Lots of rain this week albeit it warm…The rainy season is here…Lots of frogs the rain brings them out in droves… they are one of my favourite animals…Thais love them too served up for a snack or dinner…The market is full of tubs of frogs…
It took a while but finally, I succumbed…In a soup..maybe not yet but crispy they are delicious…
Who would have thunk that seven years down the line I would have tried so many different foods…certainly not me…
Now for something a tad more normal…Chicken with cashew nuts and lemongrass.
Serves 4 people.
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vegetable oil/coconut oil
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1⁄2 cup roasted unsalted cashews
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4 small dried chillies
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1 tbsp lemongrass, chopped finely( the white part)
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1 tbsp crushed garlic
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4 green onions, cut into 5cm pieces
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2 chicken breasts
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1⁄2 tsp sugar
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1 tbsp oyster sauce
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1 tbsp light soy sauce
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1 tbsp fish sauce
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3 tbsp chicken stock
- Betel leaves to serve…Optional
In a bowl add the sugar, oyster sauce, fish sauce and chicken stock.
Heat a wok and add a little oil, once sizzling add the dried chillies, followed by the garlic.
Slice chicken into 1-inch cubes. Add the chicken slices in small amounts and stir fry until golden. Remove chicken from wok.
In the empty wok, add the cashew nuts and stir fry, followed by the lemongrass. Add the bowl of sauces then the chicken. Stir fry until all the sauces are covering the chicken, Add the remaining ingredients including the spring onions and stir fry a further minute.
Serve with rice and a selection of raw vegetables and herbs.
Betel leaves are also used for Miang Kham another one of my favourite snacks…
Miang Kham… Is a treat that I buy sometimes at the market…The sauce is a tamarind based sauce which I love… It is also very easy to replicate at home and if you can’t obtain betel leaves then basil or another big leaved herb would be fine…
Take-Two…Jalapeno and cream cheese rolls…
The first attempt at these rolls was …not so good…The pastry wasn’t the right one, too much filling and the fat was just too hot…
On the plus side, they had crispy bits and the filling was delish and made up for the pastries shortcomings…So much so it was worth making them again…
Take-Two!
Ingredients:
- A Pack Cream Cheese (250 gm)
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 4/6 jalapenos diced fairly small
- 3/4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 3 green onions finely sliced
- Salt to season
- Spring roll wrappers
Mix your cream cheese with all the ingredients once done you are ready to assemble…
Place a dessertspoon of the cream cheese mixture about 1/4 way in the wrap and proceed to roll…
This video is quite good as it shows you how to wrap in more than one way and also how to make your own pastry…I bought mine as it is for sale everywhere here and if you like you can watch them being made which is fascinating.
I used about 3/4 of a pack of cream cheese which made11 small rolls… I always make small amounts when I am trying a recipe…Jalapenos we like the heat but if you like less heat reduce the amount you use there are no hard and fast rules with this it is personal taste…
If you love jalapenos these rolls are just delicious, spicy and hard not to eat another one…
As my daughter law is at the farm...I had to cook peanuts..Simple…Not for me …If you cook them for too long…. they carry on cooking when removed from the heat they can very soon become..burnt …which is what happened to my first attempt…
Today…Not wanting a repeat of that episode on my first attempt they were undercooked…Back in the pan…2nd attempt they just passed muster I think…I also crisped some curry leaves…Basil is also a good leaf to deep fry and add to peanuts.
It then gives a little something extra to a snack…
Out shopping I saw Coconut flower sugar…also a syrup…small containers and quite pricey…so I did a little research…
My first thought was it must be healthier than normal sugar…Nice clean packaging…
It turns out however it is promoted… sugar is sugar…Yes, coconut sugar may have a few more minerals however you would have to consume copious amounts to benefit…Sugar is Sugar after all…
Do you use Coconut flower sugar or syrup?
That’s all for this week I hope you have enjoyed the recipes…xx
About Carol Taylor:
Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.
I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.
Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.
The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year
Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!
More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on MeWe
Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology:
Connect to Carol
Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a lovely weekend xx
Retired? No one told me! 