Books, Twitter & Cold Noodles with Prawns

I am on a tight deadline today.

I'm editing a compilation book by various authors who each contributed a chapter. I need to have it to the publisher and gathering everything from the authors - who are all quite lovely - is a little like herding cats into the shower. So, please excuse me if I do not carry on here today or say something spit-coke-out-of-your nose hilarious. I got nothin'...

Before I zone out to the manuscript, you should know that one way or another I will be BLOGGING LIVE during the TOP CHEF FINALE Wednesday night (tomorrow), probably through Twitter. I have become recently obsessed with Twitter, like a whole new world has opened up to me, like water for my parched throat in the desert, like sequins for my Liberace costume...really, I love Twitter and yesterday I decided to become a full time Twitter professional, ignoring my children, letting the dishes build up in the sink, denying my husband the hot sex he so deserves and doing nothing but making fun of strangers via my phone while I wait on line at the DMV. I plan on pummeling my readers with inane facts about my life. Constantly.

You should sign up for that.

So, please get on Twitter (follow me and I'll follow you back) and pummel other people with the boring facts of your life. If you choose not to accept this assignment, then, you can come back here Wednesday night and check out my Twitter feed in the right hand column.

As a way to make amends for not being at all entertaining, I am going to give you one awesome cold shrimp and noodle recipe from my recent obsession with Gordon Ramsay.

I hope you enjoy!

xo YM



Gordon Ramsay's Rice Noodle Salad with Prawns & Thai Dressing from "Healthy Appetite"

The cold noodle/prawn combination makes this a big favorite with the kids.


Ingredients

100g thin rice noodles

Drizzle of sesame oil

200g sugar snap peas

1 large red pepper

1 large yellow or orange pepper

2 spring onions

200g peeled, cooked prawns

Handful of coriander leaves

1 tbsp toasted black or white sesame seeds, to sprinkle


Dressing

1 shallot, peeled and finely diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely crushed

1 small red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped

2-3 tbsp lime juice, or more to taste

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2½ tbsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil


Directions

1 Boil the kettle. Place the rice noodles in a heatproof bowl and pour on boiling water, ensuring that the noodles are fully immersed. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to stand for 5 minutes or until noodles are tender but still retaining a bite. Drain and toss with a drizzle of sesame oil to stop them sticking to each other.

2 In the meantime, blanch the mangetout in boiling water for 2 minutes until they are just tender but still bright green. Refresh in a bowl of iced water, then drain well. Cut the mangetout on the diagonal into 2 or 3 pieces. Halve, core and deseed the peppers, then cut into long, thin slices. Trim and finely slice the spring onions on the diagonal.

3 For the dressing, put all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk lightly to combine.

4 Put the prawns, spring onions, mangetout and peppers into a large bowl and add the drained noodles, coriander leaves and sesame seeds. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. Eat immediately or chill until ready to serve.

5 Note: if you’re preparing this salad for a packed lunch, leave the noodles to cool completely before tossing with the other ingredients.