This simple Duck Confit is both rustic and refined. The process of curing and cooking the meat in fat produces a flavour unobtainable buy any other method. And I love it! I’m serving the confit with a Lentil, Bacon, and Chestnuts Stew, a great winter warmer.
These Chocolate Custard Cookies are so easy to make, which is a good job as they don’t last long when people start tucking in. They are great just served as a cookie adults and children both love them.
This Thai Chicken and Prawn Soup for me sums up the joy of Thai cooking. Been both fresh and light yet with plenty of substance in the flavour department. The soup uses a base of a green Thai curry paste
It’s not difficult to make and can be on the table in 20 minutes. This recipe is toned down to suit British pallets but its easy to boost the heat with more chilli.
Take the prawns and remove the shells, but don’t throw them away. Pour the stock into the small pan and add the shells. Bring the pan to a simmer, then turn off the heat and leave it to stand while you get everything else ready. You will be amazed how much flavour will be extracted from the shells you would have probably thrown into the bin.
We now need to clean the prawns. Carefully make a shallow cut down the back of each tail. This will allow you to peel back the skin and pick out the gut. Don’t worry, it wouldn’t do you any harm, but the sight of it might put your guests off. Slice each prawn longways in half, then pop them into the fridge until needed.
Using the small frying pan lightly toast the cashew nuts keeping them moving all the time. When a light golden brown, tip them onto a small plate or saucer to cool.
Place the wide pan over a low heat, then and add the sesame oil. Once the oil has heated up add the chicken and cook for three to four minutes on each side without letting the meat take on any colour.
While the chicken is cooking lightly crush the coriander seeds and chop the chilli. If you like a chilli kick, retain the seeds. For a milder version, just remove them.
Add the chilli, coriander, green Thai curry paste, and cumin to the pan and cook at the same low heat for another four minutes or so. Take the care that the spices don’t catch on the bottom of the pan and spoil the flavour. Slice the ginger into thin stirps and add it in.
While the chicken is gently cooking, its time to prepare the rice noodles. Place the dried noodles in a heatproof bowl and pour a generous amount of boiling water over them. let them stand for a couple of minutes then ease the strands apart with a fork. When the noodles are loosened up leave the bowl to stand while the soup is finishing.
Take the infused stock and strain it over the chicken then increase the heat. The shells can now be discarded.
Add coconut milk, soy and lime leaves to the pan but hold back fish sauce and sugar for now,
Bring the pan to the simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. At the end of this the chicken should be cooked through, but check before going any further. If you are using a thermometer the centre of the meat should be 75˚c or more. If you don’t have one, cut one of the chicken pieces in half and check there is no pinkness in the meat.
When you are ready to serve add the strained noodles followed by the prawns. The prawns will cook in thirty seconds or so. Add one tablespoon of coriander and a dash of lime juice to the soup and stir in.
Have a taste and if the soup needs a little depth add a dash of Thai fish sauce and the palm sugar. Some brands of coconut milk can be quite sweet so you may or may not need all the sugar.
Crush the cashew nuts into small pieces and thinly slice the spring onions at an angle.
Ladle the soup into bowls then top with the rest of the fresh chopped coriander, spring onion and nuts. Then tuck in.
It’s a good idea to have fish sauce and sliced chilli on the table for your guests to help themselves. Then can then season the soup just the way they like it.
Yes, no problem. Double up on the chicken and prawns but only increase the rest of the ingredients by half. Serve steamed Jasmine rice on the side.
Yes you can, but the chicken thighs have a far better flavour than breast meat. They are also less prone to drying out and becoming tough.
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
If you are a lover of long cool drinks, then this is for you. They are easy to make and all you really need is some space to store the gin while it is steeping and the patience not to get stuck in too quickly. I always fill hold of some 250ml bottles to use as Christmas presents, always welcome gifts.
Baking your own Bread at home can be a puzzle, let us help you answer your questions. All you need to know to bake great bread at home is here.
8 Easy Summertime Fruit Drinks for all the family. If you are having a barbeque or just lying back enjoying the summer sun, there is nothing better than having a long cool drink on hand. Perhaps that’s going to be a glass or wine or cold beer. But that’s not suitable for the whole family (or the designated driver) So here is a selection of cooling drinks suitable for everybody. Of course, there is nothing to stop you adding a bit of the hard stuff….
These coolers are always popular with the children. They are also a great way of sneaking fresh fruit into their diet without a struggle.
Have a look below and choose for favourite flavour, or of course just try all of them
The only piece of special equipment you need is a blender. For the Mango, Peach, and Watermelon a hand blender will be enough. For the Raspberry and Pineapple versions a tabletop jug blender will be needed.
And what if you don’t own ether type? Try ether the Iced Fruit Tea, Elderflower, Apple and Mint Fizz, or Lemon Barley Water recipes.
Rather than add crystal sugar into the recipes I prefer to use a syrup base to provide the sweetness. Different flavours can be used in making the syrup. And many a Cocktail maker will have a more intense version on hand under the bar.
This is a staple ingredient of the pastry kitchen which can be made in different strengths according to needs. The basic syrup will keep for a couple of weeks, covered in a refrigerator. The lemon juice in the recipe adds a little flavour and prevents crystallization.
Pour the water into a saucepan and add the lemon juice. Bring to the simmer and as the water heats up stir in the sugar making sure it completely dissolves. Lift off any scum that forms on the surface of the syrup then transfer it into a suitable container and refrigerate as soon as cool enough.
The syrup can be made in different strengths according to use. However, a 50/50 blend is the best to work with.
Now I have wetted your appetite Have a look below and choose your favourite summer cooldown drink.
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
This Elderflower, Apple, and Mint Fizz is the easiest of all our summertime drink recipes. No special equipment needed and only takes a couple of minutes to make. So, it’s a great standby if friends turn up unexpectedly and need a quick cooling drink.
This Coconut and Pineapple Cooler works in a similar way to our Creamy Mango Milkshake. The sharpness of the Pineapple and lime is offset with the richness of the coconut milk and sweetness of the syrup.
Drinking Chilled Watermelon Lemonade brings back memories of sitting back in the sun, eating chilled watermelon slices.
As with most of these cooler recipes the base can be made in advance and finished later. We are adding soda water and stock syrup to the watermelon juice to add sweetness and fizz. If that’s not to your liking, try using a good quality lemonade to mix with the watermelon juice.
And don’t forget to look up our home page on Easy Summertime Coolers for more summertime drinks.
soda water
stock syrup
Peel the watermelon keeping some long strips of peel to use as a glass stirrer. Cut the flesh into pieces and pop into the blender. Don’t worry about the seeds as we can remove them later. If you don’t have a jug blender, the stick version will work fine. Puree the fruit in the blender using the pulse control. Don’t over blend the fruit at full speed or the seeds will be crushed and make the juice bitter.
Pass the juice though the fine sieve into a Pyrex bowl. The best way to do this is to rub the juices through the sieve using the back of a small ladle. You will be surprised how well this works, leaving only the seeds and some watermelon fibre behind.
The watermelon juice can be kept in the fridge for up to three days or frozen.
Take a mixing jug and add 1 part of stock syrup to two parts of watermelon juice. Mix in 1-part chilled soda water and stir together, i.e., 100ml syrup, 200ml watermelon juice, 100ml soda water.
Add some ice cubes to a tall glass and drop in a couple of slices of orange and lemon. Tear of chop two or three leaves of mint, add them to the glass and fill the glass with the cooler. Decorate with some fruit and a stick of watermelon peel then serve.
Enjoy Life !
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
This Easy Creamy Mango Milkshake is a guaranteed hit with the kids, and who doesn’t like a milkshake?
This easy Lemon Barley Water is a British classic and a must for any outdoor event. This is not difficult to make but takes a little time to infuse and chill. Make it the day before to let it get as cold as possible before use. Once you have tasted the real thing, you will never go back to shop-bought cordial again.
This Easy, Family Citrus Peach Cooler takes just a few minutes to make using ingredients you may already have in the house. Making the base ahead of time speeds up the process of serving everybody and keeps everything as cold as possible.
Using tinned peaches makes the whole recipe quite simple. But if you have fresh peaches you need to use its np problem. Wash the fruit and remove the stones, then chop them up a little. follow the recipe for the blending adding in a tablespoon of Stock Syrup for each peach. One the fruit is blended pass the puree through a fine sieve to remove any traces of skin.
And don’t forget to look up our home page on Easy Summertime Coolers for more ideas for summertime drinks.
Open the tin of peach slices and tip the whole contents into the blender. Add the lemon and lime juice and blend to a smooth sauce. If the sauce has any stubborn lumps pass the sauce though a fine sieve. This should make about 400ml of base.
Store the sauce on a sealed jar in the fridge, (it should keep about four days) or freeze in large ice cubes ready for use when needed.
To serve the cooler, mix equal quantities of the peach base with lemonade and fresh orange juice. Add some thin slices of lime and lemon, add a handful of ice, and stir well.
Serve as cold as possible garnished with fruit slices, mint, and strawberries.
Try the recipe with other tinned fruits like pears or apricots.
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
Rillettes are a type of coarse French potted meat. The meats are cooked long and slow then broken down, almost like pulled pork. Don’t expect a nice smooth pateˊ this is a meat eaters paradise. Served with toasted sourdough bread and ideal taken on a picnic.
These Buttermilk Bread Rolls will really impress your dinner party guests. They go well with most starters that don’t require crispy rolls served alongside.
