For your enjoyment…

Are you like me on weekends or special holidays or when you have guests? On those occasions I like to cook something very special, not the usual fare. Then I’m either spoilt for choice or nothing occurs to me. If even the most intensive search on the internet comes to nothing, or leafing through piles of cookbooks fails to offer a solution, try out our Recipe of the Month! 

From chefs of the Schick restaurants in Vienna, every month there will be a new, seasonal recipe from Austrian-Spanish or Viennese cuisine for you to cook and enjoy at home!

For November 2011 – recipe by Johannes Reiser – Chef in the Restaurant “Das Schick”:

King Prawns with Ginger and Mango
atop Viennese escargot estofado and beluga lentils,
with Arbequina olive oil polenta

Ingredients for 4 persons:
8 king prawns = approx. 1 kg
50 g ginger, peeled
1 ripe mango
1 lime
olive oil
sea salt, freshly ground
pepper, freshly ground

Estofado:
16 escargot (e.g., from Gugumuck www.wienerschnecke.at)
200 g beluga lentils
100 g coloured peppers, cubed
2 shallots
olive oil
sherry vinegar
1 clove garlic
1/4 l seasoned vegetable stock or bouillon
125 g crème fraiche
thyme, tarragon

Polenta:
100 g polenta
125 g Arbequina olive oil
100 g Manchego cheese
200 ml vegetable stock
100 ml cream
salt, nutmeg, white pepper

Preparation:

Estofado: Wash lentils, drain. Briefly sweat finely sliced shallots and garlic. Add lentils. Pour vegetable stock onto mixture and boil until firm. Finish with sherry vinegar, herbs and crème fraiche. Finally, sweat escargot and pepper cubes, season and add to the lentil mixture.

Polenta: Bring vegetable stock and cream with spices and olive oil to a boil. Add polenta and bring to a boil. Add Manchego, stir and steep for approx. 10 minutes. Season to taste. Spread on a baking sheet to finger-thickness. Allow to cool. Slice into the desired shape. Toss in olive oil immediately prior to serving.

Prawns: Cut peeled ginger into fine slices. Slice mango into decorative cubes approx. 1/2 cm thick. Open prawns and wash and dry them, then season with salt and pepper. Fry prawns in olive oil, later adding ginger briefly. Finally, add mango cubes and briefly stir together.

Place prawns, mango and ginger atop the polenta. Arrange estofado next to them as desired, as in our photo, for example.

Happy cooking!