Red Curry Paste Isaan Style (recipe)

During many of my travels I found that red curry pastes differed in their ingredients, some have star anise in them, others have fennel seeds and some have palm sugar.

To be perfectly honest, I think the best tasting paste to me is the Isan variant of Khaeng Phed (hot curry or red curry) which is quite strong (and not for the faint hearted) and can be added or subtracted to in order to make a variety of other dishes. I learned this recipe from my neighbours in Nong Khai.

Indie Glassware for your Food

I found this glassware artist that I just love - if you're into Asian food and want pretty plates to present sushi - her plates are fantastic and hand made. Ainsley Francis' shop is here.

Pecan Smoked Chinese Chicken Aspic with Walnuts and Mushrooms

Frankly I would be lying if I said that this dish wasn't inspired by Lea Linster's Aspic Duck Foie Gras Terrine dish. I set out to create something that would be pretty, presentable, simple(-er) to assemble that would also be an interesting combination of earthy flavours.

Blog Updates

Hi all, just so you know, this blog is going to undergo some major changes. The design is going to get revamped and also there will be a name change. I will of course post a temporary redirect to the old URLs but not before I update you again. Hope you understand that this means that my posts will stop for a short while.

Alexis

Variation on Heston Blumenthal's Filtered Consomme

I love Heston's series "How to cook like Heston". The problem I found with the recipe on his consomme with the chicken was - frankly - that unless you buy yourself an expensive chicken and don't mind shelling out at LEAST 15 - 20 euros/pounds for the ingredients - you end up with a consomme which is more salty than "chickeny" - and - frankly - rather uninteresting. The touch of a jasmine flower helps hide this fact.

A beef shank with the marrow add so much flavour, you'll never think again about Heston saying that you'll never think again about consomme.

Pad Thai - a shortcut that works

In my search for getting that authentic taste out of real ingredients that make up traditional dishes I have always managed to fail when it comes Pad Thai. The pad thai I used to eat in Nong Khai in Thailand was exquisite but I never learned to make it from my neighbours during the brief time that I was living there. Recipes on the web and in books never seemed to come even remotely close to what I wanted.
I did however have a massive craving for pad thai recently but as it was late on a Sunday I did not have all of the ingredients - this however I think will surprise you enormously - you don't actually need the thousand and one hard to find ingredients. Have a look at this.