Thai-tally Awesome

I hate peppers. I have always hated peppers. Except for black pepper in seasoning, I’ve never met a pepper I liked. In particular I hate bell peppers and I don’t discriminate by colour – yellow, green, red…they are all horrible. I mean really, what is it about peppers that makes them like large sweaty wife-beater wearing men on a hot, humid day…you can smell them from a mile off and they permeate everything they come near.

Now chili peppers are a slightly different story for me. I’d been under the assumption these too would be my Public Enemy #1. However, in the past year or so I’d noticed I didn’t really mind if I saw little flecks of red in my food – it gave whatever I was eating a little kick but didn’t actually taste like a pepper. Still, while I was happy to foray into the world of sweet chili sauce I’d never actually cooked with chili peppers in my life. Sad for someone as food-loving as myself, but what can I say? I’ve been a chicken.

Always looking for something new, interesting, quasi-healthy and easy to add to my ever growing list of dinner staples I recently made a “Thai Burger” recipe I’d found on the BBC food website.

Alongside the burgers:

- Corn and Cilantro fritters with a sweet chili sauce
- Strawberry, Raspberry and Rhubarb pie (didn’t really go with the Thai theme but I’d been craving some in-season rhubarb I was seeing at the farmer's market)

While it wasn’t meant to be a competition and all three items turned out well, the front runner of the night was definitely the Thai Burger. When I came across the recipe I’d been slightly concerned with the mention of a red chili pepper. What would it be like if I just skipped it? Where would I buy these strange peppers? I know, I know...I was being an idiotic scardy cat. I even almost scrapped the whole idea and went for a Beef Kofta recipe I’d seen instead. However, after realising that these chilies are as common as basil and thyme (in a little package at Waitrose with all the other fresh herbs) it just seemed silly to keep this battle with chili peppers going any longer.

The only tips I'd provide based on the as-is recipe below is that I went the ground pork route and thought it was outstanding. I also did a variation on their suggestion of sweet chili sauce on the bread. Instead I mixed equal portions sweet chili sauce and hoisin (plum) sauce and spread that on instead. And don't skip the cucumbers- fantastic with the burgers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/thaispicedburgers_70173.shtml

American Girl

You can take the girl out of the US but you can’t take the US out of the girl. It’s now been over 2 years since I first moved from across the pond, and with my recent news that I won’t be kicked out of the country any time soon, I've been able to sit back, relax, ponder (and bake).

Contrary to friend's and family’s expectations, in my time here I've not acquired a faux British accent like Madonna (ok, perhaps on a night out if I get wound up). BUT to be fair – in equal measures when living in Boston I would whip out a Southie accent when having a few beeahs with my friends. It's always a good giggle.

While I may have skipped Madge's accent I’d be lying if I said I’d not acclimatised in some ways. Clearly I now use ‘s’s instead of ‘z’s (I blame that on work). On the flip side I do stick true to my roots by keeping words like ‘folks’ and ‘dang’ active in my vocabulary. At work, probably what makes me stick out the most as a stars and stripes lover is that I’m perpetually on time to meetings. My British counterparts find it socially expectable to start 5-10 minutes late…oh and I smile. Apparently it’s not ok to smile at people unless you’ve known them for a few years. If you haven't and you do you are deemed:

A. a psycho

B. on medication

C. a smitten stalker OR

D. all of the above

Eh, don’t get me wrong – I love my “glass is half empty” life here in London and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I mean invariably the glass fills up, you just have to be patient for about a day - because no doubt it's going to start raining again soon.

There are many things that are Americana to their core:
- Baseball
- Burgers
- Plastic Surgery
- Chocolate Chip/Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I may have skipped the raisins because I was feeling greedy and wanted to double up on the chocolate instead, but last week I pulled out some amazing Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Ironically, even though the cookie is reminiscent of home, one of the best recipes I’ve come across is by Ozzie chef, Bill Granger. They were snatched and loved up in equally quick measures. I think it must be because with over 2 cups of oats they are actually “healthy", right?

The recipe comes from Bill's book "Bill's Food".

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

150g unsalted butter
230g soft brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
125g plain (all purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
235g rolled oats
175g chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy and smooth
3. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth
4. Add flour, baking powder and salt into bowl and mix lightly
5. Add oats and chocolate chips and stir to combine
6. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on baking tray
7. Flatten with a fork dipped in flour
8. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden
9. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely