A lighter Lunch

    

I am a bit lazy about lunch. I often tend to skip breakfast. Yes, I know is healthy living violation number one, but I am just not a breakfast person. Two big cups of decaf coffee is all I can stomach first thing in the morning. But often I have to work through lunch as well and then just as my blood sugar hits an all time low, I usually opt for a much larger bowl than necessary of granola, packed with nuts and seeds. Unfortunately, as we all know, Granola is also packed with sugar. The second ingredient on my Simply Nut Granola by Dorset Cereals, is golden syrup. Not exactly an ingredient I would associate with health, although Tate and Lyle had other ideas. 

 Isn’t it amazing how perceptions have changed. Can you imagine a child after a daily dose of Golden Syrup particularly after the recommended bedtime snack as well, of even more golden syrup stirred into a glass of milk? The advice in this book reminds me of some of the other suggestions in vintage cookbooks, extolling the virtues of cigarettes and opium. It does make you wonder what guidance given out now, will be scoffed at in the future.

Anyway, this weeks recipe makes a really quick and easy lunch and is one of those when you manage to somehow conjure up a delicious meal from almost nowhere. All I had left in the fridge was a lettuce, some carrots and a cucumber and a left over piece of fillet steak. 

We can learn a lot from Asian recipes as they have long understood that meat and fish are costly and they know how to make expensive ingredients go along way, padded out with plenty of cheaper and healthier vegetables.  Although the list of ingredients often looks long and complicated, it really is store cupboard stuff and it really could not be quicker and easier to make and a whole lot less calories than Granola.

Vietnamese Lettuce and Beef Wraps
You can make the dipping sauce and marinade the meat the day before.

For the marinade
1 fillet steak
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 tsp caster sugar
1-1½ tsp toasted sesame oil, to taste

For the dipping sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar, to taste
1 tsp. golden caster sugar, to taste
1 tbsp. Fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 stick lemongrass
1 lime, juice only
1 fresh red chilli

For the wraps
1 carrot, cut into fine julienne strips or grated
½ cucumber
3 sprigs mint, leaves picked and chopped
½ small bunch coriander, leaves and stalks roughly chopped
1 lettuce such as Batavia or baby gem

Lime wedges, to serve

For the marinade, put the steak into a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix until coated evenly. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least two hours, or overnight if possible.

Meanwhile make the dipping sauce. Mix the rice vinegar, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice together. Finely chop the red chilli. If you like it hot then leave the seeds in, if not remove them. Remove any tough outer leaves from the lemongrass and trim the bottom. Grate using a microplaner starting at the bottom and grating until nearly three quarters of the way up. (If you do not have a microplaner, chop very finely). Add with the chilli to your dipping sauce and taste. Adjust the flavours as necessary – adding a little more sugar if it’s too sour, or more rice vinegar or lime juice if too sweet.

Next peel and grate your carrots and cut your cucumber into julienne. A mandolin is good for this. Separate and wash the salad leaves and leave to drain. Pick the leaves off the herbs.

In a large heavy-based frying pan, heat a dash of oil. Shake off any excess marinade from the steaks and cook for 2-3 minutes on either side – depending on their thickness and how rare you like your steak. Tip over the marinade and remove and rest on a plate for five minutes.

To serve, arrange the lettuce leaves on a serving plate. Fill the lettuce leaves with carrot and cucumber. Add a small handful of herbs. Slice the rested steak, and top each leaf with a slice or two of steak, tipping any resting juices over the top. Serve with the dipping sauce and lime wedges on the side.

Good Morning Vietnam

I can't seem to get enough of Vietnamese cooking at the moment.  I know I was banging on about it a couple of weeks ago when I made Pho Ga but since then I have added a couple more dishes to my repetoire. I think it is partly the Vietnamese use of mint which I am finding so appealing at the moment. Nothing says Spring to me like mint.  I don't know if it is its connection with Easter Lamb or the fact that it is one of the first sights of spring in my garden. From a completely barren wasteland it appears, year after year, from nowhere and before I know it I have a abundance of fresh green shoots with an aroma that is so utterly clean, like a new start. It is like Spring!


I don't actually like mint when it has been cooked.  It can be a little too reminiscent to toothpaste, but use it fresh like they do in the Middle East and in Asia and it is a different thing all together. Both of my recipes this week are just bursting with freshness and zing and guaranteed to wake you up after a sluggish winter and drag you kicking and screaming into Spring if the freezing weather has not managed to already.


First up, my Banh mi, a fabulous Vietnamese sandwich. It is so popular now a days that there is a whole website devoted just to the Bahn Mi sandwich, how to make it and where to eat it. It actually just means bread in Vienamese but since French colonisation it refers to a particular hybrid of French bread but less crusty and more sub like.  It is then filled with amongst other things roast pork, pate, chilli, mayonnaise, pickled carrot, mint and coriander. There is even a Breakfast Bahn mi, filled with bacon and eggs.  I am not actually a huge fan of roast or grilled pork, so when I discovered a Bahn mi with meatballs, I couldn't wait to give it a try.  I left the chilli out of my meatballs so that the kids can eat them too, so it makes a fantastic family lunch or supper, especially when it is warm enough to cook the meatballs on the barbecue.


My second recipe is for a Vietnemese Beef Salad.  This is just a really lovely fresh way to serve steak with a delicious vibrant salad.  Once again, a lovely recipe for the barbecue, but maybe wait until Summer. 

Banh Mi Xiu Mai (Vietnamese Meatball Sandwich)


For the Hot Chili and Garlic Mayo:
300ml Olive oil / sunflower oil, or a blend of the two
2 large egg yolks
1tsp Mustard (Dijon is my favourite)
Juice of half a lemon
3 fat cloves garlic
1 tablespoon hot chilli sauce (such as Sriracha)

For the Meatballs:
600g minced outdoor bread pork
3 garlic cloves
Large knob of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 stick of lemon grass, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce (Nam Pla or Nuoc Cham)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

For the Pickled Carrot:
2 Carrots, pealed and julienned on a mandolin
1 daikon (Japanese white radish), pealed and julienned on a mandolin Optional
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

For the sandwich:
4 10-inch-long individual baguettes or four 10-inch-long pieces French-bread baguette (cut from 2 baguettes)
Sunflower oil
Lettuce (I use baby gems)
Handful of fresh mint
Handful of fresh Coriander
Fresh lime

Hot Chili Mayo:
Thoroughly mash the garlic and a little salt into a paste. I use the side of my knife or you could use a pestle and mortar. Put the egg yolks in a small bowl with the mustard and a pinch of salt. Whisk well until thoroughly blended. Add the oil very slowly, to the egg mixture, whisking well after each addition. When all the oil has been incorporated, check seasoning and add lemon juice and chilli sauce to taste.

For the pickled Carrot / Daikon
Mix all ingredients and allow to infuse for 30 minutes.

For the Meatballs:
Whiz up the garlic, ginger and lemongrass with the fish sauce with a hand blender or in a small food processor, until you have a smooth paste. In large bowl, mix the mince with the paste, the spring onions and the salt and pepper. Using moistened hands roll the meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Fry gently in a little oil in a frying pan until golden brown and cooked through. Alternatively cook on the barbecue.

To assemble the sandwiches:
Cut each baguette or baguette piece horizontally in half. If using the barbecue, lightly char-grill. Spread with hot chili mayo. Pile in the lettuce, pickled carrot, meatballs and herbs. Add more chilli sauce if you like.

Vietnamese Beef Salad

500g sirloin steak, all fat removed
60ml sunflower oil, for frying

For the beef marinade:
2 sticks lemongrass, bashed and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp palm or caster sugar

For the dressing:
2 tbsp palm or caster sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 red chilli, de-seeded
2 garlic cloves
1/2 half tsp salt

For the salad:
100g rice vermicelli noodles
170g cos or baby gem lettuce, shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
70g cucumber, cut in half, de-seeded and cut into chunky 1/2 cm half-moons
Small handful Thai basil leaves (if available)
Handful picked coriander leaves
Handful of Fresh mint leaves
100g bean sprouts
100g roasted salted peanuts, lightly crushed
3 banana shallots, very thinly sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
Salt

Blitz all the marinade ingredients with a hand blender to form a paste. Rub the paste all over the beef and set aside for a couple of hours at room temperature or in the fridge over-night. Meanwhile, make the dressing: Whiz up all the ingredients with a hand blender until smooth.

Heat an couple of inches of vegetable oil in a saucepan. When hot add the thinly sliced shallots and fry until golden brown. Stir regually and do not burn. Remove with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and sprinkle lightly with salt. (Alternatively you can find ready fried onions in Asian Supermarkets)

Now prepare the salad. Cook the noodles as instructed on the packet, drain and rinse under cold water. Toss the lettuce, carrot, cucumber, basil, coriander and bean sprouts in a large bowl. Add the chilli, the noodles and the dressing and mix well.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan or wok. Season the beef with salt and then sear the beef on each side for a minute or two. Then cook further until rare. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for a few five minutes or so. Slice thinly and scatter over the salad. Finally sprinkle over the fried shallots and the crushed peanuts.Serve at once.
                                  

Phở Good

Vietnamese is the new Thai.  Restaurants such as Pho Cafe and Bahn Mi 11 are popping up everywhere. With their use of lots of fresh vegetables and herbs, the food is somehow even cleaner, fresher and zingyer than Thai.  From the Goi Cuon (Summer Rolls), which are like a salad, rolled up in rice paper to the" Pho", Vietnam's national dish, a delicious broth with flat rice noodles,  flavoured with spices and finished with loads of fresh herbs and chilli, it is all really exciting and vibrant.  


Phở (actually pronounced fuh) is traditionally a beef based broth made with left over bones including leg bones with plenty of marrow, charred onion, charred ginger and spices including cinnamon, star anise, black cardamom, coriander seed, fennel seed, and clove. The broth takes a few hours to cook and is finally served with lots of accompaniments including flank steak, beansprouts, spring onions, fresh coriander, mint, Thai basil, fresh chillis and finally, a squeeze of lime.  These garnishes are added by the dinner, which is what keeps the whole dish so fresh and lively. The Vietnamese are also fond of adding the famous "Rooster Sauce" (to use it's more polite name), to their Pho, as well as Hoi Sin Sauce which seems a bit of a shame considering the lengths they go to to make their super tasty stock. But what really attracted me to this dish in particular is that it was so good at using up left-over bones.  Roast chicken is a family favourite in our house. A good medium free-range bird is about £5.00 and can still feed my family, with two smallish kids, very generously.  But the thought of getting another meal out of the scraps, always makes me happy.  My mother of course, would have religiously made Chicken Soup with any left-overs and don't get me wrong, nothing can beat it, but sometimes you fancy a change.  


Every culture seems to have a variation on making the most of an expensive luxury, such as meat and in our current situation of economic downturn many of us are looking at ways to make the pennies go further.  With a hint of spring in the air, I am pining for cleaner, fresher flavours but still needing a damn good kick of heat to warm me up, in this somewhat bracing start to March and take my word for it, nothing is more perfect than Pho.

Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)
Makes enough for 4
Broth
1 left over organic free-range chicken carcass plus any bones
1 large onion peeled and cut in quarters
1 large head of garlic, cut in half
Very large knob of fresh ginger, sliced in half lengthwise
roots and stems of 1 bunch of coriander
2 whole star anise
8 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of fennel seeds

3 Black cardamon pods
1 teaspoon palm sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
salt (or to taste)

for serving
16 ounces dried phở noodles
4 spring onions, chopped
Large handful of beansprouts
Coriander, freshly chopped

Mint, freshly chopped

Thai Basil, freshly chopped

Fresh Red and Green Chillis

Limes
Sriracha hot chili sauce
Hoisin sauce (optional)


Pick of all the nice bits of meat from your chicken and shred it up. Put into the fridge. Place the onion, garlic and ginger in a roasting tray and put under a full grill, turning often. You want the surface to be partly blackened as it adds a wonderful smoky flavor to the soup without making it bitter.  Just before they are ready, add all your spices and toast lightly.  Place the chicken bones into a large saucepan.  (You can use a slow-cooker set for 8 hours on slow). Add all the other ingredients for the soup around the chicken. Add water until the top of the bones are just covered. Bring to a boil over high heat. When the water comes to a boil turn right down and cook very slowly for 3 hours. Soak the dried pho noodles in warm water for about 30 minutes to rehydrate them. Chop up your condiments and have them ready. When your broth is done, strain it through a fine mesh sieve and skim off any excess fat. Taste the soup, add more fish sauce if necessary and then check for salt. Add more as necessary.

Drain the noodles and add them to the hot soup. Split the noodles between 4 bowls and top with the chicken and then ladle on the hot broth.

Serve this all the accompaniments and everybody just helps themselves.                                         

                                    

   


Tales of Pigling Bland is hosting Fuss Free Flavours' "Frugal Food Fridays" this month.  I thought this was a perfect recipe.


Being so green, I thought it fitting for an entry at Very Good Recipes for a Saint-Patrick's Day Challenge.