Lunch or Dinner: Larb Gai (i.e. Thai Chicken Salad)

Today is a Public Holiday in Australia, and I decided to take yesterday off work and create a 4-day weekend/3-day week. Last week was really busy, with work [obviously], plus multiple gigs (Joanna Newsom and The Decemberists [both awesome]), trips to the tennis, leaving drinks, and a splitting migraine which wrote off most of my Tuesday. Yesterday was a chance to have a well deserved lie-in.

Once I was back in the land of the living, I walked around the corner to Victoria Street (home of many a Vietnamese restaurant, Asian Supermarket and the odd person who really, really likes heroin), via the aforementioned detour to Three Bags Full. The plan was to pick up some ingredients for Larb Gai (a Laotian/Thai Salad of Minced Chicken with Toasted Rice, Lime and Chilli) and Banana, Coconut and Walnut Bread (recipe to follow later in week)

Having had Larb made by friends, and eaten it at restaurants, I was pleasantly surprised with how my effort turned out - sweet, sour and salty with a decent chilli kick and a nice bit of texture added by the ground rice. Plenty of leftovers to take to work for lunch too...

LARB GAI (Makes approx 6 serves)

Ingredients

1/3 cup glutinous/jasmine rice

1/3-2/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup fish sauce (nam pla)

1 tbl sugar

2 tsp Roasted chilli paste chili-garlic sauce (nam prik pao)

100ml Chicken Stock

700g minced chicken

1 cup thinly sliced spring onion, finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

3 tbl minced lemongrass

1 tbl minced ginger or galangal

1 tbl thinly sliced (hot) Thai chilli

1/4 cup chopped fresh Vietnamese Mint

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

small handful of green beans, chopped small.

Lettuce/Asian Cabbage Leaves, sliced cucumber and carrots to serve.

Method

1. Whisk lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chilli paste together in medium bowl to blend; reserve sauce.
2. Bring stock to simmer over medium heat. Add chicken. Simmer until cooked through, breaking up meat with spoon. Add onions, lemongrass, ginger/galangal and stir for a minute of so until most of liquid has evaporated. 
3. Meanwhile blanch the green beans in boiling water for one minute. Refresh under cold water once tender.
4. Remove chicken from heat. Stir in sauce, coriander, sliced chilli, green beans and mint. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool.
5. Toast rice in a dry pan for a few minutes until fragrant and lightly coloured. Grind into a coarse powder using a food processor or pestle and mortar.
6. Before serving, stir rice powder into chicken to add texture and partially soak up the sauce.
7. To serve, spoon into lettuce/cabbage leaves with finely sliced carrot and cucumber.

Brunch/Lunch #2: Corn Fritters w/ Bacon and Avocado

As previously mentioned, given my lack of enthusiasm for eggs in their purest form, Corn Fritters are my benchmark brunch. The thing I will naturally gravitate towards when deciding whether a venue warrants making it into the breakfast 'rotation policy'. The best I've found are from Replete in Kew, and that's due in no small part to the accompaniments - avocado and crispy Istra bacon (ohhh yeah), as well as a home-made tomato chutney and sour cream. I've had other versions with slow-roasted tomatoes, ratatouille, and I may have even seen some with smoked salmon.

My own interpretation (one of my absolute favourite recipes) is based on that in Bill Granger's Sydney Food, with the addition of some creamed corn in place of a little of the milk, which I think means you can taste the sweetcorn better right through the fritter. [You can of course puree some of the fresh corn and milk together before adding to the mix for much the same effect]. Personally, I like my fritters to be crispy, but not too egg-y.

Strangely, I was slightly disappointed in the dish itself when I actually ate it at bills in Sydney, but again, that could have just been the accompaniments. Definitely the worst example I've ever had (at a place in Manly, clearly something about Sydney and this dish) fell into this trap, and looked more like an omelette than anything else...

INGREDIENTS

(makes 12 medium-sized fritters, served 4 people)

1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

200ml creamed corn
Kernels from 1 large corn-on-the=cob

1/2 cup diced red pepper (capsicum)
1/2 cup sliced spring onions (white and green parts)
1/4 cup chopped coriander and parsley
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt and Black Pepper

To accompany

Crispy Bacon

1 diced ripe avocado

Sour Cream

Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce

METHOD

• Sift flour, baking powder, salt and paprika into a large bowl, stir in sugar and make a well in the centre.
• In a separate bowl, combine eggs and milk.
• Gradually add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until you have a smooth, lump-free batter. The batter will be quite stiff.

• Place corn, capsicum, spring onions and herbs in a mixing bowl and add just enough batter to lightly bind them (about 3/4 cup).
• Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a non-stick fying pan on medium heat, then drop in 2 tablespoons of batter or oil per fritter and cook 3 or 4 fritters at a time.
• Cook for 2 minutes, or until the underside of each fritter is golden.
• Turn over and cook fritters on the other side.
• Transfer to a plate and keep warm while cooking the remaining batter.

ASSEMBLY

• Drizzle sweet chilli sauce onto plate.
• Layer fritters with half rashers of bacon, and top with diced avocado, a teaspoon of sour cream, and another half rasher of bacon.
• Scatter with chopped fresh parsley.

Notes from Bill: The fritter batter can be kept for up to 3 days, but do not mix the batter with the vegetables more than an hour before you're ready to cook, or the fritters will be soggy.

Lunch #2 - Roasted Vegetable Bruschetta with Red Onion Hummus

Another tried-and-tested lunch option that is also perfect to take on picnics. It's also another of those recipes that I can't help but change slightly every time I make it. Sometimes it's to substitute the Red Onions for Aubergine (or Eggplant) in the hummus, or maybe just to change the spices slightly.

This entry is dedicated to someone who I apparently "terrify" by having a (predominately) food blog...

INGREDIENTS

Hummus Base

1 can drained chickpeas
3 or 4 tbs Tahini
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
3 red onions

fresh thyme

drizzle of honey

drizzle of balsamic vinegar
Loads of olive oil to get to the right consistency
a good shake/squeeze of Tabasco, harissa or some other chilli sauce

pinch of cumin

Roasted Vegetables

2 courgettes, in large dice

1 large red pepper (capsicum) or 2 smaller ones, cut to same size as courgettes

1 large green pepper (capsicum) or 2 smaller ones, cut to same size as courgettes

1 small aubergine/eggplant

3 ripe tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

glug of olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

Freshly chopped flat parsley and lemon juice to garnish

METHOD

1. First, cut the red onion for the hummous into smallish wedges. Drizzle with oil, honey, balsamic vinegar and thyme and roast in a low over for approximately 30 mins until caramelised. Leave to cool.

2. Add all other hummus ingredients into a food processor, and blend until smooth, gradually adding olive oil until the right consistency is reached.

3. Add the cooled roasted onions and process again until smooth. Set to one side in the frigde.

4. For the roasted vegetables, dice all ingredients into similar sized pieces, drizzle with oil and roast at 180c for approximately 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

5. When cooked, scatter with flat parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

6. For bruschetta, cut slices of ciabatta or other similar bread and rub with a cut clove of garlic. Spray lightly with olive oil, and chargrill until slightly toasted.

ASSEMBLY

1. Spread toasted bread lightly with a tablespoon of hummus. Top with large spoonful of vegetables, and a small dollop of hummus. Scatter with more parsley if desired.

Lunch #1 (Brown Rice, Lentil and Feta Salad)

As previously mentioned, I'm on a mission to reduce my propensity for unhealthy snacking during the working week. This means plenty of wholegrains such the aforementioned Bircher Muesli for breakfast (I added shredded coconut this time), followed by a brown rice salad for lunch. I've made this numerous times before, and it's received good feedback, so here it is

(4 serves)

INGREDIENTS
2 cups cooked and cooled Brown Rice
1 can cooked brown lentils, rinsed

75g crumbled feta

1/2 diced red pepper (Capsicum for all you Aussies and Americans)

1/2 diced cucumber

a large glug of Olive Oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Lots of chopped flat parsley
blanched broccoli (1-2 minutes in boiling water, then under cold water to stop them cooking)
pinch of some vaguely Middle-Eastern/North African spices (cumin/coriander/Ras el Hanout etc)
salt and black pepper

METHOD

Mix it all together.

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To be honest, it's one of those recipes constantly evolving, and I'm very much of the "see what's lying around and throw it in if it might work" school of cookery. Diced fresh tomatoes would also work, and in a way it's becoming a bit like tabouleh without the couscous. It's also good with some grilled, marinated chicken or lamb skewers if you're looking for a more substantial meal.

I made a big batch of this (which should see me through lunch this week) and loaded it into my Tiffin this morning. That's good eatin'...