Oriental chicken salad

food soundtrack: green green grass of tunnel by MUM

I am out of work at the moment. so my time goes to looking for a new job. One including maybe creating a cooking show, so cross fingers.

Today I share with you my oriental chicken salad, its fresh, crucnhy and filling. It works as a shared salad for a party, lunch or a dinner dish. There are different elements to this salad, you dont need all of it of course and you can make your own twist, but I found this combination leaves me utterly satisfied.

I am not gonna give a specified amount, you cant choose how much or little you want to use.

For the salad greens I used

• Chinese cabbage, chopped
• Red cabbage, chopped
• fresh bean sprouts
• snow peas, chopped
• spring opnion, chopped
• mixed greens
• Mandarin orange sliced up.

You will also need some boiled shredded chicken

For the topping I used some finely chopped peanuts and some crispy wontons.  You can use some broken up instant noodles instead of wontons if you have trouble finding wontons.

Sesame ginger dressing

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
• 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 cup water

Mix the dressing together well and pour over salad

Roasted chicken breast with pea puree

Food soundtrack: and your bird can sing by The Beatles

Who doesn’t love roasted chicken? I love the taste of the greasy store-bought rotisserie chicken, its has to be salty and smoky.  I found this spice rub resembles the store-bought ones the most.  You can easily make the spice rub in the morning then rub the chicken and then just leave it in the fridge the whole day in a zip lock bag.  Either way you should give them at least 20 minutes to marinade.  The most important thing about this is just like a turkey, I baste almost every 5 minutes while in the oven

As for the Pea puree, I used canned peas, but whatever tickles your fancy, fresh or canned.  It is a great substitute for potatoes, if you are trying to eat more low carb for dinner.

Spice rub (for about 2 chicken breasts)

• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt
• pepper
• cayenne pepper  (I just use a pinch of cayenne, salt and pepper)
• 1/2 onion quartered

Pea Puree

• 1 can of peas, drained
• 1 clove of garlic
• knob of butter
• 1/3 cup of cream

1. Rub the chicken breast with the spice rub all over including inside the skin. Shove in the onion underneath the skin
2. Roast in oven at 200 degrees celsius for about 25 minutes, basting 3-4 times.
3. While roasting, boil up some water with the garlic clove in it. Pour in the peas
4. When the peas come to a boil, leave for 30 sec. then drain peas. Transfer to a food processor and pour in the cream. Process til it become a silky texture.
5. To keep warm I pour into a low heated pan then blend in the butter and keep it there till serving.

I used some sliced mushrooms pan-fried in butter with salt and pepper, since I had in the fridge but purely optional.

Clams stir fried in roasted chili and basil

Food soundtrack: Sea of love by Cat Power

My favourite food is shellfish and any sort of crustaceans. I love mussels, oysters any seafood really that requires peeling out of a shell.  Clams is one of those delights that in Thailand is easy to come by and it doesn’t matter what Italian restaurant I am in, I always get the pasta vongole.

This recipe requires Thai chilli paste (nam prik paw) it adds that sweet but spicy flavour that is such a staple of Thai cooking.  It’s important that you keep stirring throughout cooking.

• 2 lb. fresh clams
• 2-3 tbsp. peanut oil
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• chopped red chillies I use about 2, but this depends on how spicy you like.
• 2-3 tbsp roasted chilli paste
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup Thai basil leaves
• fish sauce to taste
• about 2 tbsp water

1. Heat oil in a shallow frying pan then add chilli and garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds, be careful not to burn.

2. Add chilli paste stir well, then add the sugar and fish sauce, finish with the oyster sauce and stir.

3. Add the clams and stir well till shell opens up and slightly changes color (you can of course pre soak the clams to open up the shells a bit)  Add some water. Keep stirring throughout.

4. Lastly stir in the basil leaves, remove from heat and give it a good last stir.

5. Served with rice and enjoy. x

Beetroot couscous salad

Food Soundtrack: the bloody beetroots – awesome

I used to dislike couscous, it was just one of those foods I never gave a chance.  Then a few months back I was invited to dinner to some friends and they served me this couscous salad, I gave it a try and I loved it.  Since then I have been hooked and you can always find this salad in my fridge.  It’s great for lunch, pre or after workout meal as well as dinner side dish.  This is great on its own with some avocado slices. Or great with grilled fish, chicken or meatballs.

you will need

• 1/2 cup couscous
• 1/2 cup water (with salt and some olive oil) Then some butter to fluff the couscous
• half a yellow bell pepper/capsicum
• a small handful of  halved cherry tomatoes
• fresh cooked or pickled beetroot ( as much as your prefer)
• feta cheese crumbled into bits
• 1/3 cup of natural yogurt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• lemon juice
• pepper

1. Cook the couscous as package says

2. Mixed the chopped vegetables with crumbled cheese in a bowl. The mix in the couscous

3. In a separate bowl mix the yogurt, olive oil, mustard, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pour mixture over the couscous. Mix well.

Now I prefer this after its been in the fridge and let it set for an hour, but you can of course eat it straight away.

Peaches and chicken curry in mango chutney sauce.

POST SOUNDTRACK: Peaches by presidents of the united states

I´ve been getting so much heat for practically neglecting this blog. Its one of those things when you go through phases of no inspiration. I have been cooking, not so much new stuff. Also I don’t like how my pics turn out at night-time, just doesn’t look good.

I just purchased a dutch oven, it cost a bit, but my my is it worth it.  Have a feeling loads of my dishes will involve my new lovely red dutch oven.

Today´s dish is a curry, I am not really sure what to call it. Just describing the ingredients might seem odd; Peaches, cheese, chilli,  cream, cashews, chicken but the taste is wonderful.  It has a very summery fresh taste, but also the comfort of a good curry.

Now you don’t need a dutch oven for this of course, but I made it all on one pan.

you will need

• a pack of chicken filets, sliced up to cubes.
• a can of peach halves (cut into wedges)
• 300 ml cream
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 3-4 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 3 good tbsp of mango chutney
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tbsp paprika powder
• 1 cup grated cheese
• unsalted cashew nuts (about 1/2 cup )

1. Mix the chilli, paprika, mango chutney, garlic and chicken stock in a pot and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer 2-3 minutes
2. Set pot aside then mix in the cream and some syrup from the peach halves can, about 1/3 of a cup
3. In a cooking dish layer the chicken filets and peach wedges along till its filled.
4. pour over the chutney curry mix, then sprinkle in the cashew nuts.
5. Finnish by topping over the grated cheese (I use mozzarella)
6. Set in bottom of oven for about 30 minutes at 220 degrees celsius 420 fahrenheit.

Enjoy with rice and nan bread.

Sorry

I been getting loads of complaints that i havent posted in a long time. Im sorry, on holiday at the moment. Promise i will be back with loads of new food. New season coming soon ; )

Thai pumpkin soup

Food soundtrack: Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins

I know I have not been consistent with my recipe posting the last few months, but I have been cooking and taking pictures. I think my biggest challenge till this day is scheduling things in my life, to actually set time aside and sit down and do stuff and not surf in forums on the internet like I tend to do.

I had craving for some soup and my friend suggested pumpkin soup with Thai red curry and coconut milk instead of cream, this sounded like a sure winner to me.

Now one thing I am still trying to master is actually peeling a pumpkin, I found it quite tricky and  I am sure I did it wrong, so I if you have any tips I sure would appreciate it

• 2 cups diced pumpkin
• 1 carrot
• 2 tomatoes
• 1/4 onion diced
• 2 shallots diced
• 1 garlic diced
• butter
• oil
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp red curry
• 1 1/2 chicken stock

1. Saute the onion, shallot and garlic in the butter for a minute before adding the stock.

2. When stock boils add the pumpkin, tomato and diced carrot. Let it cook for about 10 minutes (until the pumpkin is soft)

3. In a separate saucepan heat some oil add the curry, let it simmer a few second before adding the coconut milk. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes.

4. Pour everything in a blender and pulse a few seconds, be careful as I had a full blender and steam came shooting up, so you might want to do it in 2 batches.

5. Return to soup pan and ready to serve.