Summer time Thai salad

I was beginning to think that the day would never come when summer 2012 would decide to poke its head through the big, miserable grey clouds. Obviously my fears have been averted as the UK basks in the first glorious heat wave of the year. So, in the spirit of the warm weather my menu plan for the week was adjusted from the hearty winter soups and curries to some lovely summer dishes, including this one: a Thai grilled chicken salad. The Thai flavours: chilli, lime, ginger and coriander have to be my favourite combination of flvaours and are great in both a curry in winter, or a salad like this in summer.


I cooked my chicken on the BBQ, but it would work just as well on a griddle pan on the hob, or even a plain old frying pan. The BBQ obviously gives you a bit more of a smokey flavour though. 


Thai grilled chicken salad
I pulled this recipe together from a combination of other recipe ideas I found. I just added things I liked, and removed things I didn't. The figures below are just a guide. You can adjust this recipe to feed as many of you like. Just use your judgement and add as much or as little of everything as you like. The quantities below serves 3.


Ingredients

1 Carrot sliced into matchsticks

4 Spring onions, sliced 

1/4 Cucumber, sliced into matchsticks

1 hand full Cherry tomatoes, chopped in half

1 small bunch fresh coriander leaves

1/4 red & yellow peppers, sliced into matchsticks 

100-200g vermicelli noodles, dry or wet is fine (depends how much you want to make. Add more noodles to make the salad go a bit further.)

1 2cm piece fresh ginger, sliced or chopped finely

300g Chicken breast pieces.

2 lime wedges per person

Optional extras
1/4 small cabbage, finely sliced 

1 hand full bean shoots

1/4 Mango, finely sliced

Fresh Chilli, red or green, finely sliced

Marinade/Dressing

I make this up twice. Once to marinade the chicken before I cook it, and once to pour over the salad. Once again, make it to taste depending on how much you like. 

• 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
• 3 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice

Method

1. Slice the chicken breasts into large pieces, but small enough to cook quickly. You should get 2-4 pieces  from each average sized breast piece. Place in a large bowl with marinade and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

2. Prepare vegetables and place in a large salad bowl, tossing when complete (including optional extras if using)

3. Cook the chicken. If using the BBQ, make sure the coals are hot and no longer flaming. It will probably take anywhere between 8-15 minutes depending on the temperature of the BBQ and the size of the chicken pieces. The best way to tell if it's done is to take the biggest piece off the heat and slice it in the middle to check it. Make sure you use any remaining marinade in the bowl to baste the meat whilst it's cooking.

4. Once cooked, remove from the BBQ/pan and slice into strips.

5. Dress salad with second quantity of the dressing/marinade and toss. Assemble on the middle of your plates. Pile sliced chicken (and mango if using) on top of the salad and serve with lime wedges and enjoy.

A country drive

With the purchase of a new car completed, we thought we would expand our horizons and par-take in the fabulous British tradition of a Sunday pub lunch, this time in the countryside. As such, today we decided to take a trip to one of the few Michelin stared pubs in the UK: The sir Charles Napier in Oxfordshire.  

A quaint, cosy pub on a country road was our destination after a frustrating crawl through the south west London traffic.  Walking through the front door we were greeted by welcoming staff, a cosy front room, complete with log fire, and rustic country bar. Window sills and tables adorned by an eclectic collection of stone and marble sculptures (my favourite was the hippopotamus in the ladies bathroom) gave the rooms an interesting talking point, whilst the low ceilings and exposed beams provided a cosy, country feel. 

Lunch for all 3 of us consisted of the Roast loin and shoulder of middlewhite pork with apple sauce and crackling, which was perfectly cooked and accompanied by some of the best roast potatoes I've ever had. I had intended to have the Roast sirloin of local beef, but it had sold out by the time we arrived at 3pm, so a tip to anyone planning a trip is to go early if you want the pick of the menu. Dessert for my 2 lovely companions was sticky toffee pudding with banana Millie-feuille and passion fruit sorbet, whilst I tried the Chocolate Pavè with honeycomb and lime ice cream. Both were what we all thought to be unique flavour combinations, but worked extremely well! 

A quick stroll around the beautiful gardens (missing a croquet pitch we felt haha) complete with a few more resident statues was a lovely finish to a perfect afternoon in the English countryside. I could certainly see the gardens full on a lovely summer's afternoon. 

If you are ever in the area and fancy a fabulous lunch I'd certainly recommend the Sir Charles Napier (although remember the prices do reflect their possession of a Michelin star). A perfect afternoon away from the hustle and bustle of the big city with some amazing food thrown in.

The begining

The Bank holiday is the perfect time to catch up on all those things you have been meaning to do for so long, but never seem to have the time for. For me, this blog is one of those things. It's something I have been thinking about for a while but has never really been that important that I could prioritise it above getting the washing done and attending people's birthdays. 


So, from now on (at what will probably be irregular intervals as life always has a way of getting in the way of things want to do with things you have to do) I intend to share some of my cooking and baking experiences with you, so stay tuned. 


For this weekend I leave you with a cake recipe that I have discovered. The A-Mazing 'Hummingbird Chocolate Guinness Cake' (which can be found here). It's so good I couldn't wait to take a picture before having a second slice!