Eggs in Sweet and Spicy Sauce (Kai Look Koey)

From The Vegetarian Table: Thailand, Jacki Passmore, Chronicle Books, 1997.

I was making a green papaya salad and wanted something to accompany it so settled on these eggs.

I first hard-boiled six eggs and left them to cool. While they were cooling I mixed up the batter in which to fry them. This was made with a half cup of plain flour and a half cup of rice flour. A half cup of coconut milk was added and the mixture stirred to make the batter. It was a little thick so water was added until it felt just right.

I then made up the sauce before I fried the eggs. This was made with a tablespoon of brown sugar, 1½ tablespoons of kecap manis, 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice (have you ever noticed how difficult it is nowadays to get a plain fruit juice instead of mixed fruits?), 2 teaspoons of burnt chilli sambal which I made the day before when making a spinach sambal tempeh, and one crushed garlic clove. This was heated on the stove until it had thickened slightly and it was ready.

Now the eggs were shelled and cut in half before being dipped in the batter and deep-fried until golden. They were served on a lettuce leaf and the sauce spooned over. They were topped with finely chopped red chilli and some crisp-fried shallots.

This is definitely a dish to make again. The crisp batter on the eggs gave a little crunch and the sauce was a wonderful mix of flavours. They make a great appetiser.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Pickled Green Papaya Salad

From Vegie Food: Low-Fat and Delicious, The Australian Women’s Weekly, ACP Magazines, 2006.

Firstly a pickling liquid was made for this. I used a half cup of water with quarter cups of both rice vinegar and white sugar. These were brought to the boil and a halved red chilli added with some salt. It was then simmered for about 5 minutes and then taken off the heat to cool.

In the meantime the green papaya was peeled, seeded and coarsely grated. It was placed into a bowl and the cooled pickling mixture was added. It was then left for an hour.

In the meantime the vegetables were prepared for the salad. A handful of sugar snap peas was topped and tailed and boiled until a little tender but still with a bit of bite to them. A quarter of pineapple was peeled and cut into slices. Half of a red onion was thinly sliced. A long red chill was deseeded and thinly sliced. About a half cup of mint leaves was cut into halves.

The noodles were then prepared. I used rice noodles rather than the bean thread noodles specified in the recipe. These were placed in a large bowl and boiling water poured over. When they had softened and become tender they were drained in a colander and cold water run over them.

A dressing was made by beating the juice of a lime with a tablespoon of brown sugar.

The salad was now ready to be put together. The papaya was drained and placed in a salad bowl. The noodles were added and the two mixed together. Hands seemed to be the best tools for this. The other ingredients were added and gently mixed through. Lastly the dressing was added and the salad was tossed.

This turned out to be quite a pleasant salad. It was not the same as the green papaya salads you might buy at a Thai restaurant but it had enough of the flavour mix you associate with it. My Western background and childhood of three vegetables with a piece of meat has meant I find it difficult to get the proper Asian flavours just right. Bit by bit I’m getting better at it. I’ll get there eventually.

This was a Women’s Weekly cookbook I have not used before though it has lingered on the bookshelf waiting for someone to try it. It’s attractively produced and laid out in a way that makes it easy to use. I have a natural aversion to titles that tell you how you are to respond: this says the food is ‘delicious’ and also says you will ‘feel fantastic’. I prefer to try it and respond in my way not how the marketer tells me to. That aside, this meal was quite enjoyable, ‘delicious’ perhaps not, but I’ll try others and perhaps I’ll find one that is.  

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Spinach Sambal Tempeh

From Simon Bryant’s Vegies, Lantern, 2012.

This was the first time that I had used Simon Bryant’s book so I made sure that I followed carefully and measured everything out.

Firstly I made a burnt chilli sambal which was quite fun to make and also gave more than was necessary so I have some on hand for the future.

Before getting into the main part of the dish the tempeh had to be broken up and deep fried until golden and crispy.

The main dish then began with slicing half an onion (I was making sufficient for two) and frying it in the wok until it had softened. Two chopped tomatoes were then added and cooked until they had broken down somewhat. I then added the chopped stems of half a bunch of English spinach.  They went in the wok with a tablespoon and a half of the sambal. A minute or two later the spinach leaves were added and stirred around until they wilted. Now the remainder of the sauce ingredients (vegetarian oyster sauce and light soya sauce) were added with a little water. Once it had thickened a little the tempeh was added. When it was warmed through the dish was ready to be served with rice.

I did enjoy this meal though I generally don’t find that tempeh is my most favoured ingredient. Frying it first had altered its nature somewhat so it was quite acceptable. The flavours were subtle but I think I would have added more of the sambal. It was quite hot so I had been cautious with it but next time I’ll increase the quantity.

This is a book worth investigating further. Bryant has been strongly influenced by Asian cuisine that comes through strongly in all of his recipes. The rich flavours enhance vegetarian cooking so I look forward to trying out more and also using some of the rarer ingredients I have noticed when browsing through the pages of the book.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔ Once the sambal is made the dish is a breeze to make.

Slow Roasted Nectarines with Yoghurt, Cream and Brown Sugar

From À la Grecque, Pam Talimanidis, Hardie Grant Books, 2009.

The summer fruits are coming in and I couldn’t wait to get into some nectarines. They were still a little firm so a slow roast seemed the best bet.

The fruit was cut in half, the seed removed and it was placed in a 160°C oven for two hours.

In the meantime some yoghurt was mixed with some cream, about equal quantities. This was placed in a flat bowl and brown sugar sprinkled over it. It was then left in the fridge for four hours.

This made a pleasant dessert. The nectarines had softened up quite well and the yoghurt/cream with the brown sugar, though a little on the grainy side, made a not-too-sweet sauce. There was a little bit of mango in the fridge so this was added.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Tomato, Thyme and Goat’s Cheese Tart

From River Cottage Veg Everyday!, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Bloomsbury, 2011.

With some puff pastry in the freezer, this seemed a quick and easy dish to make. It was.

I turned the oven on to 200ªC. The pastry was rolled out to about 30cm by 25cm and the edges rolled about 1cm in to make a narrow border. The instructions called for the strips to be cut from the sides and then stuck in place but I felt that a rolled edge would be just as good (though look less professional).

A chopped garlic clove was spread over the tart base and sliced tomatoes placed to make a layer over this. I had previously skinned the tomatoes as I felt that they would make it easier to cut the tart when it was cooked. The tomatoes were seasoned and a little olive oil dribbled over. It was then placed in the oven for about 15 minutes.

The tart now came out and pieces of goat’s cheese were placed on top and thyme sprinkled over. It all went back in the oven for another 10 minutes and it was ready.

This was so easy to make and was full of flavour. I felt that the rolled edges were fine, though an egg wash (as outlined in the recipe) would have given it all a bit more colour. It’s a recipe that can easily be repeated with variations (some supplied) and I’m sure that’s what I’ll do later.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Pepper and Courgette Risotto with Vermouth

From Perfect Risotto, Hermes House, 2004.

I do enjoy a risotto and hence cook them frequently enough to have mastered the basic cooking technique. When I use a cookery book it’s to try out a different mix of ingredients and their quantities. Once I have them it’s a reasonably simple matter to go ahead with the cooking.

For this recipe it needed two courgettes and one green capsicum with 250g of basmati rice. I used a little less than 200g because I generally prefer my risotto to have a balance that has a larger quantity of other ingredients to the rice. Dry white vermouth was needed for the final touch.

Unusually, this recipe used no white wine after frying the onion and garlic but went straight into using stock. The chopped vegetables were added at the second addition of stock.

When the rice was cooked grated parmesan was added together with a tablespoon of vermouth.

This was a risotto with plenty of flavour. The courgettes went really well with the rice and the vermouth added an overtone that was quite interesting.

The book is a small 64-page paperback that was picked up at one of those cheap book stalls that occasionally pop up at shopping centres. I seem to have several in my collection as I just don’t seem to be able to pass by cookery books on sale. While it is not a vegetarian cook book most of the recipes are vegetarian, including a good mix and some that look definitely worth trying.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Red Pesto and Ricotta Stacks with Eggplant and Tomato

From Veg Out, MQP Publications, 2003.

After making Pumpkin and Polenta Chips I had an amount of the polenta flat left. The recipe stated that it would make 20 chips; I made 20 and had plenty of the polenta flat left. So I decided to make a vegetable stack and use some of the polenta left over as a small base.

The stack needed a pesto to be made of red capsicum so I placed it under the grill until it blackened and then put it in a plastic bag until it had cooled sufficiently to peel it. It was then placed in a blender with a garlic clove, a small handful of pine nuts, a few leaves of basil, a tablespoon of ricotta and a tablespoon of olive oil. It was blended to make the pesto and then seasoned.

I cut four slices from an eggplant and fried them until tender. I placed a tomato in boiling water for a few seconds and then peeled it. I cut rounds from the polenta and fried them.

The stack was easily made: a round of polenta, a slice of eggplant, a helping of pesto, a tomato slice, then the eggplant, pesto and finally another tomato slice. It all went into a hot oven for 15 minutes.

The stack was served with a salad on the side of rocket, cherry tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese.

While the stacks were heating in the oven we had a small antipasto plate with olives, chargrilled vegetables and a chilli dip (all purchased). The ‘crackers’ for the dip were made by taking some slices of bread, cutting off the crusts and then flattening them under a cutting board. They were then brushed with olive oil and fried until crisp.

Again this little book has proved its worth. This was a tasty meal, satisfying yet not one to make you feel you’ve over-indulged.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔