Roasted Pumpkin Laksa

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs we're all about fresh, seasonal vegetables.  Our theme of "Veg Out!" means we get to choose any one of Nigel Slater's veggie laden recipes for the task.  Sounds easy enough, right, until you have a look at just how many such recipes Nigel has in his arsenal and try to narrow down the choice.

Today is the first day of winter here in New Zealand, so I was definitely on the lookout for something warming, and quite possibly "soupy".  When I stumbled across "A new pumpkin laksa for a cold night" in Tender, Vol. I, I knew I'd struck gold.  I'm not personally a huge fan of your run-of-the-mill pumpkin soup - it's ok, I guess, but it just doesn't excite me.  I do, however, love a good laksa, and the idea of combining the aromatic, coconut-rich broth and noodles with the sweet nuttiness of pumpkin really appealed.

Nigel says that, since first making this dish, he has constantly tweaked the recipe, taking things out and putting things in, according to mood and availability of ingredients.  He does caution, however, that this needs "to be done with care;  you don't want too many flavours going on.  Vietnamese soups such as this" (actually to the best of my knowledge a laksa is a Malaysian dish, not Vietnamese, but that's what Nigel calls it and I'm just quoting here) "are traditionally ingredient rich but should never taste confused.  By the same token to simplify it too much would be to lose the soup's generosity and complexity and therefore its point."

He goes on to say "The laksa appears complicated at first but in practice it is far from it.  Once you understand the basics, the recipe falls into place and becomes something you can fiddle with to suit your own taste.  The basic spice paste needs heat (ginger, garlic, tiny bird's eye chillies);  the liquid needs body and sweetness (coconut milk, rich stock);  the finish needs sourness and freshness (lime juice, mint, coriander).  The necessary saltiness comes from nam pla" (fish sauce) "and tamari rather than salt iteself.  These notes in place, you can feel free to include noodles, tomatoes, greens, sweet vegetables or meat as you wish.  What matters is balance."

I did make quite a few changes to this recipe.  Whilst I am normally one to be stripping recipes back and simplifying them as much as I can, in this case I did up the ante a bit on a number of fronts, which did make the dish a little more complicated (not much), but it was truly worth it.  Firstly, the pumpkin.  Nigel suggests steaming the pumpkin, but I was imagining the pumpkin replacing the fried cubes of tofu you might ordinarily find in a laksa, and decided that tossing it with a little sesame oil and roasting it was the way to go.  I also added a shallot, some whole toasted coriander and cumin seeds, a few macadamia nuts, a couple of kaffir lime leaves, and some ground turmeric, coriander and cumin to the curry paste.  I wanted an extra punch of heat, so added in some red curry paste.  I served this with rice vermicelli, and some blanched bok choy and bean sprouts.  Chunks of cucumber, shredded Chinese cabbage, halved hard-boiled eggs, shredded leftover chicken, cubes of fried tofu, or prawns would all be great options for a few alternative add-ins.

This laksa was perfect for a cold winter evening.  The sweet, soft, nutty pumpkin, silky rice noodles, crispy bok choy and bean sprouts, all bathed in a gorgeously fragrant, coconut-rich broth, was a symphony of flavours and textures, and even though I did a little bit extra for this dish it was hardly arduous work.  I will definitely make this again.

Roasted Pumpkin Laksa
Adapted from recipe by Nigel Slater
from Tender, Vol. I
Makes 4 generous servings
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

350-400g (12-14 oz) pumpkin
olive oil
sesame oil
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

for laksa paste:
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3-4 small, hot, red chillies (remove seeds if you want to moderate heat)
1 shallot, peeled & roughly chopped
3x cloves garlic, peeled & roughly chopped
thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled & roughly chopped
2x stalks of lemongrass, outer leaves discarded & inner stalk roughly chopped
generous bunch of fresh coriander, stems & leaves, roughly chopped
2x kaffir lime leaves, central stem discarded & leaves roughly chopped
small handful of macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon sesame oil

sunflower oil
2 tablespoons red curry paste (I used Asian Home Gourmet brand)

for broth:
sunflower oil
sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2-1/2 cups chicken stock
1x can coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
juice of 1x lime

to finish:
noodles of your choice
shredded bok choy
bean sprouts
fresh coriander, roughly chopped
fresh mint leaves

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Peel and de-seed pumpkin, and cut into bite-sized chunks.  Put pumpkin pieces into a small bowl.  Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, and cautious drizzle of sesame oil, along with a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.  Toss everything together until pumpkin is well coated with oil and seasonings.  Tip pumpkin out onto an oven tray lined with baking paper, and bake in the preheated oven until golden and just tender - this will probably take around 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and keep warm.

To make the laksa paste, begin by toasting the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry pan until fragrant and slightly coloured.  Remove from pan and add to blender or food processor, along with chillies, shallot, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, fresh coriander, lime leaves, macadamia nuts, and sesame oil.  Blitz until you have a rough paste.

Heat a generous slosh of sunflower oil (about a tablespoon) in a large, deep pan set over medium heat.  Add red curry paste to the pan, and cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes until the paste is fragrant and "burnished" (but not burnt!!).  Remove paste from pan and set aside.

Return pan to the heat with another generous slosh of sunflower oil, and a slightly more restrained slosh of sesame oil.  Add ground coriander, turmeric and cumin to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the laksa paste to the pan, and cook for several more minutes, stirring constantly, until the paste is very fragrant and almost a little "jammy".  Stir in the red curry paste, chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce and lime juice.  Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for several minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare noodles according to package instructions, and blanch the bok choy and bean sprouts.

To serve, add noodles to deep bowls.  Top with bok choy, bean sprouts and roasted pumpkin.  Pour over the hot broth, and finish with some fresh coriander and mint leaves.

Serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater a little better, and to see all the other veggie strong dishes that are on the menu this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... or check out Tender, Vol. 1 and Nigel's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum, and at Cook Your Books hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours.

               

And for just a little more sharing "love", I'm sharing this post at Cooking with Herbs, created by the lovely Karen at Lavender & Lovage, and hosted this month by Lancashire Food.

Pan Fried Tarakihi with Green Chilli Noodle Salad

Some of you might recall that when I put up last week's post for this fabulous Salmon with Mango, Edamame & Pink Grapefruit Salad, I was waxing lyrical about the latest summer issue of Donna Hay magazine.  Now, I'm the first person to admit that I will often buy a foodie magazine such as this, spend hours reading it cover to cover, and then, often as not, actually end up making nothing from it.  Not so this issue.  I have already made several dishes, and have several more bookmarked.  Although this is the summer issue, there is plenty on offer here that will still be perfect now that we're drifting into slightly cooler autumnal weather.  In fact, I recommend buying this issue for the Beetroot Salmon Gravlax with Tahini Flatbread alone - soooooo ridiculously good (and ridiculously easy to make), I've made it three times in the last two weeks - I just can't get enough of it.  Seriously, as soon as you've finished reading this post, rush out and buy a copy before they're all gone.  If you live in Australia or New Zealand, it's a pretty small investment, and well worth every penny.  A bit more extravagant, I know, if you live in the northern hemisphere, but if you have an iPad you can get it online for a fraction of the price.  And, don't just take my word for it ... ask Sidewalk Shoes ... Pam reckons it's worth every pixel too.

Anyway, all of that was a very round about way of telling you that when it came to choosing a recipe for this week's theme of "Noodles, Noodles, Everywhere!", this magazine was the first place I turned.  Actually, not just in this mag, but in her vast array of books, Donna has so many noodle dishes on offer that it was hard to choose.  Broaden the scope of that to include pasta as well, and you'll find that she literally has dozens and dozens of quick and easy, yet inspiring, dishes to tempt your tastebuds.

Still, I'm digressing a little again .. back to the "issue" at hand (ok, I know that was bad - really, really bad - but I just couldn't resist).  I happened to have a nice piece of fresh tarakihi on hand, so I wanted something "noodley" to accompany it.  Donna's crispy skinned fish and green chilli noodle salad seemed perfect.

I'm not going to reproduce the recipe here exactly, as I didn't make any changes to it, and actually you really don't need to be too attached to specific quantities here.   Begin by putting some rice vermicelli noodles in a bowl and covering with boiling water, allowing to stand until the noodles are soft (about 5 minutes).  Drain and refresh under cold water.  Mix together fish sauce, lime juice, caster sugar and chopped green chillies (leave seeds in or remove according to your tastes) - taste and adjust according to the salty, sour, sweet, and hot balance that suits your palate.  Using a peeler, shred carrot and telegraph cucumber into long, thin ribbons.  Add vegetables and noodles to the bowl of dressing and toss everything well to combine.  Pan fry fish in a little peanut oil until cooked through.  Arrange noodle salad in serving bowls, top with the fish, and sprinkle over chopped salted peanuts and fresh, chopped coriander.  (You can find the original recipe on page 39 of the magazine.)  Great flavours, great textures - definitely a make again dish.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous noodle dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

(End of) Summer Rolls

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs we begin cooking with Mark Bittman, best known for his books How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, as well as his regular column in the New York Times.  (As an aside - many of you may find his article this week on Eating Sustainable Fish particularly interesting.)  I love Mark Bittman's food philosphy of - as he puts it - "lessmeatarianism", which is totally consistent with my own - the notion that if we all ate a bit less meat then both the environment and our bodies would be a whole lot better for it.  I also love the way his recipes offer more a simple basic guide which you can springboard off in all sorts of different directions, and suggesting lots of different alternatives, rather than a strict set of instructions that need to be adhered to or failure will surely ensue.  This is my kind of cooking.

For our first week our theme is "Bites of Bittman" - think appetisers, nibbles, tapas - and I chose to make his Summer Rolls from the How to Cook Everything book.  Even though summer has now really passed here, our autumn days are still warm and golden and I thought these would be perfect for an "end of summer" appetiser ... or light lunch ... which is actually how I enjoyed them.  Mark's original recipe makes 8 rolls - I'm only giving you instructions here for 4, but you really don't need precise quantities for these, and it is easy to multiply to make any quantity you like.  I think that actually 3 rolls would make a perfect size appetiser for two people - I actually ate three rolls on my own for lunch - which may seem excessive, and I will readily admit to being greedy, but these are very light and I didn't feel as though I had over-indulged.

Some variations I made - Mark suggests using some aioli in the rolls, which would indeed be very nice, but as I had some leftover lemon tarragon mayonnaise that I had made a few days ago I used that instead and I think that made a very pleasing alternative.  I'm not giving you a precise recipe for that here, but it is really nothing more than a simple one-egg mayonnaise with plenty of lemon juice and chopped tarragon added.  Yes you could add those things to a store-bought mayo if you must, but really why would you when making your own is so incredibly easy, tastes so much better and, to me, is still probably the most exciting thing I ever do in the kitchen - there is something about the alchemy which enables an egg yolk when mixed with a little bit of liquid and some oil to emulsify into something so wonderful that never ceases to thrill me - it's just like magic.  But I digress.  

I also added some avocado to the rolls, which really added a nice creaminess, and as I didn't have any regular mint I used some Vietnamese mint instead.  Coriander or Thai basil would also be wonderful in these.

I used up some leftover Soy Chicken (made from the Donna Hay "Seasons" book), but as Mark suggests roast pork would be good in these, or I think they would be positively sublime with some crispy skinned roast duck which is what I intend to try next time.  Hot-smoked salmon would also be a nice addition, both texturally and flavourwise.

Bittman also suggests serving these with a Peanut Dipping Sauce, which would be great.  I should have taken that advice - being a little bit lazy I tried a dipping sauce of fish sauce, soy, sugar and chilli paste.  After a couple of dunks of that, I just felt it was a bit too overpowering for the "delicate" flavours of the filling, so I put that to one side and had a few dips into a bit more of that mayo that was leftover ... perfect!

Summer Rolls Recipe

Adapted from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything"

Makes 4 rolls

Gluten free

Click here for a printable copy

4 rice paper wrappers (10 inch)

shredded lettuce, such as butterhead, about 1 cup

rice vermicelli noodles, about 1 cup

shredded cold meat, about 1 cup:

chicken, pork or duck

aioli or mayonnaise, about 1/3 cup

fresh herb sprigs:

mint or coriander or Vietnamese mint or Thai basil

8 cooked shrimp, cut in half lengthwise

1/2 avocado, thinly sliced

Begin by assembling and preparing all your ingredients, and then make each of your rolls one at a time - don't try going for some kind of assembly line technique.  Take care not to "overfill" your rolls, and - a bit like making crepes - the first one might not be perfect, but you will quickly get the hang of it.

Firstly, cook your rice vermicelli according to the directions on the packet.  I soaked mine in  a pan of hot water for about 5 minutes to soften, then put the pan over heat to boil - about 2 minutes - or until cooked.  Immediately drain and refresh in cold water.

Meanwhile, shred lettuce, slice avocado and chicken, tear up herbs (if leaves are large), and cut shrimps in half lengthways (so they are not too fat).

Now it's time to assemble.  Spread a damp tea towel out on your bench.  Fill a shallow bowl (at least as wide as your rice paper wrappers) with hot water and also set that on the bench.  Working one at a time, soak a wrapper in the hot water until you feel it go soft (this really just takes a few seconds), then lay it out on your tea towel.

Then begin to fill.  Imagine a line running crosswise through the middle of the wrapper.  Position your filling below that line (in the half closest to you), keeping filling about one inch in from each side.  I started with some of the rice vermicelli noodles first, and then some of the chicken on top of that.

Next add the shredded lettuce, herbs, avocado and mayonnaise.

Lastly add the shrimp.

Then comes the fun part - beginning to roll.  Firstly fold the sides in over the filling.

Then fold the piece of the wrapper closest to you up and over the filling.

Then roll up, et voila ...!

  and

both available from Amazon, Book Depository UK, and Fishpond NZ

Chargrilled Calamari, Asparagus & Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

Once summer comes I whole-heartedly embrace "salad season". By this I mean a substantial salad which on its own constitutes a meal - such is my idea of the perfect summer meal!

Such a salad should, in my opinion, contain firstly some protein - this could come in the form of:

• Cheese - grilled haloumi, feta, blue cheese, brie, soft goats-milk cheeses, bocconcini or mozzarella are all great in salads

• Poultry - try chicken, duck or quail

• Fish and seafood - salmon, smoked white fish, prawns, lobster, crab, squid, mussels are all wonderful additions to any salad

• Meat - personally I don't use much meat in my salads other than perhaps some chorizo sausage or some crispy prosciutto or pancetta, but you could certainly experiment with the inclusion of some rare lamb or beef

• Nuts and seeds - I like cashews, pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds

• Pulses - try chickpeas, lentils, cannellini beans, lima beans, borlotti beans

• And yes, if you must, tofu - I have to say it definitely wouldn't find its way into any salad of mine, but it would certainly be a good inclusion for those whose gastronomic ethos doesn't extend to the consumption of various other forms of protein and, apparently, some people even like it.

Secondly, I like a grain of some sort - noodles, pasta, rice, quinoa, couscous, croutons are a few suggestions. It is useful to know, if your diet doesn't include any animal products, that pulses combined with grains form a complete protein.

Thirdly, a great meal in a salad should have great texture and colour - consider the inclusion of some fruit (fresh or dried) and fresh herbs (mint, coriander, flat-leaf parsley, basil, tarragon are all wonderful in salads).

And lastly, your salad should have a great dressing which pulls the whole meal together - it's the dressing which really balances out all the ingredients you have chosen for your salad and creates beautiful layers of flavour.

Above all, don't be afraid to experiment and come up with your own wonderful creations. Like all experimenting in the kitchen, not everything will be a success, but along the way you will learn a great deal about flavours and textures that work well together, and you will without doubt get many pleasant surprises.

This particular salad was an exceptionally happy marriage of several things in my fridge and pantry that needed to be used up: a bag of calamari rings in the freezer, remains of a packet of Thai rice sticks in the pantry, a red chilli, half a bag of spinach, a bunch of asparagus, a handful of cashew nuts, an orange (in actual fact, if I'd been "planning" this salad I would have used a pink grapefruit, but an orange is what I had), and the remains of the Wagamama dressing from my last post. I didn't have any on hand at the time, but some fresh herbs would have made this perfect - coriander, mint, Thai basil or Vietnamese mint would have been ideal.

A word of caution: although this salad was a wonderful assemblage of some leftovers that I happened to have on hand, you do still need to think a little carefully about what you're putting into your salad - it shouldn't just become a "dumping ground" for everything you need to use up. That said, give this salad a try and go ahead and create some great salads of your own, and if you come up with a favourite of your own I would love to hear about it - leave me a comment or contact me by email - I really love to hear what's happening in your kitchen.

Chargrilled Calamari, Asparagus & Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

Click here for printable copy of this recipe

Gluten free

Makes 2 generous servings

300g calamari rings

100g Thai rice sticks (or other rice noodles)

1x red chilli, de-seeded and sliced

6-8 asparagus stalks

1x pink grapefruit (or orange)

handful of cashew nuts (roasted, unsalted)

2x generous handfuls of baby spinach

olive oil

salt and pepper

fresh coriander or mint, approx 2T

Wagamama dressing from last post

Cook noodles in boiling water until soft, around 6-8 minutes. Drain and rinse well in cold water. Place in a bowl or spread on a serving platter.

Snap woody ends off asparagus stalks, toss with a little olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt, then cook on a hot grill pan until lightly charred and just tender (but still with some bite). Alternatively, feel free to simply steam your asparagus if you prefer. Cut spears into 2-3 pieces.

Similarly, toss calamari rings with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and cook on a hot grill pan - this will take barely a couple of minutes.

Strew spinach leaves over the noodles.

Remove all skin and pith from the grapefruit. Then remove the segments of flesh from in between the membranes - do this holding the fruit over the spinach so that as you go the juice goes into the salad. Once all the fruit has been removed, squeeze the membrane over the salad to extract any remaining juice.

Distribute asparagus and grilled calamari evenly over the top of the noodles, spinach and grapefruit. Pour the dressing over everything, then sprinkle cashew nuts, chilli and chopped herbs over the top.