Posts Tagged ‘green beans’
Thai Royal Green Chicken Curry
Monday, March 19th, 2012
Ingredients
For the curry
300 ml coconut cream
8-12 new potatoes, cut into 3
2 chicken breasts
2.5 cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
2 strings young green peppercorns, (optional)
2 stems lemongrass, root trimmed, tough outside leaves removed, finely sliced
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
2 limes, juice only
1 orange, juice only
1 tbsp fish sauce
150 g trimmed green beans, or mange tout or asparagus)
20 coriander leaves, coarsely chopped
15 Thai basil, coarsely chopped
2 small green chillies, seeds removed and finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
lime wedges, to serve
For the cooked curry paste
4 stems lemongrass, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 root galangal or ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 lime leaves, torn
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 limes
6 green chillies, seeds removed and finely chopped
6 coriander roots, washed and coarsely chopped
2 small Spanish red onions, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp ground turmeric
400 ml coconut cream
2 tbsp fish sauce
Method
1. For the cooked curry paste: put the lemon grass, garlic, galangal, lime leaves and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground.
2. Zest one of the limes, then remove the pith and cut the flesh into small pieces. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lime and set aside.
3. Add the green chilli, coriander root, onion, lime zest and flesh. Continue to process into a semi-smooth paste, adding a splash of water if necessary, to help the ingredients bind. (The paste can now be cooked immediately, or stored in the fridge for 2-3 days, or frozen.)
4. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan. Add the curry paste, stir in the turmeric and cook over a low-medium heat, stirring to avoid it sticking, for about 15-20 minutes. It will dry out, becoming more concentrated and aromatic.
5. Stir in the coconut cream and simmer gently for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is reduced by about one-third.
6. Stir in the reserved lime juice and fish sauce. (At this stage, the paste can be used for the curry or stored in the fridge for up to 1 week, or frozen in portion sizes – see Cook’s tips below).
7. For the curry: heat 150g of the cooked curry paste over a medium heat until steaming.
8. Stir in half the coconut cream and bring to the boil. Add the potatoes and cook until softened.
9. Season the chicken breasts with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
10. Pre-heat a griddle pan or grill and grill the chicken for 3 or 4 minutes on each side until golden brown, bar-marked and caramelised. (It does not need to be cooked all the way through.) Set aside.
11. Add the ginger, peppercorns (if using) and half of the lemon grass to the sauce and simmer gently on a low heat stirring occasionally to stop from sticking. Take care to stir gently so that you do not break up any of the ingredients. Thin the paste with a little water if necessary.
12. Stir in the tamarind pulp, half the lime juice, orange juice and fish sauce.
13. Slice the grilled chicken and add it to the simmering curry sauce. Add the green beans and half the coriander and basil and continue to gently simmer until the sauce is slightly reduced. Before serving, taste the sauce and adjust the balance of seasoning if necessary, adding more lime juice, if necessary.
14. To serve, sprinkle the finished curry with the remaining chopped herbs, reserved lemon grass, chopped green chilli, spring onions and lime wedges.
Tags: chicken, chilli, coconut cream, coriander, fish sauce, galangal, garlic, ginger, green beans, green peppercorns, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, lemongrass, lime, onion, orange, potato, spring onion, tamarind, thai basil
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Spring Minestrone
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
Ingredients
• 6 heaped tablespoons fresh pesto
• 1.5 litres good chicken, ham or vegetable stock
• 1 bulb of fennel
• 100g fine asparagus
• 2 Romanesco cauliflowers or 1 large cauliflower
• 6 baby courgettes
• 6 plum tomatoes
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
• 1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
100g green beans, finely sliced
• 100g yellow beans, finely sliced
• 100g peas, podded
• 100g broad beans, podded
• 100g spaghetti, broken-up
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small handful of fresh green or purple basil
• 1 small handful of fresh chives
Method
There’s a whole world of minestrones out there – most of which follow very strict, authentic recipes. Personally, I feel that a minestrone should always reflect the seasons: more cabbagy, frumpy ones in the winter and lighter, more colourful ones in the spring and summer. A minestrone can also be a whole meal if you want it to be, with pasta, stale bread or rice to bulk it out. To complement the spring vegetables, I’ve put a bit of a Genoese twist on it, with a spoon of fresh pesto added at the last minute, so the flavours explode in your mouth. Give it a bash.First, if you’re going to make pesto do it now. Bring a pot of stock to the boil. Then you need to get all the vegetables prepared and put to one side. The fennel has to be halved, sliced and finely chopped, the asparagus needs to have the woody ends removed, the stalks finely sliced and the tips left whole, the cauliflowers need to be divided into small florets, the courgettes need to be quartered lengthways and finely chopped and finally the tomatoes need to be blanched. Cut them in half, remove the pips and finely slice. Now you’re ready to rock and roll.In a casserole-type pan (quite wide but not very deep) put 5 tablespoons of olive oil and heat the pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic, spring onions and fennel and gently fry without colouring at all for about 15 minutes. Then add the rest of your prepared vegetables, the pasta and your boiling stock. Bring to the boil, simmer for about 10 minutes, season, and serve in big bowls with a dollop of fresh pesto in the middle, a sprinkling of chopped basil and chives, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.Try this: As you can see, the idea of this soup is to celebrate all the vegetables that are available at the time, so feel free to modify the soup and make it your own.And this: A good way to break up your spaghetti is to wrap it in a tea towel and then run it over the edge of your work surface.Did you know? The fact that everything is finely chopped means that the cooking time is very quick and the soup remains light and fresh.• from Jamie’s Kitchen There’s a whole world of minestrones out there – most of which follow very strict, authentic recipes. Personally, I feel that a minestrone should always reflect the seasons: more cabbagy, frumpy ones in the winter and lighter, more colourful ones in the spring and summer. A minestrone can also be a whole meal if you want it to be, with pasta, stale bread or rice to bulk it out. To complement the spring vegetables, I’ve put a bit of a Genoese twist on it, with a spoon of fresh pesto added at the last minute, so the flavours explode in your mouth. Give it a bash.
First, if you’re going to make pesto do it now. Bring a pot of stock to the boil. Then you need to get all the vegetables prepared and put to one side. The fennel has to be halved, sliced and finely chopped, the asparagus needs to have the woody ends removed, the stalks finely sliced and the tips left whole, the cauliflowers need to be divided into small florets, the courgettes need to be quartered lengthways and finely chopped and finally the tomatoes need to be blanched. Cut them in half, remove the pips and finely slice. Now you’re ready to rock and roll.
In a casserole-type pan (quite wide but not very deep) put 5 tablespoons of olive oil and heat the pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic, spring onions and fennel and gently fry without colouring at all for about 15 minutes. Then add the rest of your prepared vegetables, the pasta and your boiling stock. Bring to the boil, simmer for about 10 minutes, season, and serve in big bowls with a dollop of fresh pesto in the middle, a sprinkling of chopped basil and chives, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Try this: As you can see, the idea of this soup is to celebrate all the vegetables that are available at the time, so feel free to modify the soup and make it your own.
And this: A good way to break up your spaghetti is to wrap it in a tea towel and then run it over the edge of your work surface.
Did you know? The fact that everything is finely chopped means that the cooking time is very quick and the soup remains light and fresh.
Tags: asparagus, basil, broad beans, cauliflower, chives, courgette, fennel, garlic, green beans, peas, pesto, plum tomatoes, spaghetti, spring onions, yellow beans
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