Hello to all,
As the post from this Wednesday felt a bit philosophical, and a bit sad to me, i decide to do another post this one being a recipe, and the recipe i choose to share this time is Shrimp/Prawns Stroganoff.
The tittle fusion cuisine, refers to using original techniques from the origin of the dish, using new elements present on the country the "old-new" recipe is being done, or so combining both to come up with a third one.
Originally Stroganoff is a Russian recipe created in 1861, and it was beef cubes browned on a frying pan, finalized by bouillon(broth) and mustard with a little touch of sour cream. with the fall of the Russian empire the dish gained a lot of popularity around the globe, and as it went around "suffered" variations from its original recipes. One of the countries that came to be a largely known Stroganoff eating country is my very own BRAZIL.
Therefore the recipe presented to thee on this blog is Brazilian!
Now in Brazil we have some variations to the dish such as chicken and prawns, chicken being the most affordable one has definitely the top rank of most popular, but i decided to do the prawns/shrimp recipe over here.
For 3-4 people u'll need:
600gr of prawns or shrimp
400gr of heavy whipping cream
1 onion and a couple of garlic cloves chopped fine
150 gr of tomato paste(or ketchup if u like the sweetness)
100gr of cream cheese
dash of Worcestershire sauce
juice of one lemon
half bunch of Italian parsley chopped
1 tbs of brandy
olive oil
salt & pepper
Now if u bought them prawns "dirty"(which means with the shelf), 1 kg makes for around 500-600 gr of prawns itself, and u can prepare some broth to add on flavor to the dish, and also save the broth to make other dishes later on, u can freeze the broth in ice cubes, to make it easier to use it later. To make the broth start by peeling them and once peeled, fry the shelves on olive oil with a little bit of the onions and salt, add water and let it reach boil, then bring the broth to a simmer for another 10 min or so.
Season the prawns with lemon juice, salt and pepper, fry them on a very hot pot with olive oil, onions and garlic for a couple of minutes, add the brandy and let the alcohol evaporate for another minute,the brandy will add up to the flavor of the dish, and if it catches on fire, don't worry but keep your face away from the pot when adding that (u don't want to loose your eyebrows right?! hehe).
After that add the heavy cream, a ladle of prawns broth (if u made some, if not just a bit of water will do), the Worcestershire sauce and the tomato paste or ketchup (in Brazil is more common to just use ketchup, particularly i like the ketchup cuz it brings out a bit of sweetness to the dish), let it cook on simmering fire for a few minutes to reduce it a bit, and finalize it with the cream cheese and chopped parsley, saving a bit of the parsley for the decoration of the dish. U don't have to wait much just stir to incorporate and dissolve the cream cheese well. Check for salt and pepper, add some if needed, and dig in.
In Brazil we serve it with plain white rice, or potatoes either fried, roasted or rosti, if u find big potatoes my opinion is for u to roast them whole with skin and all, once soft, cut a "lid" on them and scrape a bit of the inside to make room for the Stroganoff, place a bit of butter mixed with some chives inside the potato and pour the prawns with the sauce inside, eat it out of it... uhhhhh delish hehe!
We've come to the end of this recipe, remember to enjoy it, while u do it, put on some music and have some wine, it will enhance the experience, at least that's what i can say for myself!
cheers everybody!
