Grilled prawns with pickled grape, celery, cucumber & walnut slaw

This is a beautiful dish that I actually made for our christmas lunch after Jess had tried it at the demo it was specially requested to share with the family! Ideally you would use the freshest prawns, but if you are unable to source these then allowing the frozen ones to defrost overnight in the fridge will also work, just make sure you get the green (raw) prawns. The inspiration for this dish came after a few days into the demonstrations and I went to the fishmonger to find out what they had on offer and I saw these beautiful fresh prawns starring back at me & I knew they had to be featured! There was a beautiful savoury, element from the salted celery and then the pickled grapes highlighted the sweetness of the prawns with that beautiful acidic note to cut through it all, then the yoghurt dressing married it all together.

Pickled grapes
½ bunch of red grapes cut in half (you can use any grapes but red offer a great contrast)
150ml Water
150ml Apple cider vinegar
8g Salt
30g Sugar

Method:

1. Put the grapes on a tray in 180d oven for 5 minutes 
2. Mix the other ingredients together and bring to the boil then remove from heat leave to cool for 2-3 minutes
3. Put grapes into non- reactive container that you wish to pickle in
4. Pour over the pickling liquid and leave to cool
5. These can be made a couple of days in advance or if you use sterile jars and correct storage  you could make them well in advance

Celery, cucumber and walnut slaw
5 stick celery cut into 5 cm lengths, thinly sliced
2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut in 1/2 seeds removed, thinly sliced
2 tbsp Salt
Minted yoghurt dressing (enough to bind)
50 g walnut halves toasted in a 180d oven for 10 minutes and cooled

​Method:

1. In a non reactive bowl (plastic or ceramic) put the celery and cucumber in and the salt and mix through all of the vegetables so they get a good coating (this will start to break down the veg, and draw out a lot of their water content and intensify their flavour)
2. Cover and leave for 1-2 hours, (prepare the other components of the salad in this time)
3. Drain the veg from the brine and gently squeeze out the excess
4. Put in a bowl large enough to mix in
5. Add 1/2 of the dressing and mix you want it to resemble a coleslaw, taste, season adjust and taste again.

Grilled prawns
600 g prawns, peeled and deveined (keep the shells in the freezer to make a prawn bisque)
Salt
Pepper
Lemon juice
1/2 bunch dill finely chopped

Method:

1. Season prawns with salt and pepper fry on a hot BBQ or griddle pan for 3-4 minutes turning once half way through
2. Remove from the heat and leave to cool
3. Cut the prawns in half or leave as is depending on how you wish to present
4. Mix with the dill and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste and season again if necessary

 
Yoghurt dressing
250g Yoghurt plain unsweetened
35g Lemon juice
20g Mint julienne
Salt
Pepper
15g Olive oil

Method:

1. Whisk every thing together 
2. Season and taste adjust if necessary
3. Keep cool in the fridge until ready to use