was living in California my favourite Mexican Taco stand "Super Tacqueria" made THE BEST Chilli Verde Burritos - I still crave those 20 years on! I have my own version that I make, but decided to go for the red pulled pork today. Will let you know later how it turns out. Smells great at the moment!