Spicy Prawn Caesar

Since Sarah isn't posting much these days, I thought I'd add a post or two. I am currently trying to burn a cold out of my sinuses and thought that a nice spicy dinner would help. I had some leftover caesar salad dressing from a few days ago and some prawns in the freezer that I figured would make a nice meal. I was right. The caesar dressing was made by cooking the egg yolks and most of the other ingredients except the oil over a bain marie so no worries about raw eggs (I can't really include that recipe because I don't remember the proportions at all - egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon, worchestershire sauce, salt, pepper, crushed garlic, anchovy paste and both olive and grapeseed oil). It was a bit thick, but I think it was pretty good. For the spicy prawns I put about a teaspoon or two of sambal oelek in with two cloves of crushed garlic, a splash of white wine, salt and pepper, and some tomato sauce I made last night (just canned whole tomatoes roasted in the oven a bit to reduce the water, a couple of cloves of garlic and a touch of basil and oregano, all whizzed in the blender = nice sauce). I let in marinade for about an hour, then put it on skewers and tossed it on the barbecue for just a couple of minutes. Then I took some romaine lettuce, tossed in the dressing and put the prawns on top. It was really good, although not quite hot enough to clear my sinuses.

I'd also just like to mention the delight that is Vignetti Zanatta's Damasco. A lovely and inexpensive white wine, slightly petilant (bubbly) that feels like a bit of a nip on your tongue, zesty with bright lemon/lime, gooseberry and elderflower flavours. Really, really nice. I had to stop myself from drinking the whole bottle by myself (I hear that doing so indicates you have a 'problem'). Well I guess I did drink it all myself, but over a few days, not in one sitting.

Another white wine that is absolutely lovely, but unfortuately only available in Ontario is the Cave Springs Reserve Dry Riesling. If you ever get out to the Niagara Region give it a try. Lovely fruit, apple, lemon, fresh and crisp. None of that nasty cheap white taste in this or the Damasco. Cave Springs had three dry Rieslings of varying quality and price. I took home two bottles each of the cheapest (~$12) and the middle (~$15) which is the Reserve that I am talking about here. Both are very nice, and I was most impressed with the Reserve. They also had a pricy (~$30) bottle, but I tasted it and actually liked the Reserve better, although I imagine the $30 would have been well suited to cellaring for a while and was a bit richer. But I really like the drinkability of the Reserve Riesling. Excellent, excellent, excellent! Too bad you can't get it outside of Ontario.

Must go watch Dr. Who...