Chiang Mai Inspired Mango & Pineapple Salad with Roasted Peanuts

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London is currently freezing, wouldn't you agree?  I have started to dream about hot tropical holidays even though sadly none have been booked!  To console myself, I pulled out one of the recipe booklets that I was given after I completed a cooking course in Thailand.  I was impressed at how relatively easy it was to prepare Thai cuisine, provided that you had all of the ingredients required of course.

You will be pleased to know that this recipe is naturally milk, egg, gluten, wheat and soy free.  The fish sauce really does add a lovely flavour in this salad.  Fish sauce is also a great alternative to soy sauce without tasting too 'fishy'.  Combined with orange juice or even lime juice and the sugar, you end up with gorgeous flavours that lean towards sweet, salty and a little bit citrusy.  

When you start to tire of green salads, why not give this delicious Thai inspired fruity salad a go?


INGREDIENTS

3 green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 fat garlic cloves
1 large red tomato
2 small mangoes, cut into pieces
1 thick chunk of fresh pineapple, cut into pieces

FOR THE SAUCE
1 teaspoon palm sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon orange juice

1 tablespoon oven roasted peanuts


METHODS

1. Prepare your sauce by mixing the palm sugar, fish sauce and orange juice together.  Lime juice is gorgeous in this recipe too.
2. Pound the beans and garlic together then add to the fishy sauce.
3. Chop your tomato into large chunks and add to a serving bowl.  Next add the fresh mango and pineapple pieces.  Pour the fish sauce over the fruit and top with the oven roasted peanuts.

This is a lovely recipe that works well with rice and chicken based dishes.  Enjoy this summery recipe.  This salad can be eaten on a vegetarian diet if you do normally eat fish. Couscous could be a wonderful accompaniment for this salad, but of course remember that this contains wheat.

Enjoy your Sunday lovely readers!

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Sushila's Paneer Explosion

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Following on from last night's inspirational interview with Louise on vegetarian diets (see How To Follow A Winning Vegetarian Diet), I was delighted when a lovely lady (my aunt Sushila), donated her million dollar paneer recipe.  

Her cooking really is to die for.  You'll even have restaurants flaring their nostrils and turning green with envy at her 5 star recipes.  Despite this, instead of the catering business she leads finance in a multi-global company.  

What's paneer you say?  It is made by curdling hot milk with lemon juice or vinegar.  Unlike other cheese, rennet (enzymes extracted from the stomach of animals) is not used in the production of paneer.  It is therefore suitable on a vegetarian diet.  

So without further ado, I hope that I've tempted you to spice up your kitchen with this delicious paneer recipe that we've worked hard together for you.  

Ingredients

500g cubed paneer

2 tablespoons rapeseed oil

1 large red onion

1 sprig of curry leaves

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of mustard seeds

1 teaspoon hot curry powder (or chilli powder)

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

I x 400g tinned tomatoes or 3-4 large tomatoes

2 tablespoons of coconut cream 

1 teaspoon fresh crushed ginger 

1 sprig of coriander leaves
1 tablespoon garam masala

Salt to taste

Method

1. First shallow fry the paneer cubes in half the oil and drain them in a paper towel.  You will need to handle the cubes gently as it can crumble.

2. With the remaining oil, fry one large onion sliced finely, curry leaves and sliced garlic. 
3. Then add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. 

4. When it gets fried add curry, cumin and coriander powders and fry further for a couple of minutes.

5. Add the tin of tomatoes and keep stirring. Once it gets heated add the coconut cream.  

6. Soon after that add the paneer cubes and mix well.  The paneer should be coated well in the tomato sauce.

7. Remove from the fire and add crushed ginger and coriander leaves.  

8. Finally mix in a tablespoon of garam masala and salt to taste.

Serve with basmati rice and a salad.  Simply delicious!


This recipe is also egg, wheat and soy free.


For further information on vegan & vegetarian diets see Grass Eating Vegan Could There Be More

If you have variations for a paneer recipe that you are willing to share, then please comment below.  I love hearing from you and read all your comments!

Magnifique Macarons – Mastering The Art

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Sinead Burke is 29 and co-leads a team of clinical dietitians in London.  One of her favourite things to do is bake!  This weekend she headed out to Clapham and learnt how to make macarons as the French would say it.

What Inspired You?

This year I’ve been working on expanding my baking skills.  I’ve already mastered breads (oh why not, yes I’ve mastered them she says), and experimented with pastry.  Finally the opportunity presented itself when a colleague mentioned workshops in Clapham.

Baking for me is a great way to relax and even a very simple task or recipe can give you a sense of achievement when you’ve completed and tasted the final product.  For example, you'd never think so, but breads are one of the easiest things in the world to make.

As a dietitian, I like the fact that you can control the amount of salt that you use when baking your own bread.  A basic wholemeal loaf that’s homemade has a third of the amount of usual salt found in some manufactured brands.  

If you want to learn more about salt see my article So What's The Big Deal With Salt

What Did You Enjoy About Making Macarons?

I found it to be a very methodical process.  The folding needs to be done consistently at the right speed and sustained for 5 to 7 minutes.  When you pipe the macarons precision is key to ensure same size and that lovely round shape.  Our teacher was very informative and runs these classes as part of a social enterprise.  Money from macaron sales goes back into the local community for projects (see www.oncafe.co.uk)

Are Macarons Healthy Then?

Although macarons are an indulgent treat, their bite sized form means that you can still take pleasure from this little patisserie without blowing your calorie budget.  Just stick to one or two of these delicious delights and share the rest around with your friends.  They make a great present too!

 

Would You Send A Friend?

Definitely.  I would not have tried to make this alone without learning the tricks of the trade from an expert.  Now I feel confident to try more difficult recipes and I have some home-made passionfruit curd that I want to incorporate into my next macaron expedition!

I was truly surprised at how easy it was to make macarons.  Easy because the recipe calls for very few ingredients.  All it takes is a little patience and a nice strong arm to fold the ingredients (think of this as your gym work-out)!

The workshop lasted a couple of hours and could be a fun thing to do for a hen weekend.

Vanilla French Meringue With Chocolate Ganache Filling
Recipe by On Cookery School 

150g egg whites

100g caster sugar

180g ground almonds

270g icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

1.    Separate eggs 3 days ahead.  Leave the egg whites in the fridge (you will not need the yolks).

2.    Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks.  Add the caster sugar after 1 minute of whisking.

3.    Sift ground almonds together with icing sugar, add vanilla paste. 

4.    If you want to colour the meringue add a small amount of good quality colour paste (around ½ to 1 tsp).

5.    Fold in the meringue into the dry ingredients using quick circular movements, until the mixture is ready for piping.  This is called the dropping stage.

6.    Transfer the mixture into a piping bag with a plain nozzle and pipe the meringues out to the required size of about 4.5cm.

7.    Leave for about 20 minutes to set, until the skin is formed.

8.    Bake at 160 degrees celcius for 10 minutes.

9.    When ready, leave the baking tray until cool and remove from tray.

10.  Pair up on the tray one row flat side up and one row flat side down.

11.  Prepare the piping bag with the filling* and pipe onto each upturned shell.

12.  Leave in the fridge for at least 24 hours, before serving.

*This recipe used a chocolate ganache for the filling, but you can use any flavour e.g. butter cream or lemon curd, or a drop of your favourite essence into the filling.

Chocolate Ganache

200g dark chocolate

190g whipping cream

50g unsalted butter

1.    Put chocolate into a bowl.

2.    In a saucepan, heat the cream on medium heat (until it just starts to bubble but no more).

3.    Add butter and stir.

4.    Pour the cream mixture into the bowl of chocolate and stir so that it melts together to make the ganache (you can also use a whisk).

5.    Allow to cool and refrigerate so that it thickens into a lovely rich paste.

6.    Pipe into your macarons once cool.

Thanks Sinead, let's eat the macarons now :)

Banana & Pecan Delight (A Milk, Egg, Wheat & Soy Free Solution)

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This is a gorgeous milk, egg, wheat & soy free banana cake with pecans.




INGREDIENTS

150g sultanas
100ml orange juice
175g dairy free margarine
200g brown sugar (or use only 150g as this is very sweet)!
1 tsp almond extract
600g mashed ripe bananas
100g pecans, crushed
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
270g wheat & gluten free flour


DIRECTIONS

1. Place the sultanas in a small bowl and immerse in the orange juice.  Allow to soak for an hour or overnight for swollen grapes.
2. Preheat your oven to 170 degree celcius.
3. In a separate bowl, cream margarine and sugar.  Add mashed bananas, pecan nuts and the almond extract.  
4. Next add baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and add the flour in 3 parts, mixing well each time.
5. Pour the mixture into a round baking tin and bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
6. The cake can be a very moist secondary to all the bananas, so allow to cool completely and take great care when slicing.


I sometimes enjoy this delight for a Sunday morning breakfast cold, with yoghurt, raspberries, sliced banana and a hot cup of tea!