We were greeted by an amazing Apple and Lemon Teacake when we arrived at our last cooking club. This was a delicious and very moist cake. The recipe can be found in the September issue of Masterchef magazine.
The remainder of our menu was from the latest Donna Hay magazine which had a selection of menus including the amazing Thai one we made today.
The first dish was a Coconut and Prawn Soup which was so easy to make and absolutely delicious. To make this soup you combine coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, fish sauce and grated fresh ginger. You then chop some green onions and share them into individual serving dishes with some oyster mushrooms and peeled green prawns (leave the tails intact). Pour over the coconut milk mixture and place the dishes in a steamer basket. Steam for 10-12 minutes or until the prawns are cooked through and serve with herbs and lemon wedges. The flavours were so simple and fresh and the oyster mushrooms had a wonderful texture. You could modify this recipe by adding different seafood, leaving the seafood out all together and possibly cooking in one batch rather than steaming individually. Yum!
The second dish was Lemongrass Fish Skewers with Chilli Dressing. The chilli dressing was made by boiling caster sugar, white vinegar, Kaffir lime leaves and sliced long red chillies until slightly thickened. To make the fish skewers you process firm white fish fillets, ginger, garlic, coriander roots, Kaffir lime leaves, sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce, egg white, salt and pepper in a food processor until smooth. You then shape the fish mixture around lemon grass stalks which have been halved lengthwise and cut into 12 lengths to make short lemongrass sticks. The fish skewers are first cooked in a frypan in vegetable oil and then placed in the oven to finish cooking through. These were also very tasty and had nice fresh flavours.
The third dish was Chilli Pork Parcels with Nam Jim. The Nam Jim, which is a traditional Thai dipping sauce, was made by combining coriander roots, long red chillies and sugar in a mortar and pestle until they formed a paste. You then added lime juice and fish sauce. To make the parcels you cooked pork mince in a frypan and then added garlic, ginger, Thai chilli jam (which can be found in the Asian section of the supermarket or at an Asian grocery store or apparently at
www.donnahay.com), and some vermicelli noodles which have been soaked in water to soften. You then place some of the mince mixture onto a rice paper round which has been softened in warm water and top with some Thai basil and coriander leaves. If you can't buy Thai basil just use regular basil instead. The recipe simply folded the rice paper round in half over the mince mixture making one large semi circle however we rolled ours into a spring roll which worked well and was easier to eat and serve as finger food. The rolls are browned in peanut oil in a frypan and then enjoyed with the Nam Jim. Another tasty dish!
The fourth dish was a Duck Larb with Green Mango Salad. Larb is simply a minced meat salad. This recipe included some lotus root chips to serve wth the larb however we could not source any good lotus root so decided to crisp up some pieces of duck skin to sprinkle on top and add some crunch. Lotus root can be found at Asian grocery stores and some supermarkets and has a crunchy texture and sweet tangy flavour. When sliced it has a holey, flower like appearance. To make the chips the lotus root slices are simply fried in oil, drained and seasoned with salt and pepper. The duck mince is made by roughly chopping duck breast (skin removed) in a food processor. The duck is then cooked in peanut oil with some garlic and ginger. Once it is cooked you add oyster sauce and lime juice. The duck is served underneath a salad of coriander leaves, mint leaves, Thai basil leaves and a thinly sliced green mango, dressed with lime juice combined with caster sugar. Beautiful, fresh, healthy flavours, although the flavour of the duck was probably lost a little amongst all the other flavours.
Dessert was a Mango Granita and Coconut Sorbet which perfectly finished our Thai banquet. The coconut sorbet was made by heating sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved and adding coconut cream and sweetened coconut flakes. The sorbet needs to set in a shallow metal tray in the freezer for 2-3 hours. The granita is made by processing mango in a food processor until smooth and adding to some sugar and water which has again been heated to dissolve the sugar. The granita needs to set in a shallow metal tray in the freezer for 3-4 hours. Before serving you use a fork to "rake" the top of the granita and then let it freeze for a further hour. To serve you place some of the mango granita in a glass bowl and top with the coconut sorbet. The combination is fantastic and this would be a wonderful, light summer dessert.
This entire menu was simple and delicious and if you like Thai food or are keen to try one of Donna Hay's other menus I would strongly suggest you go and buy her new magazine now!
