Thai Chicken Salad

Summer is here for us over in Canada, which means salad season in my house. Most people have salad as an accompaniment say with a BBQ steak or piece of chicken....usually boring and forgettable...right! You all know what I'm talking about, iceburg lettace, tomato wedges, cucumber and bottled dressing from the store poured over it. Let me save you from this mundane side dish and introduce to you to a world of possibilities when it comes to salads.

I love the fresh flavours of thai food, actually anything with an asian influence is my kind of food. What I particularly like about this salad is the combination of flavours and textures. The shredded chicken soaks up the dressing and is the delicate softness this dish needs. The crispness from the shredded lettace, carrot and celery is lovely and the surprise is the apple is sweet and crunchy. Fresh cilantro (corriander) is what bring's everything to life and the gentle heat of the dressing is so amazing, you just want more and more.

Thai Chicken Salad

1 baby cos lettace, shredded

2 chicken breasts, poached and shredded

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into fine matchstick pieces

1 small apple, peeled and cut into fine matchstick pieces

2 stalks of celery, finely sliced

2 mini cucumbers (or 1/2 a large english cucumber), cut in half and finely sliced

1/4 meduim red onion, finely sliced

1/2 cup cilantro (corriander)leaves

2 tblsp finely chopped unsalted peanuts

3 tblsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp fish sauce

2 tsp brown or palm sugar

1/2 tsp sambal oelek (ground chilli paste)

To poach the chicken, place the chicken in a saucepan and fill up with cold water (enough to cover both chicken breasts). Bring to the boil, then turn off heat and let it sit for 30-35 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes the either using your hands or a fork, shred the chicken, set aside.

Place the lettace, chicken, carrot, apple, celery, onion, cucmber, cilantro in a large bowl.

To make the dressing, put the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and sambal oelek in a jar with a tight lid and shake until the sugar has dissovled.

Pour dressing over salad, toss gently ( I use my hands so I can get the dressing evenly coated), then divide between two bowls, and sprinkle the peanuts on top.

Notes:

If your knife skills aren't great or you need to throw this together quickly just grate the carrot and apple, it's just as good. Also I used a gala apple, of course you can use any apple you like I just suggest that you don't use a granny smith, it's too tart for this recipe, you need the sweetness from an apple like a gala.

Rhubarb, Apple Pie

It's rhubarb season! And my husband is so happy. It's one of his favourite's, so today while I was at the supermarket with my little girl we spotted some lovely big stalks of rhubarb and just had to pop them in our basket. I tossed up between a crumble or a pie, but when I saw I had apples as well, I decided to combine them and make a rhubarb, apple pie.

My favourite pie has to be apple, so I decided to move away from the ever popular rhubarb and strawberry combo, and merge my apple pie flavours with the rhubarb. I think we have a winner people! You get the tartness and sweetness from both the apples and rhubarb (which is let's face it why we love rhubarb so much), and the hint of orange is just lovely. I always put orange zest and juice in my apple pies, and decided to see how it would go with this recipe.....amazing!

I have to say this is the best pie dough I've ever made. I have learned through trial and error that the less you handle the dough the flakier the crust, and it holds it's form so much better. I know people say the secret to a goood pie dough is lard, but I just can't bring myself to do it. So I just add more good old fashioned butter, and make sure that everything is super cold. I think it turns out just as good as a butter and lard recipe.

Rhubarb, Apple Pie

4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb, 1 inch (2.5cm) cubes

2 cups of peeled, chopped granny smith apple, 1 inch (2.5cm)
cubes

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp orange zest

2 tblsp orange juice

1 tblsp chopped butter

1 egg, lightly whisked

1 heaped tblsp raw sugar

PIE DOUGH

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cold butter, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup icy cold water

　

To make the dough, put flour and salt into a large bowl or food processor. Add butter and either pulse food processor until butter is the size of peas or using a pastry cutter or a knife cut butter into flour.

Slowly add the cold water using a fork to stir until the dough forms a rough ball. You may not need all the water, you may need a touch more. Just add it bit by bit so as not to make a sloppy sticky dough, it should just come together with a few flour crumbs remaining. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

For the filling, put the rhubarb, apple, flour, sugar, salt, orange zest and juice and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir to combine, set aside.

Once dough has rested in the fridge, cut in half and roll 1 half of the dough on a lightly floured bench top. Roll out to about 1/8 of an inch (3mm) thickness and large enough to cover the base of your 9inch (23cm) pie dish. Place rolled out dough in dish and let excess hang over the sides. Pour the filling in and dot with the tablespoon of extra butter. Using a pastry brush, brush the lightly beaten egg on the edge of the dough so the top piece will stick.

Take the other half of the dough and roll out just like the previous piece. Lay on top of filling and lightly press the dough together around the rim of the dish. Using a sharpe knife, cut the excess dough off by keeping the blade touching the lip of the pie dish. Then either using your fingers or a fork pinch the dough together on the edges. Brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with the raw sugar.

Place the pie dish on a lined baking sheet and bake on the bottom rack of your oven at 425f (220c) for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350f (180c) for 45-50 minutes. Let the pie cool on a rack.