- [Announcer] "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by USA Rice and by.. - Cooking is the first kind of love you know, it was starting when I was child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta, and now I transmit it to all the guests is something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(bright music) ♪ Inside out ♪ Gotta figure it out ♪ I'm feeling good ♪ And it feels good to feel good ♪ - [Man Announcer] Sun sweet amazing prunes and prune juice.

(mellow music) - Besides the stunning views and sure beauty of the place, Vancouver is famous for something else, spot prawns, and they are absolutely delicious.

- They taste like lobster, don't they?

- They do.

- Yeah.

- We begin our day getting them right off the boat from a local fisherman, who is tight lipped about his sources.

You're not gonna tell me, huh?

- We're not gonna tell anybody.

- Oh and I was planning on going fishing with you.

- Yeah, well.

- Then a local cook and I make a divine lemony spot prawn risotto.

You're gonna have to give me the recipe.

- Oh, I just did, it's that easy.

- All righty then.

- [Sara] Of course there was stirring, lots of stirring.

- It still got a ways to go, so you just keep at that, why don't you Sara?

- You just go read a book.

But wow, was it worth it.

Next, the opposite end of the continent for a tasting tour of Miami's little Havana neighborhood.

Then a real Cuban abuela shows me her favorite prawn dish.

- [Lucila] Camerones enchilados which is shrimp and garlic and sofrito sauce.

- Yummy, yummy.

It's prawns from coast to coast, today, on "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(light music) - Vancouverites love their food, stuff we Americans have never heard of.

Like Japadogs, ketchup chips, nanaimo bars, and especially spot prawns.

They shipped them to Asia until chef Robert Clark, put them on the menu, and unleashed spot prawn mania.

Now the Critters have their own festival.

In May, folks pay 40 bucks a pound for them at False Creek Wharf.

That's where I met fisherman Stewart McDonald.

Is this where I can get some spot prawns?

- Yes it is.

- Are you Stewart?

- I am Stewart.

- Oh, great.

- Nice to meet you.

- When did spot prawns become such a big deal?

- People recognized that they're the best prawns in the world.

They're delicious, it's sustainable, it's well managed and we don't over fish and every year there's more than the year before.

- Where do they live, and how do you know where to go?

- And they're hard to find.

Trial and error.

- Oh, so this is like-- - Those are our secret spots so we don't give out those locations.

- Oh, okay, you're not gonna tell me, huh?

- We're not not gonna tell anybody.

- Oh, and I was planning on going fishing with you.

- Yeah, well.

- I guess that isn't gonna happen.

- You'll have to figure out for yourself.

- [Sara] What makes them spot prawns?

- [Stewart] One, two, three, four, they always have those four white spots.

- Okay, I understand they're a little strange and that they sort of are just changed.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So a smaller one like this, is a male.

- [Sara] Oh.

- [Stewart] And so the first three years they live, they're males.

- Okay.

- And then they transition to females, and a bigger one like that, in the wintertime will grow eggs, and have a nice big egg sack like a shrimp there, then they hatch, then they die.

They're hermaphrodites.

- And guess what's on the menu?

Now, you're gonna join us for dinner tonight, I think we're turning this into some yummy dish.

- Well, I'll be there, it sounds delicious.

I love spot prawns, I like catching 'em, I like eating 'em.

- Perfect.

- There you go.

- All right thank you.

- That's all yours.

- Thank you.

- See you at dinner.

- [Sara] Yes.

(light music) Hey Jane.

- Hey Sara.

- Look what I brought you.

- Spot prawns.

- Yes.

- The Vancouver special.

- Yes this is true.

You'll never guess where I got 'em from.

(Jane laughing) Cousin Stewart.

- Excellent.

Well, I promised to show you what to do with those and I've got everything ready in the kitchen.

- Well, let's go do it.

- Okay.

You wanna know what we're making?

- [Sara] Yes, tell me.

- Well, we're making lemon risotto, that has asparagus and spot prawns in it.

- [Sara] Ooh yay.

- [Jane] Yeah it's a big favorite this time of year.

(bright music) - I'm in the home of Jane McDougal here in Vancouver and I'm so excited because, we are taking the star ingredient of Vancouver, namely spot prawns, and we're gonna turn it into.. - Lemony risotto with asparagus and spot prawns and we're starting with stock made from the shells of the spot prawns.

- Wait a second, wait a second.

There's heads in there too.

- Well, that's right, cause that's where most of the flavor is, and you never cook a spot pawn with its head on.

So you take eight cups of rinsed prawn shells, and four quarts of water.

Oh boy these are prickly, I gotta tell you.

(Sara laughing) - They're attacking you.

- Yeah, and to this, we are going to add, a rib of celery, one carrot, and half of an onion.

- So it's classic mirepoix.

- Exactly.

(guitar music) Now that's going to simmer for about one hour.

But, as luck would to have it, I've already made some.

- [Sara] Oh, cause you're just such a smart cookie.

- And we're gonna bring over.

- So you strain that.

You started with 16 cups, and after you strain it, you end up with-- - [Jane] That's what we're down to.

- [Sara] About eight.

- Yeah, so it's ready for us, for the risotto.

We're gonna need about 24 spears of asparagus, I'm gonna need you to break off the woody ends, and then we're gonna blanch from in the prawn stock which will add, I think it's a pretty nice flavor.

- The flavor, the flavor.

- Yeah exactly.

- Yes.

- So, we would cut those up into about one inch sections and then after they've been into the prawn stock, we're going to take them into the ice bath.

- Oh right.

- Yes.

Stop the color and stop the cooking, do all the good things we want.

- I can tell you've taken your CIA grad also.

(Jane laughs) Let me stop the cooking, we've got a shot gun.

- I did a boot class there and it was marvelous.

- Oh, I bet it was intense.

- You know what I learned?

I learned how little I knew about cooking.

My goodness, those people are experts.

- Those chefs will make you feel tiny every time.

- Okay, wonderful.

Now we're gonna take the chopped asparagus, and we are going to blanch it, not in water, but in the prawn stock.

While that's blanching, can you mince two cloves of garlic?

Oh, I love it when someone does that.

So let's get the asparagus out I figure it's just about ready.

- [Sara] And then what are we moving on to what's next?

- Prawns.

About a pound and a half of shelled prawns.

So we're going to add about four tablespoons of oil to this pan here.

Now, this step happens pretty quickly cause what we don't wanna do, is overcook these spot prawns.

- [Sara] Got it.

- And, they will be ready to go, in about, gosh, like a minute or two maximum.

- Oh dear, and you need some lemon juice, right?

- Oh yeah, we're gonna definitely need lemon juice.

The moment they have achieved, the appropriate degree of doneness, they become pink.

- Oh, like shrimp.

- Yeah, very much like shrimp.

- [Sara] So you're gonna want the zest and the juice of two lemons for the whole dish, but right now you just need a little lemon for the-- - [Jane] Yeah we just wanna give these guys a little flavor.

- [Sara] Okay now, what is this?

- Now I made this, now this is something I think everyone should do.

Zest the lemon, keep the lemon zest, dry it, and then run it through a food mill with kosher salt.

- Like a coffee grinder, a spice grinder.

- Exactly.

- Oh, that's delicious.

- Really lemony, huh?

- You're gonna have to give me the recipe.

- Oh, I just did, it's that easy.

- All righty then, I stand corrected.

- So, I'm gonna put a little bit of this on here, because the more lemon the better.

I think we are just about ready.

Now I'm gonna add the juice of half a lemon.

And then we are going to oh, so swiftly transfer them.

- [Sara] Boy, does that look good already.

- [Jane] Doesn't it?

(light music) - What do you think if I ate one?

Would that be okay?

- Yeah, well try to put a little salt and pepper on them see if..

They're good aren't they?

They really are good.

- Wow.

- Way better than regular shrimp.

- [Sara] Whoa.

- They taste like lobster, don't they?

- They do.

- Yeah.

- Here we go.

Okay, so now we're gonna add in the onions.

Now this next step is called the sofrito.

Which is to say, we're going to basically just cook these onions down a bit so that they're translucent.

I think now would not be a bad time to add the garlic.

(light music) Smell that instantly.

Who doesn't love that?

- Oh, I love garlic.

- And I do not know why women don't wear garlic behind their ears.

- I know, really.

- So now we're going to add, about three cups of rice.

We're using the carnaroli, king of risotto rices.

And we're now going to make the next step, which is called the tostatura.

- Ooh, goodness gracious, your full of Italian words.

- Yeah.

- I love it.

- Well, it's just a fancy word for toasting.

So what we're doing is we're coating each grain of rice with the fat that we've already got in here.

And we will know when it's done what it's supposed to do, when there's a degree of translucency to each grain of rice.

And we are ready now to add, the wine.

And, the wine goes in first because it gives you sort of a structure that, you know, a flavored structure.

Two cups of white wine.

There we go.

The risotto is saying hello.

The trick is to make sure that all of this absorbs, and absorbs and absorbs, and every time it absorbs, we add more liquid.

So, we will switch from wine, to prawn stock.

This is also known as a death dish.

You wanna know why?

- I don't know, I'm scared.

- Hey, come and stir it for a while.

You're standing over a hot stove stirring, because it's all about the stirring.

It is starting to absorb, but it's still kind of ways to go.

So you just keep at that, why don't you Sara?

- You just go read a book.

I'll just stand here, it's fine it's fine I don't mind.

- Exactly.

Well hand me that wine.

Okay, that's good.

So the wine is now almost completely absorbed, and now we're gonna start adding in the prawn stock and we'll add it in, one ladle at a time.

The important thing is that the stock is hot, and that the risotto is simmering.

- I'll tell you what, I'll take one for the team.

I'll just keep stirring, I will.

And don't we need to set the table for our guests?

- Okay I'll go do that.

You carry on.

- Okay, yeah, you're no dummy.

(doorbell ringing) (light music) That's looking pretty darn good though.

- [Jane] Yeah, I'd say so.

- Should I drain the asparagus?

- [Jane] Yes.

- Look at how gorgeous and green this is.

- I know it's gorgeous.

- Ah, wow.

That is springtime right there.

- You've got two cups of grated parmesan reggiano.

So that can just basically get dumped in on top I'll fold it.

Now add the lemon zest.

- You know, lemon is one of my favorite ingredients and lemon zest, 'cause it's got all the lemon oil in it so-- - It makes a big difference, doesn't it?

- It does.

- Yeah.

The lemon juice - [Sara] Okay.

- [Jane] How about a knob of butter?

And I mean, we were talking about two tablespoons, but, - [Sara] More?

If you wanna go four tablespoons, I'm not gonna stop you.

- [Sara] I won't tell anybody.

- I happen to like a lot of pepper.

- Me too, me too.

I'm right there with ya.

- We should definitely travel together butter, pepper.

- Yeah, yeah.

Clearly.

- We're going to fold in the asparagus.

Oh, that's so the risotto itself will warm the asparagus.

- [Sara] Let's do it.

- [Jane] The prawns.

- [Sara] With all this yummy juice.

- Oh absolutely.

That's critical.

(soft music) I'm just gonna move them around just a little bit.

(light music) One for you, one for me.

- Yes.

- And then one for the rest of them.

- [Sara] Yes.

- Here you, go one for you.

- I'll do the garnir.

(mellow music) Well that's such a happy thing.

All right I'm gonna bring the pepper let's head on out.

(mellow music) Here we go.

So what are we having with our, what did you pick for the wine?

- Sovereign Blanc.

- Oh the same one we put in the risotto.

- Exactly, yeah.

- Oh, everybody should be eating.

I have a rule in my house, one is serve to only eat 'cause you must eat it while it's hot.

- It's amazing.

The difference between this and the regular prawn, it's just crazy.

- [Sara] Right, right.

- We made it, he caught them, you guys get to enjoy it.

- Yes we like that.

- Why are they called spot prawns?

- Oh, Stewart can tell you that.

- No, no, I learned-- - Oh all right.

- 'Cause they have four little spots on them.

Four, right?

- Four white spots, same spot every time.

- Yeah, they're consistent that way.

All right, so everybody, I have a toast I have a toast, no surprise here, to the star of the day.

What do we make today?

What do you call it?

(Jane laughs) - We called it, oh, the death dish.

- Right - The death dish 'cause you stir and stir.

- In my dip switch hitting I got really, really buff now.

- Its a bit of a work workout.

- But anyway, and to the spot prawn.

- [Group] To the prawns.

(light music) - [Sara] The sun, the surf, the palms, the sand, there's nothing like Miami.

(upbeat music) It's home to the best Cuban food in the country, because in the '60s, thousands fled Castro's Cuba, to make a vibrant home here on Calle Ocho, Little Havana.

(upbeat music) Today I'm tasting my way through it at the legendary El Pub with Grace Della, the founder of Miami Culinary Tours.

- You know, I'm gonna get you started with some cafe cubano.

- I love that.

- And you always get little cups and then a big cup it's meant to be shared.

Never drink from the big cup, otherwise everybody will know you're visiting.

It's very strong, so be ready, okay?

- No, I like my coffee.

- Good morning.

- Oh, I love this.

Okay - Whoa.

There is a lot of sugar in them there hills.

- Yes.

- Oh my goodness, is that like half sugar?

- Yes.

Absolutely And very strong right?

- I'm loving it, but I have to be honest, normally I drink my coffee black, with nothing in it, nothing.

Okay then.

I'm not responsible for my actions after this.

(upbeat music) Why are we starting here?

- This is called El Pub Restaurant, they've been here for 25 to 30 years.

Locals come here to have, that great Cuban food that they miss from home.

You will see the same faces, many, many years.

When you come here, we do like locals, we stand at the coffee station, we have some cafe cubano and then we'll have some empanadas.

- [Sara] For breakfast?

- For breakfast.

Of course.

- Of course.

All righty then.

- [Grace] These are the classic Cuban empanadas.

They're made with brown beef and sofrito sauce.

Red bell peppers, olive oil, garlic, cumin.

- So we have the very sweet coffee and the.. - And the saltiness of the picadillo, it's perfect Cuban combination.

- Okay, all right.

(upbeat music music) - Now I'm gonna bring you to the new part of Little Havana.

Look, Azucar.

(upbeat music) You have Celia Cruz on the wall.

- Great singer.

- Great Cuban singer.

She used to scream the word azucar, which means sugar, and here we are.

- Okay, perfect perfect.

- Now the flavors are super creative.

Burn in hell Fidel, sweet plantains, platano maduro or flan.

She perfected those flavors by asking the elderly in the neighborhood, does it taste like in Cuba?

- How smart.

- Yeah, yeah.

I'm gonna make you try today one called Abuela Maria.

(upbeat music) Very sweet sugar.

- Oh geez.

I'm still recovering from the coffee.

- So you're having guava, cream cheese, and maria cookies.

Now that's a very popular Cuban dessert.

- [Sara] Delicious.

- [Grace] In a form of an ice cream.

- [Sara] Wow.

(upbeat music) - To really feel the energy of Little Havana, let me bring you to Ball and Chain.

- [Sara] There's always a party here, because there's live music with no cover, 90 hours a week.

When owner Bill Fuller reopened Ball and Chain, he kept its historic vibe.

- [Bill] Billy Holiday, Count Basie, Chip Aker, Lena Horn, all played here.

- [Sara] Wow.

And wasn't that unusual for the time?

- So the last owner of the Ball and Chain was a man by the name of Henry Sheckman.

Henry was very sensitive to the black entertainers of the time especially at a moment when they weren't able to stay at hotels in other parts of the city, including Miami Beach.

Henry accommodated them at the Tower Hotel and then many times they would come over here at night and actually play.

Henry's son was once babysat by Billy holiday, which we always thought that was such a cool thing to be able to say.

- [Grace] This is the place to party in Miami and a mojito pairs perfectly with that.

- Is this the famous Cuban sandwich?

- [Grace] You got the medianoche which in Spanish in Cuba meant that they made the sandwiches at midnight when they came back from work, the bread is sweeter.

So you have pork, cheese, pickles, mustard, and ham.

- Very nice It's pressed, huh?

- Yes.

So then the softness and sweetness of the bread, combines perfect with the saltiness of the pork.

(upbeat music) - [Sara] I'm loving Little Havana and it's food, but it's time to cook.

(upbeat music) - The year was 1960, Castro's Revolution had changed Cuba forever.

But 13 year old Lucila Jimenez's mind was not on politics, but parties and boys.

One in particular.

A young medical student bound for the US.

Thousands of Cubans fled to Florida then and eventually, so did Lucila.

Here she is in Key West the day she arrived.

And the medical student, they reunited and married.

50 years later, seven grandchildren call her Abuela.

Along the way, she started a successful chain of bakeries in Miami.

She still loves cooking the dishes she learned from her own grandmother back in Cuba.

This is one of them.

(upbeat music) What are we making today?

- Camerones enchilados, which is shrimp and garlic and sofrito sauce, which is like creole.

- Yummy, yummy.

Okay So you're getting the garlic ready and I'm getting the onion ready.

- [Lucila] One large onion.

- And is this a typical Cuban dish?

- Yes it is.

And I remember back in Cuba, the seafood, shrimps and all of that was a lot cheaper to buy, so people did ate a lot of seafood and fish, at least in my house.

We did, because my parents loved it.

We're gonna add half a cup of olive oil and we need to let it heat up for just half a second.

- So, tell me about sofrito.

- [Lucila] You know, everything that you have in Cuban cooking, you use as a sofrito more or less.

- [Sara] So sofrito is essentially vegetables.

- [Lucila] Vegetables, yes.

- [Sara] Always onion, always pepper.

- [Lucila] Yeah and always garlic and tomato sauce.

(guitar music) - [Sara] That's a lot of garlic.

- [Lucila] I chop six cloves of garlic, and that's light green pepper.

- [Sara] Garlic is very Cuban also, right?

- Very Cuban, yes.

We can do a lot of things with garlic.

- Well, does that look pretty good?

- [Lucila] Yeah, that looks pretty good we can put the, roasted peppers.

- [Sara] I've chopped two big roasted red peppers.

- [Lucila] We're gonna add the can of tomato sauce.

- [Sara] So that's 15 ounces.

- [Lucila] And we can put the wine, a cup of wine.

- [Sara] A cup of wine, dry white wine.

- [Lucila] Yes.

I'm gonna tell you what I do at home.

- Yes.

- That is put the wine in the can.

- What a brilliant idea.

It's 'cause there's all that stuff left in there.

- [Lucila] Yeah all that stock.

- [Sara] So I'm also gonna make sure it all goes in there.

- [Lucila] And you get everything in there.

- [Sara] Yep.

- Good.

The bay leaves and the salt and-- - Okay One bay leaf.

- [Lucila] And a bit of crushed pepper.

- [Sara] Oh, and you run it between your hands?

- [Lucila] Yes.

- [Sara] You're a brave woman.

Okay and then how much salt, I'm gonna let you do the salt.

Hefty pinch.

- [Lucila] Right.

- Okay And then how long does it simmer?

- [Lucila] I would simmer it for 15, 20 minutes.

- Wow, so simple.

- It is very easy.

- I'm gonna move this back here and bring forward the plantain pot.

And the dish that we're doing with them, what's its name in, what do you say in Spanish?

- Planitos maduros.

- Maduros, what is the maduros mean?

- To ripen.

And it's one of my favorite dishes.

Not only the platanos maduro, but all the plantains, all the plantains are really good.

- I'm gonna watch you now.

- Just cut both end.

- [Sara] Both ends off.

- And this is the perfect blackenings for maduros.

And you just slice it a little bit.

- You can't just peel it, you have to cut the skin - No, you have to slice it.

- Cut the skin.

- [Lucila] And this is easier, the-- - [Sara] You did it on two sides or just one?

- One side.

- [Sara] Oh, just, you just did one slit down the back?

- [Lucila] Yeah.

- [Sara] Oh, okay.

- [Lucila] Yeah.

- [Sara] And then you just peel it with your hands?

- [Lucila] And just peel it with your hand.

- [Sara] Wow.

These are very soft.

- [Lucila] Yes, these are good.

Otherwise, if they're not this ripe, they don't taste as sweet.

And you slice it like this.

- [Sara] So you did it sideways.

- [Lucila] Sideways.

- So at a huge angle is what your doing.

About how thick?

Quarter of an inch?

- Yeah.

- Third of an inch?

Okay, does that look okay?

- [Lucila] Yes, that looks beautiful.

- [Sara] It's 325, should we put the plantains in?

- [Lucila] Yes sure, we can put them in.

Oh, they're perfect.

- [Sara] And they take about how long?

- [Lucila] About 10 minutes.

- [Sara] Tell me about plantains.

- You can have it ripe and fry like this.

You can have it green and-- - Let's line 'em up, let's take a look at these three guys.

- You have green, you can have, and the very ripe ones the ones that we are using here.

- [Sara] Okay, so what do you use these guys for?

- That one we use it for tostones, which is twice fry, green plantains.

So we can use it for chips, you know, for like potato chips, but we call it mariquitas.

- So this is closer.

It's very starchy, it's like more like a potato.

- Yes.

- [Sara] So it goes from very starchy to very sweet.

- [Lucila] Very sweet.

- Those look like they're sort of done.

- Yes, they are.

- Are they?

- Yeah - So what do we do now?

We need to drain them?

- Yes.

- Actually, I can, I'm gonna bring them one by one so I can put them separated.

- Oh, I see, otherwise do they all sort of squish together?

- Yes, yes.

- And how do you serve these in a meal?

As a side as a garnish?

- As a side dish.

Okay, we're all done in here.

- Okay.

Wow.

All right, well, I am gonna go back and get our sofrito, and we are gonna continue with that dish.

And let me get the shrimp.

- And these are boiling.

- Peeled and de veined shrimp.

- Yes.

- [Sara] So I see what you mean, if you've made it ahead of time, you just heat it up, throw the shrimp in and boom you're done.

- [Lucila] And boom it's done.

- [Sara] We need to make a little garnish, right?

- [Lucila] Yes.

Some lime, and some parsley.

- [Sara] Chop a little parsley?

- [Lucila] Yes.

That would be nice.

See, these are almost done and these are big shrimp.

- [Sara] Yeah.

It's not a spicy cuisine though, is it?

- [Lucila] No, oh Cubans, it's not a spicy at all.

A lot of people ask me, you know, it's like Mexicans and not at all.

- [Sara] Yeah.

- [Lucila] This is done.

- [Sara] All right.

So should we grab, we've got three, and I'll put some rice.

We'll just do two.

Okay, so we put rice in the bottom, smells good.

- [Lucila] That'll be great.

- All right.

And you'll do the shrimp, and then we will garnish.

We're all set up outside, we can eat out.

- [Lucila] Oh, that's nice.

- [Sara] Yes.

- [Lucila] It's a beautiful day out.

- [Sara] It is.

The weather in Miami is just-- - [Lucila] Yes.

- Oh, that's pretty, so little, oh, that is gorgeous.

And how simple was that?

(light music) - Well Lucila, who is this handsome young man?

- Well, he has been hanging around for 51 years already.

- Really?

Oh my goodness.

- This is my husband, Andres.

- Andres, it's so nice to meet you.

- [Andres] A pleasure.

- [Sara] Let's have your wife's yummy food.

- Yes.

- I can't wait to try it.

I'm sure you're a spoiled man.

Oh, that's so good.

And that was so easy.

Tell me though, I have to ask you, what is it about Cubans and plantains?

- Well, we have plantains every day in one way or another.

- Every day?

- Practically yeah.

If you don't have it at one meal, you can have it at another meal.

- I just wanna thank you both for joining me.

However, I have a question.

Is there a Cuban toast?

(speaking in foreign language) - Okay.

I like that.

But tell me now, what does it mean?

- (speaks in foreign language) health, amor, love, and (speaks in foreign language) is wealth or money.

- What else do you need?

(Andres laughs) I like that.

- That's right.

- [Announcer] For recipes, videos, and more, go to our website saramoulton.com "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by USA Rice, Sunsweet and by.. - Cooking is the first kind of love you know, it was starting when I was child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta, and now I transmit it to all the guests, is something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals".

(bright music)