A Vagabond Life - Food

Tom Yam Pla This fantastic spicy yet sour soup is simply delicious! Ingredients 1.5 litres chicken or fish stock 4 whole roasted shallots 3 kaffir lime leaves, torn 1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 3 cm lengths   300g fish, scaled, gutted and cut into fillets (or cheat as I do and buy fish fillets - make sure it is a firm white fish.  4 crispy fried dried red chillies 1 shallot, sliced 3 blades corriander 1-2 tablespoons fish sauce 2-3 limes, juiced 2 tablespoons tamarind juice Method In a pot, add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the roasted shallots, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the fish fillets and simmer until just cooked. Add the chillies, shallot and coriander. Cook for 5 minutes. Season the soup with the fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind juice. Just before serving, adjust the seasoning, it may need more stock, lime juice or fish sauce. The Thai people eat this soup ...

Ingredients 1 kg mussels 3 cups red wine 4 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped finely 1 red chilli finely sliced 1 tablespoon crushed garlic 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tomato chopped Handful of freshly chopped oregano Spring fresh thyme freshly ground black pepper Method Clean and beard the mussels discarding any that are open of cracked.  Give any that are open a good tap before opening discarding them - it they close they are ok if they remain open do not use. In a large sauce pan combine the wine and butter and bring to a gentle boil.  Add the herbs, chilli and garlic and give a good stir. Add the tomatoes and lemon juice and cook for a moment then add the mussels and stir. Cover and cook until all the mussels have opened (about 2 -3 minutes). Dicard any mussels that have not opened. Ladle mussels into a large serving bowl and pour remaining sauce on top.

Ingredients You can add just about any herb to mussels but here is a simple recipe  like 2kg mussels 6-8 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 onion finely chopped  a small bunch of parsley, chopped finely 1 good slug white wine 1 bay leaf 1 tomato black pepper    Method Clean and beard the mussels discarding any that are open of cracked.  Give any that are open a good tap before opening discarding them - it they close they are ok ig not so not use. Place the mussels in a large saucepan then add all other ingredients. Cook on a high heat until the mussels have opened, this only takes a few minutes. Serve with lemon wedges. In France Moule Frites are very popular which is mussels with hot potato chips which are used to soak up the juice.

Ingredients 2 Dozen Oysters 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 50mL Fresh Cream Fresh Black Pepper to taste ½ Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese ½ cup Shredded Tasty Cheese ½ Lemon Cut into Wedges to Serve Method Combine the Worcestershire sauce, fresh cream and pepper in a small bowl Add a tablespoon of the sauce to each oyster Then sprinkle generously a layer of mozzarella cheese and then a layer of tasty cheese onto each oyster Place onto a tray lined with aluminium foil under a med-hot grill for approximately ten minutes or until the cheese has melted Serve with wedges of lemon!

Oysters Kilpatrick Ingredients 2 cups rock salt 12 oysters, shucked 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 100g thin rashers rindless bacon, diced 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped Lemon wedges, to serve Method: Preheat grill on medium-high heat. Place rock salt, in a thick layer, on a baking tray or heatproof plate. Arrange oysters (in their half-shells) on rock salt. Sprinkle Worcestershire sauce over oysters. Top with bacon. Grill, on the salt, for 5 to 8 minutes or until the bacon is crisp. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with lemon

Ingredients   400 ml coconut milk 4 tablespoons Thai red curry paste 3 tablespoons palm sugar  4 tablespoons fish sauce 5 kaffir lime leaves 3.5 kg fresh mussels 4 limes, 2 juiced 1 bunch coriander Method Place a heavy based saucepan on a medium heat. Add 100 mls of the coconut milk and curry paste and fry until the coconut milks spits and smells fragrant. Add sugar and fish sauce then cook for 5 minutes. Add lime leaves and remaining coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add the mussels, reduce the heat to medium then cover saucepan with a lid. Cook for about 4 minutes or until the mussels open, add the lime juice and coriander and give the pot a shake. Divide between plates and Por save over the top.

Serves 4 Ingredients Butter for greasing 1 kg firm white fish Salt Walnut Herb Crumbs 150 grams fresh breadcrumbs 150 grams walnuts finely chopped 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped 1/4 cup fresh Tarragon or Dill chopped 90 grams butter, melted Yoghurt Sauce 250 grams Greek yoghurt 1/2 teaspoon 1 large egg 1 small shallot finely chopped 2 tablespoons chives finely chopped Juice of 1 lime 1 tablespoon olive oil Sea salt Black pepper Method Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius  Make the Yoghurt Sauce In a bowl lightly whisk the egg and then add the cornflour and yoghurt and mix together. Add the chives, shallot, lime juice, oil and season with salt and pepper.  Make Walnut Crust Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix the melted butter through thoroughly.  Cut the fish into strips and remove any bones, then season with salt and pepper. Place the fish in an oven proof dish and pour the yoghurt sauce...

Ingredients 700 g salmon fillet skinned and all small bones removed 4 eggs 560 ml thick (double) cream 10 g finely chopped chervil 250 g button mushrooms 1 teaspoon lemon juice 30 g butter 1 tablespoon grated onion 2 tablespoons white wine 10 large spinach leaves 300 g smoked salmon, thinly sliced Lemon Mayonaise 1 tablespoonlemon juice grated zest of 1 lemon 250 ml mayonnaise Method Preheat the oven to 170°C. Puree the salmon fillet and eggs in a food processor until smooth. Push through a fine sieve into a glass bowl.Place over iced water and gradually mix in the cream. Stir in the chervil and season. Cover and leave in the fridge.  Dice the mushrooms and toss with the lemon juice to prevent discolouring. Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the onion, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes. Add the wine and cook until it has evaporated. Season and remove from the heat. Dip the spinach leaves in boiling water, then...

Anchoiade is a thick rich anchovy paste that can be served with either crudites or toasted bread. Ingredients 20 toil-packed anchovy fillets, drained and coarsely chopped 4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped ½ teaspoon of capers (rinsed if salted) 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar Freshly ground pepper Toasted bread, for serving Method In a food processor, puree anchovies and garlic in a blender until smooth. Add the chopped capers. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and slowly stir in the olive oil, a tablespoons at a time, until incorporated. Stir in the vinegar and season with pepper.  Images on this page are sourced from WikiCommons. For Licencing refer to Creative Commons

Bisque is luxurious and creamy soup, this version is quite simple to make and uses prawns, scallops and salmon. Ingredients 1 tbs olive oil 8 large green prawns, peeled, deveined, heads and shells reserved 1 brown onion, finely chopped 1 small carrot, finely chopped 1 celery stick, finely chopped 3 large garlic cloves, chopped 1 bay leaf 1Litre water 80ml dry white wine 55g medium-grain rice 50g tomato paste Pinch of saffron threads 375ml water, extra Salt & freshly ground black pepper 8 Tasmanian scallops, deveined 1 250g piece Atlantic salmon fillet, skinned, cut into 2cm pieces 4 sprigs fresh thyme  Method Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and the prawn heads and shells, and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes or until the shells are browned. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and bay leaf and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Discard the prawn heads but not the shells. Add the water, wine, ric...

In my humble opinion the best way to eat freshly shucked oysters is with just a squeeze of lemon juice straight out of the shell. However they are also nice served with a dressing or cooked in recipes such as oysters kilpatrick as below. Oysters with lime and chilli dressing Ingredients 1 doz. oysters 1 long red chilli 1 teaspoon of white sugar a pinch of salt 2 tbsp of lime juice 1 tbsp of fish sauce Method For a dozen oysters, seed and finely slice half a long red chilli and combine well with a teaspoon of white sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 tbsp of lime juice and 1 tbsp of fish sauce. Serve each oyster in its shell with a dash of dressing on the top. If shucking the oysters yourself, add any liquor obtained to the dressing If you prefer cooked oysters you can serve Oysters Kilpatrick Oysters Kilpatrick Ingredients 2 cups rock salt 12 oysters, shucked 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 100g thin rashers rindless bacon, diced 2 tablespoons f...