Beef and Basil Stir Fried Rice ข้าวผัดกะเพราเนื้อ

Beef and Basil Stir Fried Rice ข้าวผัดกะเพราเนื้อ

Stir fried basil is perhaps Thailand's most consumed dish. We eat so much of it that there was a story on a Thai social website asking how basil has not become extinct already. Stir fried basil has a reputation for being the sort of meal that people will order when they can't decide what to eat and so is fried rice. There is a term, which describes these dishes 'สิ้นคิด sin kid' or 'lacking imagination'  This recipe combines two 'sin kid' but extremely popular dishes. I served my fried rice with a fried egg, we normally serve spicy dishes with egg of some kind to soothe the palate.

Serves 3.

(Have some tissue handy)

In a large wok, with a tbsp of vegetable oil, fry

-2 cloves chopped garlic, with

-chillies (as many as you can handle),

Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (you will also be coughing and sneezing uncontrollably), add

-500g sliced beef.

Cook, stirring to coat the beef in the spices, add

-2tbsp soy sauce,

-2tbsp soy sauce,

-1tbsp fish sauce,

-a big handful of basil leaves.

Stir to combine, add

-800g cooked rice.

Cook, stirring constantly, until the rice is coated in the sauce.

Serve with a fried egg.

Hot and Sour Beef with Turmeric Soup เนื้อต้มขมิ้น.

Hot and Sour Beef with Turmeric Soup เนื้อต้มขมิ้น

A hot, spicy and sour Southern Thai soup, normally made with aged free range farm chicken. The meat is left stewing for a period of time until tender and melting. This is an incredibly healthy and medicinal soup. Turmeric is a powerful medicine, which has long been used to treat a wide range of illnesses. Thai country folk, such as my family, would use grated turmeric to treat gastric related illnesses and would rub it on skin to heal bites and for beauty treatments. Turmeric is a powerhouse of staining and colouring, I hated being yellow for days on end, from head to toe. We were told it would give us beautiful (black?!?) hair and soft skin.

In a large saucepan, put in

-1.5 litres vegetable stock or water with vegetable stock cube,

-6cm sliced fresh turmeric,

-6cm sliced galangal,

-2 stalks lemongrass,

-3 cloves crushed garlic,

-4-5 sliced shallots,

-5-6 kaffir lime leaves,

-a small handful fresh coriander,

-3 tomatoes, halved,

-2tsp tamarind purée

-1tsp sea salt.

Bring up to the boil and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

Add 600g stewing beef, cut into 2-3cm chunks.

Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for about an hour or until the meat is tender and melting.

Add 3 sliced spring onions.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

You may need more fish sauce or lime juice for extra freshness.

Serve with rice.

Fish Chowder.

Fish Chowder.

Hearty, healthy but still deliciously indulgent. This decadent fish soup is incredibly easy and quick to prepare. I have a freezer full of frozen homemade stock, which makes light work of any meal. This flavoursome meal took around 5 minutes to make.

Serves 2.

In a large saucepan, put in

-500ml fish stock, with

-a small handful of fresh parsley,

-400g sweet potatoes, cut into 2cm chunks.

Leave to simmer for 5 minutes, add

-400g fish pie mix.

Cook, for a minute or until the fish is cooked through.

Use a slotted spoon to fish out the fish pieces.

Leave aside.

Continue to cook the potatoes in the stock for another 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Use a hand blender to blitz the potatoes chunks.

Add 2tbsp double cream.

Add the fish pieces to the soup to warm through.

Turn off the heat.

Stir through 2tbsp chopped chives.

A few twists of black pepper.

Serve with bread (I served mine with 'sausage and onion muffin bread')

Chocolate Ganache Cake.

Chocolate Ganache Cake.

My older daughter has made this birthday cake for her dad. Happy 35th birthday to the most patient man.

Equipment:

2x20cm springform cakes tins, lined with baking paper.

In a saucepan, melt

-600ml double cream, with

-300ml dark chocolate, broken into chunks.

Cook, stirring on low heat until the chocolate has melted.

Leave aside.

       For the cake.

Use an electric mixer, beat

-250g butter, at room temperature, with

-300g caster sugar,

-300g self raising flour,

-1tsp baking powder,

-50g cocoa powder,

-5 eggs,

-1tsp vanilla bean paste,

-pinch of salt.

Stir through,

-1/2 of the melted chocolate.

Spoon into the prepared tins.

Bake in 180c fan forced oven for 25 minutes. The skewer should not come out clean.

Leave to cool completely in the cooking tins.

When you are ready to serve...

Add 1tbsp of icing sugar to the reserved chocolate ganache.

Use an electric mixer to beat the ganache until spreadable (around 20 seconds)

        To assemble.

Place the first layer of cake on the serving platter.

Spoon on 1/2 chocolate ganache.

Spread evenly.

Place the second layer on top.

Spoon on the rest of the ganache.

Baked Rice Pudding with Raspberry Sauce.

Baked Rice Pudding with Raspberry Sauce.

Never in the case of delicious puddings was so much enjoyment had by so many, to so few preparatory minutes.

Serves 3.

In a 1.5 litre capacity ovenproof dish, put in

-100g pudding rice,

-300ml double cream, 

-600ml whole milk,

-60g caster sugar,

-1tsp vanilla bean paste,

-1/2tsp ground cinnamon 

-pinch of salt.

Stir to combine.

Bake in 160c fan forced oven for 1.10 hours.

Leave to stand for 15 minutes before serving.

   

   Raspberry Sauce.

In a saucepan, put in

-100g frozen raspberries, with

-1tbsp water,

-1tbsp casters sugar.

Leave to simmer on low heat until softened.

Braised Chicken in Soy Sauce and Asian Herbs.

Braised Chicken in Soy Sauce and Asian Herbs.

Another Chinese favourite to tempt you, this is my take on the famous Soy Sauce Chicken. Easy, scrummy and ingredients are readily available from mainstream supermarkets. The chicken is deliciously sticky, slightly sweet and extremely flavourful. I am serving it with a spicy chilli and ginger sauce but you can certainly leave out the chillies. I love spicy food and when, on a rare occasion, I cook a dish that all 5 of us will and can eat, I will always make a spicy condiment to have on the side. I love food but even I dread the smell of some of my dishes (especially when shrimp paste is involved and the wind is blowing in the wrong direction) but it's not the case here. Please make this dish and open all your doors and windows but for the purpose of showing off the lovely aroma. It smells incredible and it's taken me right back to Sydney Chinatown, where I first had soy sauce chicken.

Serves 6.

In a large stock pot, put in

-1.5 litres chicken stock (or water with chicken stock cube),

-1 stick cinnamon,

-1tsp cloves,

-1tsp coriander seeds,

-1tsp peppercorns,

-2 star anise,

-4cm sliced ginger,

-3-4 cloves crushed garlic,

-1tsp sea salt,

-1tbsp sesame oil,

-2tbsp Shaoxing rice wine,

-100ml soy sauce,

-100ml dark soy sauce.

Bring up to the simmer and leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes. 

Add 2kg free range whole chicken.

Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 30 minutes.

Turn the chicken in the stock.

Add 2tbsp palm or brown sugar.

Cover with the lid and leave to simmer for another 30 minutes.

Turn the heat off and let the chicken cool down in the stock for at least 30 minutes.

   Spicy Sauce.

In a bowl, put in 

-6 chopped chillies,

-2 cloves chopped garlic,

-2tbsp chopped ginger,

-1tbsp chopped coriander,

-1tbsp balsamic vinegar,

-3tbsp soy sauce,

-1tsp sesame oil.

Stir and leave aside.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve...

1. Cook your rice.

2. Preheat the oven 200c fan forced.

3. Place the chicken in a deep oven tray, pour over 3tbsp of honey.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, basting half way through the cooking time.

4. At the same..put the stock back on low-medium heat and leave to simmer.

   To serve.

Carve the chicken into portions.

Spoon the stock over the chicken.

Sprinkle over chopped spring onions and ginger for added freshness.

Serve with rice, vegetables and spicy sauce.

Sausage and Onion Muffin Bread.

Sausage and Onion Muffin Bread.

Sausages are tasty, economical and add such depth of flavour. They are perfect all year round, from summer picnics to comforting winter casseroles. This muffin bread is a delicious and easy springtime treat.

I named this bread 'muffin bread' as I had intended the bake to be individual muffins, the girls must have used my muffin cups in their play kitchen, there was none to be found. It's turned out incredibly well, cooked in a loaf tin, and definitely less fiddly.

Equipment:

1.5 litres capacity loaf tin, greased with vegetable oil.

In a frying pan, fry,

-2 chopped onions.

Cook, stirring, until the onions are cooked through and slightly caramelised, add

-400g sliced sausage meat.

-salt/pepper.

Cook, stirring, occasionally, until the meat is almost cooked through.

Leave aside.

 

Oven 190c fan forced.

In a large bowl, put in,

-300g self raising,

-1tsp baking powder,

-4 whisked eggs,

-150ml milk,

-5tbsp vegetable oil,

-salt/pepper.

Stir together with a large metal spoon, add

-cooked sausage meat,

-2tbsp chopped chives.

Spoon into the loaf tin.

Bake 35-40 minutes. Skewer should come out clean.

Leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Serve warm.