Thai red fish curry

Ingredients

1.5 tsp coriander seeds/ 1 tsp cumin seeds, dry fry in a pan to toast

1.5 tbsp ginger or galangal

1 tbsp fresh turmeric

4-5 cloves of garlic

¼ tsp white pepper

5 lime leaves or the zest of one lime, you can get lime leaves in the herb section at the supermarket

1 stem lemongrass, white part only, you can get this in the herb section at the supermarket

1-2 tsp shrimp paste, dry toasted a little in a pan until fragrant

1 red capsicum, if you do chilli you can use some red chilli in there too. You can also use green or yellow capsicum.

Method

Blend up everything to make a smooth paste. Add a little oil if you need to.

On a low heat, large pan fry off your paste until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Add 1x 270ml can coconut cream. Add ¾ pack of Thai basil leaves (you can get these at the supermarket)

Reduce for a few minutes until nice and thick. Place 500-700g white fish. Simmer until the fish flakes easily- this is about 5-8 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. You can also use salmon or prawns. Now to balance the flavours by adding some fish sauce, some palm or coconut sugar and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice.

If you want to use chicken thighs or beef you can do that too, you will need to adjust the time as chicken will take longer, add more water or coconut cream if you need it beef strips would be quick though. This would make a great slow cooker dish, just cook off the paste, add the coconut cream and water and put the meat and curry in the slow cooker for the day.

I have served with a turmeric and lemon rice plus stirfry veg of carrot, capsicum, green beans and asian veg. For the garnish in a small pot put some oil in the bottom, when hot throw in the rest of your thai basil leaves and some sliced chilli. They will sizzle. After 1 minute take out and set aside, your basil will be crispy.

Pan Fried Lamb chops with golden cannellini bean puree and turmeric veggies

The humble legume, shunned by some, embraced by others!

They are high in protein as a plant food with 8.5g protein per 100g cooked and 8.4g fibre!

They are a low glycaemic load (GL) so this means they are a steady steam of energy and won’t spike your blood sugars.

The GL is different to the GI (glycaemic index) in that GI is measuring how much 50g carbs in a certain food raises your blood sugars. So this means you would need to eat 250g cannellini beans to get 50g carbs (per 100g there is 20g carbs) this will give you a GI of 31 which is still low. The GL on the other hand is a measure of a typical serving size which I think gives you a better indication as you are unlikely to be eating 250g cannellini beans!

Example

An 85g serve of beans has an available carb content of 17g and the GI is 31.

31x17/100= 5.2

Low: 10 or less

Medium: 11 to 19

High: 20 or more

You can use this to work out all carb containing foods. But remember we usually eat a mix of protein, fat and carbs so the outcome will be different! Remember the bigger the portion size the greater the GL and the higher the calorie content smile emoticon So if you want rice but don't want to eat as its high GI then just have less of of it and you will decrease the GL

Coat your chops in your favourite spice mx, I have used Jamie Olivers range (again!) You can use any meat or chop you like you don't have to do anything I do. Cook fat side down to render down and crispen up, then cook each side of the chop.

Finely chop 1 tbsp turmeric and 1 tbsp of garlic, mix together and put 1/2 tbsp aside (leaving you with 1.5 tbsp) In a small pot add your 1/2 tbsp garlic/turmeric mix plus a little olive oil and butter and a 425g can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans, fry off for 1-2 minutes and then add 1/2 cup of broth (I used chicken) season with salt, simmer for 5 minutes and then use a stick mixer to blend until smooth. With the other 1.5 tbsp of your spice mix fry off with some chopped bacon, green beans, zucchini, cook for 5 minutes and then add some shredded cabbage and spinach, cook until wilted. Season if needed.

Beef Rendang with carrot and fresh tomato

Beautiful curry with lemongrass and turmeric flavors, leave the chilli out to make it kids friendly. Adults can sprinkle over some chilli powder or fresh chilli when they serve it up. When you use your slow cooker you don't need to add much liquid that's why this recipe only has the amount shown. Lots of liquid comes out of the meat as well.

Serve 4-6

Ingredients

1kg of beef suitable for slow cooking like chuck or gravy beef- 3 cm dice

1 brown onion, peeled and cut into 8

2-3 carrots cut in half

2 dried bay leaves

1 (270ml) ayam brand coconut milk or cream + ½-1 can’s worth water

2-3 tomatoes, diced, for garnish

Rendang paste

2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and sliced, only the white of the lemongrass

1 small brown onion, peeled, rough chop

3 cm piece of ginger, peeled, rough chop

3 garlic cloves

1-2 red chillies (optional)

1 tsp ground turmeric

Blend in a food processor with a little of the coconut milk until nice and smooth

Method

Chuck everything except the tomato into your slow cooker and put on low for 8-10 hours until tender. Sprinkle the fresh chopped tomato over the beef.  I served this up with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and bok choy. You can have some rice too if you like. If I’m in a hurry in the morning I just put the beef, paste it all in a container and keep in the fridge overnight and then chuck it all in the slower cooker in the morning, keep your slow cooker out to save to getting it out in the morning to save a little extra time.

Chicken with a coconut and sunflower seed crumb

Serves 4

Ingredients

500g chicken thighs, trimmed, this is about 4 large thighs

½ cup shredded coconut

¼ sunflower seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

1 egg

¼ tapioca flour or similar

Method

Trim the thighs of excess fat, you don’t have to trim every last bit.

In a bowl whisk your egg and season with salt and pepper

On a plate put your flour and season that too

In a food processor, blitz the sunflower seeds briefly, then add the 3 powders (not the flour) and coconut and blitz briefly again.

Put the chicken in the flour, shake off excess, then put in egg, shake off the excess then dip in the crumb mix and pat in. Continue with all the chicken then put on a plate and put in the fridge for half an hour to set the crumbs.

In large pan heat sum ghee/coconut oil, should be enough to cover the bottom.

Fry the chicken on low to medium for 5 mins on each side. If it is browning too soon turn it down or the outside will burn and chicken won’t be cooked. The middle should not be pink. Serve this with a squeeze of lemon, roasted beetroot, pumpkin and steamed asparagus.