Thai Three Taste Sauce

12th March 202012th March 2020
by thefoodwife

Makes enough for 3-4 portions

A staple in many Thai restaurants, the three tastes here are salty, sweet and sour. The saltiness comes from the fish sauce, the sweet from the palm sugar and the sourness from the tart tamarind paste. There’s also a good punch of heat from the chilli and garlic.

It is an excellent accompaniment to (fried) fish or tofu. Make a batch and if not using it all at once, divide into mini portions and freeze.

The recipe below makes the sauce which you can then add to your chosen Thai dish. Once made simply add it to the end of your cooking of your fish or tofu. Serve with rice or noodles.

Ingredients:
3 chillis, roughly chopped (including seeds)
8 fat cloves of garlic
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp tamarind paste
2 tbsp water
65g palm sugar

Step 1: Begin by using a food processor to blitz the chilli and garlic into a rough paste.

Step 2: In a wok, heat the oil over a medium high heat and then stir fry the chilli-garlic paste for about 30 seconds until fragrant.

Step 3: Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until slightly thickened and the sugar fully dissolved. This may take three or four minutes. Stir frequently.

Step 4: Remove from the heat and it is now ready to use on your cooked fish or tofu, simply add for the last minute or two of cooking.

N.b. Adjust the amount of chilli depending on your tolerance.

BLW Tuna and Sweetcorn Cheesy Quesadillas

21st November 201821st November 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes 1

This has become a favourite lunch for the Food Baby in our house. He likes to carefully pick out the sweetcorn and eat them and then munches his way through the rest of it. I use a tuna in spring water as brine is too salty and those in oil make it far too greasy. You can make this with any good melty cheese, we’ve tried it with cheddar, Red Leicester and most recently the Spanish cheese, Tetilla.

Ingredients:
Spray oil
2 mini tortilla wraps
50g (melty) cheese (grated or sliced)
1/3 tin of tuna in spring water, drained
1 tbsp tinned sweetcorn, drained

Step 1: Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat and spritz on some oil.

Step 2: Place one tortilla flat on the pan and add half the cheese. Top with the tuna and sweetcorn, sprinkled evenly, and finish with the remaining half of the cheese. Add the second tortilla and spray the top with a little more oil.

Step 3: Use a spatula to press the quesadilla and when the underside is toasted and firmed up, use the spatula to carefully turn the quesadilla over. Cook for another couple of minutes until the underside is browned.

I cut this into six pieces so it can be easily held by little hands and just make sure that before you serve the cheese isn’t too hot to eat!

Baby Weaning Ideas #2

18th May 201820th May 2018
by thefoodwife

Austin has started trying meat, fish and gluten over the past few weeks. But here are some of the things he has been enjoying over the last fortnight.

Thai-style Aubergine

Ingredients:
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4 aubergine, diced
1/4 courgette, diced
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm dice
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 garlic clove, finely diced
25g creamed coconut
1 lemongrass, halved and crushed with the back of a knife
3 lime leaves
1 tbsp chopped coriander

Step 1: Heat the coconut oil and add the onion and soften for a few minutes.

Step 2: Add the garlic, aubergine, sweet potato and courgette and stir for a couple of minutes.

Step 3: Add the lime leaves and lemongrass along with the creamed coconut and enough water to just cover the vegetables.

Step 4: Cook for 10-15 minutes on a gentle heat until the vegetables are softened.

Step 5: Remove the lemongrass and lime leaves and add the coriander, then blend to a thick purée.

Step 6: Divide into portions (this freezes well).

Fish with a creamy sauce

Ingredients:
200g boneless fish cut in to 2 inch pieces (I used fish pie mix from the fresh fish counter in the supermarket which included salmon, pollock and smoked haddock)
1 pint whole milk
6 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
3 tsp slackened cornflour
1 heaped tsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Step 1: Place the milk, peppercorns, bay leaves and fish in a pan (I used a frying pan) and bring to a simmer for a few minutes until the fish is cooked.

Step 2: Remove the fish and break into small flakes. Remove the bay leaves and peppercorns and discard.

Step 3: With the milk still on the heat, add the slackened cornflour and use a wooden spoon or a whisk to stir until thickened.

Step 4: Return the flaked fish to the sauce and stir in the mustard and parsley.

Step 5: Divide into portions (I made 8) and this can be frozen.

Serve with pasta, rice or mashed potato.

Lemon and Blueberry Yogurt

Ingredients:
1 tsp lemon curd
4 heaped tsp full fat natural/Greek yogurt
5 blueberries, quartered

Step 1: Combine the three ingredients and serve.

Thai Red Curry Fish Cakes

10th May 20186th June 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes/Serves 2

My husband has to be in the mood for seafood and so I usually eat fish when he is out for the evening, or I choose it in restaurants because I don’t have it nearly enough as I should like to at home.

I persuaded him a few months back to try a Thai flavoured fish and potato cake from a supermarket. He liked it (hurrah!) and so it became a bit of a regular in our weekly meals. The problem is, I would prefer them if they contained more fish, so I decided to have a go at making my own. This is the result; a fish cake that is fragrant and spicy and very satisfying.

Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch dice
1 fillet of white fish (approx 70g) (I used Pollock)
12 king prawns (raw or cooked)
2 lime leaves (optional)
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 – 1 tsp Thai red curry paste (depending on your taste; I used 1 heaped tsp and the result was very spicy)
3 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Step 1: Cook the potatoes in salted cold water, bring to the boil and simmer until cooked (a knife should easily pass through). Drain and mash till smooth.

Step 2: Whilst the potatoes are cooking, see to the fish. In a shallow pan put the 2 lime leaves and cold water (about 2cm), enough to cover the fish fillet. Add the fish and bring to a simmer until the fish is cooked (if putting in from cold this will take 3 or 4 mins once simmering).

Step 3: Remove the fish and flake gently with a fork. Set aside to cool.

Step 4: If you are using raw king prawns, add these to the simmering water and cook for a couple of minutes until just cooked. If you are using ready-cooked prawns skip to step 5.

Step 5: Remove and roughly chop half of the prawns and halve the rest. Set aside to cool.

Step 6: Add your Thai red curry paste to the potatoes and mix thoroughly until evenly combined. Leave to cool.

Step 7: Now mix the spiced potatoes, flaked fish, chopped prawns, sliced spring onions and chopped coriander in a bowl.

Step 8: Divide equally in two and shape in to your fish cakes.

Step 9: Mix the panko breadcrumbs and sesame seeds on a plate.

Step 10: Coat the fish cakes all over with the breadcrumb and sesame seed mix.

Step 11: Place in the fridge to chill and firm up until you’re ready to cook them.

Step 12: Cook on a baking sheet in a preheated oven (180c) for 25 minutes. Alternatively these could be fried in a non-stick pan for 3-4 minutes on each side, which would result in a crisper coating, however I was aiming for a fat-free meal.

You could up the fish content more still, and lower the potato accordingly.
This is perfect served with my Asian Noodle Peanut Salad.