South-east Asian Pot Luck Part 1 - Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

I've mentioned in a previous post that some girlfriends and I like to get together every few months and have a pot luck dinner. We choose a different type of cuisine each time, and it almost certainly involves a lot of wine, as well as an amazing array of food. I hosted at my place this time and even though we did a Japanese theme last time, we settled on south-east Asian this time. I decided to make a couple of things suitable for entrees/pre-dinner snacking - chicken satay with peanut sauce and spicy thai fish cakes with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.

I did a bit of digging around the interwebs before I found some recipes I was happy with. Serious Eats yielded the recipe for the chicken satay and the peanut sauce was courtesy of the Nigella website. I'll tell you all about the spicy thai fish cakes in part two. 

For the chicken satay you need:

1 stalk lemongrass, roughly chopped - or use pre-prepared from the jar, like I did, if you can't get it fresh.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil - I use canola

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon of lime juice - fresh is ideal if limes aren't crazy expensive

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

2 medium cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon Sriracha (or another hot chilli sauce)

About 450g of boneless chicken breast - you could also use thigh

Bamboo skewers (this made about 15)

Put everything but the chicken (and skewers, duh) into the blender and whiz on high speed until smooth. Slice the chicken into strips lengthwise, about 1/2 an inch thick. Put the chicken into a large resealable plastic bag, pour the marinade in and give it a squish around. Leave it in the fridge to marinade for at least 1-2 hours, but the longer the better. While the chicken is marinading, soak the skewers in water so they don't burn under the grill. Once the chicken has marinaded, thread the chicken onto the skewers and place on a baking tray, either non-stick, greased, or lined with foil. Grill under a high heat - but not too close to the element. They will take around 15-20 mins to cook, and make sure you turn them half way through. Don't overcook them - the problem with using chicken breast is that it can dry out. You can make the peanut sauce ahead of time, while the chicken is marinading, and reheat later if you like, as I did, but I think it's best fresh.

1 can coconut milk

2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1 small red chilli, finely chopped - leave out one or both types of chilli if you'd rather have it milder

1 small onion, finely chopped - I used a shallot

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tablespoon of peanut oil - I just used regular canola oil

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the garlic, onion and chilli over a medium heat until the onion is soft - but don't let it brown. Add the sugar and stir until slightly caramelised. Add the soy sauce and peanut butter and stir through. Add a little coconut milk at a time until you get the consistency you want.

These are really tasty - a great depth of flavour from the marinade with a hint of spice, and with the creamy nuttiness of the peanut sauce, they make a great snack at a party or entree before a main meal.

Next time - spicy thai fish cakes with a sweet chilli dipping sauce!

Slow Cooker Greek Lamb

As promised (albiet a little while ago), here's something yummy and easy peasy for the slow cooker - and coming into Spring, it's actually pretty perfect. Last weekend, we were pretty lucky to have a beautiful sunny weekend here in Wellington, so it's starting to feel like winter might finally be over. Which also means I probably won't be using my slow cooker quite as much any more, so best to get in a few final meals. I put this on last Sunday morning, before heading out to a baby shower and to visit some other friends, and it was lovely to come home to the house smelling like a good roast - with hardly any effort.

Sometimes I struggle to find interesting things, beyond the standard stews and the like, to make in the slow cooker - if you know any good links, please let me know. This recipe is courtesy of www.kidspot.co.nz, a good website for kid-friendly recipes but also if you're not very experienced in the kitchen. I've found a few good, simple recipes on there - even one or two my partner was willing to have a go at!


3 tablespoons olive oil
1kg rolled lamb loin - I actually used a bone-in roast, because it was about half the price of a rolled and stuffed lamb loin, so this is ok too. Mine was about 1.2kgs.
1kg potatoes
1 bunch rosemary
1 head garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup lemon juice


Peel and cut the potatoes into eighths. Place these at the bottom of the slow cooker and put 2 sprigs of rosemary on top. Peel 6 cloves of garlic and slice. I had some large home grown bulbs a friend gave me which have a really strong flavour, so I used 4. Poke holes in the skin of the lamb with the point of a knife and push the garlic into the holes. Heat the oil in a pan on the stove and brown the lamb all over. Place the lamb on top of the potatoes in the slow cooker and push sprigs of rosemary into the holes you put the garlic into earlier. I had some leftover sliced garlic so I put that into the slow cooker too. You can also put your squeezed lemons in there as well. Pour over the wine and lemon juice and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours - a little less if you like your meat rarer.

The meat was lovely and tender and the potatoes were really soft. I took them out of the slow cooker and fried them, to make them a wee bit crispy.I didn't need to use any extra oil either, as they had some of the fat from the meat on them. Be warned though - the potatoes can have a little bit of a tart flavour from the lemon and wine, which didn't bother me but my partner thought the flavour was a bit too strong. If you didn't want to fry them, you could always roughly mash them with some feta cheese, fresh parsley and cracked pepper. I served the lamb with mint sauce but there was leftover liquid in the bottom of the slow cooker that could've made a nice gravy if I hadn't been feeling so lazy (or hungry). And there's always leftovers for sandwiches - which I'm sure everyone agrees is pretty much the best part about a Sunday roast.

Chicken and Udon Noodle Soup

It's been pretty cold lately, in case you hadn't noticed, or you're reading this from warmer climes. And I've been feeling it more than most over the last month after returning from northern hemisphere summertime humidity straight back into the depths of winter. Like many of us, I've been in hibernation mode of late as well as a little depressed to be back at work if I'm honest, not to mention sick too. Feel sorry for me, god damn it! But the upside to all this is comfort food, but also lots of quick and healthy meals that don't take too much effort after a long day of work.

In commiserations of the cold winter weather, here's a super quick and warming meal - and you probably can't get any easier than this as there's hardly any cooking! And if, like me, you use leftover chicken from a whole cooked chicken you bought on a Saturday from the supermarket, it's basically just assembling it. Give it a whirl on a week night when you're tired, but need something hot and nourishing.

This recipe is from the August issue of the Healthy Food Guide, which fortuitously arrived not long after I got home. It serves four - or two and lunch the next day.

2 cups chicken stock

2 teaspoons of crushed garlic

1 chilli, finely sliced (or dried chilli flakes, which I used as fresh chillis were crazy expensive)

2 x 200g packets of fresh - as in, not dried but still found on the supermarket shelf - udon noodles (you could also use dried rice vermicelli noodles too, but you'd need to cook them for a bit longer)

450g bag of coleslaw (either a pre-made bag from the supermarket, or make your own, depending on how energetic you're feeling)

1 bunch baby bok choy (spinach would also work, but bok choy has a great flavour for this sort of dish)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

1/2 cup coriander leaves

Put 2 cups of water onto heat and add the chicken stock, garlic, chilli and noodles when it's boiling. Simmer for 1 minute to soften the noodles, longer if they're dried). I recommend warming the bowls before the next step. Put the coleslaw, bok choy and chicken in four bowls and then divide the noodles between the bowls. Ladle the broth over the top and cover for a few minutes to allow the chicken and veggies to heat through - the veggies will be best when they are still a bit crunchy. Garnish with coriander and extra chilli if you like. The flavours are all spicy and fresh and it's just so perfect for a cold winter night. If you're making it for two with leftovers for lunch the next day, just make the full amount of stock liquid and take that to work with the chicken and veggies in a separate container. Just microwave the stock and noodles the next day, add the chicken and veggies, cover and warm through. Next time I might add baby corn - so good in Asian dishes. It's a little hard to eat on your lap though - I don't know about you guys but we've abandoned eating at the table in the dining room for the warmth of the living room. 

The last couple of weeks I've been Wellington on a Plate-ing it up like a mo' fo' - so next time, I'll tell you all about that. And share something good for the slow cooker - perhaps the most valuable kitchen implement for lazy winter time cooking.

Review: Havana

It was birthday a couple of months back (ok, so I started this post before I went away on holiday). My parents offered to treat us to dinner and I chose Havana, a bit of an institution in Wellington. It's situated inside two historic and colourful workingmen's cottages just off vibrant Cuba Street in the city. It's a great place for cocktails and music but despite having whiled away many an evening in the dimly lit garden terrace over drinks and bar snacks, I've never eaten in the restaurant.

We arrived early, as they don't take bookings for small groups on Friday and Saturday night, and the restaurant is quite small. We were seated straight away and even moved to a slightly bigger table when we requested it. It was dark, but a nice, cosy atmosphere which hummed as it filled up with more people. Unfortunately dark also means terrible lighting for mobile phone photos.

It's a tapas style menu so we ordered several things to share - four each of the smaller and bigger tapas and a couple of sides, which was plenty for the four of us...we may have also had dessert, just to tip us right over the edge.

Crisp haloumi on grilled bread

I won't subject you to everything we ate, to save your keyboard from drool but instead give you my favourite choices of the night. Of the smaller tapas, the crisp haloumi with sweet red pepper relish and rosemary oil on grilled bread and the slow roasted crispy chicken wings with a coriander and green chilli chutney were top choices. Who doesn't love haloumi, and the sweetness of the relish went so well with it. I don't normally go for chicken wings, as they are often a bit too much hard work for not much reward, but the coriander and green chilli chutney was off the hook - not very spicy, and really fresh tasting - a bit like a salsa verde.

Chicken pie

Of the larger tapas, the pan fried fish with bouillabaisse sauce, croutes and rouille was excellent - the fish was cooked beautifully. The chicken pie with fino sherry, house puff pastry and herbed baby carrots was comfort food at its best and special mention goes to the char grilled aged beef fillet skewers with a smokey red pepper and bay marinade, which were potentially the most tender beef skewers I have ever had.

For dessert, we managed to fit in the apple, feijoa and peanut butter crumble with a lemon bay cream. This was enjoyable, but it wasn't really anything special. I really like peanut butter and crumble, but just not together - the peanut butter flavour just didn't work with the fruit as well as I'd expected.

I washed it all down with a sloe gin fizz to start, followed by a glass each of the Pretty Paddock Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and the Explorer Central Otago Pinot Noir. Pretty safe choices, I know.

The food was delicious, the atmosphere warm and intimate and I loved the tapas style of eating - a nice way to enjoy a family dinner. I'd love to go back, but it was fairly pricey so it's definitely a place to be saved for a special occasion - or maybe just next time mum and dad are paying!

Apple, feijoa and peanut butter crumble

Havana Bar
32a-34 Wigan St
Te Aro
Wellington, New Zealand

Travel Bites - Las Vegas and San Francisco

Worth its weight in gold....literally

After the serene and relaxing shores of Bucerias, we flew to the bright lights and intensity of Vegas. And it was hot hot hot. Like 43 degrees hot. Now you may think that the food in Vegas is nothing to write home about....and you would be correct. Well, almost. The thing in Vegas is buffet. Every casino/hotel has one and they are actually pretty good value for money. If you're anything like me, in many ways the buffet is the perfect place to eat - you get to try a little bit of everything, and the chances that you will go away disappointed are slim because they pretty much have everything you could possibly feel like eating. We sampled the buffet at the Mirage and MGM. The former was the winner by a smidge because they had hot AND cold crab legs and I welcomed the huge salad bars and sushi at this point of the trip. They also really know how to make excellent cold, refreshing lemon alcoholic beverages in Vegas; however given that they cost about US$16 each, you may not ever get drunk - as I discovered the day I went to the Caesar's Palace pool for the day and only took $20. Rookie mistake. We also had White Castle because Harold and Kumar. And it was terrible. I mean, I know Harold and Kumar were really stoned but they made out like the tiny burgers were the most delicious thing ever, and the meat was potentially the worst quality I've ever eaten in a burger. There was a huge queue too, so either other people were under the same impression we were, or under the same influence Harold and Kumar were.

Just. Don't

After a very hot five days in Vegas - which also included a visit to the Grand Canyon, where multiple squirrels tried to horn in our packed lunches - we flew to our final stop, San Franciso. Before we ventured into the city however, we picked up our flash as Cadillac hire car and drove to Yosemite National Park, which is a very special and beautiful place. In the 24 hours we were there we didn't really eat anything of note but we did eat inside a big cafeteria that reminded us of being at school camp. And we were intent on going to In-N-Out Burger on the drive back - popular with the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Julia Child, would you believe - but every one we passed was on the other side of the freeway and the fear of becoming lost was too great.

Once we were in San Francisco, we were pretty stoked to be in the land of more regular food and pretty decent coffee again, which we hadn't experienced since our first stop in New York. For lunch on our first day we headed straight for La Taqueria for a Mission burrito. This is the same place I sought out on my first trip to San Francisco, six years ago - and it was just as good as I remembered. Now listen - get the super pork burrito, ok? Ok. And get spicy.There's no rice in there, so it's just a concentrated wrap of all the best bits. You honesty will probably never have a burrito as good as this, just trust me on this one.

To end our amazing four week long trip, we went to Foreign Cinema for dinner. Here, as you enjoy your 'Californian-Mediterranean' influenced food, they screen a film against the wall in the covered courtyard. It's a cool idea, and the setting was lovely, but it was still light so we couldn't really see the film - which was Magnolia, in case you wanted to know- and there was no sound. They had drive-in speakers around the edge but I couldn't work out if they were for realsies or just for show. Anyway, the food was pretty nice and beautifully presented. I had seafood, as San Francisco is known for; a brodetto (which I totally had to Google - it's soup). It was fresh and delicious, albeit a little undercooked, but they sorted that out for me pretty quick. Although we were decidedly under dressed for such a fancy place, we couldn't have cared less, and we ate and drank - and spent - away the final night of our holiday. We headed for home the following day a little fatter, a little happier and thoroughly satisfied.

Seafood brodetto of cod, prawn and scallops, tomato broth,
Romano beans, fennel, fingerlings and toast

Travel Bites - New Orleans and Bucerias, Mexico

Frozen Irish coffee from Molly's on the Market

Picking up where we left off, in the deep south. New Orleans (Nawlins to the locals) is all about the creole influence, so it’s a bit of a melting pot (sometimes literally) of French, Spanish and African cusine, as well as a few others thrown in for good measure. Gumbo is a traditional choice and I had this, as well as some other local specialities when we went to Coop’s Place. This place is pretty much the definition of ‘dive’ but the food is what I imagine to be fairly accurate down-home cooking. I had the tasting plate with a cup of seafood gumbo, shrimp creole, Cajun fried rice, red beans and rice with sausage, and rabbit and sausage jambalya; and all this for US$13, you can’t really go wrong. Napoleon House is also worth a look. The building itself is 200 years old and was inhabited by Nicolas Girod, the mayor of the city in the early 1800s. In 1821 he offered his house to Napoleon as refuge during his excile. He didn't take him up on his offer, but the name endured and the walls are covered with every kind of portrait of Napoleon. I had a Pimms cup followed by a shrimp remoulade stuffed avocado - which was so creamy and delicious. The boy had the muffuletta, which sounds like some sort of couch to me, but is in fact a sandwich with salami, ham, mortadella, mozzarella, provolone and olives. It's also a local delicacy and there are any number of places around New Orleans that claim to have the best one.

Honourable mention has to go to frozen Irish coffees at Molly’s at the Market. It was in the high 30s while we were there, with very high humidity, so whilst walking around and checking out the sights, you needed something cool and refreshing to imbibe almost every few metres. You can get take-out, alcoholic drinks everywhere and at any time of day, but this has to be one of the best. A boozy, creamy coffee slushy - so good. Oh and don't miss beignets at Cafe du Monde. These crispy, fried pastries are coated in so much powdered sugar that the people who work there must just seep it out of their pores. It's always busy in there so get them at the takeaway window and eat them elsewhere - like on the bus to do a swamp tour, like we did.

Fish tacos at Chilly Willy's

 After Memphis and New Orleans we were ready for a break from all the fried foods, so Bucerias in Mexico was a welcome relief. We stayed directly across from the beach so a lot of our meals were at the many restaurants right by the water with tables in the sand. We ate a lot of fish tacos, but the best dinner was at Armando’s Place. It was a few blocks back from the beach, and in the middle of what seemed to be an entirely residential neighbourhood. We got a plate of fresh grilled mahi mahi with sides including vegetables (hooray!). It was some of the freshest fish I've had in a while, and whilst it was a bit more pricey than most of our other meals (NZ$20), it was well worth it. We spent a day in Sayulita, a small hippy beach town not far from Bucerias. After quite a bit of searching, we managed to locate Chilly Willy's a place that came highly recommended. It was essentially a road side shack, with a senora cooking out the back and no English spoken - damn they were good fish tacos. We had some agua fresca here, a drink we took a bit of a gamble on as we had no idea what it was when we ordered it. It had a sort of sweet but bitter taste and had weird lumps
in it. I looked it up later and worked out it was made from tamarind pod - not bugs as we were slightly concerned it might have been. I also had a pretty good seafood plate at a little beach spot back in Bucerias, Mar y Sol. And of course you can't go past a bueno cerveza for about NZ$4, with your toes in the sand and a beautiful ocean view.

Seafood at Mar Y Sol

Travel Bites - New York and Memphis

I interrupt your regular scheduled programme of delicious recipes to bring you the highlights of my recent trip to the US of A and, briefly, Mexico. You may have been wondering where my usual musings on delectable dinners and beautiful brunches has been for the last few weeks….or perhaps you haven’t noticed. Either way, I'm back, and thanks to jet lag, I am up early and writing this especially for you.

Travel and food have always gone hand in hand for me – wherever I go, I want to know what the local speciality is and where I can eat it. And let’s face it, eating is my favourite hobby, so I always indulge when I'm on holiday. We spent the last 4 weeks going from city to city in the States, from the east coast of the US to the west coast, with a quick stop in Mexico. A lot of snacks were consumed during this time, so I am just going to bring you a few of the highlights, in two parts. I apologise in advance for some of the not-so-great quality mobile phone photos.

Dessert at ABC Kitchen

Our first stop was New York, home of the hot dog and pizza. Whilst we sampled these of course (on the way to the Statue of Liberty and right before a Broadway show respectively, just in case you needed that titbit of information), we wanted to branch out a bit further while visiting the city that has tens of thousands of restaurants and just about every kind of food you can imagine. One of my favourite meals was at a little place near our Air BNB accommodation in the East Village, San Marzano. They had incredibly cheap pasta, by New York standards - for $9, you choose the type of pasta you like and then the sauce. I chose pappardelle with broccoli rabe and sausage – so simple yet so delicious. We also treated ourselves to­­ a nice dinner and I managed to get us a 5pm booking at ABC Restaurant, which focuses on seasonal and locally sourced food. We had some really good pretzel dusted calamari and I had the wild striped bass but the best of our meal here was probably the dessert – seasonal doughnuts and a sundae with salted caramel ice cream, candied peanuts and popcorn, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. A special shout out to Third Rail Coffee which served coffee pretty damn close to the standard we're used to – our saviours! – and The Brazen Fox who had Ace Pineapple Cider on tap – so refreshing after a hot day of sightseeing (being on holiday is hard, ok).

 

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken - it may
not look like much, but it was the best.

Our next stop was Memphis where southern hospitality is well and truly alive and kicking. The specialities here are po’boys, catfish, fried chicken and barbecue. Oh I was all over it. Off the plane, we picked up our hire car and drove straight to Soul Fish Café where I had a catfish po’boy - boom! It was tasty, but I regretted not getting the Cajun fish instead of the battered cat fish. The next day we visited the famous Gus’s Fried Chicken for lunch, and this was probably the food highlight for me (Graceland was the best thing we did, in case you’re interested). We had to wait for a table for about half an hour but it was well worth it for the oh so crispy, slightly spicy, fresh fried chicken. Don’t even worry about the sides - more room for chicken - and definitely get a 3 piece. Central BBQ in Memphis also delivered on our last day in Memphis, with it’s sweet and sticky barbecue. I had the pork sandwich which had tender pulled pork inside a soft and slightly sweet bun and creamy coleslaw with a bit of a kick. After I finished, I could totally have done it all over again in a heart beat (beat? Maybe ‘attack’ is a better choice of word).

Pork sandwich with a side of potato salad

Tune in next time for some creole cookin' down in New Orleans and fish, fish and more fish in Bucerias, Mexico.