Prawns in Lemongrass and Honey sauce - MexicAsian Fajitas

Signature dish by iSa

Type: Main

Prep Time: 30 - 40 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Servings: 7-8 Portions (depending on portion size)

Ingredients:

• 2.5 kg of prawns peeled seasoned with a bit of sea salt
• 2 Lemongrass Stalks finely chopped (preferably crushed in a mortar)
• 1 big fat Ginger root, peeled and grated or finely chopped
• 50 - 70 gr Honey
• 5 big fresh Garlic cloves finely chopped
• 2 Lemons
• Vegetable Oil
• 2 shots of Tequila
• Red Kidney Beans
• Sour Cream
• Cheddar
• Jalapeños
• 16-20 Tortillas
• Hot Mexican Salsa or Salsa Chipotle
• 1 bowl (250 -300 gr) of Guacamole
• 1 Bowl (200 gr) of Pico de Gallo

Guacamole

Sauces by iSa

Type: Sauce

Prep Time: 10 - 15 mins 

Cooking Time: 0 mins

Servings: 6 - 8 Portions (depending on portion size)

Ingredients:

• 4 Ripe Avocados
• 1/3 Bunch Coriander finely chopped
• 1 Lemon 
• 1 Chili finely chopped or 2 sliced Jalapeños
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cayenne Pepper
• Ingredients for variations: Sour cream or cream, Powdered Lemon Tajin (my dear friend Lucia brings it for us from Mexico), Tomato Brunoise.

How to make Guacamole: Peel the avocados and put in the flesh in a bowl (keep 1 or 2 of the pits on the side). Mash the Avos until arriving at an almost homogeneous puree. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon, the coriander, chili and salt and pepper to taste. Try it and see if needs more seasoning. Serve in a bowl and sprinkle some cayenne pepper on top for a more colorful presentation.

Variations: If you like...

...a more creamy Guacamole, stir in a bit of cream or sour cream.

...to use it for dipping nachos, then stir in some small tomato cubes (brunoise).

...to make use of mexican goodies, sprinkle with some Powdered lemon Tajin instead of the Cayenne pepper.


Enjoy as a dip for nachos or pair with any mexican meal, or Latin American for that matter, we all love it!


Love, iSa

Pico de Gallo

Sauces by iSa

Type: Sauce

Prep time: 15 min

Cooking time: 0 min

Servings: 6 portions (depending on serving size)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Yellow Pepper
• 1/2 Red Pepper 
• 1/2 Green Pepper
• 1/2 Red Onion
• 1 or 2 Hot chilis
• 1/3 bunch of Coriander chopped finely
• The juice of 1 or 2 lemons

How to make Pico de Gallo: Chop all ingredients above finely and place into a bowl with the lemon juice (enough to slightly cover the rest of the ingredients). I just advise, for more tastiness to make it before anything else, so it gets to sit for a while (at least 30 mins) and allow all the flavors to come together. Enjoy with any Mexican meal or with anything you fancy to try it!

Love, iSa

Hot Mexican Salsa

Sauces by iSa

Type: Sauce

Prep Time: 10 mins 

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Servings: 6 - 8 Portions (depending on portion size)

Ingredients:

• 5 - 6 Ripe as can be Roma tomatoes (or 1 can Italian peeled tomatoes)
• 1/2 roasted red pepper
• 1/2 onion
• 3 - 4 Chilis
• A sprinkle of fresh Oregano
• Salt to taste
• One sprinkle of sugar

How to make the Salsa: If you decide to go for the fresh tomatoes, get a pan with water to boiling point and put in the tomatoes (whole) for about 1 - 2 min, while still boiling, or until you see that the skin starts to peel right off by itself. Take the pan out of the heat and drain out all the hot water, then place them again in the pan and pour in some fresh cold water. The tomatoes should then get cold enough, so as to allow you to peel them by hand. 

Now, (if you bought the canned tomatoes start from here) place the tomatoes in a food processor or in a blender with the rest of the ingredients, except for the seasoning (oregano, salt and sugar), and blend until almost but not altogether homogeneous (I like a bit of chunkiness in my salsa). Place the Salsa back on to the pan, sprinkle with the oregano and let it reduce for a while on low heat until you arrive at a saucy texture, season with salt and sugar (it's not meant to be sweet, it's just used to cut the acidity down a bit). Serve warm and Enjoy with Tacos, Nachos, Fajitas, Burritos, Enchiladas, you name it!

Love, iSa

Thai Carrot Mango Soup

Reader's Recipes
Recipe by Ben and Siri

Ingredients:

• 750g carrots 
• 40g ginger 
• 1 normal can coconut milk 
• 1 mango 
• 1 red chilli 
• 3 tablespoons oil 
• salt 
• 1 lime 
• 1/2 bundle chives 
• 1 bundle spring onions 
• 3/4 liter vegetable broth 

Everything is 'to taste' because it depends on how hot the chilli is, etc etc
Chop the onion, ginger and carrot. Brown in oil. Add vegetable oil and let everything cook for 8-10 minutes. Take out half of the carrots and put the rest to puree. Add the carrots and the coconut milk. Cut up and add pieces of mango. Cut up and add spring onions and chilli. Season with limejuice and salt. Sprinkle with chives.

Ben and Siri

Ecuadorian Ceviche - iSa's Style

Type: Starter

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cooking Time: 30 - 40 mins

Servings: 7-8 Portions (depending on portion size)

Ingredients:

• 800 gr Dorado or Yellowtail Fish Fillet (no skin) 
• 1 big red onion or 2 small ones 
• 1 bunch coriander 
• 6 lemons / 4 lime (depending what is available, buy extra as the amount depends on how juicy they are) 
• 3 oranges 
• Pepper trio (1/4 Red Pepper, 1/4 Yellow Pepper, 1/4 Green Pepper) 
• 2 tbsp plain yellow mustard 
• 2 tbsp Tomato Sauce 
• Sea salt 
• Ground Black Pepper 
• Cayenne Pepper Canola Oil
• 1 cucumber 
• 2 Tomatoes 
• 2 packs Golden Oven-Baked Crackers 
• 1 pack Plain Nachos
• Hot sauce of your choice (Tabasco or Lea-Perrins will go well) 

How to cook the fish: Cut the fish into bit size cubes, of the cubes are about 2x2cm then it'll take around 30-40 min to cook, if they are smaller, it will take less time. I personally prefer to cut it in bigger pieces as it keeps the moisture and sea flavor from the inside of the flesh. Then place the cubes in a bowl and cover with enough lemon or lime juice, so that the fish is wet, but not fully soaked. Allow the fish to cook in the juice at room temperature (yes, no pot required, the lemon juice will do the job). 

Put together your Ceviche: In the meantime, chop the onion and the peppers brunoise style (small cubes), get the juice from the oranges, and have the rest of the ingredients at hand. Poke the fish to see if it has tenderized and if the flesh has turned white (like when it's cooked) on the outside. To see if it's ready I also pick one of the thicker pieces and cut it in 2 and if it's still too raw in the inside, wait a little longer. Then, when it's ready, season it with the cayenne and black pepper, the mustard, tomato sauce, coriander, oil and salt. Stir in the onion and pepper trio and soak it all with the remainder of the orange juice. Stir well and taste for salt and acidity, if too acid you can level it down with orange juice (if sweet) or with a bit more tomato sauce. 

Serve: Place two serving spoonfuls in a bowl and decorate with 2 slices of cucumber and 2 of tomato, you can also keep a bit of fresh finely chopped coriander to sprinkle on top. Serve with the Crackers and/or Nachos for choice and pour in a bit of hot sauce if you enjoy the heat. Ceviche makes a wonderful summer day Starter! (although we recently made it for a sunny winter day).

I dedicate this recipe to the friends (You guys know who you are...) who we recently had the fortune of sharing this Ceviche with, all new friends but friends for long we trust!

Love, iSa