Thai Turkey Patties

These were simple and yummy, based on a James Martin recipe.  He used chicken mince in his version, but I went for turkey instead.  Both would work fine.  For 4 people, take 500g of turkey mince, and place in a bowl.  Now, using a mini chopper, blend a small onion, 3 juicy cloves of garlic and a large 'thumb' of peeled ginger, and blitz to a paste.  Tip into the bowl with 1 teaspoon hot chilli flakes (or a finely-chopped hot fresh chilli) and 2 heaped tablespoons of chopped coriander leaf.  Season well with salt and pepper - it needs quite a bit, and splash in a teaspoon of Thai fish sauce if you have any - don't worry if you don't.  I also added a splosh of Tobasco to make sure they were good and pokey.  Mix this well - your hands are the best tool here - making sure that the aromatic seasonings are evenly distributed throughout the mince.  Using wet hands, shape into patties - I got 16 out of this amount.  Allow to rest in the fridge for half an hour or so.  To cook: in a big non-stick frying pan, pour in about 1/2 a centimetre of sunflower or other 'tasteless' oil, and heat over a medium high-ish flame.  Carefully add half the patties - don't crowd them.  Leave them for 2 to 3 minutes to form a golden crust underneath - do NOT poke and prod!  Turn over and cook for another couple of minutes, again, leaving well alone to form a good crust.  Keep warm in a low oven on sheets of kitchen paper to drain whilst you cook the remaining patties.  Serve with bowls of sweet chilli sauce and lots of lime wedges to squeeze over.  If you have all the aromatics in the house, this could be classed as an 'under a fiver' as turkey mince is so cheap.

Thai Beef Salad

We had a couple of lovely rib eye steaks in the freezer, and had them as an increasingly rare red meat treat this evening.  I cut the thawed meat into chunky cubes, removing as much visible fat as possible.  Marinade them in a mixture of grated garlic and fresh ginger, a chopped red chilli, the juice of half a lime and a tablespoon of coconut cream, along with half-a-teaspoon each of ground cumin, turmeric and coriander (use the rest in a vegetable stir-fry).  Let it sit for at least an hour, overnight if possible.  Thread onto skewers - if using wooden ones, make sure you soak them well in warm water.  Grill, either on a chargrill or under a hot overhead grill - if the barbie is on, even better.  Brush with the marinade and turn until done to your liking.  Drizzle over sweet chilli sauce, chopped roasted peanuts and chopped coriander leaf, and serve the remaining half of lime on the side.  Serve with a leafy green salad with cucumber and we also had a big dish of stir-fried peppers, tomatoes and sugarsnap peas in a green curry coconut sauce.

Thai Minced Turkey

This has to be one of my favourite low fat dishes that I've cooked recently.  Turkey breast mince is very low in fat, but can be a bit bland - so, get good organic stuff and mix it with lots of strong flavours - Italian and Thai work very well.  In this dish, the turkey is stir-fried with a sliced red onion in a little oil (only about a teaspoon) and then you add chopped garlic, chilli and ginger, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, coriander (all frozen from Waitrose, brilliant time-saver) and some chicken stock.  Simmer for about 15 minutes until the turkey is tender.  Slake two teaspoons of soy sauce with two tablespoons of dark soy sauce, and stir into the pot.  Allow to bubble for a minute, then stir in a big handful of basil leaves.  Serve with Jasmine rice or rice noodles.  Just yummy.

Thai-style Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce

Do you ever have something to eat where you think "I could go on eating this until I burst?".  Well, these wonderful meatballs were just like that.  I found them on the BBC Good Food site so the simplest thing is to link to their recipe.  We served them with a bowl of coconut rice noodles with asparagus and courgette.  We will most definitely make this again.  It was such a pleasant way to wind down at the end of the day - select a lettuce leaf, add a meatball, stuff with some coriander leaves, sprinkle with lime juice, roll up, dunk in sweet chilli sauce, repeat.  Excellent.  This would be an easy, relaxed way to feed friends - bung it all on a platter and let people help themselves.  Just make plenty!

Mussaman Chicken Curry

I ate out with lovely friends at the Thai River restaurant in Windsor last week, and decided to try a Mussaman (or Massaman, depending on where you look) curry with the left-over chicken from yesterday's roast.  Quite simple really - first make the paste - in a blender put 3 teaspoons of chilli flakes (NOT the 15 dried red chillis the original recipe called for!), a tablespoon of ground coriander, a teaspoon of ground cumin, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and a teaspoon of ground black pepper.  Add a LOT of crushed garlic - a whole head, peeled and crushed, 4 peeled chopped shallots, 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste, 2 stalks of chopped lemongrass, an inch of ginger, peeled and grated, a teaspoon of tamarind paste and a tablespoon of fish sauce.  Add a tablespoon of hot water and blend to a thick paste, then stir in a dessertspoon of soft brown sugar, or palm sugar if you have it.  At this stage, it will smell like old ladies sitting drying by the fire.  Please persist, it gets better.  Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok and add half the paste (freeze the rest, you only need half), and then around half a pint of hot water.  Chuck in a couple of medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks, and allow the spuds to cook in the sauce, as it gradually reduces.  Whilst this is happening, finely chop a couple of tablespoons of unsalted cashew nuts and toast in a dry frying pan.  When the potatoes are done stir in a small can of coconut cream, around 200mls, some shredded cooked chicken and the toasted cashew nuts.  Allow to cook for a few more minutes and stir in some corainder if liked.  Add some salt, it will probably need it, or some more fish sauce.  Enough for 2 with some naan bread and Masala Cabbage (see later recipe).  Man, this was HOT!

Parsnip and Potato Cakes with Thai Flavourings

I adapted this from a Nigella recipe in her latest book 'Kitchen'.  Steam equal quantities of peeled chopped parsnip and potato.  Whilst that's happening, saute a couple of finely chopped spring onions in a teaspoon or so of sunflower or light olive oil until soft but not brown.  Add an inch of fresh ginger, grated, and a couple of grated or finely chopped garlic cloves.  Chuck in a small, finely chopped red chilli.  Mash the parsnip and potatoes, and tip the spring onion mix in, aloing with a good handful of chopped coriander leaf.  It shouldn't be sloppy, but a spoonful of milk might make it easier to work.  Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed.  Shape into little patties, and leave to set in the fridge.  When ready to eat, fry in a few tablespoons of oil until crisp and brown on the outside.  We served them with poached eggs and some sweet chilli sauce stirred through a tablespoon or so of Greek yoghurt.  Lovely!

Oriental Meatballs with Spicy Coconut Noodles [#211]

So, the first recipe from Ching-He Huang. Her approach to Chinese food is informed by a) being Taiwanese and b) being raised in the UK, so she isn't a purist. This recipe was taken from her 'East meets East' chapter, and was her interpretation of Meatballs and Spaghetti - a very loose interpretation, I would say! Very nice though. Imagine, if you will, slippery udon noodles, bathed in a coconutty sauce flavoured with garlic, ginger, chilli, lemongrass, shrimp paste and fish sauce, with masses of coriander. Buried in amongst the noodles are little meatballs, made with beef and seasoned with yet more garlic and ginger, chilli and coriander, chopped spring onions, fish sauce and Chinese wine. Are you hungry? You should be! Anyway, a very successful first dish, more Thai than Chinese. I added a spritz of lime at the end, just to lift the final flavours. The shrimp paste and fish sauce, by the way, should be used as chemical agents in wartime. I used considerably less than in the recipe, and they do fade to a savoury background flavour on cooking. I am looking forward to trying more from her book.

Chicken and Rice Salad [#104]

I must admit that I approached this recipe with a little trepidation - cold rice and chicken, anyone? Let me tell you, it was delicious! It needs a vibrant dressing, of course, to bring it to life, and Nigel's use of Asian flavours was just right - chilli, lime, nam pla. I added chopped coriander as well as the mint. Lovely, served with a watercress and tomato salad. Healthy, quick and cheap and leftovers for hubby for lunch too. As for the the sprouting beans, I picked up a little tub of sprouting bean and pea salad from Marks and Sparks which was perfect. Sadly, no online recipe - buy the book!!!

Thai Fish Cakes [#69]

Well, we knew these would be good, as Nigel has a very good track record with patties and fish cakes AND Asian flavours. They were just yummy. I didn't make Nigel's sweet chilli dipping sauce, as I had a bottle already, which was fine mixed with fresh lime juice and a little soy. We accompanied these little mouth-popping bites with rice noodles, stir-fried with red pepper, spring onions, mushrooms and sprouting broccoli. Accompanied by another bottle of the delicious, off-dry and limey Hochheimer Reisling (we'll need to order another case from Laithwaite's at this rate!)

Green Curry of Prawns and Thai Aubergines [#57]

No Thai aubergines to be found in Oxford, I'm afraid (or pea aubergines - really, Nigel!) so a nice, ordinary one, chopped into dice about half-an-inch square, worked perfectly well. As we had rice last night, I served this with slippery udon noodles - a cultural and national hybrid, I know, Japan meets Thailand, but it was a diplomatic success! Great quick recipe, gorgeous colours and full of layers of flavour from kaffir lime leaves, chilli, basil, coriander, lime - an acceptable way of eating prawns, which we rarely consume, for some reason!