Chicken, Coconut and galangal soup

This soup is simple and tasty.  I've changed it quite a bit from the original recipe so I won't quote the author!  As for the chicken stock I use Emeril's All Natural Chicken Stock when I don't make my own!  Great recipes at http://www.emerils.com/.  By the way, we had another Farmer's Market in Rye on Saturday.  I will post the website tomorrow!  Watch this space...

1 1/2 pints chicken stock
2in ginger peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 tblspns Thai fish sauce
Juice 2 lemons
16 oz boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
14 fl oz coconut milk
spoonful of  chili garlic sauce
handful button mushrooms thinly sliced
some flat parsley leaves or coriander leaves

Place the stock in a large pan with the ginger, fish sauce and lemon juice.  Bring to the boil, stirring continuously.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until ginger is tender.   Add chicken and coconut milk and continue to cook over a high heat for 2 minutes.  Add chili sauce, parsley or coriander and cook another 20 seconds, ladle into bowls.

Teriyaki Steak

I love Teriyaki anything and fortunately so does the family.  I always serve it with white rice and a green salad.  I have a really great salad dressing I make which is a BIG variation on French vinegarette.  So today, I went to http://www.themeathouse.com/.  It's a chain of butchers here in America.  Not that you would know it that it's a chain - it's just like they say on their website just like an old fashioned butcher shop.  Actually they're pretty common in Australia.  I honestly agree with my Dad that no-one knows how to display meat like the Aussies. I remember being horrified by the motley looking pigs heads I saw hanging in European butchers when I first when there way back in the early 80s!  I don't know how anyone could find that appealing.  But then again...one man's meat is another man's poison. 

This recipe is derived from "Japanese Cooking A Simple Art" by Shizuo Tsuji.  It was published in 1980.  I bought it when I lived in Japan.  It is the same style in layout as Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  And even has the same sort of anecdotes throughout.  Which I think is why I bought it back in 1993 or 1994.  It really appealed to my sensibilities.  The illustrations are delightful and there is a little description for everything. Teri means 'glossy luster', and the secret is to achieve this effect by reducing the sauce without overcooking the meat.  I can't claim to do this perfectly, but it's a good starting point.  And having lived in Japan I know the book is very 'authentic'.  If I was to recommend any book on Japanese cuisine this would be it.  In fact, it's definitely in my top ten of my recipes books. 

 

Quick Teriyaki Steak (4 serves)

4 sirloin steaks, about 1inch thick.  Slice into bite-ish size strips
2 tblspns veg oil
1 tspn sesame oil
1/2 cup sake
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water

Marinate the steak in sauce for about 1 hr.  Heat up the fry pan and fry over a pretty high heat.  I do the meat in a few batches.  Add the sauce and sort of let is bubble and cook a little.  Add 1/2 cup water to taste - thins out the sauce a little so you have some to put over the rice.

Roast chicken and potatoes cooked in Duck fat

I learned this cool way to cook a roast chicken from my Mum when she visited me last year.  Just get some chicken shears and cut down the backbone and flatten the chicken out.  After you have rinsed and patted the chicken dry, put in in a baking pan on top of onions skinned and cut in half.  Tuck the onions underneath so no bits are poking out.  Cook at 375 f degrees for about an hour.  When you take the chicken and onion out of the baking dish and make the gravy you'll see the real reason for doing this.  The gravy will be more delicious than ever from that onion.  One time I put in a clove from an 'elephant' garlic knob.  But I tucked it well inside so it wouldn't burn. 

The other great thing to do for a roast dinner is to roast the potatoes in duck fat.  Just a little, not to much is necessary.  If you want really crispy potatoes parboil them first in loads of salty water.  But if you don't have time, don't worry, they'll still be tasty.

Tonight I served this with a green salad  with vinegarette dressing. 

Vinegarette dressing

• rice vinegar
• walnut oil
• minced garlic
• black pepper
• salt

I don't put the mustard in because someone in our house doesn't really like mustard.  Don't ask me for the measurements because I kind of just do it and taste it.  I suppose if you followed the Mastering the Art of French Cooking vinegarette quantities that would be a good guide.  I swear everyone who's ever had this dressing absolutely loves it.  I discovered the rice vinegar when living in Japan - it's much softer than any other vinegar I have tasted.   It's great if you have tendancy to have an 'acidy' stomach.  The walnut oil came from the Cordon Bleu part-time course I did when we lived in the UK.  I used to go one night a week with my friend.  It was so much fun!

Forgot to take photos again!!!  Will add them at a later date...

Oatmeal cookies

I tasted these a few weeks ago.  You can substitute unsweetened apple sauce instead of the butter if you want less fat.  I wanted to try the 'fat' version first.  They're cooking as we speak.  The original recipe doesn't mention the food processor, but I think it worked just fine.  I'm all for one-bowl operations.  Saves on washing up.

2 sticks butter (1/2 lb)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup demerara can sugar
2 eggs
1 tspn vanilla
1 cup all purpose white flour
1/2 wholewheat flour
1 tspn cinnamon
3 cups oats (can be old fasihoned or quick uncooked)
1 cup raisins

1. Heat oven to 325farenheit fan forced
2. Beat together butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla, beat well in food processor
3. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, pulse in food processor.
4. Add oats, again pulse in food processor.
5. Spoon tablespoon size onto cookie tray.  Cook for 20 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen. 

Meatballs

I don't know how many times I have made meatballs - well tonight they declared them 'the best'!  So I will write down this recipe and have it for the future.  The Garfield's Pork Sausage is delivered to me by The Little Milkman Home Delivery Services, (Ph: 373-6659) a local delivery service of tasty local products. It's so cool to get milk in a glass bottle (I agree with that slogan things taste better glass)!  And cream also in a glass bottle from Harris Dary Farm in Dayton, Maine.  http://www.harrisfarm.com/ - you can even wash and return the bottle for a deposit!  Not much of that these days.   The cream tastes better than any cream I have ever tasted including English clotted cream.  

I must say in the 6 1/2 years we have lived in New Hampshire, sustainability and recycling have become part of the everyday vernacular.  The children have a recycling club in the Elementary school (which some people say is just a euphemism for garbage collectors - but seriously - whatever raises awareness is okay by me!)  We also have an abundance of farmers markets that have sprouted all over the place.  http://www.seacoastgrowers.org/ We even had a Farmer's Market in Rye and a newsletter to boot.  I'm going to try to put that link on also, not sure how technological capable I am.  Anyway, back to the meatballs. 

Italian meatballs

1 lb ground Angus beef (95% fat free is my favourite)
1 lb Garfield's Pork Sausage
2 cloves garlic
1 onion (sauteed until clear)
1 egg
1 cup finely grated parmesan
small handful of finely chopped fresh parsley
generous teaspoon dried Italian herbs http://www.thenutmegspiceco.com/
I didn't add any salt as the pork sausage is pretty salty

Combine beef, pork sausage, minced garlic, onion, cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, herbs.  Add the egg and get your hands in and really mix it around!  I roll them into smallish meatballs and bake in a fan forced oven at 300 Farenheit for about 1/2 hr.

I then add to homemade tomato (marinara) sauce and simmer gently for 1/2 hour so they're cooked through thorougly.

I served it with whole wheat fusili.  I know it should be with spaghetti.  But it's just easier to eat with short noodles of some description.

I'm now off to watch an episode of LOST and one episode of the American THE OFFICE.

Busy week ahead

This week I will be occupied from 2-6pm every day helping my children with a DI tournament preparation coming up.  This week and next week will be the same, so I am planning to cook every morning so I don't have to come home and 'create' at 6pm.  I find it so hard to get enthusiastic about food when I've been out of the house and then I end up doing 'breakfast for dinner' - scrambled eggs on toast, bacon and orange juice!  Which is okay once in a while but not five nights in a row.   By the way, here's the link to the DI website.  http://www.idodi.com/.  It's a creative team building tournament that my kids love! 

That's all for now..