Vietnamese Prawns & Glass Noodles Salad

Dressing:


1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
50ml lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 chilli, finely minced
1/2 tsp finely minced garlic

• To make the dressing, simply combine all the ingredients together.  Extra dressing can be stored in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator for about a week.

Salad:

200g glass noodles (also known as bean thread or cellophane noodles)
2 tomatoes, cut into cubes
400g cooked prawns, shelled and deveined
1 cucumber, cut into cubes
coriander leaves, chopped
3 tbsp dried shrimps, washed and soaked
roasted peanuts (chopped)

• Marinate the prawns in the dressing.
• Meanwhile soak the glass noodles until soft.  Then quickly boil for a few minutes.  Plunge the noodles into cold water and drain before use. Cut the noodles into shorter lengths if desired.
• In a frying pan without oil, lightly toast the dried shrimps. 
• In a large mixing bowl, toss all the ingredients together with the dressing.  Sprinkle some chopped peanuts over the salad before serving.

Lemon Cake

Ingredients:

125g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
150g self-raising flour
40g almond meal
3 eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (I used Meyer lemons)
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to moderate (about 160 degrees C).  Grease a loaf pan; line base with baking paper.
• Sift flour and almond meal together.  Set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Add in eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined between additions. Then add in orange zest and vanilla extract.
• Fold in flour and almond meal mixture alternately with the lemon juice, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Stir until just combined.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for about 45 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.
• Leave the cake in the pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

Note:

Meyer lemon is believed to be an orange/lemon hybrid, which has rounded, thin-skinned yellow/orange fruit, with sweeter and less acidic juice than most other varieties of lemon.

Spaghetti With Creamy Garlic Prawns

Ingredients:

400g spaghetti
1kg prawns, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp olive oil
20g butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup thickened cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• Cook spaghetti according the instructions on the packet.
• While spaghetti is cooking, heat oil and butter in a saucepan.  Add garlic and stir over low heat for about 1 minute.  Add in prawns and cook until prawns changed colour.  Remove prawns and set aside.
• Add white wine to the saucepan and bring to the boil.  Then add in cream and bring back to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until sauce begins to thicken.
• Return prawns to saucepan and add salt and pepper. Simmer for a minute.  Add in cooked spaghetti and basil leaves. 
• Serve warm.