Epic Roast Chicken Salad

I belong to a couple of 'foodie' groups on Facebook, and I love to look at other people's food photos and hear what they've been cooking.  I often find that this inspires me to make something similar, and this is exactly what happened last week.  A friend posted that she had made and loved Jamie Oliver's Epic Roast Chicken Salad, and as the weather was set fair (gloriously sunny actually!) an epic salad sounded just the thing!  The recipe was from a Jamie book that I don't have, and I couldn't seem to find the exact recipe online.  However, I did find a lovely blog by a lady called Elspeth who had also created a fabulous chicken salad, based on the Jamie recipe.  I ended up using this as a basis (thanks Elspeth!) but made a few changes myself.

I actually made this using chicken leftovers as we had roasted a large chicken the night before.  I had both the breasts left, so began the layering of the salad by tearing these up, cold, and putting them on a large plate. 

I topped the chicken with the roasted tomato layer.  I had roasted these simply in a slug of olive oil with a handful of garlic cloves, and laid slices of streaky bacon over the top so that the bacon fat would flavour the tomatoes.  I also laid the leftover chicken skin on top of the tomatoes to re-crisp.  For the last 10 minutes of the tomato roasting time, I tore up a small ciabatta loaf and tossed it into the tomato pan, letting it soak up all the tomatoey and bacony juices before going back into the oven to crisp up.  This glorious pan-full was tipped over the chicken, breaking up the now-crispy bacon and chicken skin as I did so.

Some simply steamed green beans were added, hot, to the top of the heap, before the whole lot was dressed with the mix of wholegrain mustard, fresh mint, lemon juice (I subbed this for cider vinegar) and olive oil described in Elspeth's recipe.  

To finish I scattered over the toasted salted pumpkin seeds that I had prepared earlier.

This was a fabulous supper, and was also enough for me to have leftovers for lunch the following day.  I think it's important to eat the ciabatta croutons while they are still warm and crispy, so I made myself some fresh ones to go with the leftovers. 

I don't know how far away this is from the 'original' Jamie Oliver recipe, but to be honest I think it's a formula that can be successfully adapted according to the ingredients you have to hand.  Some chopped spring onions would be a nice addition for example, and perhaps fresh basil in place of the mint?  But definitely a recipe that I will try again.

Ginseng Salad and Stuffed Pumpkin

After our fun afternoon spent picking vegetables at the weekend, we've spent the last couple of days deciding what to do with them all!

Inspired by Maya's Ginseng Leaf Salad I decided to create my own version...  This turned into an exercise in rummaging-around-the-fridge to see what might work in a salad, so the finished dish bore very little resemblance to Maya's salad, apart from the ginseng leaves of course!

It lacks the colour provided by the pomegranate seeds, orange slices and torch ginger in Maya's, but I used fresh pineapple to provide sweetness, cashew nuts for some texture and thinly sliced chives and preserved garlic for some bite.  It was dressed with lime juice and toasted sesame oil, which is one of my favourite Asian flavours.  These leaves are amazing - they don't wilt at all, so I you can leave it for ages before serving.  I enjoyed the unusual flavour and texture of the ginseng leaves - a new experience for me.  A lovely light supper or side dish.

Almost as soon as I had got home from veg picking, Maya had e.mailed me a recipe for pumpkin.  Maya participates in a weekly recipe challenge called French Fridays with Dorie run by chef Dorie Greenspan, where bloggers around the world all cook the same recipe each Friday and post about it on their blogs.  This week the recipe is the temptingly titled 'Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good'.  Maya sent me the link to the recipe (which can be found here, on Epicurious) and wondered if I might be interested in trying it too?

Interested?  How could I not be?!  This recipe looks wonderful, and infinitely adaptable too.  I made it for supper last night.

There's something very satisfying about hollowing out a pumpkin...  took me right back to my Hallowe'ens in Canada.  These pumpkins have lots of flesh, so this one didn't have a huge cavity once I had removed the seeds and stringy stuff (I'm sure that's the technical term for it...).

I used the Epicurious recipe as a basis, but freestyled for much of the way, just choosing what felt right - and what was in the fridge/larder!

Here it is, stuffed and ready to cook.  The filling ended up consisting of the following:

a slice of granary bread torn up into chunks
a handful of chives, chopped
a large red chilli, chopped
2 'bockwurst' sausages, chopped
a handful of grated mature cheddar
a large 'squidge' of creme fraiche (it comes in squishy packets here!)
a splash of milk to loosen the mix
garlic pepper to season

As the recipe states, it's hard to give a cooking time as all pumpkins are different, and I suspect different fillings might cause it to cook at different speeds too.  Anyway, mine was done in under 2 hours, and looked and smelled incredible.

The sausages imparted a wonderful smoky flavour, and the cheese and creme fraiche were deliciously melted and gooey.  I cut the pumpkin into large wedges and the filling oozed out into the baking tray as I did so - satisfyingly messy!

There is no question that I'll be making this dish again (and again and again I suspect).  Minus the sausage it would make an excellent vegetarian meal, and it could be adapted in hundreds of different ways to suit different palates.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the French Fridays with Dorie group do with it - I'm sure it will give me lots more ideas.

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Lemon Parmesan Vinaigrette

Saturday afternoon, back in Brunei, and desperately craving something somehow 'cleansing' to eat after my bout of illness in Thailand.  I eat Asian food all the time here, but at this point I just wanted something somehow different, although I couldn't quite decide what that was.  My forum-friends came to the rescue of course, with Megan happening to post this fresh and delicious salad recipe from Bon Appétit which I just had to make straight away.

Shaved Asparagus with Parmesan Vinaigrette

Bon Appétit | May 2011

yield: Makes 4 servings

Shaving asparagus with a vegetable peeler transforms the texture of a raw stalk into silky strips. This revelatory technique works well with all kinds of vegetables, from carrots to zucchini.

Ingredients

• 12 large asparagus spears (about 1 pound), trimmed and peeled
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan plus a piece for shaving
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Working with 1 asparagus spear at a time, use a vegetable peeler to shave spears into long, thin shavings. Transfer to a medium bowl (the tips will snap off as spears get thinner; add to bowl). Combine grated Parmesan and lemon juice in a small bowl and slowly whisk in oil until well blended. Season vinaigrette generously with salt and pepper. Drizzle vinaigrette over shaved asparagus and toss to coat. Divide asparagus salad among plates. Use peeler to shave more Parmesan over salad.

I could only find one decent package of (baby) asparagus - annoying because usually there's plenty around.  However, this produced enough for 2 portions despite being rather a hassle to 'shave' - but worth every second of that hassle I assure you.  

I didn't worry too much about the quantities for the dressing, as they had to be dictated by the fact that I only had a walnut-sized piece of parmesan left in the fridge (we use it so rarely I had completely forgotten we were nearly out).  The dressing was fresh, astringent and lemony, very lemony, but as a lemon-fiend that suits me fine.  Others might want to add the juice judiciously and taste as they go along.  I ended up with half the dressing left over, but stirred it into some shredded cabbage the following evening and enjoyed it again.  I think it would work with any veg.

We served this asparagus saled with a simply-roasted chicken (rubbed with lemon juice and olive-oil, then sprinkled generously with ground pepper) and some roasted cherry tomatoes and baby corn.  Rob also had cous cous, but I fancied a carb-free meal.  It was simple and delicious; simply delicious in fact.  Definitely a 'keeper'. 

Thanks Megan!

Myanmar Salads

Salads in Myanmar aren't quite like salads I've ever eaten anywhere else.  For a start, the main ingredient of perhaps their most famous salad dish is pickled tea-leaves!  I had heard about this dish, known as laphet, and was determined to search it out.  However, it was nowhere to be found in Yangon - or perhaps it was on the menu but it was written in Burmese script?!


Anyway, the first we saw of it was when we reached Bagan, and stopped to grab a drink at a roadside stall.  Hanging from the side of the stall were these little sachets...  yes, labelled only in Burmese, but I felt sure that this was it.  We bought a packet and decided to sample it with our pre-dinner lager that night.

As you can see, it looked slightly sinister...  The tea-leaf paste was mixed with crispy fried peanuts, sesame seeds and broad beans.

But if there was ever a case of something tasting a LOT better than it looks, this was it!

In fact, we went straight out to supper at a vegetarian restaurant we had found in Old Bagan (The Moon) and I ordered a large plate of the same salad (Rob had pumpkin curry).

This salad was even better than the stuff in the packet.  It had lots of extra ingredients - I had a chat with the restaurant owner and took notes while he told me what was in it:  pickled tea-leaves (of course), peanuts, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds (both toasted), fresh chillies, crispy fried garlic, raw garlic, fresh tomato and fresh lime juice.  It was the garlic that really elevated it to new heights I think - fried garlic has such a distinctive taste, and paired with the raw garlic (in vampire-scaring amounts) gave the salad a real lift.

I've been trying to research more detailed recipes for this salad, but they seem fairly few and far between.  However, I have noticed that in many restaurants the salad is served in its constituent parts and either assembled by the diner, or tossed together at the table (see video below).

I see from the video that dried shrimp can also be added, but I think I'd prefer it without; those shrimp can be very pungent.  We bought several more small sachets of the salad, but also a larger bag of the pickled tea, along with a bag of the crispy nuts and seeds, so we'll definitely be having a go at it now we're back at home.  Of course sourcing the pickled tea-leaves might be somewhat of an issue in the future, but I'm sure there are ways and means... and perhaps I might even try making some myself?

However, in the absence of a ready supply, the Myanmar salad can be created without the addition of tea.  We also ate it in several other versions, notably made with lemon.

This was a base of shredded white cabbage, mixed with ground peanuts, peanut oil, toasted peanuts, fried and raw garlic, and large chunks of fresh lemon.  Wow, this was zingy - a perfect refreshing lunch on a hot day.  Another variation was made with a local leaf called Pennywort.  We saw this in a supermarket and didn't recognise it as anything we'd seen either in the UK or Brunei, but the salad was made with similar ingredients and had a delicious savoury flavour.

I've always been someone who would rarely think of having a salad as a main meal, but these salads in Myanmar went a long way towards changing my mind!

Thai Food - Som Tam

Many people associate Thai food with curries - Green, Red, Yellow, they're all delicious and increasingly popular in the UK.  But I think my favourite style of Thai meal is the salad.  Don't go shaking your head, thinking I'm talking about some limp lettuce leaves here, Thai salads are strong-flavoured, filling and satisfyingly savoury, despite being made with fruit.

One of the 'star' meals of the trip was this incredible Pomelo salad that I had one evening.  Already I am struggling to remember what was in it (I really should have written it down straight away, as I did ask the waiter about it), but it included Pomelo of course (the huge citrus fruit, tastes a little like grapefruit but is less juicy), toasted coconut and fried onions.  It was topped with some shrimp which were lovely, but the dish wouldn't have suffered without them.

Another exciting salad we ate was this one - Banana Blossom salad!

I've seen banana flowers for sale in supermarkets here in Brunei, but wouldn't have had a clue what to do with one, so I was keen to try this salad.  OK, I still don't know what I'd do with a banana flower, but this was really tasty - crispy, sweet, savoury, spicy, topped with fried dried chillies...  fantastic.  A project for another time.  I'll do some research.

Perhaps the most well-known of the little-known Thai Salads is Som Tam - Green Papaya Salad.  This is made with unripe, or green, papaya along with pieces of raw green bean and cherry tomatoes.  I had this dish 3 times during our holiday...  yes, it's delicious but it also had the benefit of making me feel like I was eating healthily to counteract the unhealthy amount of Beer Chang that we were drinking!

The dressing is a powerful mix of raw garlic, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar, and chopped fresh chillies are also added.  The dish is topped with a handful of toasted peanuts (or these can be stirred through).

Som Tam - Thai Papaya Salad

Make the dressing first - in a bowl mix together 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp palm sugar, 4 cloves of garlic (crushed) and 1 red birdseye chili (finely chopped, but not deseeded).

Peel and shred one medium green papaya (although I have used a much riper, but still firm one before now to no ill effect).

Chop a handful of green beans (we use long beans here, but French beans will be fine) and about 8 cherry tomatoes (or 2 medium tomatoes).  Add the beans and tomatoes to the papaya.

Pour the dressing over and stir to coat all the fruit and veg.  Sprinkle over a handful of toasted, roughly chopped peanuts.  Or even easier, just use some salted peanuts.

This can be served with rice, but I like it on its own as I don't feel that it needs anything alongside (other than one of those beers...!)

I see from this picture that I also added slivered onion and Thai Basil leaves when I made this in November.  Both were a positive addition.  As you can see, the papaya I used was already orange,  but it was firm enough not to be too sweet and held it's shape when shredded.

A Tribute

I count myself fortunate to have many good friends. Friends from school, from university, from various workplaces, from choirs, family that I think of as friends too. I also have lots of friends online, a fact that I know some people still consider a little strange. My first foray into an internet forum was when I was just becoming a fan of the great Nigella, and stumbled upon the 'chat forum' on her website. I remember posting a question about muffins - and was amazed and delighted when several people replied to me! The more I popped into the forum, the more questions I asked, the more help I received, and gradually I realised that friendships were developing as we discussed everything from fashion to families. Things moved on, Nigella's forum closed down, and many of us moved to other fora, but the friendships remained.

Three years on I feel like I'm part of an amazing community, almost like a family. In recent months we have shared the excitements of travels (often mine) and births (not mine!), and lots of laughter - as well as plenty of recipes and food photos over which we drool. I have met several people in person, both in Canada and the UK - something I always find quite funny because we know so much about eachother that when we meet for the first time we're already old friends! Much of my cooking is inspired by members of the forum, both by food discussed on the forum boards, and the blogs that several people write.

As with any family however, there are ups and downs, and the last few weeks have been one of those downs. The saying that 'things happen in threes' seemed to come true, as 3 members of the forum found themselves in hospital undergoing surgery. Thankfully 2 of them are now recovering well, but tragically Lorraine - more usually known online as Pistachio, or Pi - passed away earlier this week.

Pi was someone I've known for a long time. She was one of the first people to welcome me onto the Nigella forum, and someone who had often taken an active role in 'running the show' online, always ready with answers to questions, technical or foodie. She was clearly a strong character whose opinions were stated clearly - her no-nonsense attitude could sometimes offend - but ultimately she said what she thought, stood up for what was right and didn't suffer fools gladly. I often thought she should be a bit more tactful, but once I had got to know her a little better I found that hers was a voice I could appreciate - if not always agree with - and I generally respected her opinions (though I'm not budging on the gingham question!). Looking back at some of her posts, I found myself smiling, particularly when she replied to a query of mine with a brusque "Get a grip Norm, love"..! Still, sometimes we all need telling that!

Pi was a keen blogger, and her blog, Pistachio en la Cocina, is a celebration of her life and her love of food. I'm sure that many of us will be returning to it time and again, both to read about her life in Ibiza, and to refer to the large bank of recipes that she had taken the time to post.

Earlier this week I had caught an episode of Jamie at Home on TV, and was inspired by watching him make a delicious recipe from his book - Grilled Lamb Kofta Kebabs with Pistachios. I decided to have a go at making them for supper the following night. Searching for a suitable side-dish I found in my Lebanese Cookbook a recipe for Rice and Pistachio Salad - perfect I thought, as I would be buying pistachios anyway.

I was at that point in my planning when I heard the news that Pi had passed away. Suddenly my menu seemed entirely appropriate - how better to remember someone who loved food than with a meal cooked whilst thinking of them?

The kebabs were delicious, infused with the middle eastern flavour of Za'atar, which I used instead of the sumac (za'atar is a spice blend which often includes sumac), and with the interest in texture provided by the pistachio nuts. I couldn't find shelled pistachios, so shelled my own (unsalted) nuts - which is a tedious but simple job.




The salad was divine! The pistachios and the pomegranate seeds were like jewels in the rice, and the lemon juice and olive oil dressing gave it just the right 'tang' to complement the richness of the meat.



The dessert choice was simple. Pistachio Macaroons, from my favourite Nigella book, How to be a Domestic Goddess. Several bloggers have written about this recipe - an example here - so the recipe is easily available if you don't have the book. I have made these several times and have always loved them. I often pipe them, but was certain that Pi wouldn't be offended if I went for the 'blobbing' method with a spoon! Who cares though? They tasted divine, no matter what they looked like.



So this was a meal made with Pi in mind, but also all my other forum friends. You don't know how much you have inspired me, amused me, informed me and supported me, over the last few years. Your friendships mean more to me than I could ever say.