A warm prawn salad with sriracha beurre blanc

 Summer in the Algarve with a nod to France

"All you need is a knife and fork to travel this summer"- so says the current Marks and Spencer food campaign.Never a truer word was spoken.A plate of food can literally transport you like a magic carpet ride to exotic destinations where you are experiencing a different cuisine in a different climate.It could also conjure up memories of something you ate on the holiday you have recently returned from.I dont know why, but when I was creating and eating this salad I had a feeling for the south of France.Maybe I should have donned Julia Child´s apron and stuck to a more traditional approach, traditional by using champagne vinegar.Salad isn't everyone's first choice for a main dish, and this could work equally well as a starter, but when you try out this particular salad you'll want to make it your main instead of your starter.This salad  fuses Eastern flavours with Western methods and produces an irresistible plate.The secret to this dish is that the sauce is a version of that French classic, beurre blanc,quite frankly, indispensable to any cook. but with the addition of Thai Sriracha sauce.

A Warm prawn salad with Sriracha beurre blanc
serves 4
100g (3.5 oz ) unsalted butter, chilled and diced 
1 tbsp shallot or spring onion, finely chopped
50ml (2fl oz ) whipping cream
1tsp sriracha sauce
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
salt and freshly ground white pepper
2 plum tomatoes,skinned ,seeded and roughly chopped
1 small avocado ,peeled and diced
2tbsp fresh coriander leaves,roughly chopped
1 tbsp chives, snipped
400g king prawns,raw
75ml sunflower oil
2 small green chillies,seeded,and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic,finely chopped
mixed salad leaves of your choice 
2 tbsp home made vinaigrette
For the vinaigrette-
(this will leave you with plenty to jar up and store in the refrigerator)
300ml extra virgin olive oil
125ml white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Flor de sal
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 clove garlic
generous sprinkling of Herbes de provence

Make the vinaigrette by placing all the ingredients in a food processor until well emulsified.
NOTE: Butter is essentially a smooth mixture of fat and water. The secret to making beurre blanc is to preserve its makeup by allowing each addition of butter to melt smoothly into the sauce, as you whisk it, before adding the next piece of butter. Never let the sauce come to a boil once the butter is added, this will cause it to separate.