Tag: Dinner

Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Kra Pao Gai)

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So, it has been a strange old Summer hasn’t it? I’m back after a long hiatus, but felt there was really no better time than the present to share some nice dishes and document what I’ve been cooking up as of late.

At a time when everything feels so uncertain and up in the air, feeding and nourishing ourselves is so important. Also, the knowledge that there will be something delicious to look forward to at the end of the day is a real comfort and something I know I always look forward to. Even something very simple can be the most satiating. That is what has become hugely apparent to me during lockdown; simplicity, when it comes to food and many things for that matter, is so highly underrated.

There’s really a lot to be said for store cupboard cooking and the joys of creating something truely enjoyable with only a few ingredients. Many of my favourite meals over the past few months have been those which have come from the need to use up odds and ends in the fridge, all tied together with things I tend to always have in the cupboard. There’s nothing quite like resourcefulness to make a dish taste great! (You might think I’m joking here, but really though, when all those straggling leftovers turn into a surprising taste sensation and you’ve not only cleared room in your fridge but made a lightening-fast dinner that’s really hitting the spot? Well, I kind of feel like my stars have aligned!)

This simple Thai dish is real winner of a chicken dinner. I nearly always have some chicken in my fridge/freezer, chillies and garlic to hand, as well as staples like soya and oyster sauce, so if you’re the same, this can be whipped up at a moments notice. The Thai basil may be the only ingredient which can be harder to find, but these are unusual times, so just use what’s available to you whether that be regular basil or coriander. It won’t be quite the same of course, but I dare say it will still be delicious. As a matter of fact, holy basil is the variety you really want here for it’s full flavoured pepperiness, but any Thai basil is perfectly acceptable and that’s what I’ve used here.

* I doubled this recipe to serve two, but the ingredients I have listed will make one generous portion or 2 smaller portions. It is definitely better to stir-fry in smaller amounts if possible because the wok will stay nice and hot and cook much faster.

Ingredients

An egg, plus a couple of tbsp neutral oil for frying

2 or 3 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, diced into small pieces

5 garlic cloves, peeled

4-6 chillies, preferrably Thai chillies

1 tbsp neutral oil for frying

2 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp light soya sauce

1/2 tsp dark soya sauce or kecap manis

1/2 tsp honey or sugar

A big handful of Thai basil, preferrably holy basil, leaves picked

Method

First things first, put on a pot of rice. You’ll be glad you did! Jasmine rice tastes particularly good with this.

Fry up an egg – Heat up a couple of tablespoons of oil in a wok or frying pan on medium-high heat. When the oil gets nice and hot crack in your egg, leaving it undisturbed so the bottom has a chance to get crispy. Take off the heat and finish it by spooning some of the hot oil from the pan over the top just enough to seal the yolk. Set this aside.

Next, the chicken – Pound the garlic and chillies together with a pestle and mortar. This just needs to be a rough paste, nothing too fine. You can coarsely chop these if you like, but pounding them helps to release a lot more of the oils and juices within the aromatics.

Mix up the oyster sauce, light & dark soya sauces and the honey/sugar, then set to the side.

Heat your wok on a high heat, adding about a tbsp of oil. Once it gets hot, add in the chillies and garlic and stir-fry until it becomes fragrant, about 20 seconds; any longer and they might burn and become acrid.

Add in the chicken and mix continuously for a few minutes until fully cooked and has a little colour. Next, add in your sauce and stir-fry for another 30 seconds or so. If it looks a little dry add a tiny splash of water.

(Bear in mind that quantities for the sauce are just a rough guide, so play with the ratio until it tastes just right for you!)

Lastly, put in a big handful of Thai basil leaves, take it off the heat and give it a good stir.

The residual heat will be perfect to wilt the basil just enough for it to retain all of it’s aromatic flavour and integrity.

Now just dish up a steaming bowl of rice and top it with the basil chicken and lacy, crisp fried egg. Hopefully you’ll be rewarded with an oozing, golden yolk to tie the whole thing together! And there you have one of Thailand’s most beloved street food dishes.

Humble in it’s simplicity, yet it’s vibrant flavour is anything but.

Mushroom Orzo

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I always find it quite satisfying when I come across something to make for dinner which is the perfect balance of delicious to low maintenance, something which doesn’t require a tonne of new ingredients. However I suppose the reason I feel this way is because I am not a stranger to taking a trip to the shops with a grocery list the length of my arm. Sometimes though, after a day in the kitchen at work, simple makes a refreshing change –  and this is a really lovely dish, not to mention the perfect way to use up the last of that bottle of wine sitting on the kitchen counter!

Orzo, or risoni as the Italians call it, is a small rice shaped pasta. Here, it is combined with some nice mushrooms and a lightly creamy sauce to make a really tasty, warming meal for two. I like to use a variety of mushrooms in this dish, the more flavoursome the better! I chose a mixture of chestnut and enoki’s this time around. If you do the same, I’d recommend frying the enoki’s separately as they take a little less time to cook.

Mushroom Orzo – serves 2

2 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil

a knob of butter

500g mushrooms, cleaned and thickly sliced

150g orzo/risoni

2 garlic cloves, chopped

a few sprigs of thyme, leaves only

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

75 ml dry white wine

50ml crème fraîche

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a big handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method

Put a large pot of well-salted water on to boil so that the orzo is ready to cook while the sauce is coming together.

Heat one tablespoon of the oil and half of the butter in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Cook the mushrooms in two batches, using the remaining oil and butter for the second batch. You want to cook them until all the liquid that’s been released has evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to caramelise. When they’re almost cooked, put the orzo in the boiling water and cook until it tastes al dente.

Return the first batch of mushrooms back to the pan and add the garlic, thyme and vinegar. Give it a good stir and let it simmer for a minute or two before adding the wine. Cook for a few minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated, then add the crème fraîche, reducing the heat a little and stirring until it just starts to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta as soon as it’s cooked and add it to the mushroom mixture, tossing it together well.

Serve scattered with lots of chopped parsley.

Know Your Etiquette!

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Have you ever found yourself in the situation where you’re out for dinner in a nice restaurant or maybe at someone’s house, with a group of people you are less than totally comfortable with? Maybe they’re chatting to you in order to get to know you better, but in the process they’re looking at you a little more than is normal to watch a person just eating. This, in turn, puts pressure on you to do things correctly and not make an ass of yourself. So, to save you the bother of having to mentally calculate which glass might be yours the next time an occasion such as this presents itself, here is a nice little dinner guide, illustrated by the ever-funny Gemma Correll and written by Joanna Goddard, as seen on her blog, ‘A Cup of Jo’.

“If you’re a guest at a dinner party (pictured above), wait to start eating until the host or hostess takes his or her first bite (unless they absolutely insist that you start).”

“A funny tip that my grandparents used to tell us: The way to sit in your chair is to pretend a cat is in front of you, a mouse is behind.”

“Your wine and water glasses are to the RIGHT of your plate. Your bread plate is to the LEFT of your plate. If you remember that, you’ll never drink someone’s water or eat their bread again! (A genius tip from readers: To remember the order of the placesetting, think “BMW” — for bread, then meal, then water.)”

“Surprisingly, salt and pepper should be passed together, even if someone asks only for one. They’re considered “married!””

“Never intercept a pass. For example, don’t snag a roll out of the bread basket when it’s on the way to someone else. (You’ll just have to ask them to pass the basket right back!)”

“Scoop your soup with your spoon tilted *away* from you. And surprise! It’s fine to tilt the bowl slightly away from you to get the last drop of soup. But never blow on your soup or food. Even if it’s piping hot!”

“Always taste your food before putting on salt and pepper. It’s considered rude to assume the food is under-seasoned before tasting it.”

– This is something, as a chef, I can relate to, so TAKE HEED please!

“When you are finished with your meal, your knife and fork should be placed on your plate diagonally from upper left to lower right (11 to 5 if you imagine your plate as a clock face). This is a secret code to the waiter (or host) that you’re finished.”

• To read the full article, head over to Joanna’s website – A Cup of Jo