King prawn toast with whole grain mustard aioli

Perfect for afternoon tea or canapes

This was a bit of an experiment for an afternoon tea we had at our place recently.  The whole recipe is very simple though, and will only take about 20 mins to put together.

Ingredients:
(makes 12)

• 6 pieces of sliced bread (I used white but you could use wholemeal)
• a scalloped cookie cutter around 5-6 cm
• 12 pieces of cooked king prawn (they came pre-cooked from my supermarket but you can gently cook them until they are pink if you can't find the cooked variety)
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced into 3-4 mm slices
• sprigs of fresh parsley to decorate

For the aioli: 

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 2 table spoons lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste

Aioli is basically garlic mayonnaise.  I first discovered it in Spain when it was served on top of a tortilla, and then together with fiduea, which I call the noodle version of paella.  Fiduea is deserving of its own post some other day when I manage to make it!  Anyway back to aioli, the creamy mayo with the garlic kick just brings out the flavour of foods, particularly seafood, so well.  Now I find it hard to have tortilla without it.  Aioli goes really well with prawns but I didn't have time to make the aioli from scratch so I experimented a bit with the store bought mayo.

1. 

   Scalloped cookie cutter

   Using the cookie cutter, cut two rings of bread from each slice of bread.
2. Toast the bread in the oven at around 180 degrees celcius until just golden brown, which should take around 5-10 mins.
3. While the bread is toasting, you can make your aioli.  Chop your garlic as finely as possible, using a food processor if possible.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly - it should be a nice thick consistency.  You can vary the quantities of the ingredients depending on your taste, e.g. whether you like it more tangy (more lemon) or garlicky! 
4. Place a slice of cucumber on the toast, topped by a small spoonful of aioli and then the king prawn.  The aioli will help keep the prawn in place.
5. Add a sprig of parsley.
6. Serve within 2-3 hours.