Spicy Cashew and Cucumber Salad: The Perfect Picni...

The weather here in the UK has been absolutely amazing. It’s been hot and sunny now for weeks and I dare say we are getting used to seeing the sun. It makes a nice change from the usual grey drizzle of an English summer.

So to celebrate the end of a tough work week and get out in nature, my husband and I are going into the Kent countryside tomorrow to find the perfect place for a picnic. The big question is what type of food to bring. Sandwiches are always good. A selection of nibbles maybe? Quiche, potato salad and some hummus and vegetable sticks would also go down a treat.

Thinking about it we decided we wanted to try something completely different. Looking at the many recipes I have bookmarked to try, I found the perfect picnic recipe from last week’s Saturday Morning Kitchen. The guest chef was Bill Granger who made a wonderful looking meal of Spicy Chicken Thighs With Cucumber and Cashew Salad.

The recipe is actually in two parts. The first step is to create a marinade for some boneless chicken thighs. Once prepared, the chicken thighs are left to marinate in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Only 1/2 of the marinade is used for this. The rest of the marinade is used as a base to create a salad dressing for a cucumber and cashew nut salad with vermicelli rice noodles. This salad is served cold while the chicken thighs are served fresh off the grill.

We actually don’t want to make the dish with the chicken thighs for tomorrow’s picnic. We only want to make the salad! It seems like it will be light and refreshing with just the right amount of heat. I may play around with the recipe tonight so it’s ready to go when we leave first thing in the morning. I may add some shredded carrot to it as well, just to give it a bit more crunch and colour.

We are approaching tomorrow with an open mind so we aren’t really sure where we will end up. The one thing we do know is that we will have some delicious food to eat when we get to wherever we are going!

I hope you are all making the most of this glorious picnic weather. Please drop me a line and tell me about your perfect picnic foods.

Oven Baked Basa Fillets With A Zesty Marinade....

Basa is a type of catfish native to the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam. It is becoming much more popular here in the UK and is available in most supermarkets. It’s a white fish with a firm, meaty texture and is sometimes used as a substitute for cod. What I love about basa is that it’s a very versatile fish and really easy to cook. Check out this great website for more inspiring basa recipes.

Another bonus I have discovered with basa – no bones! Or at least none that I have found and you know with fish – even the carefully filleted ones – there are always bound to be bones lurking somewhere. I do love fish but the bones really stress me out. A childhood incident where a fish bone became stuck in my throat resulted in me having to eat slice after slice of ‘wonderbread’ to help remove it. Wonderbread was never quite the same after that.

Ok no more trips down memory lane – let’s get on with the recipe!

Luna’s Recipe for Basa Fillets With A Zesty Marinade

Marinade:

Juice of 1/2 lemon.

1 clove of garlic, minced.

1 Tablespoon of freshly grated ginger.

1 Tablespoon of runny honey.

3 Tablespoons of light soy sauce.

Directions:

Put the basa fillets in a shallow dish and cover with the marinade.

Leave to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour. I turned the fillets over twice during the marinating process just to make sure everything was covered.

Preheat oven to 180C

When the fillets have marinated long enough place them on tin foil, spooning any remaining marinade on top.
Fold the tin foil around them like a parcel and place them on a baking sheet.

The directions on the pack said to cook the fillets for 20 minutes – I actually cooked them for a lot longer – 45 minutes!

Note to self: Before you start cooking make sure husband is actually on his way home and not stopping off at the pub for a quick pint after work!

Fortunately the extra time in the oven did not impair the flavour at all. In fact the fish was incredibly moist and very VERY tasty! I think the lemon juice probably helped.

I served the fillets with my favourite Egg Fried Rice courtesy of Ken Hom and some lightly steamed broccoli.

This was a filling dinner but it felt very light. It’s perfect for a warm Spring evening with a glass (or two) of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

Oven Baked Basa Fillets in a Zesty Marinade.

Sorry about the quality of the photograph – I must get a new camera and stop taking photos on my phone!

Chinese Style Chicken Thighs With Egg Fried Rice....

In these tough economic times many of us our counting our pennies and looking for bargains when we do our food shop. Using leftovers creatively is a great way to save money, as is using less expensive cuts of meat. I have become very fond of using chicken thighs which are much cheaper and more flavoursome then chicken breasts.

Tonight I tried a completely new recipe with some chicken thighs and served it alongside some egg fried rice. It was a hit and I will be making this again for sure!

Luna Raye’s Chinese Style Chicken Thighs.

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs with skin and on the bone (I use organic free range chicken).

For the Marinade:

5 Tablespoons of Superior Dark Soy Sauce.
Juice of half a lemon.
2 Tablespoons of runny honey.
2 cloves of minced garlic.
1 Tablespoon of freshly grated ginger.
Drizzle of olive oil.

Directions

Mix all marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add chicken thighs to the bowl and mix thoroughly into the marinade so the thighs are completely covered.

Cover the bowl and allow the thighs to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Add to an ovenproof dish and cook at 200C turning the thighs at least twice during cooking. I like the skin on top to crisp up.

Cooking times may vary but I kept mine in the oven for an hour. Do make sure the chicken is cooked through before serving.

Egg Fried Rice

For the egg fried rice recipe I used Ken Hom’s recipe as a base but made a few changes. This is a great recipe top play around with. Follow the basic directions and try adding different things like bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and prawns. For my version I used:

• 1 cup of cold cooked white basmati rice.
• 2 salad onions (spring onions) chopped finely.
• ½ cup frozen peas (thawed).
• ½ cup frozen sweet corn (thawed).
• 2 eggs beaten with 1 Tablespoon of light soy sauce (I had run out of sesame oil).

Chinese Style Chicken Thighs With Egg Fried Rice