Thursday, January 10, 2013

Prawn Recipes and Holidaying in Paradise at Home


As for Prawns Recipes these BBQ Prawns are brilliant.  If you need the recipe in a hurry, scroll down.

Hello Beach Dwellers
I've been doing a little beach dwelling of my own this holiday season.  The great thing about living in paradise is that a holiday at home is quite an enjoyable prospect.  Of course we had little choice, due to the car accident we had on the door step of Christmas. Luckily we had decided to stay home anyway.  It kind of reminds me how the water lilies for my wedding bouquet got lost in transit and no one gave a rats, because it was Christmas. It was the same with the car. As for the flowers, I settled for frangipani and was fine with it, but my mum was a little more perplexed. As for the car, the assessors weren't interested in looking at it 'til January.  Any how after that nasty beginning to Christmas, the only way was up and that's what happened, things got better. Being a positive person I think the car crash had a silver lining, it was a write off, so we updated our model  Here's the new girl....she's a work horse, but owing to her safety features her insurance was cheaper than for the older model of the same car. So that has to be good.

As for the holiday, you know we spent a few nights on grandpa's yacht, with great food and nice wine.  She was a lovely vintage old thing, so I enjoyed the experience very much.



We spend loads of time at the yacht club pool.  This is actually my yacht club....it's a little too fancy for Mr Beach House, he says.  I am a social member and only joined because it's the most affordable pool we'll ever have.  That membership fee has come into its own with all the hot Sydney weather and at about a quarter of the yearly running costs of a domestic pool and the fact I have access to good coffee and food, I think it's a good investment.


So as the new year clicked around we woke up and I was already in trouble, a few hours in.  Guess who forgot to buy bread for a public holiday?  It was a 'let them eat cake' moment, but luckily this Marie Antoinette had some flour and was able to whip up some French crepes for breakfast in lieu.


I have been doing lots of walking and in such enjoyable environs, I find it easy to walk up hill.  The big Beach House Brat refuses to go into the creche at the gym, so I have been walking and talking with him most days, which has been lovely.  He is allowed to talk about computer games for the first 10 minutes and then we move to other more meaningful subjects, like bullies, teachers, friends, sport and family.  It's great to know what he thinks.


Some times I can get away on my own and then I love to take loads of gorgeous photos of houses.  These are two of the first built in Palm Beach.  Did you know that the first subdivision of land in Palm Beach was a complete failure in the early part of last century and not one block sold?  It is now some of the most expensive real estate in Australia, with land value alone, being in the millions.


This is another favourite in Palm Beach, with her French Provincial features


I am also partial to the odd vintage car.  We did toy with the idea of something like this as a replacement, but the practicalities won out.  Must be too many break downs for both of us in the 70's, which made us wiser than to buy trouble. 


I also walked from Palm Beach to Whale Beach.  I posted on my face book that I got 'married down there'. One funny comment in response, was that 'it had been up hill ever since', naughty but somewhat true.


I walked Bilgola too.  My father's ashes are here and it is very special to me.


Even if there are blue bottles


My little one is full of personality and asked 
"why are blue bottles blue and not pink?"  Good question, but one I couldn't answer.


I also loved this Bilgola Beach House. 



When it got really, hot we flung open the Beach House doors to try and cool down but when it's still 37C / 100F at 10pm at night nothing works.  You just have to suck it up.  We don't even own a fan...it went rusty and I threw it out.  We generally don't need one living on the coast, but each Summer there are a few days that the house cannot cope.


Here's me in complete heat stress


And when that happens, the only thing is to sit around and read.  This book turned up on the door step for Christmas, sent from the lovely Malcolm in Paris.  I am learning lots about English / French relations starting in 1066 and loving it. Thanks Malcolm


The true story about school holidays is that the fighting never stops.  Call me a bad parent, but when we are home, the best way to stop it, is to let them onto their respective screens.  Best baby sitter ever.


And finally some more food, because it wouldn't be a holiday without lots of it.  We went to see the fireworks on Pittwater for New Years Eve, on a friend's yacht and this was our contribution to the nibbles.  It is from the Avalon Food Cook Book, which has sold out by the way.  We sold 3000 copies in 5 weeks and have ordered another print run of 3000 if you missed out.  I was there when these prawns were shot for the cook book and managed to eat a couple, so I knew they were good.  And they are sooooo good. My friend Natasha submitted them and she is a fabulous cook and home maker.  They were a smash hit on the boat too, so I had to share and encourage you to buy a copy of  Avalon Food.  If you don't have the cook book, you really should order one.  The book is full of easy but fabulous family and restaurant dishes, which would be a great addition to your cook book library.  Follow the links here to order.  There are still some available at the stores listed on that link, but if you want to order online, I think they will be available in February.  

I changed the recipe  as Mr Beach House is not a fan of chilli.  I reduced it, as we aim to please here, so I shall give you my version.  If you want Natasha's version and all the other fabulous recipes, then you'll have to buy the book

BBQ Prawns with Chilli Lime Salt
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 lime, finely grated zest plus juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 grated tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar
1 long red chilli, seeds removed and diced
1 heaped  teaspoon fresh grated ginger
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1kg green prawns peeled with the tails intact.

Chilli Lime Salt
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt ( I used table)

1 extra lime cut into small wedges to serve

Combine oil, lime juice, (the zest is used for the salt) fish sauce, palm sugar, chilli, ginger and garlic in a large bowl.
Add the prawns and toss to coat.  Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  

Chilli Lime Salt
Place the chilli flakes, caster sugar, salt and lime zest into a small kitchen whiz, or a mortar and pestle (which is what I used) blend or grind to form a course powder.  Don't worry about getting to too fine. And it was quite damp but was fine for sprinkling.

Preheat a BBQ or heavy cast iron pan to a medium to high heat. Grill prawns until they turn orange all over. Approx 2 minutes each side.

Serve with chilli lime salt to sprinkle and wedges of lime to squeeze.

Serves 4-6 as an appetiser.

Most of all enjoy.



For more recipes go here.
Today I am linked up here

24 comments :

  1. Sounds like you've had an enjoyable holiday Carolyn, except for the heat. I didn't realise you'd been in a car accident, I am so glad you are all okay :)
    Cas x

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  2. yumm!!! Love prawns, but growing up here where the best prawns in Australia come from who could not love them!
    Take care in the heat- it is a killer!

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  3. It wouldn't be an Aussie summer with prawns! I just shared a crayfish and prawn cocktail recipe I made on Xmas Eve - delicious if a little indulgent :)

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  4. the prawns sound so yummy!
    i love your food styling.
    x

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  5. I so enjoyed and smiled all the time with what you wrote today. I love your optimism and all your comments about the kids and hubby!AriadnefromGreece!

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  6. Oh yum that recipe looks delicious, and I think that yacht club sounds like a great investment too. visiting from fybf

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  7. Gorgeous blog post, very enjoyable to read.
    Loving prawns in summer x

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  8. Why ARE blue bottles blue and not pink??!
    Those prawns look divine!

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  9. Oh yum! Those prawns look great. So does the Kombi :)

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  10. Prawns are favorite here and these look delicious. Love the shot of the waves and the cliff and your little ones always steal the show. Sooo cute!

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  11. Who's ready for some serious baking and cooking? Welcome to a new Linky Party --Weekend Kitchen
Creations at www.weekendkitchencreations.blogspot.com. Please join us, share your delicious creations and sign up for reminders for the next WKC.

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  12. Beautiful post and prawn recipes I must try! The only challenge now is I want to go back on holiday!

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  13. I think I was the naughty commenter......my bad ;O)
    Gosh, I love those beach houses.
    We're in for another hot one today!
    Tania xx

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  14. Kombi van, prawns and french crepes - LOVE! But I'm not much of a beach person *gasps* I know, how very un-Australian.

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  15. Sounds like you are having a wonderful 'staycation' Carolyn. Anyway when you live by the beach in a beautiful part of the world like we do - who needs to go away anyway?! Those prawns look delicious - just perfect for this time of year. Love that Bilgola house .. so much character - your blog is full of great inspiration for me as you can see from my post today!

    Melissah

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  16. Great post, Caro. I love that house in Bilgola too. It belongs to a friend of mine. They have it listed with an agency so it's used in so many TV commercials and every time I open a magazine it seems to be featured on one of the pages for yet another ad. I think the ad agencies see it as being your run-of-the-mill typical Aussie home - little do they realise the real estate it's sitting on! xx

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  17. Slurp - lovely recipe. Big thumbs up for the book here too. Selling 3000 is fantastic, you know. The excellent healthy banana bread I posted gets 15 - 25 hits a day. Quite right.

    I find summer in Sydney like being on holiday. Not today mind you, I just posted some very grey pictures of today's pathetic exercise attempts over on the Mum's Diet blog.

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  18. Wow, wow! Love the chili lime salt. It really sets these prawns apart. My hubby would love them. Would love for you to share on Thursdays Treasures http://fooddonelight.com/thursdays-treasures-week-68/

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  19. Wow, that looks so good! Prawns are high on my favourites list... these will be whipped up today! Thank you! (lovely beach house, by the way... despite the horrid heat!)

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  20. I can't wait to try that wonderful recipe...I do love the shrimp anything...loved all the beach pictures, that last one of the white house, wow what a beauty, so vintage and love the porch...thanks for sharing..I am a new follower of yours and would love for you to come for a visit...I will be back again

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  21. Hi Carolyn,
    Hope you had a lovely summer break. I've been catching up on some blog reading this morning. Love all your photos, and those prawns look delicious. Right up my foodie alley. Will be giving them a try.
    Cheers Kylie xx

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