How to Cook with Kaffir Limes - Kaffir Lime & Coconut Poached Chicken with Noodles

There is definitely a story behind this recipe!

We have a kaffir lime tree, and have done for a few years. We use the leaves now and then in cooking, but for quite a few years I never saw limes growing on the tree. In 2015 some friends and I went to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Live. Jamie demonstrated a few recipes, one of which he used the zest and juice of a kaffir lime. I was amazed. How do we have a kaffir lime tree and I’ve never seen a kaffir lime before? And more importantly, why aren’t we cooking with them?

When I got home I was telling Mum about the day and Jamie’s use of kaffir limes. She was shocked, she had thought kaffir limes weren’t edible. If that were true, I was sure that Jamie Oliver of all people would know that and not demonstrate the use of one in a live show. It transpired that Mum had been removing the flowers from the kaffir lime tree each year so if never went to fruit. But since we have now been educated on kaffir limes (thanks Jamie), we have had a complete glut of them! This year in particular, we’ve had at least 20 particularly large limes from our humble tree. 

While I was very excited about this, and the other citrus we have that were showing good signs of a bountiful season, I didn’t have many ideas for actually using the kaffir limes. Since we had so very many, I gave some away (along with some of the leaves). One recipient was so freaked out by them - ‘Are they meant to look like that?! They look like brains!’. I guess if you’ve never seen them before they do look pretty weird! Luckily their flavour makes up for their weird appearance.

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I knew kaffir limes worked well in South East Asian cooking, but as my mind immediately goes to ideas for baking, I tried to make kaffir lime shortbread. That was a definite no go. The sweetness of the shortbread combined with the intense citrus notes of the kaffir lime conflicted with each other so much, I wasn’t sure if I was eating something sweet or savoury. 

Once it became clear that sweet was out of the question (there goes my idea of a kaffir lime pie), I steered my thoughts back to the world of savoury cooking. Having eaten a few chicken dishes (mostly Thai) that used kaffir lime leaves, I decided to combine what I liked best about them, but also use the actual kaffir limes. And this is the result. This dish will feed 4-6 people, depending on the size of chicken breasts you use (the pieces of chicken I used ended up being particularly big, so there were lots of leftovers which I have now frozen for another day!). If you can’t get any kaffir limes, use the kaffir leaves and regular limes for the juice and zest. 

Kaffir Lime & Coconut Poached Chicken with Noodles

Ingredients for the Poached Chicken: 

x3 chicken breasts 

x2 270ml cans of light coconut milk

juice of 1/2 kaffir lime

zest of 1/2 kaffir lime 

x6 kaffir lime leaves

1 cm slice fresh ginger 

1 stalk lemongrass, outer leaves removed and cut in half

x3 stems of coriander with roots, well washed

Ingredients for the Sauce & Rice Noodles

1 tbsp vegetable oil

x3 small gloves garlic, crushed

x1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

x4 spring onions finely sliced, white part only

juice of 1/2 kaffir lime

zest of 1/2 kaffir lime

150ml chicken stock

500ml coconut poaching liquid 

1 tsp soy sauce

x1 zucchini, peeled into strips

285 g mixed beans & peas

200g packet pad thai rice noodles

x2 (or x3 small) bunches coriander, leaves & stems roughly chopped

Method: 

In a medium pot, add the chicken, coconut milk, kaffir lime zest & juice, kaffir leaves, ginger, lemongrass and coriander stems. Mix to combine then place over low heat, and loosely cover with lid. Poach the chicken for 20-30 minutes, turning over half way through. To check the chicken is cooked, cut open with a knife and check the middle of the chicken breast has cooked through. Once cooked remove from heat. 

When the chicken has cooled a little, remove from the pot and cut into chunks or slices. Reserve 500ml of the poaching liquid, then put the cut up chicken back in the pot with the remainder of the poaching liquid to keep warm. 

In a large pan on medium heat, add the vegetable oil, spring onions, garlic and chilli. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly so everything cooks evenly and doesn’t burn. Add the kaffir lime juice and zest, stock, poaching liquid, soy sauce and a couple of the kaffir lime leaves from the poaching liquid. Stir to combine, then allow to simmer for a couple of minutes. Add in most the chopped coriander and the cooked chicken. Meanwhile cook the rice noodles according to packet instructions, then add to the pan. Stir to combine, then add the zucchini, beans and peas. Mix through (using tongs is easiest), then serve with the remaining coriander. 

References: ‘Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals’ by Jamie Oliver (Penguin Group, 2010) p.88; ‘The Heart of the Home’ by Julie Goodwin (Ebury Press, 2011) p.82; Donna Hay's Coconut Poached Chicken Salad.

Shallow Fried Zucchini Flowers & Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce

These two recipes to me, scream Winter comfort food. I have made the Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce numerous times recently. The original recipe, from the Monday Morning Cooking Club’s second book ‘The Feast Goes On’, says the sauce is enough to feed six. I find when mixed with cooked pasta (any kind will do!), I can feed three or four for dinner then still have enough leftovers for three lunches. This kind of cooking makes the organised side of me very happy. Good dinner? Check! Lunch for work sorted? Check! 

When I made this pasta dish over the June long weekend, I was secretly patting myself on the back. Not only was I going to be able to feed five people at home that weekend, I might even have some leftovers for lunch the next day. Winning, right?! 

I forgot however, to take into account that my brother, who was staying that weekend, eats enough food for like two people per meal. So, no leftovers for me. And even if there were some, the likelihood of them being eaten by said brother for breakfast (yes, breakfast) the next morning would have been quite high. 

If you do make the sauce and happen to have leftovers, it will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. 

These two recipes served in the same evening, make for a great Italian style feast. I would cook the tomato sauce before, make and serve the zucchini flowers as they were ready then, cook some pasta, warm up the sauce and serve that as the main for the meal. 

A note on the zucchini flowers: The recipe for the batter can easily be doubled if you are cooking more. The zucchini flowers should be served immediately after cooking, as they are not quite the same when re-heated. 

Shallow Fried Zucchini Flowers

Ingredients: 

8 zucchini flowers 

1 ball buffalo mozzarella 

Handful basil leaves, shredded

¼ cup grana padano (or parmesan) cheese, grated 

Ingredients for the Batter: 

100g self raising flour

¾ cup ice cold water

Pinch of salt 

Vegetable oil, for frying 

Method: 

Wash and dry zucchini flowers, ensuring the insides of the flowers are free from any residual dirt and the stamens have been removed. 

Mix the basil and grated cheese together. Tear pieces off the buffalo mozzarella and use to stuff the flowers. Add some of the basil and grated cheese and twist the top of the flowers to seal. 

Prepare the batter only just before it is needed. 

To prepare the batter, gently whisk all the ingredients together with a fork (the mixture will be lumpy). 

Heat a shallow fry pan with some vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Coat the flowers in the batter, then place one at a time (or three or so at a time if using a larger pan), and allow to cook for 1 minute or so on each side. Ensure all of the batter has cooked. 

Place on paper towel to drain any excess oil after cooking, and serve immediately. 

Recipe Adapted from ‘Maggie’s Harvest’ by Maggie Beer (Penguin Group, 2007), pp. 182-3. 

Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce

2kg very ripe tomatoes 

x 2 large red onions

x 2 cloves garlic

200g dried black olives 

¼ cup capers, drained 

8 anchovy fillets, chopped 

Olive oil 

3 tbsp tomato paste 

½ cup grated parmesan cheese 

1 bunch basil (leaves only), chopped 

Method: 

Pre heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Drizzle some olive oil between two large baking trays. Roughly slice the tomatoes (approximately 1 cm slices), and divide between the two trays. Slice the onion and place one onion in each tray. Divide the black olives, capers and anchovies between the two trays. Drizzle with more olive oil crush one garlic clove over each tray, then toss all the ingredients to coat. 

Reduce the oven to 170 degrees Celsius and place both baking trays in the oven. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Cook until the tomatoes and onions have softened and reduced, and there is still some liquid left in the trays. 

Remove from oven and combine the two trays into one. Stir through the tomato paste, parmesan and basil. 

Serve with freshly cooked pasta, topped with a little extra basil and grated parmesan. 

Reference: ‘The Monday Morning Cooking Club: The Feast Goes On’ by Lisa Goldberg, Merelyn Frank Chalmers, Natanya Eskin, Lauren Fink, Paula Horwitz & Jacqui Israel (HarperCollins Publishers, 2014), p.74.

Nigella Lawson's Italian Roast Chicken

I’ve never been much of a roast chicken fan. Really, I’m not a fan of meat in general. Which is why over this cookbook challenge, when it comes to savoury options, there will be few red meat dishes (possibly none), and lots of chicken dishes. Now that I’ve said that, most of you will probably stop reading, because I’ve just told you I don’t eat almost a whole food group! 

Never fear, baking will remain the focus of this blog, so there will always be a satisfying sweet recipe around the corner. I am however, trying to add a few more savoury recipes to the blog whilst I am doing my cookbook challenge. Not only does it help out with deciding what to make for dinner on the weekend, but some cookbooks in our collection don’t have sweet or baking sections and some just don’t appeal to me. So with using ALL the cookbooks in mind, sometimes a savoury dish here and there will have to be tolerated. 

Having said that, if anyone could brighten up dinner and change my mind about roast chicken it’s Nigella. I know I’ve said this before (probably more than once), but I really love Nigella, her recipes and her love of food. I know in the past I have heard Nigella talking about how roast chicken is such a comforting dish, and up until I tried this recipe, I found it hard to agree. But now, I definitely do! 

This dish is one of those that you just know is going to be good. And once you’ve made it a couple of times, it suddenly becomes a family favourite, requested over and over again. My Mum made this recipe originally, in an attempt to actually have all members of the family eat the same thing for dinner I suspect. I was suspicious at first, but I was soon eating my words, and the chicken with gusto. 

For a while when this dish was first made, we couldn’t find the dried olives specified in the recipe. It was still a great dish, and if you haven’t tried it with the olives you won’t know what you’re missing out on. But, if you can find them, use them! They absolutely make this dish! We eventually found them at a local deli, so they are out there, and not too hard to find. 

As this recipe has been made a few times at home, we have inevitably altered it slightly. We use two small chickens, and divide the stuffing between each. One chicken of the same total weight will also be perfect. Orange capsicums can sometimes be hard to find, so substitute another yellow one to make up the difference. We often serve this chicken with garlic roast potatoes, which should be prepared and put in the oven about 30 minutes or so after the chicken goes in, so they are ready together. 

Ingredients: 

x 2 small chickens (approx. 1.5-2kg total weight), or one larger 1.5-2kg (approx.) chicken 

1 lemon, halved

4 sprigs of rosemary

3 leeks, washed and trimmed 

2 red capsicums 

1 orange capsicum 

1 yellow capsicum 

100-200g dried black olives*, (pitted if possible)

60 ml olive oil 

sea salt and pepper 

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 

Cut each leek into three (length ways), and add to a large baking/roasting pan. De-seed the capsicums, and cut into thick strips, and add to the pan.

Sit the chickens on top of the vegetables in the pan, and place half a lemon in each chicken cavity, and two sprigs of rosemary. If using one whole chicken, place both halves of the lemon, and all the rosemary in the cavity of the chicken. 

Drizzle the chickens and vegetables with the olive oil (ensuring the vegetables are fairly evenly coated), and scatter in the dried olives amongst the vegetables. Sprinkle the tops of the chickens with a little salt and pepper. 

Place in the oven for 1 - 1 1/4 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices of the chicken run clear when the flesh is cut at the thickest part of the thigh joint. 

Transfer the chickens to a carving board or plates, cover with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Place the vegetables back in the oven (reducing the oven temperature if they are well cooked), to keep warm. 

Remove the vegetables from the oven, and cut the chicken up into pieces. Toss the chicken with the vegetables in the pan and serve. 

*Nigella’s original recipe specifies 100g of olives. We often buy up to 200g as a few of us are obsessed with them! If you aren’t so keen on black olives, keep it to 100g.

Original Recipe from ‘Nigellissima’ by Nigella Lawson (Chatto & Windus, 2012), p.96 or via Nigella's website.

All cooking, styling and photography for this post by Kathryn Vincent of Kulinary Adventures of Kath. 

Chicken Sliders

I have made these once before, a couple of years ago and they were great. At the time I couldn’t find mini brioche buns, so I used small bread rolls instead. This time as luck would have it, I walked into Woolworths to get some of the ingredients I needed for this recipe, and a whole rack of mini Brioche buns were right in the entry to the shop. Though I doubt that they are the best quality (particularly as on the front of the packet it said ‘Baked by us Today’, then on the back of the packed, in much smaller writing, ‘this product has been frozen from fresh and thawed for your convenience’ - hmmm …. *insert confused emoji face*), I was excited to finally make sliders actually using mini brioche buns for once. 

If you find normal brioche buns (the ones from Brasserie Bread are particularly good), make the patties bigger to suit. 

This recipe is full of flavour, and would make a great weekend dinner. The recipe is from the book ‘Home Cooking’ by Valli Little, a book which I can actually say I have used a few times since I got it! There are some great recipes in here, notably this one. There is also a Sticky Date Tart (p.168) which is a great alternative to a sticky date pudding in the colder months. 

Valli calls these sliders ‘Bombay Sliders’, probably because of the use of spices and mango chutney in them. They are a fiery alternative to a traditional burger (or slider), and are well worth a try. 

Ingredients for the Patties:

500g chicken mince

1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped, plus extra to serve

1/3 spring onion, finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin 

1 small red chilli, seeds removed and chopped

2 cm piece of ginger, grated

1/4 cup whole egg mayonnaise

1 1/2 tbsp mild curry powder

Ingredients for the Curry Mayonnaise: 

1/2 cup whole egg mayonnaise

2 tsp mild curry powder 

1 tbsp tomato sauce/ketchup

1 tbsp Greek-style yoghurt

1 garlic clove, crushed 

olive oil, for cooking

12 mini brioche buns, cut in half and toasted (optional)

Mango chutney, to serve

Micro Salad leaves or Mixed salad leaves (chopped), to serve

Method: 

In a bowl, mix together the chicken mince and the remaining patty ingredients. Mix well, then shape into 12 small patties. Line a baking tray with baking paper, cling wrap or foil, and place patties on to the tray. Loosely cover, and chill in the fridge for half an hour. 

While the patties are in the fridge, prepare the curry mayonnaise by adding all the mayonnaise ingredients in a small bowl and mixing together. Set aside in the fridge until needed. 

Heat olive oil in a frypan over medium-high heat. Cook the patties 2 or 3 at a time (depending on the size of your pan) for 2-3 minutes per side or until cooked through. 

To serve, spread some mango chutney over the base of each bun and top with a chicken patty. Drizzle some of the curry mayonnaise over the patty and top with extra coriander, salad leaves then the remaining half of the bun. 

Use a skewer or toothpick to secure the bun together if needed. 

Recipe originally from ‘ABC Delicious Home Cooking’ by Valli Little (HarperCollins, 2012) p.14.

All baking, styling and photography for this post by Kathryn Vincent of Kulinary Adventures of Kath.

Roasted Salmon with Asparagus & Pancetta

This past week I have been searching through many of the cookbooks in our collection, trying to decide and plan what recipes I will make for my cookbook challenge. I have decided to do a few savoury recipes, which as you might have noticed, I don’t post a lot of on here. 

However, in an attempt to make an effort for dinner (at least on the weekends), I am using my cookbook challenge to try something new for dinner. Granted, some of the recipes I plan to make aren’t exactly ‘new’. They are just ‘new’ for the blog. But not only is the concept of trying something completely new every weekend a little daunting, some of the recipes we have tried before a just too good not to share here. 

This salmon recipe falls into that category. It’s from Bill Granger’s book ‘Bill’s Italian Food’, and it literally takes 10-15 minutes to cook. Which is pretty amazing I think. All the ingredients are easy to come by, and in our house are pretty much always already in the pantry/fridge/freezer. The salmon fillets I used are probably smaller than the ones specified in the recipe, however we tend to buy frozen salmon and keep it for these kinds of quick meals, and we find they are the perfect size (expect sometimes for the men of the house who often eat two fillets each). 

Roasted Salmon, Asparagus and Pancetta with Caper & Basil Mayo 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp capers, drained

8 basil leaves, chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon, plus extra wedges to serve

4 tbsp mayonnaise

4 salmon fillets, skin on (approx. 175g each)

250 g asparagus

8 slices pancetta

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper, to season 

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Mix the capers, lemon juice, mayonnaise and basil in a small bowl. Set aside. 

In a large roasting pan, place the asparagus, pancetta and salmon (skin side up). Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with the olive oil, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through (or to your liking) and the pancetta is crisp. 

Serve with the mayonnaise and wedges of lemon. 

Original recipe from ‘Bill’s Italian Food’ by Bill Granger, (HarperCollins, 2013), p.106.

All food preparation, styling and photography by Kathryn Vincent of Kulinary Adventures of Kath.

Prosciutto & Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto (Gluten Free)

This is my all time favourite risotto recipe. I have made many risottos in my time, and most of the recipes and flavour combinations I come up with are inspired by ingredients we have at home already. I know I have posted a risotto recipe before, and now I look back at it, the addition of quinoa must have been a temporary glitch in my risotto making system. I have no idea what I was thinking. 

I could happily eat this dish every night for dinner. Though I fear the daily use of prosciutto would drain my bank account rather quickly. Pancetta or (cooked) bacon would be great substitutes. Really, if you use the plain risotto recipe as a base, you can add just about anything. 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups arborio rice 

1 cup white wine 

1 litre chicken stock 

garlic oil, for cooking 

30 g parmesan cheese, grated

150 g sun-dried tomatoes, drained of oil and roughly chopped

7-8 slices of prosciutto, roughly torn 

bunch of basil, washed, and leaves roughly chopped

parmesan cheese, grated, extra for serving 

Method: 

In a large heavy based pan on medium heat, heat the garlic oil (about 1 tbsp). Add the arborio rice and stir to coat the grains. Add the white wine. Stir occasionally, and allow the wine to be mostly absorbed by the rice. 

Once most of the wine has been absorbed, add the chicken stock. Turn the heat down a little, as you don’t want to stock to boil. Place the lid of the pan on loosely. Stir occasionally, ensuring that the stock does not boil. The rice should absorb most of the stock in about 30-40 minutes. You do want this process to be slow. 

Once most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, add the parmesan cheese, tomatoes, basil and prosciutto. Stir so all the ingredients are well distributed in the risotto. Turn the heat off and leave to sit for a couple of minutes. 

Serve with an extra sprinkling of parmesan cheese.