Garlic Prawns with Lemon Pilaf WHB #101

The proven health benefits of garlic, or the herbal "wonder drug", certainly outweigh the after effects of indulging in a meal, heavily laced with garlic, although the people around you the next day may not agree. The dreaded "garlic breath" is the downside, and although you may not smell it yourself, a sure sign that you have this affliction is your co-workers are pinching their nostrils whilst talking to you, or worse still, sending you messages via email rather than coming within 10 feet of you. But hey! Garlic is one of the best anti-oxidants you could eat. It is known to help fight off the common cold, treat severe acne, reduce cholesterol levels and even repel mosquitoes. Although after eating this dish, I think it repels much more than the annoying mozzie, friends and family included. If you do find somebody nice enough to engage in a face to face conversation with you, then it's a sure bet that they obviously had a "garlic fest" the night before as well. Adding parsley towards the end of cooking is known to help, but not disguise the problem.

Sometimes it's a good thing to be left alone, I say!

Ingredients

Garlic Prawns
12 green prawns
6 cloves garlic
50g butter
60ml Brandy
Salt & pepper
150ml Cream thick
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon Parsley chopped

Rice Pilaf
1 cup Basmati rice
30g Butter
2 Shallots fine cut
1 cm Cinnamon
1 cardamom green pod bruised
1 Bay leaf
2 cups White chicken stock
3 strands Saffron
Lemon zest

Method

Rice Pilaf
Saute shallots in butter. Add rice and saute on low heat until glassy.
Add cinnamon, bay leaf and cardamom. Pour in hot chicken stock and put heat to lowest setting on your stove top, add saffron and whack a lid on. Leave 15 mins.
Serve rice pilaf with a little lemon zest.

Garlic Prawns
Melt butter gently in a fry pan on a slow heat till foaming and just nut brown. Add chopped garlic, stir for 20 seconds, then add whole prawns (de shelled) and when they have just turned red, bump up heat and pour in the brandy. Fold in the cream, lemon juice and parsley and take off heat. Place prawns on a plate. Return pan with sauce to heat and reduce, checking for seasoning and serve poured over the prawns, rice pilaf to the side, the whole lot garnished with chopped parsley.

This week's host for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging is Myriam from Once Upon a Tart. Only a few short weeks until the 2 year anniversary of this event, and I can't wait to hear what the theme for this auspicious occasion will be.