ok, so this is very unusual for me, but today, just in time for a hot johannesburg weekend (ok, sorry for you if the sun’s decided to boycott where you live), in homage to my friend and author rachel resnick’s new blog, the art of boiling water, as well as to wikus, favorite souf effrican icon, i am sharing my favorite grilled chili prawn recipe.

i have never been in a great cook. in my previous life in l.a., i ate most of my meals in restaurants, with only the occasional pasta dish or steamed salmon being cooked in my kitchen. joni mitchell has a song with classic lyrics: i’m a  pretty good cook, i’m sitting on my groceries, come up to my kitchen, i’ll show you my best recipes…”  uhm, yeah.

anyway, since moving to johannesburg, i’ve had to start cooking, seeing that paying a restaurant for every meal was no longer an option – though i tend to make the same things over and over: chicken curry, ground chicken chili, beetroot, rocket and feta salad, ostrich goulash, in summer, the occasional braai snoek, etc. somewhere over the past few years, i stumbled upon this particular recipe. wish i could tell you where i found it, but i scrawled it down on a piece of paper  as a list of ingredients with n0 instructions other than to grill at 180 degrees… yet, everytime i make it, i have people licking their fingers as well as the bowl, which was the case at my friend deon’s birthday party a few weeks ago.

so if you’d like people vocalizing vociferously while licking their fingers and maybe even yours, try this. and do let me know if you do!

disclaimer: of course, if you’re allergic to shell-fish, i’d advise you to abstain. as awesome as this recipe is, anaphylactic shock is not so much fun.

GRILLED CHILI PRAWN RECIPE

125G BUTTER

10ML CRUSHED GARLIC

1TBSP TOMATO PASTE

5ML RED CHILI PEPPER FLAKES (i used 1TBSP AMINA’S  FISH AND PRAWN MASALA bought at seven seas fisheries on beyers naude)

1/2 TSP BLACK PEPPER

SALT

25ML MAYO

25ML CHILI SAUCE

15ML LEMON JUICE

MIX ALL THE ABOVE.

MARINATE 1KG SHELL-ON, DE-VEINED QUEEN PRAWNS IN ABOVE MIX (for at least 1/2 hr, maybe even an hour. i mixed everything and shoved the tray into the cold oven to marinate)

GRILL AT 180 DEGREES. DO NOT OVERCOOK. NEXT TIME I’M GOING TO TRY COOKING THEM ON THE STOVE TOP.

as my friend rachel says, if i can cook, so can you.