rugby & recipe

well we watched the rugby last night prior to service and for the second time the night went off like a damp squib. nothing to do with the food, which is good on this menu, but elation and its concomitant adrenaline, followed by dejection are not conducive to an "up there" service. the food, as i said is good and i shall be sharing recipes for the beetroot gnocchi and the tea-smoked almond pesto again. for now i would like to put up the recipe for an old favourite, one that has appeared on a few menu and may be making a comeback some time soon. it's the indonesian stir-fry with peanut sauce. the key to this recipe is the sauce and the final cooking and i'll not bore you with the chopping of the different veg. the sauce is made from a red thai curry paste, we make our from red chillis, garlic, shallots, lemon grass, ginger, coriander leaf, tamarind paste, jaggery, lime leaves, lime zest and lime juice. oh and oil. blitz it up in a blender for a really good consistency, a food processor produces a mix which is ok but a little bit bitty. anyway back to the sauce,

fry an onion in a little oil until translu(s)cent (does this have an s or not?) then add some curry paste, say a couple of heaped tablespoons. fry for a couple of minutes then add some unsalted skinned peanuts(say 200g), peanut butter will not do unless its a very good one with no sugar added and even then its not as good. let the peanuts have a couple of minutes, stirring frequently, then add a tin of coconut milk and cook for another couple of minutes. allow to cool then blend until smooth. to cook, fry your veg then add your noodles (we use udon noodles because they are simple) and a splash of rice wine veineagr and soy sauce. this is very important because these add a depth to the finished flavour. allow this to reduce a little then add as much peanut sauce as you want. hey presto, dinner is served.

cheers

wayne