Coleslaw

At the moment, I'm still kind of waiting for my renovations to complete, so its a bit hard to get back to my regular cooking routine. So when my friends asked me to bring something along for a weekend BBQ get together, the only thing I could commit to was a salad. I immediately thought of making a coleslaw. For me, coleslaws are a must-have item with BBQ meats. The tanginess of the coleslaw gives a nice break to all the meat being consumed. :)

I prefer a coleslaw that doesn't have too much mayo used. So this time, instead of using mayonnaise, I substituted it with a Greek style yogurt. I still added in the Dijon mustard and some whole grain mustard for some extra tang.

Coleslaws are quite flexible with what ingredients you add in. When I was searching online for a base recipe to refer back to, I found Ina Garten's Blue Cheese Coleslaw. If I had some blue cheese, I would have added it in, but I didn't have time to go out and buy some before going over to my friend's place for the BBQ. The next time I feel like making coleslaw again, I would definitely give the Blue Cheese Coleslaw recipe a go.

Coleslaw
preparation time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 small head green cabbage (sliced using food processor or mandolin)
• 1/2 medium-sized head purple cabbage (sliced using food processor or mandolin)
• 2 large carrots (peeled, then shredded using a food processor or grater)
• 200g Greek Style Yogurt
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves (roughly chopped)

Method:

1. Process the cabbages and carrots through the thinnest settings of your food processor. If you don't own a food processor, you can use a mandolin or grater.
2. Place sliced cabbage and carrots in a large salad bowl and add in the yogurt.
3. Then add in the Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, cider vinegar and toss to mix well.
4. Season with a teaspoon of celery salt, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
5. Add the parsley leaves, toss the coleslaw until the mixture is even. Taste and adjust seasoning if required.
6. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
   

Green Papaya Salad - Som Tum Thai

Green Papaya Salad or Som Tum Thai consists of mainly dried shrimp, peanuts, cherry tomatoes and of course green papaya. Snake beans are also added, but I didn't have any on hand. But the reason why green papaya salad is one of my favourite Thai dishes is the dressing that ties all the ingredients together. Its a combination of smashed garlic and chilli with fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. The end result is a salad that tastes equally sweet, sour and spicy....which I find really addictive. :)

Its the palm sugar that makes all the difference. I've tried substituting with white sugar before, but it just didn't taste the same.

I also prefer to pound up the dried shrimp until its light and fluffy. I'm not really a fan of munching on small bits of harden dried shrimp. Also P usually avoids anything that resembles the shape of a prawn, but with the shrimp pounded, its all good. Its not like he doesn't know I'm slipping shrimps into the dish, he is the one pounding it.

This is a salad you can just have on its own, or as an side dish with other red meats or seafood. I like to serve it on top of a whole Snapper or any other white fish that has been pan fried until the skin is crispy. The tanginess and spices from the salad transforms the simple pan fried fish into a totally different dish.

Green Papaya Salad - Som Tum Thai

Recipe adapted from Chez Pim's Green Beans Salad

• 1 tablespoon Dried Shrimp
• 1 1/2 Cups Shredded Green Papaya
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 Thai Bird Chilli
• 1 tablespoon Roasted Peanuts
• 8-10 Cherry Tomatoes (about a handful - big ones sliced into halves)
• 2 tablespoons Palm Sugar
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• 4 Long Beans (Cut into 1/2" Lengths) - Optional

Method:

1. Slice Green Papaya into fine strips and place into a glass or ceramic bowl
2. In a mortar, pound and grind the dried shrimps until they turn into fluffy flakes, remove from the mortar and set aside.
3. Gently mash up the garlic cloves in the mortar, then add the chilli and continue to grind until its turned into a chilli\garlic paste.
4. Add in the tomatoes and gently press down on them to burst and bruise the cherry tomatoes.
5. Add in the peanuts and pound them with the pestle until the peanuts are lightly crushed.
6. Using a spoon, remove the mixture from the mortar and place into the bowl with the green papaya strips
7. Add the palm sugar into the mortar and grind into a thick paste, remove from the mortar and mix into the bowl of papaya.
8. To the bowl, add fish sauce and fresh lime juice and continue to stir until the contents are well mixed.
9. Pour in the reserved shrimp flakes, stir and toss well to combine.
10. Taste to check the seasonings, add palm sugar, lime juice or fish sauce as needed.

Notes:

• If you only have blanched peanuts, just lightly toast them in a dry pan prior to using.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Beef burgers has kinda become a fortnightly weekend event in our household. We still try to come up with different accompaniments to have with our burgers. We did the blue cheese sauce before. This time I was thinking of something fresh but still with a bit of bite. So instead of just adding a few slices of tomato and onion to the burger as the salad section, we ended up making some fresh tomato salsa to go as a topping to our beef burgers. The salsa really does take the burgers to a totally different dimension.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

• 4 ripe tomatoes (diced)
• 1 jalapeño chilli (leave the white ribs and seeds if you want it hotter, otherwise remove them, finely sliced) - Omit if you are not a chilli fan.
• ½ cup Onion (diced)
• One garlic clove (finely minced)
• ¼ cup spring onion (finely sliced)
• ¼ cup fresh coriander leaves and stems (stems finely sliced, leaves roughly chopped)
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• Juice of 1 lime

Method:

1. Place the diced tomatoes tossed with a pinch of salt into a colander over the sink (or bowl) and let drain for 20~30 minutes.
2. Discard the juice and transfer tomato to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. For more heat, include both the ribs and seed of the chillies.
3. Taste and adjust the flavour with lime juice, salt and pepper. If the salsa becomes a bit too acidic, add a little sprinkle of sugar to balance things out.
4. The fresh salsa should be covered, and placed in refrigerator to rest for 30 minutes. Doing this will allow the ingredients to bind together, creating a more intense and well-incorporated flavour.

Beef burger with a dollop of salsa on a not-so-lightly-buttered-bun.. :)

Anchovy Dressing

I still had a lot of fancy lettuce leftover from making these burgers. The easiest way to use up a lot of lettuce leaves would be to use them up in a salad. I was thinking of a Caesar salad for lunch. That was until I realised the mayo in my fridge had expired about 8 month ago. Oppps... It still looked ok. But I didn't think I should risk it. So it went straight to the bin.

I didn't feel like walking to the shops, and making mayo from scratch seemed a little bit overboard for what was supposed to be a quick Caesar salad. So instead of making a creamy Caesar salad dressing, I ended up putting together this Anchovy dressing instead. I added in capers and balsamic vinegar for some extra tang. The goats cheese actually worked really well with the dressing.

Anchovy Dressing

• 1 Tablespoon Sage (coarsely chopped)
• 2 Teaspoons Caper (drained, rinsed)
• 4 Anchovy Fillets
• 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Couple grinds of freshly ground black pepper

For the Salad:

• Oak leaf Lettuce (can substitute with any other type of lettuce)
• Goats cheese
• Tomatoes
• Olives
• Poached Egg

Method:

1. In a food processor set to pulse and blend together the anchovy fillets, capers and sage.
2. Scoop out the contents into a bowl and add balsamic vinegar, olive oil and pepper to taste.
3. Mix to combine well. Set aside.
4. Prepare the ingredients for the salad. I used whatever was available in my fridge, so feel free to substitute with what you have.
5. Toss salad with the anchovy dressing. Serve with some extra goats cheese and top with a poached egg.

Thai Cucumber Salad - Yum Tang Gwa

My lovely cousin is in town this week. While we were out at dinner last night, we were talking about the things she missed most while working abroad. A nice home-cooked meal was something that was mentioned. So I asked her what type of food did she feel like having and if she was free to come over to dinner tonight. She replied .. "Yes... Thai food please".

Darn.. She picked the one cuisine that we probably make the least at home.

Cantonese, Italian, Steak, Casseroles and Japanese type cuisine dishes would be what we usually stick with.

But, alas.. Thai it was. I opted for my Thai Chilli Mussels (just because it was a work day, and its simple enough to whip up in a flash), I did add more liquid and coconut cream so it also doubled as a soup. I made a pot of Green Curry Chicken (full recipe to come later) and a Thai Cucumber Salad as a side dish to help offset the fullness of the coconut milk in the other dishes.

This is based on a recipe I found on Chez Pim's site. I changed it slightly to just stir frying the shallots and sprinkling in some already fried shallots I had in my pantry instead. I also drained some of the water out of the cucumber by tossing some salt through it. And added some lime zest to give it a bit more zing. :)

Thai cucumber salad - Yum Tang Gwa
Original recipe from Chez Pim - Thai Cucumber Salad

• 2 large cucumbers (peeled then sliced thinly)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup of mint (roughly ripped by hand)
• 1/4 cup of basil leaves (roughly ripped by hand)
• 1/4 cup coriander leaves
• 1 cup of shallots (thinly sliced)
• 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
• sprinkle of dried fried shallots

For the dressing

• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• Grated lime zest of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoon of palm sugar
• 2 red chillies (finely chopped) <-- You can add more if you like.

Method:

1. Peel and cut the cucumbers into thin slices.
2. Toss the cucumber in some salt, and let stand for 30 mins or so in a colander.
3. Place a pan over low heat, add the coconut flakes and stir constantly until they are evenly brown. Set aside.
4. Wipe the pan clean, add some oil into it and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the shallot slices and stir fry, stirring occasionally, until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
5. To make the dressing, first you nuke the palm sugar (in a bowl in the microwave) for 20-30 seconds just to melt it and make it easier to blend with the other ingredients. Then add the fish sauce, stir to blend. Add the lime juice, zest, then the rice vinegar. Taste it and see if you need more acidity, if so, add more rice vinegar to taste. Add the chopped chilli
6. In a salad bowl, add the cucumber slices. Reserve a bit of the coconut, and the herbs for garnish. Dump the rest into the salad bowl. Pour in about 2/3 of the dressing, toss well.
7. Taste it and see if you'd like a bit more dressing, then add more as needed. Sprinkle with the fried shallots, coconut, and herbs and serve.
   

Notes:

• Due to time constraints, I didn't bother with deseeding the cucumber before slicing it. In retrospect, the next time I make this again, I will probably take the time to deseed the cucumber.