Wednesday is good for two reasons. First it’s half way to the weekend, altho’ being retired I don’t really appreciate them as much anymore, and Second it is time to Cook with Donna Hay. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Donna, and I wasn’t until my Friend, Kayte, introduced us, she is a lovely chef in Australia who develops recipes that are simple, refreshing, and extremely uncomplicated. Uncomplicated is the main reason I like her recipes. Like this one!

    Tomato and Garlic Stew with Prawns

This was very easy to put together, as Donna promises. Her book, off the shelf: cooking from the pantry contains recipes made with items most people already have in their pantry {uh, thus the name!} which means no running to the store just because you found something you really want to cook!! So simple ingredients here: onions,garlic, canned tomatoes, stock. And, of course, prawns shrimp, which are always in the freezer. Always!

Donna served this a soup. I served mine over rice {this IS Louisiana, y’all!!} with a side of crusty bread. And I want to say we loved it, but we didn’t. It was very bland and the onions were rather overwhelming. I never could get it to the thick soupy consistancy. It really didn’t, to us, have much flavor. I played around with the leftovers but never could get the flavor to pop. We are used to food being a little spicier, not hot, just lots of flavor. Sorry, Kayte, {it was her pick this week} but this one just didn’t do it for us.

You can find the recipe on page 102 in off the shelf or on Donna’s website. Please visit Gaye and Chaya and Kayte to find out how they liked it.