Great food for healthy mind and body

FLAVOUR DRIVEN: Barbecued lemon myrtle prawns with sorrel mayonnaise.

THIS is not a diet book but rather a book of beautiful, life-enhancing food, it’s a way of life. The beauty of this fritters recipe is that you don’t need to precook any of the ingredients so it’s a quick process, particularly if you have a helper. The salmon could be cooked, raw or from a tin and well drained. Like all fritters they don’t take long but they need to cook at a low temperature to make sure the raw grated vegetables are cooked through and soft. The best avocados are those that haven’t been refrigerated, but when you consider the logistics of moving food around the country these days that’s more and more unlikely, so my tip is to buy them when they’re still hard and ripen them yourself at room temperature, which can easily take up to 10 days.

Sweet potato fritters with smashed avocado and salmon

Serves 4, makes 8 fritters

Ingredients

1 ripe Hass avocado

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve

200g salmon fillet, cooked and flaked (see note) or smoked or tinned salmon

Dill or chervil sprigs and lime wedges, to serve

Fritters

400g sweet potato, peeled

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

2 large leaves silverbeet, finely chopped

1 spring onion, finely chopped

2 free-range eggs

1 teaspoon chopped coriander

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (fan-forced).

2. To make the fritters, coarsely grate the sweet potato, then place in a bowl and mix in 1 teaspoon sea salt. Stand for 10 minutes, then drain the sweet potato and squeeze out any excess liquid.

3. In a separate bowl, place the chopped silverbeet, spring onion, eggs and coriander. Add the sweet potato, season to taste and mix well.

4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Working in 2 batches, place 3 tablespoons of mixture for each fritter into the pan and press down with a spatula. Cook on both sides for 2–3 minutes or until golden, then drain on paper towel. Place on a baking tray, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining fritters.

5. Smash the avocado flesh and lime juice in a bowl until smooth. Stir in the olive oil and season to taste.

6. To serve, place 2 fritters on each plate. Top with the smashed avocado, salmon and sprigs of dill or chervil. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with lime wedges.

NOTE: If using fresh salmon, drizzle a little olive oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add the fish, skin-side down and cook for 3 minutes or to the point where it will almost burn. Remove the salmon, then quickly wipe out the pan with a paper towel, being careful not to burn yourself. Add a drizzle of oil or a bit of butter to the pan, reduce the heat to low–medium and return the salmon to the pan, skin-side up. Cook for 2 minutes, then rest for 10 minutes.

Remove and discard the skin, then flake the fish.

Barbecued lemon myrtle prawns with sorrel mayonnaise

Serves 4

Ingredients

16 x 20cm bamboo skewers soaked in water for 2 hours to avoid burning

16 very fresh large raw king or tiger prawns

Extra virgin olive oil, for cooking

Lime wedges, to serve

Marinade

2 tablespoons lemon myrtle powder

2 tablespoons chilli sauce

3 tablespoons finely chopped golden shallots

? cup (80ml) fish sauce

? cup (80ml) lemon juice

100ml extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Sorrel mayonnaise

½ cup (125ml) mellow extra virgin olive oil

½ cup (125ml) grapeseed oil

2 free-range egg yolks, at room temperature

1 cup trimmed sorrel leaves (about 1 bunch)

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Juice of ½ lemon

Method

1. Preheat a barbecue grill plate to high or an overhead grill to the highest setting possible.

2. To make the marinade, place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

3. Peel the prawns, leaving the heads and tails intact. Use a skewer to devein the prawns, then toss them in the marinade and stand for 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, to make the sorrel mayonnaise, pour both the oils into a small jug. Place the egg yolks in a blender or a small food processor. Add the sorrel, a good pinch of salt and a good squeeze of lemon juice and process until smooth. With the motor running, gradually add the combined oils, drop by drop at first, then in a slow steady stream until thick and emulsified. Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed. This recipe will make more than you need but the leftover mayonnaise will keep well in the refrigerator for about a week.

5. Using a clean cloth to hold the slippery prawns, thread the prawns onto the soaked skewers, starting from the tail end. Place the skewers on a baking tray and brush with a little olive oil. Cook on the barbecue or under the grill for 2 minutes or until they turn bright red. Turn them over, brush with a little more olive oil and cook for another minute or until just cooked through.

NOTE: Be careful not to overcook the prawns — remember they will continue to cook once off the heat. Serve immediately with the sorrel mayonnaise and some lime wedges.

Nutrition

Prawns are a good source of complete protein, vitamins B3 and B12, and selenium.

Extracted from Maggie’s Recipe for Life by Maggie Beer with Professor Ralph Martins, published by Simon & Schuster Australia, RRP $45.00. Photography &Copy Dragan Radocaj.