Pad Thai

Pad Thai - Serves 2

I still remember the first time I ever tried Pad Thai – I was sat in a little restaurant just off Khao San Road in Bangkok and fancied a change from my usual Thai Green Curry. I was to eat Pad Thai many more times during the 3 weeks I spent in Thailand and often from street vendors who literally cooked this up in minutes.

I also regularly eat Pad Thai for my lunch at work – there’s a great little market street just around the corner from me and there are two vans that sell excellent Thai food. Despite my best efforts, I usually succumb to my taste buds and least once a week, and completely ignore my waistline! I think because I eat Pad Thai so often at work I very rarely cook it at home. In fact now I think about it, I can only remember cooking it once before, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t turn out that great! So with that in mind I fancied having another go – kind of a make or break if you will.

So I logged onto the computer to try and find a recipe – there were so many! I decided in the end to loosely follow a Delia Smith recipe; I say loosely follow as I never really follow a recipe exactly and I made a few changes as I went along. I decided to add some chicken to the recipe to compliment the prawns, as well as some radishes (mainly as I had some in the fridge). When I’ve seen Pad Thai cooked before I’ve often seen tomato ketchup being used to give the noodles some colour, and while I would usually try and use tamarind paste, unfortunately my fridge was pretty bare, so ketchup had to do. As I added in the egg I was also a little concerned that there was too much – you probably can’t see looking at the picture, but if I was to make this again (which I will), I would definitely only use one egg.

The recipe I’ve posted below is my modified version and I was really happy with the result! I hope you are too.

 Ingredients

• 110g rice noodles (often known as rice stick)
• 8 king prawns (I used frozen)
• 1 chicken breast, diced
• 3 tbsp groundnut oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup (tamarind paste is better, add to taste)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 radishes, finely chopped
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp red chilli flakes
• 1 handful coriander

Method

Step 1
Prepare all the ingredients beforehand as once the stir fry starts it’s all very quick. First you want to cook the noodles to packet instructions (I boiling water for 5 minutes) then briefly rinse in cold water and set aside.

Step 2
Heat a pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil and cook the chicken until just cooked, then set aside. If you are using frozen prawns, defrost in a little warm water, then also set aside.

Step 3
Heat the groundnut oil to a very high heat, then add the chilli, garlic and the red onion and cook for 1 – 2 minutes until slightly softening. Add the radish to the pan for 30 seconds, then add in the cooked chicken and defrosted prawns for a couple of minutes. (If using uncooked prawns add these prior to the chicken and ensure they are fully cooked first).

Step 4
Once the chicken and prawns are cooked, add the lime juice and the fish sauce and cook for a few minutes more. Add the noodles to the pan and give everything a good mix, turning the heat down slightly. Add in the tomato ketchup and mix again.  

Step 5
Pour in the egg over the noodles and leave to set for 1 minute. Once the egg starts to set, start to stir the noodles again and the egg should break up into thin strands. Keep stirring until the egg is cooked then serve with the following garnishes.

Serving Suggestion

• 1 tbsp red chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp crushed peanuts (I omitted as I don’t like peanuts)
• 1 wedge of lime
• 1 handful of coriander

Banana Milkshake

Banana Milkshake - Makes 1 glass

Summer has finally arrived in North London… well, kind of. It’s certainly been a hell of a lot better than it has been recently, and it actually hasn’t rained for the past 3 or 4 days now. Unfortunately the bad weather seems to coincide with the weekends here in London, so if it wasn’t for the fact that I was off work ill today I don’t think I would have even seen the sun yet!  

As I’ve been off work ill, I felt I needed something to perk me up a bit, whilst being pretty neutral on the stomach! I started browsing a number of blogs out there for a smoothie concoction that was going to heal me… or at least make me feel less sorry for myself.

In the end I thought ’stick to what you know’ and I’m so glad I did. I know a lot of people like to dress up banana milkshakes a bit; perhaps adding honey, chocolate or cinnamon. For me the best milkshakes are kept simple. For me that means bananas and milk – perhaps at a push a bit of ice cream.

Ingredients

• 1 banana, roughly chopped
• 250ml milk

Method

Step 1
Throw the chopped banana and milk into a blender and whizz up until you have so smooth milkshake. It really is as easy as that. Serve it into a cold glass and if you been fancy, slice a bit of banana with the skin still on and hang over the edge of the glass (in a similar way as you may do with a slice of orange for a cocktail).

Nepali Breakfast of Omlette & Potatoes

Nepali Breakfast - Serves 2

I visited Nepal back in November 2008 and the breakfasts out there were definitely one of the highlights of my trip! These went down an absolute treat most mornings, but particularly before a long day’s trekking as I needed all the energy I could get! I decided that I would try and pick up a Nepali cookbook in Kathmandu so that I could recreate this (and the other fabulous food I tasted) when I got home. The book I found was called the ‘The Joys of Nepalese cooking’ and it is a really great book. If you want to read about my trip you can do so here.

I used a combination of the information found in my Nepali cookbook, and an excellent recipe for Bombay potatoes by Rick Stein (Goodfood Magazine, January 2009) where he actually poaches an egg on top of the potatoes. I was also inspired in a strange kind of way by Saturday Kitchen’s omelette challenge – although I’ll need to make sure my omelette’s not ‘running round the farmyard’ as most of them are on the show!

 

Ingredients for 2 Omelettes

• 4 large eggs
• Splash of milk 
• 1/2 red chilli, finely chopped (remove seeds if you like things milder)
• 50g cheese, grated
• 2 tsp chives, finely chopped
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 5 button mushrooms, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, seeds removed and finely chopped
• 2 knobs of butter (1 for each omelette)
• Salt & Pepper

Method for the Omelette

Step 1
Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork until the egg yolk is completely mixed into the egg whites. Add a splash of milk and give the mixture another stir.

Step 2
Add all the other ingredients to the mixture (except the cheese & the butter) and give it a good mix.

Step 3
Melt the butter in a frying pan on a medium heat, then add the egg mixture. Use a small spatula to run around the edges of the pan, tipping the frying pan so the uncooked egg from the center of the pan can run under the bottom of the cooked egg. Continue to use this method until the egg in the center is nearly cooked (it should still be just a little moist), and now add the cheese to the pan. 

 Step 4
Once the cheese has just started to melt, the omelette should be ready. Fold the omelette over and serve with the potatoes.

Ingredients for the Potatoes

• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 cm thumb of root ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 5 dried curry leaves
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped (add more if you like things hot)
• 3/4 tsp turmeric
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Method for the Potatoes

Step 1
Boil the Potatoes for around 12 minutes or until they are tender but not breaking up. Remove from the pan and allow the potatoes to cool.

Step 2
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add the cumin & mustard seeds and fry for 1 minute. After around one minute the seeds should start popping – at this point add in the garlic, onion, curry leaves and chilli to the pan and stir fry for a further 2 minutes, or until the onions have started to soften.

Step 3
Add the turmeric and potatoes to the frying pan and mix well so that everything is coated in the lovely yellow colour of the turmeric. You will probably need to cook the potatoes on a medium heat for around 4 – 5 minutes depending on how small you cubed your potatoes. Make sure the heat is not on too high as the potatoes will burn – although you can always add a bit of water if the potatoes are sticking to the pan.

Holiday of a lifetime in Nepal!

 Nepal Trip - Novemeber 2008

It’s taken me a while to finally write about this trip (I went in November last year) - I think I just really wanted to make sure that I got it ‘right’.

First of all I just want to say how much of an amazing country Nepal really is - from the second that I caught a glimpse of the beautiful Himalayan mountains through the plane window, I knew the trip was going to be special.

On arrival at Kathmandu airport the hustle and bussle suddenly hits you! I was soon surrounded by a number of touts trying to offer me a taxi to ‘the best hotel in Kathmandu’ – luckily for me I already had a hotel pickup sorted by the Hotel I was booked with. The trip to the hotel was a real eye opener. One image that has stuck in my mind was crossing a large river on our way into central Kathmandu – there were people washing clothes, bathing and drinking from one of the dirtiest rivers I have ever seen in my life. I think from that moment I realised that the glamorous mountains of Nepal are only the tip of the iceberg; there is much more to Nepal than meets the eye.

The first couple of days I stayed in and around Kathmandu, taking in the hustle and bustle of the city and trying some of the local cuisine. One of my favourite foods was a local dish called ‘momo‘ (very similar to Chinese dim sum) that are usually stuffed with minced chicken and herbs, but there are loads of different variations.  Some of the street food looked absolutely fantastic – others looked a little bit questionable to say the least! That said, as long as you are careful I think eating from street vendors is one of the best ways to sample the real food of the country.

One thing that immediately hits you about Kathmandu is the amount of traffic! People were crammed into tuk tuk’s, mini buses and the strangest looking vehicles!

I think you could offer me a huge amount of money right now to drive a car in Kathmandu and I would turn you down – the drivers are crazy! In fact we saw a number of crashes while we out there, and I’m not suprised. The recognised way to overtake in Nepal is to beep your horn and go… and that includes around blind corners!

After a couple of days in Kathmandu we took a coach up the H03 road towards the Tibetan border, as we heard of an excellent little place that organises adventure sports! The Last Resort is located on top of the Bhote Kosi River gorge and the only way to reach the resort is by crossing a 160m suspension bridge! The bridge is also the main bungy jump site in Nepal for all those who have a death wish (I didn’t do it before you ask!). The main reason we visited here was to do a raft down the Bhote Kosi River and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The first day was a little slow, but the second day was continous  grade 3- 5 rapids which was just fine by me!

After a brief return to Kathmandu, we decided to move on again; this time we took the long coach ride down to Chitwan National Park, a great place to see some wildlife in Nepal. The original plan was to get a coach ride part way, then raft the final half day to the resort. Unfortunately there was a strike for 6 hours that day, so everything just stopped! That meant cars, buses, shops, people … everything. Due to this we ended up sitting by our bus in a small Nepali village, playing cards with the locals which actually turned out to be a great experience! Once we got going again we decided to travel on the roof of the bus for a while as the bus was roasting after sitting in the  blazing sun for 6 hours. It was a bit of a hairy ride around the cliff tops but thouroughly enjoyable – that was until we saw a bus 70 meters below in the river! We spoke to the driver and he says it is not that uncomon which made us nervous to say the least.

When we finally arrived at Chitwan (still alive!), it was very late because of the strikes so was completely pitch black. The resort we were staying in (Island Jungle Resort) could only be reached by canoe – something we had no idea about before we got there, so you can imagine our suprise when we were told to sit in a canoe in the complete dark! It was a great experience arriving at the forrest reteat in the dark and as there are wild animals roaming on the island, we had to stay in a large group and be very quiet. We arrived to a lovely banquet and the locals performing a fantastic local dance that made us really welcome. There were plenty of things to do on the island too. We went for a early morning jungle walk, an elephant ride, a canoe ride and bathed with elephants – all in just over a day! The food was great and everyone was so friendly and accomodating. We certainly left witha heavy heart, but we needed to move on to fit in our trek, but it was a really great experience to see a different, quieter side of Nepal.

The final leg of our trip was a 3 day trek in the mountains surrounding Kathmandu. I would have loved to have done one of the longer trek’s there; either Everest Base Camp or the Annapurna Circuit, but they were all well over 15 days long and we really didn’t have time. We started off our trek at a small village called Sundarijal and we bought some local snacks (Khaja) like Pakoda’s, Fritters, Samosas and roti breads for the journey. And what a journey it was! The asent from Sundarijal to the Shivapuri national park was very steep and I think we climbed over 1000 meters in 4 1/2 hours – not bad going in the heat of the sun. We finally reached Chisapani and settled down to a meal of daal bhat – probably the most well known food from Nepal. We spoke to our guide about the food in Nepal and he says that he will eat daal bhat every single day at least once, but usually twice – in Nepal they just don’t have the variety of food that I’ve become used to in the UK.

The next day was an equally long trek to Nagarkot which took every last inch of will power to get there – it was really tough! We had a great night though, playing cards with the owners and having a few local beers (ironically called Everest beer). The final day of our trek we walked to Dhulikhel which was enjoyable but tough. Unfortunately I’d started to get a few blisters on my feet so I was getting slower and slower – I hate to think what a 21 days Everest Base camp trek would be like!

We finally made our way back to Kathmandu for the last couple of days and we spent our remaining time enjoying Kathmandu. I made it my mission to get a decent cookbook from Nepal, and after a few hours of looking I found a book called ‘The Joys of Nepalese cooking’ which is really good – my only criticism is the lack of good quality photo’s in the book. I’ll be posting a number of Nepali recipes that I have been making over the coming weeks, including my favourite Nepali breakfast (photo below); Nepali Omelette with Spiced Potatoes.

Here is a selection of photo’s from my time there – a truely fantastic country.

Homemade Chips

Homemade Chips - Serves 2

There aren’t many other foods that can hit the spot like chips can! Chips from the chip shop have to be one of my favourite lunches (Chip Butty!), however I like to think this recipe is a healthy alternative that still tastes great. You can serve these chips with literally anything; in particular they go well with my Moules Mariniere recipe found here. I love to crisp them up on one side to give the chips a bit of colour and texture.

Ingredients

• 1 potato, cut into chips (King Edwards are best)
• Olive oil
• Rosemary
• Herb de Provence

Method

Step 1
Preheat the oven to around 200C and prepare the chips. Start by peeling the chips, then cut the potatoes in half lengthways, and divide up into chips. Try and make sure the chips are all roughly the same size so that they cook reasonably equally.

Step 2
Using some kitchen roll, lightly oil a baking tray before adding the chips – this will prevent the chips sticking to the tray. Add a further glug of oil along with the rosemary, mixed herbs and seasoning to taste. Get in there with your hands and give it a good mix until all the herbs are mixed into the chips.

Step 3
Place the tray in the middle of the oven and cook the chips for 25 minutes or until golden. Make sure that you check the chips every 10 minutes to give them a quick mix – this ensures that they all cook equally and don’t burn. It’s definitely worth checking on a regular basis as depending on the size of your chips, the cooking time will vary. Serve the chips with some sea salt and a sauce of your choice!

Serving Suggestion
If you like things hot, why not add some cayenne pepper, chilli flakes or chilli oil to your chips to give them a bit of a kick!