John Torode's prawn cocktail
Is it even Christmas dinner without a prawn cocktail? John’s in the kitchen with a foolproof recipe for the ultimate Christmas classic.
Prawn cocktail
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the sauce
200ml good mayonnaise
50mls tomato ketchup
5-10 drops Tabasco
Little slug of brandy
5ml Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp paprika
2 lemons
50ml double cream
For the prawn salad
2 little gem lettuces
250g small prawns (cooked but little, little ones)
100g watercress
8 large prawn tails, peeled and deveined (Cooked) head off
3 branches fresh thyme
Method
1. To make the sauce, mix together the mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, Tabasco, brandy, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and the juice of half a lemon. Make sure it’s well mixed.
2. Stir in the double cream gently until it is all incorporated. Do not whisk as it will whip the cream and curdle the sauce. Put in the fridge (everything should be cold).
3. Wash the little gems under cold water, remove any outer damaged leaves and discard. Remove the next two layers of large leaves to use as the base of the cocktail. Shred the centre part of the gems.
4. To serve, mix the small prawns with half the sauce, place the large outer leaves into 4 glasses and then shredded lettuce in the bottom. Spoon half the small prawns and sauce over each one, place a handful of the watercress on top of each pile of prawns and top with the large prawns (two per person). Cut a wedge of lemon and place on the side. You can even dip your lemon in a little paprika. Strip the thyme of its leaves and sprinkle a small amount over each.
5. Serve the remaining sauce separately to dip your big prawns in, along with some crusty white bread if someone wants to make a prawn sandwich
Tip: Before cutting the lemon into halves or quarters, roll the whole lemon on your work bench under the palm of your hand, to break down the pith, making it easier to squeeze.
When cutting lemon wedges, leave the ends and tails on the lemons; they act as little grips for your thumb and forefinger to hold as you squeeze out the juice.