thai | oliveoilandlemon

November 18, 2013

Quick Thai Style Sweet Potato Soup with Toasted Coconut

November and the cold is here so it’s Soup for what ails you, nothing does it like a bowl of soup. I’m chock full of antibiotics, pain killers and what not so was glad for this, when you cant eat there is always soup.

Thai style Sweet Potato and coconut Soup
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 medium onion
4 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 very large or 2 medium sweet potato peeled and roughly chopped
20 g Thai yellow curry paste or Thai curry powder mix
(I use Mai Ploy paste and The Spice Shop powder)
1 400ml tin coconut milk
500 ml vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
Toasted grated coconut shards and julienne of red chilli to serve if you have it

Method
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan
Add the garlic ginger paste with 1 tbsp oil and cook out for a few minutes
Add curry paste or powder, stir well and cook out for a few minutes
If it is in danger of getting dry, add a splash of water
Add the carrot & sweet potato, mix well to coat the vegetables with the spice mix and cook for 4-5 minutes
Add the coconut milk and stock, stir and season, bring to the boil then turn down to a gentle simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
Blitz the soup, season to taste and serve garnished with toasted grated coconut and chilli.

2 Comments

April 23, 2013

Marinated Beef with Satay Sauce, Cucumber Relish……and a little mouse

Turn away if you are mouse squeamish but I just have to share my Horrific weekend experience. I have been intending for months to get out into the garden to get it summer ready (eternal optimist) and finally got out there this weekend. Feverishly working away pulling over-grown weeds and raking dead leaves out of flower beds, finally making my way to my little raised vegetable bed. I keep it covered with netting pegged with bamboo to keep the blasted cats out and was hard at work pulling it all out of the bed when something hit me on the chest and tumbled down to my feet…. A MOUSE (shudder) almost as terrified as me, now clinging to a bamboo I had pulled out. When I finally stopped dancing around the garden, shuddering all the while, I called for help….NOTHING! My amused husband looking on from upstairs eventually coming down to observe while I tried to whoosh it into the under growth. Clearly the damm cats have forgotten their heritage and I have now banned Eva from giving them scraps as hunger might encourage them to revert to their nature and keep the mices away.

Recovery from the shock was helped by this delicious beef satay Neven Maguire recipe, so tender it was melt in the mouth and the chunky satay keeps in the fridge & works equally well with chicken, pork or stirred into noodles for a tasty quick dish. Please do make the cucumber relish as it goes amazingly with the beef. Overall an amazing tasty healthy dish guaranteed to please. Mice optional…..

Beef Marinade
3 garlic cloves mashed and crushed
2 fl oz pineapple juice, light soy sauce
1 fl oz kecap manis (Like a sweet thai ketchup available Asian markets)
4 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp chinese five spice
500gr sirloin or rump steak cut into slim 2″ long pieces
Wooden Skewers to cook and serve

Tip skewers into cold water for a few minutes to ensure they don’t catch fire on the barb q or in the oven
Mix all the marinade ingredients and tip in the meat.
cover and chill until use – I did over night, at least 3 hours is needed.

Satay Sauce
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 small onion finely diced
1/2 red pepper cored and diced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1″ piece of garlic chopped and crushed
150ml coconut milk
100ml water
4oz crunchy peanut butter
2fl oz sweet chilli sauce
2fl oz soy sauce
2 tbsp kecap manis (if you have it)
2oz toasted peanuts

Heat oil in a medium pot, add the garlic, onion, pepper and ginger.
Sweat gently for about 5 minutes – stir from time to time to prevent any catching.
Add coconut milk, peanut butter, soy, chilli sauce, coconut milk and water.
Stir well to combined, Bring to the boil and then gently simmer for about 10 minutes until it has thickened and reduced a little.

Cucumber Relish
1/2 cucumber, peeled deseeded and chopped into cresent slices
1 small shallot finely sliced
1 small red chilli juilienned – include seeds if you are brave!
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp water
salt

Combine the vinegar, water sugar and salt. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cool then add all the rest of the ingredients.
Mix and set aside for the flavors to mingle .

To serve
Thread the meat onto 6 skewers
Heat barb Q or griddle pan and cook for about 6 minutes turning occasionally until done to your liking.
You can use the rest of the marinade to brush over them while they are cooking.
Arrange the skewers on serving plate and serve with Satay and Cucumber relish as well as some egg noodles if liked.

And just for proof….

6 Comments

November 27, 2012

Thai sweet potato soup

This isn’t so much a recipe, more a oh I fancy something spicy, hot and sour. Paired with some pickle because there is nothing better with Thai food…..anyway the resulting bowl of soup was so good I had to share. Great texture, lovely flavour and a good bang of heat.

2 tbsp red curry paste (I used mai ploy)
1 tin coconut milk
250ml chicken or veg stock
2 sweet potatoes cut into small dice
1 tbps Palm sugar
1 tbsp Fish sauce
Juice of 1/2 lime

Garnish
2 tbsp fried peanuts
1 spring onion chopped
1/4 chilli julienned

Pickle
2 radishes sliced thinly
I spring ontion thinly sliced
30ml each of water and white wine vinegar heated gently to dissolve 1 tbsp sugar
Take off the heat, put in the radish and spring onion and set aside until needed

For the soup
Add the curry paste to a medium pan with some oil and cook out for about 2 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and stock and mix to combine and cook on a medium heat for about 3 minutes.
Add the diced potato,season and continue cooking until the vegetable is tender.
When the soup is ready, season with fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar.
Serve topped with chopped spring onion, chilli and some of the pickled veg

July 10, 2012

Thai Turkey burgers and a chef salad

I see a lot of posts about Turkey mince as a ‘healthy’ ‘low fat’ meat especially among a certain dare I say slightly fanatical group of fitness people who seem to be very focused only on this aspect of their food but often not that interested in flavour, taste or indeed how food looks. I have to say I’m more interested in knowing that my food has come from a good source, contains good fats not bad fats, is as close to nature as it can be and that when I cook with it, its going to taste delicious, look delicious (we eat with our eyes too!) as well as offering me good nutrition.

So Turkey in a burger, – A common sin with this meat is ending up with a dry tasteless piece of meat. Because it is so low in fat, the meat can easily end up overcooked and dry. The trick is to add as much as possible by way of flavour and moistness in the preparation and then don’t overcook it if you can. I was nervous in the past myself cooking poultry to ensure that it was fully cooked so I just use a meat thermometer now and that takes all the guess work out of it. This Thai spin on the common burger offers great flavour, a nice kick of heat and lovely moistness. Easy peasy too – serve with some root vegetables and in this case a mix of some home made mayo and harissa.

Makes about 5 medium burgers
500gr turkey meat minced
2 spring onions -finely sliced
1 tbsp red curry paste or sambal oelek
Juice of a lime and zest of half of it
1 tbsp each of fish and soy sauce
1 chili deseeded and finely chopped
A heaped tbsp each of chopped coriander and flat leaf parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive or rapeseed oil for frying

Tip the mince, spring onions, curry paste and herbs into a blender and pulse to combine and breakdown the turkey a little;
Tip into a bowl and add seasonings- juice, sauces , and salt and pepper;
Heat a pan with oil and when hot fry a small blob of the mix on both sides until cooked through;
Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed – I always do this – why end up with bland tasting meat if you can check and adjust the seasonings with this simple step.
Shape into burgers and fry on both sides until golden brown, complete the cooking in the oven at 180C for about 10 minutes depending on thickness. Cook to 74C in the centre using a meat thermometer.
Delicious with a big green salad or some baked root vegetables such as sweet potato or parsnip

We even had enough for leftovers and sliced the burgers the next day into a big salad with sharon fruit, beef tomatoes, mixed leaves, toasted pine nuts, and some San Daniele ham… delicious!

3 Comments

April 21, 2012

Thai meatballs with 2 sauces

This double dip recipe is for Thai Meatballs with two sauces – great versatile sauces that can be used as sides on lots of recipes. The meatballs are great based on beef lamb or pork, I have to admit I’m only mad on pork mince when I know its provenance. This is quick too – I had the 2 sauces cooking and the meatballs in the oven after 30 minutes – not bad for a meal made from scratch. The peanut sauce comes from Dublin Cookery School’s great recipe repetoire. Make the meatballs really small and serve as canapes on cocktail sticks and they make great party food. You can make the sauces as hot as you like which will make the cocktails go down even quicker if it’s party time!….Without the cocktails it makes a great nutritious meal.

Peanut Sauce
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp red curry paste.. r 2 if you love it hot!
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 tbsp unrefined brown sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
8floz coconut milk
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the curry paste and cook out for about a minute. Stir in all the other ingredients and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickens and is lovely and fragrant.

Chilli Jam
2 red peppers roughly chopped
2 red chillis deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 onions chopped
2 tomatoes diced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar – balsamic or white if not
1 tbsp brown sugar
Oil

Heat oil in the pan and add all the ingredients and mix to coat
Cook on medium heat for a few minutes until veggies start to soften
Turn down the heat, add enough water to cover them.
Cover with a lid and cook until everything is soft
Blend and taste – adjust with vinegar if it needs to be sourer or a further pinch of sugar if not sweet enough.
Cool completely before using.
This will keep in jars in the fridge for 2-3 weeks

Meatballs
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1lb minced beef, lamb or pork
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass
4 spring onions finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp each of lemon juice and fish sauce
salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a pan and add teh spring onion, garlic, lemongrass and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add the mix to the meat and using your hands blend well. Season and roll and shape the meat into small balls. Heat a decent amount of oil in a frying pan and when hot cook the meatballs over a medium heat unti browned on the underside. turn over and cook the other side until browned. You can continue cooking on the pan until cooked through or put into preheated over at 180C for about 5 minutes if small balls and slightly longer if bigger than bite size.

Serve with the 2 dipping sauces and enjoy… cocktail of choice – optional!

2 Comments

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