Thursday 28 March 2013

crunchy chicken and sticky rice with 3 sauces of awesome



This meal seems to be my kids favourite at the moment.  It is very good and I bet there isn't a kid out there who wouldn't agree.  The 3 sauces of awesome (that is what Finn calls them) bring it all together.
The 3 sauces of awesome are tarmari soy sauce, kewpie mayonaise and sweet chile sauce.  There is something about the combination of all 3 that is just deliciousness.

The chicken tenderloins are coated in rice or corn flour dipped in beaten egg then crumbed in panko and glutenfree crumbs for Finn and of course 2-3 tablespoons of sesame seeds.
The rice is of the sticky variety and the coleslaw is green and red cabbage with grated carrot.
Just have a little bit of everything in each mouthful.

Saturday 16 March 2013

roasted carrot and beetroot salad with herb dressing


I have made this salad a few times this summer and it goes especially well with BBQ beef or lamb.

For this salad I used

Carrots - cut lengthways and roasted in the oven, you will need a lot
1beetroot - baked in the oven with foil for about an hour
goat cheese - crumbled
rocket
capers
herbs, any will do,  I used chervil, basil, and parsley as they were in my garden
herb dressing
Just put together as much as you like


The beetroot came from my garden along with the herbs


For the dressing I used

white wine vinegar
olive oil
lots of finely chopped herbs, I used oregano, basil, chervil and parsley
Maldon salt and pepper

Give it all a good shake in a jar and pour over salad just before serving.



Thursday 14 March 2013

soy maple glazed grilled salmon



 I have a sort of love hate relationship with salmon.  I know it is very good for you and probably one of the top ten healthiest foods but I just seem to struggle with it.  I have decided that I just need to buy it and give it a go, so today I did.

This is the quickest, simplest way to cook it.
I used equal parts tamari soy sauce and 100% maple syrup, a tablespoon of each was enough.

I grilled it in the oven for 3 lots of 3 minutes basting at each interval and it came out perfect.
This was a 200g piece.
I ate it just like that, the sweetness and salty of the glaze seems to cut through the richness just right.  A squeeze of lime juice wouldn't go a miss either.
I think some sticky rice would go nicely with it for next time.
Don't use baking paper like I did as it burnt, so I would recommend foil instead.








Monday 11 March 2013

summer rice paper rolls




I made these rice paper rolls for my lunch today.
I had some crumbed chicken tenderloins leftover so I decided to use them along with some cucumber, red pepper, lettuce and herbs that were in the garden.


 The key to making these is to not soak the rice paper for too long in the water.  Only about 10 seconds.  They get too flimsy and difficult to work with otherwise.  It should be still hardish.  I then like to fold it in half.  Sometimes it snaps in half.  Thats ok.  It will soften up by the time you are ready to roll.
First I put the herbs down with the nice side facing outwards. Place in the middle of the rice paper.  I had coriander, mint and vietnamese basil.  Then a bit of lettuce, some chicken, cucumber and peppers some more herbs and lettuce.
Lastly pickup the end closest to you and roll over and keep it all firm and keeping rolling until all enclosed.  Traditionally summer rolls are served with peanut sauce.  I used sweet chile as I couldn't be bothered making peanut sauce, maybe another time.  This would be nice with prawns also.