CLIFF TOWNHOUSE DUBLIN BAY PRAWN COCKTAIL

I asked Sean Smith, head chef at The Cliff Townhouse in Dublin, to give me a recipe using an Irish ingredient. He chose to use Dublin Bay prawns as supplied by SSI Wholesale. There is great method in his madness as SSI Wholesale is now morphing into a retail home delivery one stop shop for the very best fish in Ireland. You can order Dublin Bay prawns on their website and they will be delivered fairly lively. Sustainable Seafood Ireland is one of Niall Sabongi’s business, you may know him from eating at The Seafood Cafe or Klaw in Temple Bar. 

Sean Smith and his team, are cruising through the horror show that is Covid-19 by turning into one of the classiest take-away joints in town. As per always, their menu is well designed, highly alluring and very seafood centric. It’s very on brand for Cliff Townhouse. Give them a call or email them to find out more about their take-away menu. 

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients:

• 500g Dublin Bay Prawns
• 2 heads of Little Gem lettuce, leaves washed & separated
• 1 tbsp of French dressing
• 1 tbsp of mustard cress
• Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 lemon

Cocktail Sauce:

• 150ml mayonnaise
• 2 dashes of Tabasco Sauce
• 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 15ml Brandy
• Dash of Tomato Ketchup
• Salt & Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Juice of quarter of a lemon

Method:

• Bring a large pot of water to the boil and season with salt
• The water should taste like the sea
• Toss the Langoustine/Prawns into the boiling water
• Let the water return to the boil
• Langoustine will take 3-4 minutes/Dublin Bay Prawns take less time – 2/3 minutes depending on size. They turn pink when just cooked through.
• De-shell/peel the Langoustine/Prawns
• For the sauce, mix all of the ingredients well together to form a creamy sauce.

To Serve:

1. Toss Gem leaves with French dressing
2. Layer the dressed leaves in the bottom of cocktail glasses
3. Lay the Langoustine/Prawns over the top.
4. Spoon the Cocktail Sauce over
5. Scatter with mustard cress, a pinch of cayenne pepper and serve with a wedge of lemon and Guinness bread