Thai Chicken - Retro-style!

Oh my word, friends!  This is one heck of a retro recipe!  And I love it - such fun:=)  Here is a recipe from one of my fave authors Roald Dahl; he and his wife Felicity (Flick) put together a cookbook called Memories with Food At Gipsy House, published in 1991.  It clearly has a 1980s vibe though!  I remember making "coconut milk" this way, by soaking dessicated coconut in boiling water.  Crikey, this sounds like something from the Ark :=)  Well, it makes me sound like a deckhand from the Ark.

I may have mentioned my story before, about making several different types of curry, and lugging the big pots to a local park (back in our younger days).  We invited heaps of friends, and had "Curry in a Hurry" in the park's rotunda.  Luckily, the local police were understanding of our madness :=)  

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention a fave recipe from this book - Rose Petal Sorbet.  I used to "borrow" lots of rose petals from the old couple next door's garden, to make it!  Yep I was a naughty gal back then!  He was Dutch and had fought in the Second World War, and she was the daughter of the fellow who owned the local stables waaay back in the day (I'm thinking turn of the century).  We still had the old horse troughs buried in our yard (we shared a boundary line with them).  And mysteriously, our backyard was (very) full of ashes - perhaps the dead horses? :=)

        

throw on that coriander

Marinate this overnight, folks (or at least 8 hours)!

Serves 6:

ingredients:

Marinade:

6 Tbs dark soy sauce

2 Tbs ground cummin

3 Tbs hot Madras curry powder

1 Tbs turmeric

3 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped finely

4 Tbs sweet chilli sauce

3 sticks lemongrass (or use 3 tsp of lemongrass paste from a tube!)

150 mL/5 fl oz oil (I used olive oil, but use a neutral oil like grapeseed if you please)

1.6 kg/3.5 lb chicken breasts, chopped or (large) diced   see Notes

The Sauce:

5 Tbs crunchy peanut butter

85g./3 oz dessicated or shredded (unsweetened) coconut, soaked in 180 mL/6 fl oz boiling water

1 bunch fresh coriander leaves, chopped or torn (by hand)

Garnish:

230g./8 oz bean sprouts (who cares?  No need to measure these)

more coriander leaves, if you wish

guess?!

Method:

Grab a large non-reactive bowl (glass or ceramic), and throw in the marinade ingredients

Give it a good stir, and then add the chopped chicken pieces - and let it marinate overnight (I forgot and only gave it 9 hours the next day - in fact, I'd suggest if you buy the already-chopped chook, the shorter marination time is fine and dandy)

The next day, in a large and heavy-based frypan, saucepan or skillet, cook up the chicken pieces till they turn opaque, then add the peanut butter and the coconut and soaking water

Cover and simmer very slowly for 15-20 minutes till the chicken is tender, then add some of the coriander leaves

Serve with rice or rice noodles, and add plenty of the bean sprouts and more coriander leaves

add plenty!

Notes:

I wish they had given a weight for the chicken!  I looked it up, and Google says a chicken breast can be anything from 170g.-250g.  I just based it on 200g./7 oz per breast; the recipe says to use 8 breasts

I bought diced chicken breast that is already chopped into large chunks - saved so much time and mess :=)

My (and Mr P.'s) suggestion is to add less chicken, but bung in some eggplant and capsicum - it was a bit too meaty for us

Also I reckon a good big slurp of tinned coconut milk at the end would be a splendid thing!  And probably some chilli flakes (I only had a mild Madras curry powder, so extra chilli was needed)

lemongrass stalks

(most of the) ingredients gathered 

the marinade

chuck in the chook!

some more ingredients

9 hours later - I started cooking ...

and in go the peanut butter and coconut

and on goes the coriander

add the bean sprouts to your bowl

Mr P. bought me this one - mm yep just a few years ago :=)

(Joining in with Jo from BKD Cookbook Club for her monthly link-up!  This month we are focusing on an "oldie but a goodie" cookbook in our collections.)

Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce

Mr P. and I don't eat much meat these days (a throwback to our youthful vego. days perhaps), but we do like a bit of fish.  In fact, we had salmon just the other night, but we don't let that stop us from having fish again :=)  So this time, we went for some good old Aussie barramundi (tho' thinking on it, it was possibly from Vietnam or Thailand).  Though you have to be careful, as some naughty restaurants and seafood mongers like to trick us with cheaper fish.

Oh yes, here we have another recipe from Nagi Maehashi's Dinner.  Good old Nagi!  She never lets us down, with her fabulous recipes.  Sadly her gorgeous pup Dozer died recently (at a ripe old age).  I wonder if she will get another beautiful boy soon?  I keep threatening to get another pup, but Mr P. is not keen.  Two of our pups are buried in the backyard (maybe a tad illegal? Nah, I've checked; go ahead!), just as several of our pets are buried at our previous house.  I wonder if the new owners ever dug them up by mistake? :=)  

lemony, fishy and creamy!

Serves 4:

ingredients:

4 x 180g./6.5 oz skinless white fish fillets (about 1.5 cm thick)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1.5 Tbs very finely minced/chopped French shallots/eschalots

Lemon Cream Sauce:

50g./1.8 oz butter

60 mL (1/4 cup) thickened cream

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 Tbs mustard (Dijon or your fave - I love my homemade wholegrain)

1.5 Tbs lemon juice

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

To serve:

2 tsp parsley, chopped  (seems stingy; maybe you need more - hehehe)

some chives, finely chopped - 1 tsp? - or more if you please

lemon slices

Mashed potato, and some green leaves if you want to feel virtuous

ingredients gathered (ignore the coriander seeds jar)

yep a bit of mustard does the trick!

Method:

On goes your oven to 200C/400F to heat up

Now onto the lemon cream sauce:

Put all the saucy ingredients into a heatproof jug or bowl, so you can microwave for 2 x 30 second bursts (give it a stir after the first 30 seconds!) - you want it wonderfully smooth and combined

And now for the fish: which is going into a baking dish (Nagi says 30 x 20 cm/12 x 8 in)

Season both sides of the fish pieces, and place them in the baking dish, with a bit of space between them

Cast the French shallots over the fish, and pour the sauce over

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or till the flesh flakes easily

Place the fish fillets on serving plates, and give 'em a five minute rest

When the 5 minutes are up, spoon the sauce (that's still lurking in the baking dish) over the fish, sprinkle with the parsley and chives, and serve with lemon slices, mashed potato and some green leaves tossed with a bit of oil and lemon juice (or your fave dressing)

love me some chives :)

lemon cream sauce, heading for the microwave

Notes:

Nagi says to use thick, white fish fillets; I bet you could even use crocodile!  I do love a bit of gummy shark (flake) myself, though not so easy to get in sunny Queensland.  Happily, the GoodFish Sustainable Seafood Guide says they are not endangered which is a good thing (not sure about crocodiles tho!)

fish into the dish, then the shallots and sauce over

chop your parsley in a jug with scissors - so easy!

throw on your lemon slices

and now throw on the parsley!

is that Hagrid overlooking my dinner? :=)

Blueberry Soup with Caramelised Nut Clusters

Aka: Blabarsoppa med karamelliserade notter!  Swedish, don't you know? :=)  Blueberry soup has me intrigued, as the influencers say.  Or as Cherry the English YouTuber often says - "Colour me intrigued!"  I've made an Israeli fruit soup many years ago which was pretty tasty: made with fresh cherries, which took me forever to de-pit with just a knife and fingers.  But blueberry soup is new to me, and possibly you.  And no need for a cherry and olive (de-)pitter gadget.  

This dish is from Rachel Khoo's The Little Swedish Kitchen.  You know that lovely English lass from the TV show (and book) The Little Paris Kitchen, who married a Swede and moved to Sweden.  Let's cut to the chase - I tried making another recipe from this book - a poached chicken breast with pickled strawberry salad.  My dears, it was not good!  The chicken is poached in milk and stock; sadly it turned out like old boots!  The crows ended up with that. The salad was just ... odd, and the flavours didn't go well together.  Abandon ship!

Phase 2: I made this soup!  Not quite sure if it's meant to be a dessert or a breakfast, or a starter to a meal, as the Israeli cherry soup was.  There were oddities in the recipe (bits left out), and I am feeling a bit antsy about Rachel's recipes now.  The nut clusters are not sweet (a good thing in my opinion), and the soup is very fruity, and for me, best served chilled.  But not sure I'd ever feel the need to make this one again, to be honest.  (But it's worth a try - honest!!)  With a bit more sweetener, and a bit of spice, this could be great for breakfast!

      

crunchy, a bit savoury, and very fruity!

Serves 4:

ingredients:

For the nut clusters:

100g./3.5 oz walnuts

100g./3.5 oz pecans

50g./1.8 oz almond or hazelnut meal (aka ground almonds, or hazelnuts)

50g./1.8 oz golden syrup     see Notes

a pinch of sea salt flakes

For the soup:

500g./18 oz frozen blueberries

1 banana, sliced

2 Tbs water

a pinch of sea salt

sugar or honey (optional)

4 heaped Tbs plain yoghurt, to serve -  Greek-style is great here!

yep, blueberries!

walnuts

one guess!  Yep, a bananaaa

Method:

On goes your oven to 200C/390F to get toasty, while you roughly chop your nuts, and toss with the nut meal, golden syrup and salt

Line a baking sheet with baking paper, and spread the nuts over

Bake for around 20 minutes till toasty and golden (or kinda dark in this case), stirring every so often

Now for the soup - the blueberries and sliced banana go into a saucepan with the water and salt

Whack on the saucepan lid, and let the fruit simmer on a medium heat for a few minutes, giving it a stir here and there

When the berries have softened (Rachel says melted), and it's starting to bubble, let it simmer for another 2 minutes

Cool for a few minutes, then zap in the food processor - you can add a bit of water if you want it a bit looser in consistency - I ended up adding 12 Tbs of water (12 x 15 mL=180 mL)!

And throw in a bit more sweetener, if you fancy (and maybe a tiny bit of cinnamon?)

Rachel says you can serve this warm or chilled, with a swirl of yoghurt and some nut clusters on the top of your bowl or mug

Notes:

I reckon you could use other berries or fruits of your choice, like the afore-mentioned cherries

Just FYI: 1 banana weighs on average 118g./4 oz; the ladyfinger I used weighed 170g., and after peeling was 90g.

If you don't have golden syrup, use honey or maple syrup - and I reckon you could add a wee bit more than 50g.!

I made this recipe for BKD Cookbook Club, hosted by Jo each month.  We are doing Scandi recipes this month, from a cookbook of your choosing.  I do actually have a massive tome of Nordic cooking, but grabbed Rachel's as it was close to hand.  

pecans

nutty clusters ingredients

and baked till golden (brown)

fruit ready for "melting"

mm, well, looking kinda weird but ...

blitzed in the food processor

spoon on the yoghurt and throw on your nuts! :=)

Caramelised Onion and Potato Stacks

I think many cooks (and cookbook lovers) would know of Donna Hay, the well-loved Aussie culinary icon.  (I'm hoping for her latest cookbook this Christmas, Mr P.!)  This recipe is from her Christmas cookbook Christmas Feasts and Treats.  I meant to make this side dish last Christmas, but there were other recipes calling my name.  Better late than never, my friends!

I want to wish everyone a wonderful festive season, however (and if) you celebrate!  This has been a challenging year for the Pickings family, and I feel that this has been the case for many.  So once again, I want to say thanks for being here, take care, and "see you" all in the New Year.  OMG: 2026!!  How is that even possible? :=)

smelling so delicious

Makes 8 (or more):

ingredients:

2 Tbs EV olive oil

4 brown onions, cut into 16 thick rounds

500g./1.1 lb starchy potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

160 mL/5.5 oz chicken or vegetable stock

80g./2.8 oz butter, melted

8 sprigs thyme

sea salt flakes, and freshly-ground black pepper

parsley or chives, for serving

brown onion

Method:

Turn on your oven to 180C/350F, to heat up

Grab a muffin tin, and line 8 of the holes with baking paper (or patty pan liners)    see Notes

Into your large (non-stick) frying pan, pour in the olive oil, and let it get nicely heated

And in go the onion slices, (in batches if need be); let 'em cook for 3 minutes or so, turning once, till golden  (let them cool for a few) then

Plop one onion slice into the bottom of each muffin hole

Divvy up the potato slices into the holes, and then throw on the rest of the onion slices into each muffin hole

Now the stock and butter gets divvied up into each hole, then you whack a thyme sprig on top of each one

Cover with aluminium foil, and roast away for 30 minutes

Now uncover and roast for another 30 minutes, till beautifully tender and golden

Plate them, and season well with the salt and pepper, and some parsley or chives if you like

Serve with a protein, or anything you fancy  (we had ours with a salad)

potatoes!

Notes:

Notes?  Notes?  Nah, no notes here :=)    Hang on, I do have a note (or 2) - I sprinkled some smoked sea salt flakes over the onion slices when frying them up!

I would strongly suggest using patty pan/muffin tin liners rather than baking paper.  Donna does not tell you how on earth you would manage to get baking paper into the holes, without it flying everywhere!!

And another:  try frying up the onion slices for a bit longer than 3 minutes per side - I did it for about 5 minutes before turning over, and frying for another 5!

I somehow ended up with a lot of onion and potato slices, so I ended up making 12 delightful stacks.  Well, you can't be sad about that, can you?

To be honest, this was a wee bit of faffing; but I reckon you could make these the day before (sans the melted butter and stock), let 'em sit in the fridge, then add the butter and stock, and bake till golden and scenting your kitchen with onion-y wafts.  And another thought - why melt the butter first?  Just throw on a big knob, on top of each one ...     

These are seriously delicious, my friends!  And no wonder, with all that oil and butter and salt ...  

and thyme

ingredients gathered  (am I Harry Potter? hehehehe)

fry up those onion slices in delicious EV olive oil

layer your onion and potato slices

throw on some thyme sprigs

ready for baking at 180C/350F for an hour

and ready for devouring

can't wait to eat this one!!

For those readers who asked about Mr P. - yes, he has had his preliminary procedure in hospital and is doing well.  Thanks for asking!

(Joining in with Jo from Brookford Kitchen Diaries, for the monthly link-up BKD Cookbook Club.  Happy Christmas to all!)

Kotopoulo Kapama AKA Greek Chicken Stew with Tomatoes and Cinnamon

I have to confess I made this in our Autumn - in April!  Sure, it's hearty but so delicious, you can eat it all year round.  This is from The Complete Middle East Cookbook by Tess Mallos, a well-known Greek/Aussie cook and writer.  I've made many of her recipes over the years, but this one was a first for me.  I love chicken and I love cinnamon, (tomatoes not so much), but I can handle them in a dish like this.  

Tess calls this Kotopoulo Kapama - braised chicken, but I just call it Greek Chicken Stew!  She cooks it on the stovetop, but I decided it was much easier to give it a short simmer, then whack it into the oven till deliciously tender.  I also added more herbs and seasonings (and the red wine vinegar) than she decrees.  

tender, herby chicken with potatoes and veg.

Serves 6:

ingredients:

1 kg./2.2 lb chicken thighs   see Notes!

1-2 Tbs EV olive oil

1/2 Tbs butter

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed

385g./14 oz (c. 3) fresh tomatoes   see Notes

30 mL/2 Tbs red wine vinegar

3 bay leaves

1 heaped tsp dried oregano

1-2 tsp honey

1 Tbs tomato paste

125 mL/4 oz dry white wine  (aka 1/2 cup)

2 pieces of cinnamon bark

1/2 tsp sugar

sea salt, to taste - 1/2 tsp, more or less as you fancy

freshly ground black pepper

1/2-1 cup chicken stock, if you need/want more liquid (125 mL-250 mL) - I did!

fresh parsley (or other herb), for serving

tomatoes!

        yep!  Bay leaves

Method:

Heat up the EV olive oil and butter in a large frypan or saucepan, brown the chicken pieces all over, then remove onto a plate

Turn down the heat, add the onion and garlic, and fry gently till tender (keep an eye on the garlic, or add it a few minutes in)

Now add all the other ingredients, whack on the saucepan lid, and simmer the sauce for 15 minutes  (20 mins. if planning to cook on the stovetop the whole time)

Then either return the browned chicken pieces to the pan, and simmer for another 45 minutes till tender (that word again - hehehe) OR spoon/pour the tomato-y sauce into a large baking dish (with a lid) and bake (lid on) in a 170C/340F oven for about 40 minutes - you've guessed it! - till tender :=)

Serve with veg. of your choice - I baked (or fried?) some potato slices, and steamed up some veg.

honey!

Notes:

Tess says to cut up a 2 kg chook/chicken, but I preferred to use skinless, boneless thighs, but you do as you please: use a whole, chopped chook, or thighs with skin and bones - up to you, my friends!

Okay, use 3 or so fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped - or throw them in the food processor - and zap away!  I sometimes just grate them, as the skin comes off easily   (No need to peel if zapping or grating!)

ingredients gathered

chop or zap those tomatoes

rest the browned chicken pieces till the sauce is ready for their return:=)

fry up the onion and garlic till tender!

throw in your tomatoes et al.

simmer your sauce

and add the chicken

into a lined baking dish @170C/340F for about 40 mins.

juicy!

add some veg. or maybe some rice or couscous (?)

Just for a funny aside, Mr P., myself and some other Committee members of our Historical Society gave a talk to 100 school children last weekend.  Wow, 8 year olds are so canny these days :=)  I talked about using phone directories as toilet paper back in the good old days!  They had never seen a phone book, to begin with ...  

I mentioned how one house we lived in had a toilet underneath the house, with a big gap at the top - where possums used to sit and watch us do our thing.  I didn't mention the feral chooks when we were children; you had to have a sibling guarding the door as you used the facilities (on the dunny can/toilet seat - hehehe) ; otherwise the mad chooks would rush in and peck (and claw) you!!

guess?  yep - a brown onion, of course :)