Thursday, March 11, 2010

Spirit Jars & Tornado Prawns


Tornado warnings surrounded us on all sides this morning. We also had more than three inches of rain in one hour, along with lightening, thunder, and wind. I started out the day making two Spirit Jars to hopefully ward off ill effects from the storm. Each jar is about seven inches tall and the top has a small reservoir to smudge sage or burn incense.


Later I decided to cook up some local prawns we obtained the day before. I wanted to use garlic, ginger, and coconut milk for Gary because those ingredients are supposed to be good for the gallbladder.

Tornado Prawns

1 lb fresh large prawns, cleaned and deveined
4 tbs butter
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs capers drained well
10 mushrooms slided medium
1 stalk celery chopped fine
1/2 yellow bell pepper chopped fine
1/2 inch cube fresh ginger chopped very fine
2 clove garlic chopped very fine
6 ounces canned unsweetened coconut milk


Shell the prawns, butterfly them removing the vein and set aside. Measure 2 tablespoons of capers and set aside to drain on a paper towel. Slice the mushrooms into medium pieces. Chop the stalk of celery fine. Chop half a yellow bell pepper fine. Peel and chop a 1/2 inch cube of fresh ginger very fine. Chop 2 clove garlic very fine. Measure out 6 ounces coconut milk.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan on low heat. Add one tablespoon olive oil and add the sliced mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms till barely rest of the butter and the remaining olive oil. When melted add the celery and saute for about two minutes, next add the bell pepper and saute for a minute more, then add the chopped garlic and ginger to the pan moving the celery and peppers aside so the garlic and ginger are resting in the butter and olive oil and saute them till the garlic just starts to lightly brown.

Immediately add in the butterflied prawns placing them against the pan bottom moving aside the sauteed vegetables. Use your spatula to flip the prawns to cook them on each side two to three minutes till barely done. Quickly stir in the coconut milk and the previously sauteed mushrooms and stir just to distribute ingredients evenly. Cover lightly and cook another minute or two. Do not over cook. Serve with a wild rice mixture and a green salad.


The ginger, capers, garlic and coconut milk combine to make a unique and complex blend for the palate. We had a glass of Oak Leaf Sauvignon Blanc along with the meal. ThE wine was less than $3 at a Walmart superstore but the grapes were grown in dry, gravely soil of Livermore, California and it was quite acceptable. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

14 comments:

  1. One of these days I'll be showing my recipes on my hand made pottery, as soon as I am out of my RV and have more room to store some of the pots.

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  2. never heard of a spirit jar. they both look nice, i like the 2nd one w/ the little nubbies on the side best i think. :)

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  3. Linda, I love the spirit jars. They are very cool. JT

    We call our jars Dream Jars with a cork.

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  4. they are working- we have been down graded here from serve lighting tomorrow night to just rain.
    Thanks!
    YUM!

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  5. LOVE the Spirit Jars! How cool! Tornados?!! Holy cow be careful don't want you to end up over the rainbow! I bet the air was really charged with ions due to the storm -I'm really sensitive to that kind of weather. Could you feel it or did it bother your kitty cats?

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  6. Looks great - jars and prawn dinner! :) glad you survived the storm. I am interested in whether or not you 'feel' the weather as Cindy suggests, too. I definately feel it when the barometric pressure changes..maybe I need a spirit jar too :)I like the idea.--heard Canada Geese coming home today! Spring is in the air here.yay!
    Keep well. Trish

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  7. Haven't heard of spirit jars either but they seem to work. You were safe. Can't imagine the fear tornado warnings are in a motor home.

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  8. I haven't heard of spirit jars either but I really like them, and that there is a place in the top to burn incense. The top one reminds me of a woman in a long dress with her hands on her hips. It looks powerful enough to ward off a tornado!

    Barbara

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  9. Beautiful spirit jars and the recipe sounds great. Did they agree with the gall balder? I'm planing to try the recipe soon.

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  10. Hi Kim, thanks, I never heard of spirit jars either, but it seems a good name for these as I was making them hoping they would protect us in our motorhome against the tornado warning 10 blocks from us. Sometimes these things just come to me of their own will. I put round balls of clay inside the one you like and when it is fired hopefully it the balls will ring against the inside to make a pleasant sound when the jar is moved or shaken.

    Hi Joan, thanks, do you have some of your dream jars on your website? I haven't seen them but they sound intriguing.

    Hi Meredith, thanks, they worked for us too. Anything with capers is wonderful in my book.

    Hi Cindy, thanks, we were rather surprised at tornado warnings too I guess it has to do with the El Nino, that's probably what's bring you all your snow and the lower West all the rain. I think all the ions energize me, but I never paid attention to it, I must pay closer attention from now to see if I feel the same way the next time the pressure is changing like that.

    Hi Trish, thanks I do feel better when it rains, that must be it, it is so refreshing. Last night the frogs were singing up a storm after all the rain, what a chorus they gave us.

    Hi Patti, thanks, yes the jars seemed to work, perhaps good thoughts focused on a central location. We didn't know what we would do in the motorhome, we figured we just had to hope.

    Hi Barbara, thanks, the top one gave me a feeling of a figure too. and after I made them I thought of the incense being placed in the top and the ashes would be either contained in the reservoir or fall down upon the piece. I might pit or barrel fire some of these.

    Hi Lori, thanks, Gary really liked the recipe and he had no ill effects. The ginger, capers and coconut are wonderful together, I just loved the combination too. I think turkey or chicken tenders would be good this way too.

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  11. The spirit jars are very cool and even though I've had my supper I'm drooling over your recipe. Stay safe.

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  12. Hi John, thanks, try the recipe I think you will like it, tangy and slightly sweet all at the same time - yummy.

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  13. Yum, I love cooking with coconut milk especially with jasmine rice. I admire how you manage to create such interesting clay objects of art while traveling.

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  14. Hi Sue, thanks and good to hear from you. Coconut milk is also good with curry too.

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