Back tracking a few months as my beekeeping updates are a little behind. March began with swarm season in fully swing and a month that left me at times, feeling somewhat bewildered. Wondering if the swarm retrieved had the original queen or, virgin queen mentioned in the Bee’s and February post. What about the original hive? After a hive swarms, the remaining bees must have a new queen and lead her out on a successful mating flight in order to survive. Continue reading “Bees and March”
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Vegetable Soup and a Review of 2013
The festivities have come to an end, many rich foods were enjoyed and now the fridge and freezer are almost empty… simple food is craved once again. With the last remaining vegetables I decided to make a pot of soup. Nothing fancy, no special ingredients just a tasty wholesome bowl of soup, served with thick slices of home-made brown bread on the side. You might say I am kicking off the new year with a healthy start but it more comes down to what’s left on the vegetable rack. The soups flavor is determined by the combination of vegetables used and sometimes I like to throw in a granny smith apple for its sweet-tart flavor. I would have used fresh turkey stock but as my good friend Sarah had taken charge of Christmas Day and did an amazing job (I did boxing day), I had no turkey to cook. Continue reading “Vegetable Soup and a Review of 2013”
Green Papaya Salad – Som Tam
Just back from Phuket in Thailand, a quick blog post and a few pics to keep you up to date. Christmas is around the corner and with a bit of catching up needed, blog posts might be somewhat erratic over the next few weeks. Our trip to Thailand was combined with my husband participating in the Laguna Phuket Challenge and I am well impressed, he completed a 1.9km swim, a 90km bike ride and a 21km run… I guess all that porridge for breakfast had something to do with it!
While hubby was doing some light training before his race, I managed to squeeze in a cookery lesson at the Phuket Thai Cookery School. Although familiar with the recipes being prepared that day, it was good to brush up on balancing the spicy, creamy, salty, sour and sweet tastes of Thai dishes. Almost ten years ago I took my first Thai cookery lesson in Phuket at a different location. With cooking lessons you pick up some great tips, learn about new ingredients and each chef has their own little touches which they like to share.
A quick tour around the local market in Phuket Town was given before class. We prepared a Chicken and Coconut Soup, Green Curry with Chicken, Thai Fried Noodles with Prawns, Green Papaya Salad and Mango with Sticky Rice for dessert… we were all very happily stuffed by the end of the day.
Can’t resist the markets!
It has been quite some time since I made Green Papaya Salad and I had forgotten just how simple and delicious it is. It’s colourful, crunchy, definitely spicy and has a salty-sour taste which can be made a little sweeter, depending on your taste preferences. You could serve this salad alongside a nice piece of grilled salmon or grilled chicken. In Thailand this salad is sometimes served with steamed jasmine rice as a meal.
Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
(serves 2)
Ingredients:
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 6 bird’s eye chillies
- 2 tablespoons of dried shrimps, blanched
- 2 long green beans, cut into 1inch lengths
- 200g shredded green papaya
- 3 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1\4 cup of shredded carrot
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons of lime juice
- 2 tablespoons of roasted peanuts
How to make: Pound the garlic, chilies and dried shrimp into a coarse paste using a pestle and mortar.
Add the long beans and pound to crush lightly. Add the green papaya and 1 tablespoon of the roasted peanuts, pound lightly until the papaya becomes a little limp.
Add the carrot and tomatoes and pound very lightly, just enough to bruise the tomatoes.
In a small dish, stir the palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice together until well blended, then pour over salad. Toss all the ingredients together until well combined. Transfer salad to a serving plate and garnish with remaining tablespoon of roasted peanuts.
Notes: If you cannot find green papaya use cucumber and shred with the skin on, do not include the middle part with the seeds. The dried shrimp can be omitted. As this is a spicy dish you can reduce the amount of chills used. Recipe can easily be doubled and the sweetness and saltiness of the dressing can be adjusted according to taste. Use light brown sugar if palm sugar is not available. This julienne peeler comes in handy when you need to shred vegetables.
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