SRC - Chicken and Apple Rice Paper Rolls

Well it's reveal day for Group D of the Secret Recipe Club! This month I was delighted to be given Natural Noshings by Nora. I came across Nora's blog quite a few months ago and had already flagged a number of recipes to make.

We have been making a real effort over the past 6 months or so to cut out processed foods and remove refined sugar from our diet. We have a pantry full of oats, coconut oil, chia seeds, natural nut butters and raw cacao. Natural Noshings has some amazing recipes that are gluten free and use real whole ingredients with nothing artificial or processed in sight.

I have bookmarked some of the sweet treats to make like the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Bites (which will be the perfect after kindy snack for my 4 year old) and the Healthy Nutella (which my peanut butter loving 2 year old will go nuts for - pun intended!).

Yet again though I have chosen to make a main because quite simply I couldn't go past these. Nora calls them spring rolls but in Australia spring rolls use a different wrapper and are baked or fried. We call these rice paper rolls. But really whatever you call them they are little parcels of deliciousness!

Adding the apple was a stroke of genius. The sweetness of red apple paired with the chicken and peanut sauce was fantastic. My kids adored these. Well actually Charlie my 2 year old couldn't be convinced that the rice paper wrappers were actually edible so he just ate the fillings and lots of sauce.

The original recipe had apple and cabbage but as usual I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some extra veges into the kids. All the colours of the rainbow crammed into something they can roll up and dip in a yummy sauce (my version of the sauce has a few extra flavours added). All in all a healthy and delicious dinner!

Apple and Chicken Rice Paper Rolls with Peanut Sauce 
Adapted from Spring Rolls on Natural Noshings

For the rolls:
12 rice paper wrappers
4 small chicken thighs (marinated in a little soy sauce and sesame oil then baked and cut into strips
1 medium red apple, sliced into matchsticks
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 medium avocado, sliced thinly
1 small red capsicum, thinly sliced
½ bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped

For the peanut sauce:
3 tablespoons hot water
3 tablespoons peanut butter (mine was smooth, all natural)
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice malt syrup
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon sesame oil

To prepare the sauce, place all the ingredients in a small jug and whisk to combine.

To prepare the rice paper rolls, fill a large shallow bowl with just warm water. Working with one wrapper at a time, submerge it in the water and allow to soften (about 30 seconds) turning once or twice. Carefully remove from water and lay flat on a damp tea towel.

Half way between the centre of the wrapper and the edge closest to you, layer on some carrot, capsicum, avocado, chicken, apple and chopped coriander, leaving a gap of about an inch on each side.

Take the edge closest to you and fold it over the filling. Roll it once more and then fold the shorter left and right sides inward, like you would a burrito. Then continue wrapping and rolling until sealed. Place on serving platter, leaving a little room between them as they will stick together.

Repeat with remaining wrappers and serve with the peanut sauce!

Daring Cooks November - Sushi

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

Yay, sushi! While I'm not exactly a sushi connoisseur (I'm not a raw fish fan - it's a textural thing) I have made it a number of times at home. This meant I already had the rice, mats, vinegar etc and was ready to get started.

Our challenge this month had 4 elements - first the sushi rice itself, which we then made into 3 different end products. I followed the recipe to the letter and have to say my rice turned out better than it ever has before.

First up - Dragon Roll ...

My dragon roll filled with delicious terriyaki chicken and topped with sliced avocado.

And turned into a dragon. Grrrr!

Yes, I am aware my dragon looks like it was made by a 3 year old. Let's pretend it was!

Next, Spiral Sushi Roll ...

I think I rolled these the wrong way because they look like the regular sushi rolls I buy all the time. Very tasty though, filled with terriyaki chicken, avocado, cucumber, carrot, omelette and sesame seeds.

And last, bite sized Ngiri ...


I made two varieties of these, one with smoked salmon and the other with omelette and nori. Yum!

I won't post the recipes here as they are really long, but you can find a printable PDF version here.

Thanks for a wonderful challenge Audax and Rose!

Daring Cooks October - Vietnamese Pho

Daring Cooks time again!

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

I was really excited about this month's pick, not only because it was chosen by Jaden but also because I love Vietnamese food! It is definitely my favourite Asian cuisine - fresh, fragrant and flavoursome. That being said, I've never actually had pho before.

We were given the option of doing either a long or short version of the dish. I originally chose the short version (which uses a premade stock) because I intended to make it again later in the month. Unfortunately I ran out of time but no matter, we will definitely be having this again!

I only made minor changes to the recipe, using chicken thighs because I feel they have more chickeny flavour, and using vermicelli noodles instead of the wider rice stick ones.

The taste test ...

Well, I didn't pick the best day to make soup for dinner. It was a hot and sticky 35 degrees in Brisbane that day, definitely not soup weather but it didn't matter. This was AMAZING! For really very little effort and a short list of ingredients we had a phenomenal meal. Light, fragrant and absolutely packed with flavour. I was also impressed with how clear the broth remained even after simmering the chicken. All I can think is if it tastes this good using purchased stock, it must be unbelievably good with homemade. I can't wait to try!

Vietnamese Chicken Pho

For the Chicken Pho Broth:
2 tbsp. whole coriander seeds
4 whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 litres store-bought or homemade chicken stock
1 whole chicken breast (bone in or boneless)
½ onion
7.5 cm chunk of ginger, sliced and smashed with side of knife
1 to 2 tbsps. sugar
1 to 2 tbsps. fish sauce
500 grams dried rice noodles (about ¼ inch/6 mm wide)

Accompaniments:
2 cups bean sprouts, washed and tails pinched off
Fresh cilantro (coriander) tops (leaves and tender stems)
½ cup shaved red onions
½ lime, cut into 4 wedges
Sriracha chili sauce
Hoisin sauce
Sliced fresh chili peppers of your choice

Directions:

To make the Chicken Pho Broth: heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the coriander seeds, cloves and star anise and toast until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately spoon out the spices to avoid burning.

In a large pot, add all the ingredients (including the toasted spices) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes, skimming the surface frequently. Use tongs to remove the chicken breasts and shred the meat with your fingers, discarding the bone if you have used bone-in breasts.

Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or sugar, if needed.

Strain the broth and discard the solids.

Prepare the noodles as per directions on the package.

Ladle the broth into bowls. Then divide the shredded chicken breast and the soft noodles evenly into each bowl.

Have the accompaniments spread out on the table. Each person can customize their own bowl with these ingredients.

A big thank you to Jaden for introducing us to pho!

You can find the long version of the recipe here.

Daring Cooks June - Potstickers

I was both excited and daunted by this month's challenge. Not only because of the recipe itself but because it was chosen by the ever awesome Jen from Use Real Butter! We don't have potstickers as such in Australia, so to me these are modified dim sims. But whatever you call them they were in a word ... sensational!

The dough was a lot easier to work with than I thought. I made a double batch to cover the amount of filling and ended up with 40, half fried and half steamed. One discrepancy I noticed was that the recipe stated to use a tablespoon of filling for each one. I found just 1 teaspoon of filling per potsticker used up all the filling and dough perfectly, no leftovers.

The taste test ...

These were absolutely scrumptious! Of the 2 I preferred the potstickers over the steamed dumplings because of the contrasting textures but both were delicious. I made the dipping sauce with all the optional extras and it was the perfect accompaniment. I will definitely be making these again!

Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers

pork filling:
1 lb (450g) ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried - rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup (75g) bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 (55g) cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp (40g) soy sauce
2 tbsp (28g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch OR

shrimp filling:
1/2 lb (225g) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1/2 lb (225g) ground pork
3 stalks green onions, minced
1/4 cup (55g) ginger root, minced
1 cup (142g) water chestnuts, minced
1 tsp (5g) salt
3 tbsp (40g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

dough:
(double this for the amount of filling, but easier to make it in 2 batches - or just halve the filling recipe)
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for worksurface

dipping sauce:
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
a few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

Make the dough, Method 1:

Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).

Make the dough, Method 2 (my mom’s instructions):

In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Both dough methods:

Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders.

On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges.

Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side (see images in post for how to fold pleats). Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float. To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes.

To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

To freeze: Assemble dumplings on a baking sheet so they are not touching. It helps to rub the base of the dumpling in a little flour before setting on the baking sheet for ease of release. Freeze for 20-30 minutes until dumplings are no longer soft. Place in ziploc bag and freeze for up to a couple of months. Prepare per the above instructions, but allow extra time to ensure the filling is thoroughly cooked.

To serve: Serve dumplings or potstickers hot with your choice of dipping sauce combinations.

Sesame Chicken with Ginger Rice

This is one our favourite chicken dishes and the bonus is that it's light, healthy and full of flavour. But be warned, if you don't like ginger, DO NOT make this recipe! Or at least cut down the amount of fresh ginger. The ginger beer sounds strange but it creates beautifully sticky, fragrant rice that is tasty enough to eat on its own. We always make double the recipe so there is enough for lunch the next day.

Sesame Chicken with Ginger Rice
Adapted from Simply Healthy, 1999, p82

500g chicken breast
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon rice wine
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce (I leave this out because it contains MSG)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, chopped finely
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup short grain rice
330ml ginger beer
1 teaspoon diced pickled ginger ( I leave this out because it is full of artificial colours etc)
1 tablespoon finely chopped spring onions

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan for 2-3 minutes.Combine sesame seeds, rice wine, honey, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil together in a large bowl to create the marinade. Cut the chicken into large strips and place in the marinade for 1 hour or overnight.

For the rice, place the fresh ginger and sesame oil in a large saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes and then add the rice. Stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the ginger beer and the pickled ginger. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and cover. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. (We always make ours in a rice cooker and it works perfectly. Just remember to follow the recommendations given in the manual - usually 1:1 rice to liquid for white rice).

While the rice is cooking, thread the chicken onto skewers and then BBQ or grill for 10-15 minutes, brushing with the marinade as they cook. (We don't normally skewer the chicken, just cook it in a large fry pan in batches).

To serve, spoon rice into serving bowls and top with chicken pieces. Sprinkle over sliced spring onions and tasted sesame seeds. Serve with greens. Yum!

Serves 4.

10 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup

This doesn't really qualify as a recipe, more of a 'meal idea'. Basically it's a 10 minute soup perfect for a cold winter's night. You can put in just about anything you like but always remember to taste the broth to make sure the flavours are balanced.

10 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup

2 L chicken stock (if not making it yourself, use a salt-reduced one)
1 pack soba noodles
500g chicken fillets (I use tenderloins - no cutting required!)
1-2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 thumb size piece of ginger, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced finely
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends removed and sliced on diagonal
1 tbs tamari (or other soy sauce)
a few drops of sesame oil
1 small red chili, chopped finely
1 bunch fresh coriander

Cook the soba as per directions and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large pot place the chicken stock, garlic, ginger, onion and chili. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to medium. Add the tamari and sesame oil and stir to combine.

Add the chicken pieces and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the asparagus and any other veges you like and simmer until both chicken and vegetables are cooked through (a couple of minutes max).

Refresh the noodles in hot water then drain and divide into serving bowls. Top each serve with a few chicken pieces and some vegetables. Ladle over the broth. Top with freshly chopped coriander.

Enjoy!