Langoustine Marinated In Ouzo and Garlic ©

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just delicious!

Perfect for a special occasion !

 

 

Easy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

4-6 langoustine per person

6-8 cloves of garlic

A generous slug of Ouzo 100-200ml! Or Metaxa brandy!

3 tbs fresh chopped parsley

A generous drizzle of olive oil or butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 chilli finely chopped ( optional)

 

Garnish

2 tbs chopped parsley

Lemon quarters

 

Method

1. Very Important : Choose very fresh Langoustine! How can you tell?

a.  They should be alive! Pick one up to make sure it is still moving. If not alive, they should be tightly curled up and bought from a reliable source. Once they are straight and floppy, they are not fresh and once cooked the flesh will be like cotton wool if not fresh!

If you buy frozen, de-frost and then marinade.

They say the colder the waters the Langoustine are caught in , the better the quality and it is for this reason that the Scottish ones are so prized. Having said that the Greek ones caught off where I live in Greece are excellent!

b. They should smell fresh.

c. They should be a good  red colour and shiny. Unlike other crustaceans, langoustine don’t change colour when they are cooked.

The most important factor is point  ‘a’  because they are often kept on ice too long, smell fresh and look shiny, because the fish-monger sprays his produce regularly with water, but one thing that can’t be disguised is if they are straight and floppy.

The books always say use a reliable Fishmonger, but on ‘Lenten Days’ you will be surprised what is sold just to please the client as far as availability is concerned. Once you have cooked them and they are like cotton wool, it is too late!

They should be cooked the same day that they have been caught and this is possible if buying from your local Fisherman, from whom you have pre-ordered them. If for example you buy them in the morning for lunch or for the evening KEEP THEM IN THE REFRIGERATOR in a box, covered with a newspaper, until you are ready to cook them.

2.Wash your Langoustine in salted water and lay on baking tray.

3. Peel and finely chop garlic with a knife, don’t use a garlic squeezer. Chopped garlic gives a little crunch and the uncooked garlic in the centre gives more flavour.

4. Chop parsley and place in bowl with garlic, Ouzo, salt, pepper, chopped chilli (Opt) and olive oil.

An alternative is to use Metaxa Brandy and butter, instead of olive oil and Ouzo. This is also excellent.

5. Pour your marinade over your Langoustine and leave to marinade in the fridge for half to one hour.

6. When you are ready to cook them, pre-heat Grill or Barbecue and grill for one minutes on one side and 30 seconds on other side. The Langoustine should become a little charred, which adds to the flavour.

They can also be boiled. Plunge them into boiling water for 2 minutes and then into cold to stop cooking process. Serve with home made mayonnaise and lemon quarters. ( See Mayonnaise, under ‘Sauces’ in Index.)

Important : The test to know if they are cooked or not is to take one, turn it upside down and through the transparent tail section the flesh should look white and not opaque or jelly like.

7. Serve immediately, sprinkle with additional chopped parsley and lemon quarters.

8. The meat is in the tail, turn upside down and press sides together. The shell cracks and you can pull the flesh out. Remove the dark vein that runs along the back. Use crackers to extract the meat from the claws.

N.B. Always provide along side, a large bowl or individual bowls of warm water, with slices of lemon to wash fingers.

 

 

 

Choose live, curled up rigid, fresh smelling Langoustine. Rinse in salted water.

 

Peel 6-8 cloves of garlic.

 

Chop garlic and parsley. ( Chopped garlic is more flavoursome than using a garlic press for this particular recipe.)

 

Mix garlic, parsley, salt, pepper Chilli and Ouzo together in a bowl.

 

Pour marinade over Langoustine on Baking tray and marinade for half to one hour in the refrigerator.

Remove from refrigerator ten minutes before putting under pre-heated grill or on the barbecue. Grill one minute on one side then 30 seconds on other side, or until just getting a little charred. This gives added flavour.

Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and serve immediately along with lemon quarters.

In the above photograph I have turned over the middle one so you can see the white flesh showing through. This means it is done.

If it is still jelly like and see-through, it needs more cooking.

Final result, just delicious!