Thai Green Curry

Dear Vibe,

As I am sure you are aware, curry holds a very special place in my heart. Half of my family being British, it almost seems my duty to make/consume/think about/purchase/crave Indian curry on a fairly regular basis. Although I don’t do these things quite as often as some of my family does, my love for Indian food tends to resurface fairly often. As you may have noticed, however, this blogpost is not about Indian curry. No, my friend, this blogpost is about Thai curry.

Yes, Thai green curry. Albeit not quite as much as Indian food, I have also grown up with a fair amount of Thai cuisine, and when I saw that the fabulous guys over at www.sortedfood.com had done a recipe for a Thai green curry, I knew I had to try it. You can watch the video recipe here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7nN1puv-3o&feature=player_embedded

Recipe adapted from www.sortedfood.com

INGREDIENTS:

•Green curry paste

•1 can of coconut milk

•Soy sauce

•Fish sauce

•2 kaffir lime leaves

•1 tsp brown sugar

•A handful of string beans

•2 chicken breasts

•1 aubergine

•1 lime

•2 cups jasmine rice

•A handful of fresh coriander

RECIPE

Start by setting the rice to cook however you normally do, or however it says on the packet. One of these days I will share with you the right  my way of cooking rice. 

Throw about 2 tablespoons of the green curry paste in the pan with a splash of oil and fry it for a couple of minutes. You can of course make your own curry paste easily, as was done in the original sortedfood recipe. The other times I have made this recipe, I have made my own paste. However, my blender has been taken hostage, and let’s face it, using the storebought paste is just easier sometimes.

After the paste has fried for a couple of minutes, pour in the coconut milk, a splash of soy sauce, a splash of fish sauce, the lime leaves and the brown sugar.

While this is cooking, you can top and tail the string beans, and dice the aubergines and the chicken. And as always, when cooking with raw chicken, it is so important to wash your hands and keep your workspace clean. Hygiene is everything!

When you have diced everything up, throw it in the curry and let it simmer for a few minutes, until the chicken is lightly poached.

Now here comes the best part. Are you ready for the best part? Here it comes. Taste the curry. It’s good. But it’s missing something. It doesn’t really taste like a proper green curry. Now squeeze the juice of the lime, the whole lime, into the pot. Taste it again. Stare at the curry in awe for a moment, and then swear to never, ever forget the lime.

 I always find it amazing, how much the juice of one lime can change the flavor of the dish. It really brings the flavors together and finishes it off, making it taste like a proper green curry. After this, just throw in some chopped coriander, and you’re ready to go. Serve with plenty of the jasmine rice, and if you like sprinkle on some more coriander.

This is such an easy and delicious meal for both experienced curry consumers and those who are new to its glory.

Enjoy!
Lot’s of love,

Siobhan

Honey-Baked Cinnamon Apple

Dear Siobhan,

I found myself with a little more time than expected this weekend so I thought I would use it to upload a quick and easy late summer/early autumn treat. Though it can be enjoyed all year round, and can be especially cozy during the winter, I associate this easy recipe with late summer nights. One childhood memory in particular stands out.

When I was  about five or six, my family had some friends over for dinner. It was summer and relatively warm out, as warm as it gets in Denmark, so we ate outside, and stayed out until it was dark. We kids, we were four, my brother and I and my best friend and his sister, played hide and seek around our enormous garden, which at this point, still had many trees and shrubs and what not, to hide behind. After dinner, we all roasted apples on a fire my friend's dad had made inside this hollowed out log. My method is not quite as awesome... But none-the-less the result is delicious.

Ingredients:

• apples, 1 for each
• honey
• raisins
• almonds
• cinnamon

All you need to do is remove the core of your apples, and fill it with honey instead, I used acacia honey, but in liquidy honey will do. Push some raisins into the hollowed out cores and top with almonds. Stick in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes. Remember that it will need longer in the microwave the more apples you are heating. Once the apple is tender and the honey has really soaked into it, it is ready. Of course, you can also bake it in the oven if you do not own a microwave, however, make sure that you bake it in a dish as the honey tends to ooze once it is heated up. 

Once it's done sprinkle it with cinnamon, et voila! There you are. Super delicious dessert. I bet it would taste really good with some vanilla ice cream on the side.

 

You can also just eat it hot with a nice cup of tea!

Love forever,
Vibe

The California State Fair: a journey through carbs

Dear Vibe,

Let me take you on a journey. A journey to some of the most unhealthy foods you can imagine. Recently, I went to the California state fair. I had never been there, but I had heard distant fables of the food that can be found there. For the first time, I was able to experience this first hand. I did you the favor (?) of instagramming some of the best food I came across.

Yes, you heard correctly... Deep fried twinkies and snickers... I was tempted to try, but also terrified. I ended up not trying them after all.

I don't even know what these are supposed to be.... Which is why I had to take a photo.

CANDY! If my sister weren't a dentist, I would have spent all my money here.

My brother eating churros! I had half of it, man, those things are delicious.

And here we have me eating... Chocolate covered... BACON! It is not as disgusting as it sounds. The bacon was really crispy, and the layer of chocolate was very thick, so it really just tasted like sea salt chocolate.

American cuisine at its best. Note the 1/2 pound burgers. THAT'S HALF OF A POUND OF BEEF, DUDE.

After a few rides, Kieran and I got hungry. We decided to play it safe with some pizza, although now I'm afraid I might have missed out.

I wanted a deep fried Oreo so badly, but I never got around to getting one. Next time I go to the fair, it will be the first thing I do.

Well, that's that. I know this post wasn't super exciting, but I felt obliged to share my experiences with you. I promise next time will be an actual cooking post. 

I hope you are happy and of course eating delicious food.

Lots of love,

Siobhan

Zucchini Pasta with Lemon and Basil

Dear Siobhan,

So, finally, I'm making my first official appearance in writing my first letter to you. I haven't been up to much lately. It's those last days of summer where there is nothing to do, and boredom is definitely starting to take it's toll on me. So I thought: what better to do than dive right into a food post? I don't know if you know, but I recently acquired a Danish cookbook on cooking Italian food fast. It's called 'Moderne Mamma' which as you know translates to Modern Mama. It's all about cooking delicious (albeit carbohydrate-rich) foods in no time, and best of all the book has been sponsored by the cheese company Galbani. That's right, there are no recipes without lots and lots of cheese in this book, my cheese loving friend.

Flipping through this book I pretty much want to try all the recipes, but we recently hosted my brother's birthday party, and had lots of leftover vegetables and fruits. Zucchini and lemon in particular. So I found a recipe featuring zucchini. A little browsing of tastespotting later, though I found the final recipe I decided to go with, though with elements of the original recipe. It turned out quite a delicious, super easy, simple meal.

You will need:

• 300g  penne pasta (I went with wholegrain, to maintain an illusion of healthiness, but I would strongly suggest normal, white pasta)
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 zucchinis
• Fresh lemon juice of half a lemon
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 large handfuls of fresh basil (depending on how much you like basil. I used about a handful, and couldn't really taste the basil that much)
• 80g parmesan
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of lemon zest

Now for the actual cooking part.

Start by chopping up your vegetables, so they are ready to go. As you can see I julienne'ed the zucchinis, and chopped up the garlic. I prefer to do this as opposed to mincing it in those funny little tools you use, I forget what they are called, because they are such a pain to clean... and dry.

Once your vegetables are chopped cook the pasta in a large pot according to the directions on the package. While the past cooks, heat the olive oil in a pan, and once it is hot add the chopped garlic, letting it sizzle for about thirty seconds, over medium heat, until it's just turning golden. Then add your julienne'ed zucchinis and cook these until they are just starting collapse.

At this point, squeeze out half a lemon over the pan, and continue cooking the zucchini until they are tender. Chop the basil, and grate a lemon until you have about a tbsp of lemon zest. 

When your pasta is done, strain it and stir in the zucchinis, parmesan, basil and lemon zest.  Tada! Serve it immediately!

So there you are Siobhan. My first recipe post. Hope you enjoyed it! 

Lots of love from Denmark,

Vibe

Recipe Source: Adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and 'Moderne Mamma'

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An Introductory Post: My Love Affair With Food

Dear Vibe, or anyone else to whom it may concern,

I love food. This, of course, may be obvious from the very nature of this blog. However, I still feel that it needs to be addressed. Food is, and has always been a central part of my life.

Although food was always a part of my life, our true love affair started after I moved to Denmark. I had always loved good food, but I had never dabbled in cooking before we moved. It started with some innocent baking. With the help of cheap cookbooks from the grocery store, and websites such as the fantastic http://cupcakeblog.com/.

My life started to become dotted with brownies, cookies, cupcakes, pies and cakes. Seeing the joy that it brought not only to me, but also to my family and friends gave me so much joy.

As most things do, however, my hobby of baking began to evolve. The older I got, the more I started to cook food (yes, real food, not just cakes) for my family and myself. With recipes or without, I had plenty of successes and failures, and I became frustrated more than enough times, but none of it ever lessened the simple joy that cooking brought to me

I started to notice how much both me and my family appreciated a home cooked meal, and how happy it made us all. In a way, cooking for someone is such an intimate thing to do. You are creating something so vital to human existence, and doing it, to the best of your ability, out of devotion.

A good meal brings people together like nothing I have ever experienced. That in itself, makes all the difficulty, failures and frustration completely worth it. So, I suppose what I am trying to say is that I hope for this blog to be an extension of our mission to bring joy to ourselves, and to those dear to us by one of the most universal and important things we know: food.

Wherever you are, I hope you are eating well.

Love,

Siobhan

Hello World.