Vietnamese Chicken Salad

The secret to this delicious Vietnamese style chicken slaw is the perfectly balanced dressing ingredients and the wombok cabbage which forms the basis of the salad. Oh, and the juicy shredded chicken is a pleasure to eat. I've tried a few different Vietnamese Chicken Salad recipes over the years, but with this recipe Nagi Maehashi of Recipe Tin Eats fame, has really nailed it. I know that a lot of you have her Recipe Tin Eats book "Dinner" by now, and this recipe is published in that, however I have given you a few extra tips and tricks for making this salad from the perspective of the home cook. 

In My Kitchen - January 2024

Greetings dear friends and family, and Happy New Year! As January saunters along, I hope that your 2024 will be healthy (health is wealth as they say) and fulfilling for you in many ways and include some travel if that's your thing. My Kitchen is one of my happy and most fulfilling places to be, and this year whilst I love to prepare the occasional "fancy" meal, and doesn't everyone, I'll be challenging myself to mostly cook from scratch with what's in season, and using minimal ingredients when possible. There is still a cost of living crisis in the community, and most people are watching their dollars, but I think there are ways to still eat economical, delicious and healthy meals and with a minimum of waste. It is so important to cook nutritious food that we really enjoy. Food is one of the great pleasures in life.

Creamy White Wine Garlic Prawns in the Tropics

 

Eating fresh prawns and seafood are synonymous with Christmas and living in Tropical North Queensland. The further North you travel the more seafood becomes the preferred option for a delicious Christmas meal. When it comes to eating seafood, often freshly cooked, chilled, and unadorned is what I prefer, however a plate of home cooked garlic prawns is always a delicious way to enjoy them. 

Portuguese Custard Tarts cooked in my Pie Maker amid Cyclone Jasper

Why  travel to Lisbon or anywhere else in Portugal to enjoy their famous Portuguese Custard tarts, when you can make them in your own kitchen at a fraction of the cost, and honestly they are just as delicious. We holidayed in Lisbon about 15 years ago, and we really did enjoy their custard tarts, note the plural, every morning with our espresso coffee along with the locals, but now I am just happy to cook and eat them in my own kitchen. It's cyclone season here in Far North Queensland, and Cyclone Jasper has been and gone.

In My Kitchen, December 2023

 

I'm in the mood for Christmas now, which is great, because it's nearly here and the stunning colours of Christmas are naturally occurring in our garden. Bring it on. It's been a big morning today. The fruits for my Christmas Cake and my Christmas Plum Pudding are now macerating, and the Rum Ball mixture is chilling in the refrigerator. I'll roll these traditional little festive balls in coconut tonight. I needed to start all of these preparations early at 6.30 am this morning, before the heat of the day set in, and I am so relieved that I have made a start. Hopefully the cake will be baked and the puddings made by the end of this week. I am usually earlier than this making the Christmas cake, but I've been fairly casual about it all this year, and they will still taste great and make it feel like Christmas, even if lunch is fairly simple. 

Sourdough Focaccia with Rosemary, Avocado, Goat's Cheese and Balsamic Dressing

 

Whenever I bake Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia and then eat it, enjoying its crunchy crust, and savouring its unique sourdough and rosemary flavours all over again, I wonder why I don't make it more often. It really is the easiest bread to bake, faster to rise than most loaves, and with so much potential to be served in so many interesting ways. The target rise required for Focaccia bread isn't as great as for normal bread, so it's going to be faster to make which is perfect during our Summer. I've also used a very small amount of baker's yeast in this recipe to ensure the dough requires minimal kneading and will conveniently rise and bake on the same day, unlike most sourdough loaves which require overnight fermentation.  Fresh in season avocado, delicious soft goat's cheese, and a Balsamic Vinegar Gourmet Glaze was the perfect lunchtime topping for my latest loaf. 

Prawn Taglierini

The ratio of prawns to pasta in a dish like this one can be a personal choice for the cook. I originally cooked this dish using a kilo of prawns and about 300 g of pasta because I love prawns and I think one of the saddest things when eating is when a prawn pasta only has a scant number of prawns in the dish.