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Until I got this recipe book, Thai Food by Davd Thompson, I thought the name of the dish was Pad Thai. Oh well.  My eldest A has requested this for her special birthday dinner.  I have never made it before but know plenty of people who have ordered it.  That is always a good start.

Ingredients

a good handful of dried thin rice noodles
1 tablespoon palm sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon tamarind water
2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 small bunch Chinese chives
1 teaspoon oil
2 red shallots, coarsely chopped with a pinch of salt
1 egg
100 grams shredded chicken
1 tablespoon shredded radish
pinch of roasted chilli powder
handful of bean sprouts
1 tablespoon crushed roasted peanuts
1 lime wedge
extra 1 teaspoon roasted chilli powder

Method

Soak noodles in water for 2 hours until soft.  Drain.  Simmer palm sugar and white sugar with tamarind water and fish sauce for 1-2 minutes, until dissolved.  Chop most of the chinese chives into 2cm lengths, reserving a few, chopped into 5cm lengths for garnish.

Heat oil in a wok over a medium heat and fry shallots until fragrant  and begining to colour.  Crack in an egg, turn downt he heat and stir.  Mix in the chicken, (prawns if using)  and radish, then add noodles.  Turn up the heat and stir-fry for about a minute, allowing the noodles to colour a little.  Add the prepared sauce and the pinch of chilli powder then simmer for another 30 seconds - 1 minute, adding a little more oil if necessary.  Finally, add most of the bean sprouts and the chinese chives and cook for another 30 seconds until wilted.  Check the seasoning.  The dish should be sweet, sour and salty.

Pile on a plate and top with reserved bean sprouts and Chinese chives.  Serve with crushed roasted peanuts, a lime wedge nd roasted chilli powder ont he side of the plate.

I have written elsewhere about the different food memories I have and how a dish becomes indelibly tied to an event.  Recently I was visiting my parents for a long weekend and my father gave me a cookbook on Thai cooking that I have long admired.  At nearly 700 pages long, Thai Food by David Thompson is quite a definitive tome and well worth the price.

One of the long standing memories I have of Thai cuisine is a meal of Duck in Red Curry I had in Christchurch at an establishment called Annes’ Thai.  It was sweet, sour, spicey, salty and rich.  It is one of those meals that are just devine and the flavour has always stayed with me.

Page 312 of the Thai Food cookbook has a recipe for Red Duck Curry.  While the version I had was similar, it also had small cheery tomatoes, thai basil and small chunks of pineapple.  These may yet find a place in this recipe.  I will let you know.

Ingredients

Paste:
7 dried long red chillies, deseeded, soaked and drained
large pinch of salt
2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
1/2 tablespoon finely chopped kaffir lime zest
2 tablespoons chopped red shallot
1 tablespoon roasted and chopped red shallot
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
10 white peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds, roasted and ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted and ground
1/4 nutmeg, coarsely pounded and briefly roasted
5 cloves, roasted and ground

2 duck legs about 125 grams each
3 cups coconut milk
1 cup coconut cream
1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon palm sugar
2 tablespoon fish sauce
4 kaffir lime leaves, torn
2long green chillis, diagonally sliced
handful of thai basil leaves

Method

First make the paste by either pounding in a mortar and pestle or in a blender the paste ingredients.  If needed, loosing with a little water, never oil.

Bone the duck and cut the meat into 1cm cubes.  Wash the bones then chop and simmer in the coconut milk for 30 minutes.  Strain and add the coconut cream to this coconut milk, bring to the boil and add the meat.  Simmer gently until the meat in tender and cream is oily - about 10 minutes then remove from the heat.

Spoon about a tablespoon of the coconut cream and oil from this pot into a separate pan.  Fry 3 tablespoons of the paste in this, moistening often with more coconut cream from the other pot, until fragrant.  Season with palm sugar and fish sauce.  Incorporate all the coconut liquid and duck, and simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Add lime leaves, chillies and basil.  Check the seasoning:this rather rich, oily, and spicy curry should taste salty, hot and sweet.

Serve with rice.

This is not the traditional Fish and Chip supper found in Limey-Land.  This is a fresh flavoured version of Fish with a potato side.  For this dish I used a piece of Warehou but any firm white fish could be used.  Cod would be an acceptable alternative or even snapper.  

Another key part of this dish is the use of Panko Breadcrumbs.  They stand up to the heat of the oven and stay light and crunchy, even while managing to soak up a truckload of sauce and lemon juice.

Ingredients

1 piece of fish per person, cleaned, boned and skinned
1 handful panko breadcrumbs per person
1 teaspoon minced capers per person
1/2 teaspoon zested lemon rind per person
2 tablespoons of minced parsley per person
olive oil to bind
salt and pepper to season

1 1/2 medium potatoes per person
1 tablespoon whole capers
1 teaspoon bran oil
1 teaspoon butter
lemon wedges to serve 

Method

In a  bowl, mix  the crumbs, capers, lemon zest, and parsley.  Drizzle over a little of the oil, a teaspoonish at a time and mix until starts to just come together.

Lay the fillets on a baking sheet and press the crumb mix on top.  Bake in a 225°C oven for around 14 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.

For the potatoes, peel and dice into 1cm lengths.  Blanch in boiling water for about a minute.  Then drain and reserve.  Once the fish has been in the oven for 5 minutes, heat the oil and butter in a  fry pan until starting to become golden.  Add the potatoes and toss to cover in the oil and butter.  Once the potatoes are starting to crisp up, add the capers and cook for a few minutes more.  Reserve.

Serve the fish on the potatoes.

I love fruit pastes.  I love them on cheese boards, but I do not love the price.  This recipe makes about 450 grams and keeps for absolutely ages.

Ingredients

6 or 7 medium pears
2 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 cup of water
juice of 1/2 a lemon
4 tablespoons of liquid pectin or the equivalent

Methid

Boil the pears whole and unpeeled until soft.  Remove from the water and when cool enough to handle, peel with a sharp knife and puree through a mouli (food mill).  This should give around 3 cups of pear puree.

Weigh the puree and dissolve 3/4 of the pear puree weight in sugar in the  water.  Once boiling, add the pear puree, lemin juice and pectin.  Boil repidly for a few minutesthen reduce the heat and simmer for an hour or so, or until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pans.  Fill moulds and cool completely before refrigerating until set completely.

Small, delicate looking but with a firm structure, Blinis are perfect for finger food.  The blini is like a cross between the lightness of a piklet and the firmness of a waffle.  It is a bland sort of a construction that does not get in the way of the flavours of the topping such as Salmon, Caviar and Cream Cheese or Smoked Fish Dip and Chives.

They are best fresh but you can make them up to a day in advance and keep them in an airight box in the fridge, but top at the last minute to stop them going soggy.

Ingredients

75 grams plain floour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
full fat milk
30 grams of butter for frying

Method

 In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and drizzle in enough of the milk to make a thick batter.  It must be able to slid but not pour of a teaspoon.

Melt the butter over a low heat in the frying pan and drop the batter in a teaspoon full at a time.  After about 4 minutes, bubbles will begin to form on the top of the blini so turn them over.

When cooked, remov to a wire rack to cool.

These are best done in a non-stick pan.  Wipe it clean with a paper towel after every batch so that the butter does not burn and taint the mix.

Planning to do a Once A Month Cooking stint is a little like crystal ball gazing.  You have to know in advance what the future needs of your household will be.

In our household it will work somewhat like this.

28 evening meals consisting of

20 x 2 portions
4 x 5 portions 
4 x 10 portions 

So just for the evening meals I need to plan to cook 140 evening portions.  True that is for a month and true it sounds like a lot but if you break it down into chunk then it is really quite managable.  

For example, the dish that we use to make lasagne could hold 16 portions.  That is over a tenth of the requirement for the month.  Factor in three trays of meatballs and there is another 15 portions.  Two dishes hold a quarter of the months total.  A medium chicken give 4 portions so for the nights that there are 10 or so people, 6 chickens roasted and maybe a leg of lamb or pork and that is taken care of.  Suddenly we are at 70 portions or half the months requirement.  Breakdown a few more chickens for drumsticks, or for Chicken Maryland and we are up to 100.  Chicken breast for stirfry and there is another dozen or so portions.

The key is to maximise the output of your days cooking. If there is a deal on chickens, buy them and break them down yourself.  Breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings, carcass for stock.  You pay less per kilo and with a little effort get a whole lot more variety.

Vegetables.  Not all vegetables keep very well.  This means that you need to return to the supermarket during the month and probably a couple of times.  If you think you are the sort of person who walks in for three items and leaves with twenty then take just a $20 bill.  That way you cant leave with too much more and you will really have to think about those temptations.

An unintended benefit of OAMC is that you will also build up a stock of items that are uneaten in one month and you can carry over.  Make sure that everything you freeze has a date of it and it would be a good idea if at the end of the month you went through your freezer and grouped all the leftovers together and cataloged them for consumption first.

Another idea is to share the work load.  If you have a friend who is in the same boat, have an OAMC day.  Get together and plan the meals your family will have in common.  This helps to share the workload and double the payoff.

Also dont forget the following.

Wear comfortable shoes - bare feet means no support and your back and legs will kill you, especially if you are not used to standing all day.

Take breaks.  You have to treat  it as a job.  Make sure you buy youself something nice for lunch and take a lunch break not in the kitchen. Sit, relax and enjoy the peace.

Get as much of the preperation work done as possible.  Spend the first hour doing the onions, carrots, spices and so on.  Lay them out and if need be label them so that you get a factory line going.  Try and maximise oven time so that it is working as efficiently as possible.  If you have a dish that is pretty easy to prepare but takes a while to cook, for example lasagne, go for that first and prepare the next couple of dishes while waiting for it to finish cooking.

Clean.  Make sure the kitchen is clean and disinfected before you start.  You will need heaps of work space and cooling space.  Make sure the dining room table is free of clutter and ready to recieve any overflow.

Kids.  You really dont want to have to be dealing with kids if at all possible so do your best to unload them.

Friends.  If you can get a friend to help, so much the better.  A job shared is a problem halved.

Recipes.  Print out all the recipes and stick them on the wall out of the way.  That way you can refer to them without touching them or having them sitting under something.

Shopping.  Take a list.  Dont take children.  Buy only what is on that list.  Buy only what you can safely store in your freezer.  Make sure that you clearly identify which ingredients go with which recipe so you can doubl check and tick of on the recipe what you are getting.  You do not want to be going back for ingredients on the day of the big cook off.

Baking the meatballs makes them so much healthier as the fat gets rendered out.  Also the all around heat helps them to cook evenly and reduces the chance of them burning on the bottom through inattention.

Ingredients

1 onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dry English mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground chili
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
salt and ground black pepper
1 kilo premium mince beef or lamb
1 egg, beaten
1 handful of coarse breadcrumbs

Method

Over a medium heat, sweat the onions until softened.  Add the spices and continue to cook for another minute until fragrant.  Allow to cool.

Ina  large mixing bowl or the bowl of your food processor, add the mince, the onion mix, the sauces and the seasoning.  Add the bread crumbs and combine well.

Either roll into golf ball sized balls or shape into patties.  Place on a heavy baking sheet lined with baking paper.  Bake meatballs for 16-20 minutes in a 180°C oven or until well browned.  If making patties cook in a Grill or a wide  fry pan until done.

Allow to cool for ten minutes before transfering to the fridge for an hour before sealing to freeze.

This makes about 24 meatballs and about 1 tray.  For OAMC you can triple the batch and fill your oven up completely.  An adult serve is four to five meatballs so three trays will give you 15 serves.

You can chop the meatballs in half for use in hamburgers or even toss a couple    couscous salad for lunch.

A great one for the food processor.  Just pulse a few times to combine before spillting up for freezing.  I love adding walnuts to the mix but these are definitely optional depending on budgeting contraints.

Ingredients

6 cups oats 
3 cups nuts (optional) 
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed 
250 grams cups butter softened 
2 tsp cinnamon 

Method

In a food processor, combine until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  Split the mix into six serving and freeze.

To use, sprinkle over fruit and bake for around 40 minutes or until golden brown and smelling yummy.

You can also use ramekins for individual portions for a posh event.

The great thing about a quiche in a bag for the Once A Month Cooking is that it is so eay to dress up with a salad, you can have it hot, have it cold, have a chunk for lunch the next day.

The ingredients can be varied according to taste.  Try asparagus and mushroom, sausage and spinach, ham and cheese, just make sure you label them correctly.

Ingredients

1 cup cooked sausage or diced ham (Optional) 
300 gram frozen package chopped spinach or broccoli, thawed a little and broken up. 
1 cup cheddar cheese 
1 small onion chopped 
2 cups milk 
4 eggs 
1/2 cup flour 
2 tsp. baking powder 

Method

Mix eggs, milk, flour and baking powder with a wisk or mixer until well incorporated. Add meat, veggies, cheese and onion. Pour into a freezer bag. Freeze. To cook, thaw bag, squish the bag well a few times to incorporate the ingredients. Pour into a pie plate sprayed with non stick spray. Bake at 180°C for 35-40 minutes until set.

I have seen this before but have never really thought about it until the other day when I said to my wife, “It is a pity you cant preserve biscuits as well as you preserve onions.  I feel like a biscuit and I dont want to go and get one from the supermarket.” Then quite by accident I found this recipe (I lost the link to it but I hink it is on quite a few different websites.)

Preserving is all about removing air and bacteria to make the the food as inhospitable as possible to slow the decay process.  This works just as well for baked goods as it does for pickled goods and is really no different to the cakes and slices you see at the supermarket that have a shelf life of months not minutes.  At least this recipe has no strange chemicals.

5 Jars 500 mls with the straight sides and 2 piece lids
5 New lids - don’t use old one

2 1/4 Cups plain flour
3/4 Cup Granulated sugar
1 Teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon Baking powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Ginger
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Cloves
3/4 Cup butter– softened
3/4 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Molasses or golden syrup

Preheat oven at 160°C.  Place a baking sheet onto middle rack and remove top rack from oven. Before starting batter, wash jars, lids, and rings in hot soapy water and let drain, dry, and cool to room temperature. Generously prepare inside of jars with butter. To prepare batter, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in a mixing bowl. In another mixing bowl, combine margarine, water and molasses. Divide batter among 5 jars (should be slightly less than half full). Carefully wipe rims clean, then place jars on baking sheet (or they’ll tip over) in the center of oven. Bake 40 minutes. Keep lids in hot water until they’re used.

When cakes are done, remove jars which are HOT from oven one at a time. If rims need cleaning, use moistened paper towel. Carefully put lids and rings in place, then screw tops on tightly shut. Place jars on a wire rack; they will seal as they cool.

Once jars are cool, decorate with round pieces of cloth and then glue on flowers, ribbons, etc. on lid, ring and side of jar. Unscrew the ring (the lid should be sealed by now) and place a few cotton balls on top of the lid (makes it poofy on top), then a piece of cloth (about 3″ larger than the lid) on top and screw the ring back on. Decorate as desired.

These should have a stable shelf life in the pantry of around a year.  Do not forget to label and most importantly date the jars.  Also include a best by date