Rice Noodle Salad with Stirfried Pork and Chilli Omelette

Last night for dinner I really felt like something light bu tasty. I have made this salad many times and it fits the bill on both accounts. The recipe is from Ray McVinnie's cookbook 'The Modern Cook'. Ray McV is well known for his clean flavours and uncomplicated but lovely food. I have been to many of his cooking classes in the past and he is also a fantastic teacher who has a HUGE wealth of knowledge. He is one of the judges on NZ Masterchef which just adds to his well known profile. This recipe is really quite Vietnamese in flavour. The salad is cold but the omelette has a bit of heat to it and the pork is warm and very tasty. Together it is a flavour sensation...even the boys love it. I add whatever I want to the salad part. Last night the vegetables I added were mung bean sprouts, carrot and cucumber but in the past I have used asapargus, snowpeas, beans so it's up to you really. I really urge you to try this as you won't be disappointed.

Rice Noodle Salad with Stirfried Pork and Chilli Omelette

Omelette

1 spring onion, trimmed and thinly sliced
4 eggs
2 small dried chillis
2 Tbsp soy sauce

Lightly beat everything together and make an omelette. Once it is cool, slice it thinly and set aside.

Noodle Salad

250 gm rice noodles (either flat ones or vermicelli)
1/2 cucumber, seeds removed and cut into cubes
I carrot, peeled and then peeled into ribbons or julienned
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
Any other vegetable you want s above but not too much
grated zest of 1 lemon
chopped, roasted and unsalted peanuts (about 75 gm)
3 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp caster sugar
1 Tbsp Japanese soy sauce
1 Tbsp peanut oil
4 Tbsp rice vinegar

Cook the rice noodles but be careful to not overcook them. Soak them in hot water first before briefly cooking them in boiling water. Cool under running cold water (this also stops them from sticking into a gloopy mass). Put into a bowl with the vegetables, garlic and lemon. Mix the fish sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce and oil together and pour over the noodle salad.

Pork

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
400 gm pork fillet, sliced thinly across the grain
3 Tbsp peanut oil
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sugar

Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic and ginger. Cook briefly then add the pork, fish sauce and sugar and stirfry over a high heat until the pork is cooked through and the mixture is dry and well browned.

Serve the hot pork over the top of the salad with the omelette sprinkled over. Sprinkle over the peanuts, some chopped fresh coriander and some fresh chopped mint (and basil if you want).

Dinner for Friends Part 1

Smokey Chorizo Israeli Couscous Salad

Spiced Eggplant and Peanut Salad (undressed)

Spiced Eggplant and Peanut Salad (dressed)

Sticky 5 spice Pork Ribs

Last night my dearest friend Annie, her partner Deb and their children Jesse and Ruby came over for dinner. It was long overdue to be our turn to host dinner so I wanted to make sure it delivered on the food front. Because the weather has been so hot here, it needed to be something that was not going to be too labour intensive nor require too much last minute cooking I figured that by then I would have had a couple of my fantastic frozen margarita's and may not have had the 'drive' nor motivation to finish off any cooking...if you know what I mean. 


For Xmas I was lucky enough to get the new 'Ripe' cookbook which is packed full of wonderful recipes from their fantastic deli in Grey Lynn. They are well known for their salads and homemade cakes and slices as well as their really good coffee...and essential in the morning after school drop off! I really wanted to try some of the salad recipes from the book so it was the perfect opportunity to do so.


I ended up making these delicious pork spare ribs (using happy-pig pork) from Bill Granger's book 'Feed Me Now'; chermoula chicken skewers; sausages for the kids; corn on the cobb (which I duly forgot to put on in time...those pesky margaritas'!); spiced eggplant and peanut salad; and the smoky chorizo israeli couscous salad. The flavours were fantastic and I have to say the salads were delicious. I think my favourite salad was the couscous one but I think that's because chorizo can make anything taste pretty spectacular. The spare ribs were a total hit and were very tasty and moreish. Although it was Bill's recipe I changed the cooking method a bit to how I like to cook ribs. Luckily I managed to get these last minute photos before the food went to the table so excuse me if they are a little dodgy. I totally forgot to photograph the chicken (recipe from Annabel Langbein's latest book) but it was pretty bloody delicious- if I do say so myself! 


Smoky Chorizo Israeli Couscous Salad


1 1/4 c Israeli couscous cooked for about 10 mins in boiling salted water, drained, rinsed in cold water then drained again
2 red peppers, cut into bite sized pieces
2 red onions, cut into wedges and the layers separated
1 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
3 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers
3 chorizo sausages, sliced into angled 1 cm pieces
1/2 c kalamata olives
2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper
3-4 tomatoes cut into wedges
1 c fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
1 c  fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1 large handful baby spinach leaves
smoked paprika dressing


Oven to 180 C.


Put the peppers, onions, sweet chilli sauce, garlic, chorizo, olives and a good splash of olive oil into a roasting dish. Sprinkle over the paprika, salt and pepper, toss well to combine and roast for about 30 mins until the chorizo and onions are beginning to colour. Cool.


In a large serving bowl combine the chorizo mix with the spinach, tomatoes, couscous and herbs and drizzle over the dressing. Stir to combine well.


Smoked Paprika Dressing (This is for half the recipe and I only used a half of this)


Juice of half a lemon
40 ml white wine vinegar
1/2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika
3/4 c vegetable oil
salt and pepper


Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix well until the oil emulsifies a bit. Season to taste.


Sticky Five-Spice Ribs


2 kg  rack of pork ribs
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 soy sauce
1/2 c hoisin sauce
60 ml honey
1 tsp 5-spice
2 Tbsp mild oil


Mix all the ingredients together and pour over the pork ribs reserving a bit for basting later. Marinate overnight (well I did). Put into a roasting dish and cover with foil. Bake at about 190 C for about 20 mins then remove the foil, baste and cook for another 45 mins, basting throughout and watching that it doesn't burn. Cut into ribs and enjoy with a flannel to wipe your hands and face as this is very messy.


The BEST Frozen Maragrita's you could ever want!


30 ml cointreau
30 ml tequila
15 ml lime juice
15 ml sugar syrup (made by bringing equal amounts of water and sugar to the boil then let to cool)
lots of ice and a great blender


Mix in a blender and serve. These pack a real punch and are perfect for these hot summer days. Try not to over indulge as I guarantee that after 2 you will be feeling very, very happy and not very inclined to do all that much!


Stay tuned for the next installment which is DESSERT and NOT to be missed!!!

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Over here the school holidays have begun. I greet these with a mix of joy at getting away from the humdrum routine of the school drop off, pick up and school lunches; and pain at the thought of not getting any time to do what I need to do as well as the knowledge that I will be spending way more money keeping the boys occupied as well as restocking rapidly depleting stocks of food, (it's amazing what they can go through in a day). Luckily (or unluckily) for me I have a week off and the way my shifts work out mean that I don't have to be back at work until the weekend night shifts in the second week. Mostly though I have to admit that I do love the school holidays...but don't tell the boys that!

I usually do a lot of baking during the holidays especially with Harry as he loves to be in the kitchen and reading my cookbooks to find something he wants us to make. So far we have done a big fat zero BUT it's only the beginning and we did start the holidays off with Reuben's birthday bash so there really hasn't been any time for it. Today we are off to see 'Despicable Me' at the movies and do a bit of shopping so the boys can spend some of their own money so no doubt all there will be time for will be to cook dinner and that's it. Tomorrow and the next day Harry and his little friend from school Maisy are going to a holiday programme for a couple of ours each day called 'Kids Zumba and Hip Hop Gaga'. I know they will love it. It's amazing how fast the holidays go really and how fast the days just fill up.

Anyway to the subject of this post. Last night I thought we could all do with a healthy dinner and this recipe is one which I have made a lot. I know the boys love it and I put in rice noodles to add a bit more oomph to the dish and to make it more filling. I have served this for lunch with friends and it is a perfect light lunch dish as well as a great dinner dish especially in the summer. I love the flavours of Vietnamese food. I think it would have to be my favourite over all the other Asian food....although Thai comes a close second. It's fresh and clean flavours really appeal to me and the whole family. I think the chopped nuts add a necessary component to the salad and take the flavour to a whole new level.

The main recipe is based on and adapted from a Bill Granger recipe from 'Bills Open Kitchen'. I kind of mix it up adding noodles (or not) and altering the dressing recipe a bit according to my taste. For this salad I used chicken thigh cutlets. Normally I poach chicken breasts in Asian flavours (like kaffir lime leaves, lemon rind, salt, ginger), but I find that it's easy to take it that bit too far and the chicken can dry out. The thighs were fantastic. I poached them the same way and they were moist and delicious (I think the dark meat is always more tasty anyway). Anyway it is well worth giving it a go and because it has almost no fat in it you can totally justify pudding afterwards.