#lime whip doesn’t sound very appealing

[oeuvrinarydurian]

It’s a Wednesday Special.

This tiny clip made me think of @astridcontramundum’s “many examples of meta” post.

I was going to re-blog hers with it, but I can’t find it, so it’ll be a less exciting standalone. 

Endeavour: Passenger Opening titles.

Creepytown.

[russiandance]

Check out my new stuff on http://www.gingerwithspice.com/recipe/chicken-shawarma-homemade-shawarma-spice/

Chicken Shawarma + Homemade Shawarma Spice

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       JUMP TO RECIPE

  Shawarma – that’s a new word in my household. But boy – I was missing out! Shawarma is like the Middle Eastern gyro or tacos. And we love gyros and tacos don’t we? Yes, we do! It’s often thinly cut meat packed with Middle Eastern flavors such as cardamom, allspice, lemon, garlic, yoghurt, wrapped inside a pita and served with dishes such as hummus, tahini, tabbouleh or fries.

  The day ‘suddenly’ got much lighter here, and the sun don’t go down until like 6.30 pm. That feels like an eternity when I’m used to it being dark basically all day during winter. And it’s light out when I wake up! I meaaan – Summer is getting close, I can smell it.

    And with Summer, there are lighter meals, more yoghurt and more lemon! Or at least, for me. I’m more of a comfort food eater during winter, and a salad doesn’t always appeal to me. However, after all that heavy food I’m looking forward to a new kind of comfort food – Summer, veggies and BBQ! Ohh and lemonade and berries. Yesss, I guess I’m looking forward to it.

      Seems like food and weather is what’s guiding my mood. Are you like that? All kinds of weather and food can get me in a good mood though. But winter, snow and pumpkin spice make me cozy, wanting to wrap up in blankets and hibernate. Summer is all about being outdoors, active and social around the garden table.

  Ok, that sounded like we were jogging around the garden table, my bad. I mean, I’ve got restless legs, but not that restless… I am babbling – I guess you want to eat sometime this century right, so let’s get to this delicious super yummy Chicken Shawarma! I’m also throwing in a homemade shawarma spice blend so you can just whip this baby up in no time the next time (because there will be a next time, I promise).

  Chicken Shawarma + Homemade Shawarma Spice

  Let’s begin with the marinade. It’s just mix and forget really. But we need to make the shawarma blend first (You should also begin cooking quinoa for the tabbouleh, see below). Recipe is based on Jo Cooks’.

  Shawarma Spice Blend

I halved the recipe from Little Spice Jar. Mix all the spices together and store in an airtight container. I know, so easy. You can marinade meat even easier than in my recipe here, but I haven’t tried this version; 2 tbsp of olive oil + 1 tbsp white vinegar and half a teaspoon of salt with 1 tbsp of shawarma to marinade 500 gr of meat. Marinade chicken for 20 minutes and beef for 1-24 hours (source). It sounds amazing, but I have not tried it! I’m all about the lemon and garlic in the next step.

    Chicken Shawarma Marinade

Add all the spices, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil to a bowl. Whisk well and toss in the chicken. Make sure the chicken is completely coated in the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for around 1 hour.

  Pre-heat the oven to 220C (425F). Add sliced onion to the bowl with the chicken and toss around. Add everything to a 20x30cm (9×13) baking dish. If you still have a lot of marinade floating around, leave it behind. But the longer the meat is marinading, the more it will absorb.

  Bake until chicken is done, around 35-40 minutes, depending on the size of chicken. Once done, let them rest 5 minutes before slicing.

  Meanwhile…

Meanwhile everything is marinading, baking and so on – you’ll make the sides. The garlic sauce is made in around 30 seconds – just whisk everything together, taste and season more if you want. The tabbouleh salad is also very easy, but you need to cook and cool the quinoa, while you chop and measure the rest of the ingredients. See this link for an amazing tabbouleh recipe. Heat some pita wraps, spread with hummus, garlic sauce, tabbouleh and top with chicken shawarma.

    Enjoy this summer on a plate!

  Other Summery or Middle Eastern dishes:

Baharat Spice Blend

Middle Eastern Pizza

Lemon Tea Cake with a Cream Cheese Surprise

Moroccan Harissa Grilled Chicken Salad with Cilantro Lime Sauce

Mexican Tacos al Pastor

Caribbean Mango Chipotle Quinoa Bowl

Cuban Quinoa Bowl with Fried Bananas and Mango Salsa

  What’s your favorite summer or bbq recipe?

  I’d love to hear your thoughts, either in the comment section below or tag me @thegingerwithspice on Instagram. And don’t forget to Pin it for later!

[farmdrop]

Thai Cooking 101 with Saiphin Moore, Co-Founder of Rosa’s Thai Cafe

Love Thai food but not sure where to start when it comes to cooking it at home? Take control over pepping up your palate and discover the effortless balance of punchy, sweet and sour flavours found in Thai cooking with the help of Saiphin, head chef and founder of Rosa’s Thai Cafe.

All of Thai cooking is based around four flavours: salty, spicy, sour and sweet. Every dish in Thai cuisine incorporates at least two of them, and sometimes all four. The art lies in striking the perfect balance. This skill is key in mastering Thai cooking. One flavour may be dominant, but the others will be there too, like notes in a chord. A dish may be sweet, but it will still have the essence of at least one other flavour. No single flavour is ever allowed completely to overpower the others. You must always be able to taste all the flavours, singly and in unison. 

Many of the dishes in my cookbook are cooked in a wok over high heat and come together very quickly – it might take you longer to chop and prepare the ingredients than to cook the actual dish! For best results, it’s important not to over-fill your wok – your ingredients will get steamed and soggy rather than stir-fried and crispy. Many of my recipes and dishes we serve at Rosa’s Thai Cafe are designed to serve only two people, but if you are cooking for more, I suggest you scale up the ingredients as necessary, get everything ready, and then cook your chosen dish in two or three batches. It won’t take long, and every serving will be just as delicious.

Knowing Thai ingredients

In Thai cooking there are many different ingredients that you may not have come across before, from galangal to holy basil. The best place to find these is in Asian speciality stores. Alternatively, you can buy many of these ingredients online. See the following list for the some of the more exotic ingredients you will commonly encounter in Thai cooking. If you can’t find some of the more unusual ones, don’t worry as you can easily substitute many of them with more common items.

Basil

There are two main kinds of basil used throughout Thai cooking: Thai basil and Holy basil, both cultivars of sweet (Mediterranean) basil. Thai basil (Bai-Gra-Prow) has purple stems with smaller and darker green leaves than its parent plant, but is similar at first glance, so is sometimes called Thai sweet basil, even though it has a liquorice-like flavour. It is used extensively in Thai cuisine, in salads, soups and stir-fries, or sprinkled raw over salads or cold noodle dishes; the most famous is definitely the Chilli & Basil Stir Fry (Pad-Gra-Prow). Holy basil (Bai-Ho-Ra-Pa) has a much sharper, more peppery taste than Thai basil, and is therefore often called ‘hot basil’. Leaves of holy basil are used to add a fiery depth and clove-like flavour to stir-fries and other Thai dishes. At Rosa’s, we use it on our Sizzling Seafood Hot Plate (Pad-Cha).

Chillies

It’s impossible to imagine Thai food without chillies of all sizes and colours used - fresh, dried or roasted. Commonly used types include Long or Spur chillies (Prik-Chi-Faa), and the much smaller, but spicier, Bird’s Eye Chillies (Prik-Kii-Nuu). Dried chillies are usually soaked in water before use to soften them. In Thai cooking, we use chillies plus the seeds for that extra kick. If you aren’t such a fan of spicy food, reduce the amount of chilli in the recipe and remember to de-seed the pods when you’re chopping them up. 

Coriander Root

In Thai cooking every part of the coriander plant is used, including the root, which is one of the base ingredients of many Thai curry pastes. The roots, which are milder in flavour than the leafy tops, can also be chopped finely and used to season broths, sauces and rice, or pounded into a paste that can be used as a marinade. If you can’t find coriander root at your Asian speciality stores, use the stalks instead – try using 5 stalks for every root, as their flavour is milder.

Fish Sauce (Nam-Pla)

The idea of fermenting small fish with salt may not sound very appealing, but fish sauce is the condiment that makes so many Thai dishes come to life. The fermentation process creates a unique umami flavour that adds depth and complexity to a dish that you cannot find in any other cuisines. Galangal

Although this knobbly root comes from the ginger family, it is lighter in colour and tastes far more peppery than ginger. There are two types of galangal: Greater Galangal (Kha) (usually known simply as galangal and looks quite similar to ginger) and Lesser Galangal (Kra-Chai). Confusingly, lesser galangal has the more pungent peppery flavour of the two. Before using fresh galangal, you will need to peel it and take off the top layer. It is then prepared either by crushing it after slicing it or by cutting it into matchstick-thin strips. 

Keffir Limes (Makrut)

These dark green limes have a bumpy, knobbly skin and smell absolutely wonderful. In Thai cooking, we only use the zest, not the juice. You can find these in Asian speciality stores.

Keffir Lime Leaves (Bai-Makrut)

These leaves originate from the wild lime tree and are used to add a distinctive citrus scent to soups and curries. Used in much the same way as bay leaves, they are widely available, and you can buy them fresh or dried. I often buy a bag of fresh ones, and freeze them. Before use, allow to defrost and gently massage between your fingers to release the essential oils.

Kitchen equipment and gadgets I can’t live without

If you equip yourself with these gadgets, you can make a Thai dish very quickly and easily:

Pestle and Mortar

A great pestle and mortar doesn’t have to be the most expensive, as long as it is granite. It’s sturdy, easy to clean, and lasts forever. I often use it really quickly to mince garlic and chilies, which are the base to many of my stir fry dishes. Crushing keffir lime leaves in the pestle and mortar also brings out the essential oil, which adds to the depth and flavour to the Thai curries.    

Food Processor

Contrary to a popular belief, I don’t make my curry pastes with pestle and mortar, as it takes ages! I used to when I was younger as it was the only kitchen equipment we could afford. But now, I use mini stainless-steel food processor religiously, from blending the pastes to whipping up a quick seafood dipping sauce.

Wok 

Jeremy Pang’s Round Bottom Wok is an essential piece of kit for any stir-fry and is great at conducting heat from a gas hob. The most important thing is to select a wok that’s suitable for your type of hob, and durable with non-stick surface. If it comes with a lid, that’s even better.

Cleaver Knife 

I invest a lot of money on a good cleaver. Gou Umanosuke Yoshihiro Chinese Cleaver is handcrafted and is guaranteed to last you a lifetime. All you need to do is keep it clean, dry, sharpen it once in a while, and you’re set.

If you like my recipes, follow us @RosasThaiCafe for my cooking videos, recipes, offers and for other fun things you can sign-up to our monthly newsletter.

A bit about Saiphin aka Rosa: The story of Rosa’s Thai Café really began in a very small town called Khao Khor (it has grown a bit since I lived there) in Phetchabun province, northern Thailand. This is where I was born into a loving, simple family – I have two sisters and one brother – and where my ancestors have been farmers for generations. I believe this set the foundation for my culinary ambitions. I was surrounded by fresh, locally grown produce that I used to cook and eat from a very young age. Fast forward 30 years, and I’ve now settled down in London. One day in 2008 I was walking up Brick Lane with my husband and we stumbled across a disused old English caff in Spitalfields called Rosa’s. We fell in love with it, as it seemed like the perfect location in which to sell my food: it was a fusion of cool, authentic London and modern Bangkok. It was to be the place where Rosa’s Thai Café was born.