Man Flu Medication

Yes we had a spate of man-flu in our household last week. Stokesy had to have to day off from work and so I got to be Florence for the day (woohoo). Florence dispensed some hot and sour soup to blast through those blocked sinuses. It makes a great breakfast. To make Florence's man-flu-fighting soup:


Put 500ml water, 1 chicken stock cube, 1 tsp tom yam paste, 4 slices of ginger into a saucepan and heat for 5 minutes to get the flavours going. Now add 3 tbso coconut milk, shredded cabbage and sweetcorn. Heat for another 3 minutes and taste (sometimes it needs more tom yam paste ot coconut milk or stock). Eat with a wedge of lime for extra vitamin C boost.


On Day 2 of his near-death experience he needed more cheering up.....bring out the smiley faces in porridge!

Thai Pork Noodle Salad

After a celebratory evening out for Stokesy's b-day we needed a day of rest and hangover food. Some more than others, mentioning no names, but I managed to watch Basil at his track day whilst Stokesy 'rested' on the sofa.

To make this deee-licious salad you will need:

2 portions of egg noodles - cooked according to packet instructions

350g minced pork - fried until crispy

20 pods of peas, podded by your hungover boyfriend

1 handful of green beans, boiled for 4 minutes (blanched being the fancy-pants chef term)

1 red onion - finely sliced

a big handful of peanuts

2 tbsp fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Dressing -

1" ginger grated

1 clove garlic grated

1/2 red chilli
juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp peanut or sunflower oil

Combine main salad ingredients in a big bowl. Combine dressing ingredients in a jam jar and shake well. Add the dressing to the main salad, give it a good stir and leave for 5-10 minutes so that the flavours from the dressing can be absorbed by the rest of the salad. I also pour over the pan juices from cooking the pork.....mmmm yummy pig fat. *Note* if you are one of my nutrition clients then I'd prefer that you ignore that last line

Here you can see Stokesy mentally portioning out the salad.....hmmmm 2 spoonfuls for Kathryn, the rest for me.

DTL Girls - NIght out at Relish

The girls from DTL (Dept of Tourism and Leisure) came over to Relish on Friday night for some R&R. This came in the form of Massaman curry and Chocolate Truffles......plus they got to check out Stokesy in his pinny. Down girls!

We started with a chocolate tasting, well they had been at work all day, I didn't want any of them fainting on me. Next we made the curry paste and did veg prep. Then they learnt the secrets of seasoning Thai-style. A sprinkling of coriander, roasted peanuts and perfectly sliced limes completed the dish.

After dinner the girls shaped then dipped the truffles in more chocolate, making sure they did plenty of tasting along the way. Now that's what I call a Friday night!

Cookery School - Victoria's birthday

Victoria's friends (from left - Tracy, Trudi, Rosemary + Glenna) arranged a surprise birthday present for her.......for all of them to attend the cookery school for the afternoon. They had a busy session ahead of them covering......Poppy seed + blue cheese biscuits, Pea + ham tart, Massaman curry, Mini pavlovas and Chocolate truffles to finish.

The girls took on various roles. I think it's fair to say that some were more of the supervisory nature (!) whilst others were in the 'flour up to the elbows' department. Victoria got special dispensary though as she had had her nails done......oh and of course it was her birthday.

Mmmm Massaman curry. Everyone loved learning how to taste/season the curry with fish sauce/lemon/chilli/sugar at the end. Making the difference between a good curry and a great one.Here's the birthday girl...............showing off the mini pavlovas, perfectly decorated by her and Trudi.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and went home well fed and watered. When I asked Glenna what she had gained from the course, she said 'Five pounds!' hahahahaha

Red fried rice

Hmmm Monday night dinner, always a tricky one. Especially tricky when you crash out on the sofa til 9pm oops! And watching trash TV too........'How clean is your house', I love those girls.

So peeling my eyes open at 9pm and responding to my growling stomach.......modern woman hunts for leftovers in the fridge. Aha some rice (short grain brown, gorgeous texture), red curry paste (made in a large batch last week).

In a big frying pan fry this lot for 5 minutes.......the curry paste, a little coconut milk, pinch of stock powder and splash of fish sauce. Now add the rice, mix mix mix and heat very thoroughly so you don't get food poisoning. for the last couple of minutes add the prawns and some finely sliced peppers. We had this with a pile of steamed kale and a big squeeze of lime juice.

Khao soy - yellow curry

I had this dish for the first time in Thailand in November. Elbowing a little Thai granny out the way to get a seat at a very crowded food stall, then perching on a little Thai-person sized stool. Hmmm and then the problem of ordering when I don't speak Thai. Aaah but it was all worth it, Khao soy is available all over the north of the country and above is my version (hey the boyfriend made this one, nice one Stokesy!).

And for once I'll give the full recipe.....first make your paste........oh and please don't look at this and think 'it's too long, there are too many ingredients'. I taught this at my Thai cookery day and everyone got to grips with this no problem and agreed it was way easier than it seemed from the first glance at the recipe.

Yellow paste:
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp lemongrass
½ tbsp ginger, grate or finely chopped
3 large red chillies, deseeded and chopped
½ tbsp garlic, chopped
1 tbsp shallots, chopped
2½ tbsp curry powder, garam masala
½ tsp salt

Dry fry the cumin and coriander seed in a pan over a low heat. Crush in the mortar to a fine powder.
Add the lemongrass and ginger, pound until smooth. Then add the remaining ingredients and pound into a paste
NB: This can be stored in a glass jar in the fridge for 3 months

Now make your dish

2 tbsp groundnut oil
2 tbsp coconut milk
1 ½ tbsp Khao soy yellow curry paste
2 x chicken thighs, 2 x chicken legs - all bone in
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups water
100g flat egg noodles
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp fresh coriander
Add Khao soy accompaniments – lime wedges, pickled greens and finely sliced shallots

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the coconut milk and curry paste and cook over a very gentle heat to release the flavours and fragrance. Skimp on time at this stage and the flavour will be compromised.
Add the chicken, coconut milk and water and boil gently until the chicken is cooked (about 30 minutes).
Cook the noodles in boiling water according to packet instructions. Then refresh in cold water to stop them cooking too much.
Going back to your curry….Add the stock powder, sugar and fish sauce. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes then serve.
To serve: put the boiled noodles in a bowl, spoon over the curry. Garnish with coriander. Your guests should help themselves to the accompaniments and add them to their bowls.

The authentic version added deep fried noodles as a final topping but I leave that stage out because I burn them without fail.

Notes from Thailand - The Cheddi

Feeling a bit posh one day we went for afternoon tea and cocktails at the Cheddi with Helene and Ellen, again in Chiang Mai. The Cheddi was so beautiful and relaxing, with excellent service and mojitos.

For puds I had the creme brulee, to be honest I was so full already. My greed showing there...oops. The creme brulee was delicious though and accompanied by mango with basil. Seems very trendy to add basil to desserts at the moment.

At the hotel they had lovely water features with floating lanterns containing lotus flowers. Just as dusk fell a little man waded into the water and exchanged the flowers for candles. Thank you little man! What incredible attention to detail.

Notes from Thailand - mango lassi

November 2008 involved a 3 week trip to Thailand to see Stokesy's Ma, lucky Helene, who lives in Chiang Mai in the north west.


So who wants to hear about what we ate on the trip??? And see some food pics???? Course you do! I'll post them up in intervals, don't want too much excitement all at once now do we.




First up..........a cool refreshing mango lassi. Drunk at regular intervals throughout the trip. Perfectly ripe mango, cow juice, pinch of salt.......aaah. I took all these pics on my camera phone so the quality isn't great, but you get the general idea. This particular lassi was from a little Indian restaurant in Chiang Mai, they did great thalis there too. Dinner for the 3 of us was about £8. I miss Thailand :o(