Prata wrap cockles
We eat out so much at our local food courts that it really does allow you to get confidence to try. Try to eat and try to cook. So even the recipes where I am not comparing to a local dish are related in some shape or form to some experience.
I am not madly in love with the taste of cooked fish as you know, but I’ll try it anyway. The same applies for shellfish, but I’ll try. It was always taught to me to “not eat with my eyes”, and “try before you say you don’t like”. Here is a great example of that mentality.
I was cooking one day for a photo shoot for book No 1, and I could not get the ingredients I needed. Standing, with limited time, in the supermarket I got creative. I’ll get cockles instead and tweak my initial recipe.
So cooking and creating on the fly, with an ingredient I don’t really like. You see what I mean re the confidence booster from the food court. This is a totally made up dish, Chez Kennett style.
To make 6 wraps you’ll need;
- A tray of cockles;
- 3 stalks of lemon grass finely sliced;
- 3 garlic cloves finely sliced;
- 2 chili padi sliced thinly;
- Half a glass of white wine (any will do);
- 6 or so warmed prata (yes you could make them yourself, or be like me and just buy some frozen from the supermarket); and
- A handful of ripped coriander.
In a fairly big pot add the white wine, chilies, garlic and lemon grass and heat until the strong wine smell has gone. Add in the cockles shaking continually until the cockles open, which should be no more than 5 minutes, and yes I would discard any that do not open.
On a plate lay the prata and spoon on the cockle mixture, maybe with a little more of that ripped coriander.
Then “the plan” is that the guest eating dinner with you simply takes out the cockle meat and herbs and lay them on the prata and roll that puppy up to make a cockle and prata wrap to their own devices.
Nicely done, and so so easy.
