food for fall: green thai curry

Sun’s out but the chill is palpable – fall's here and winter’s around the corner. Trading bikinis and skirts for scarves, boots and ear muffs. Goodbye salads and light bites; hello warm soup, hearty stews and hot curries.

Mmm. Curry - possibly the best fall/winter warmer ever (hey you can't eat cuddles can you?). I like Thai-style curries best; Chinese curry tends to go on the sweet side, Indian goes on same-ish. The Thai version, I find, is a great balance of sweet and savoury so it's more fragrant and more exciting to eat. The packed heat from the chilis is a direct invite for more spoonfuls and the aromatic fusion of galangal, lemongrass and coconut cream is just so refreshing. Yum.

Recipe under the cut

the anatomy of a fisherman's pie

There's more to the pie than meets the eye!

I love seafood and I love savoury pies; put the two together and I'm a happy diner. It's such a nice hearty, comforting meal and is perfect with a good Chardonnay on a good night in.

DIY halloumi pizza

There's nothing more satisfying than eating a well-cooked homemade pizza after a long day at work. As it was Meatless Monday, we've decided to make an edited version of this pizza (we used halloumi instead of mozzarella).

quick prawn paella

Ever fancied having paella but never had enough time (and patience) to stir and stir and stir for hours? Here’s a quick recipe. You’d be done in 30 minutes. =) I really enjoyed cooking this. Shame I can't cook this tonight as it's Meatless Monday!

1. Cook the prawns separately. You can either boil them in a water and beer/lemonade mixture or steam them in stock.
2. Cook rice and frozen peas separately, both in stock.
3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and cook the onion, pepper and garlic until soft.
4. Stir in the cooked rice, red pepper and saffron and paprika until well mixed.
5. Add the peas for the last few minutes until heated through. Season, stir through the parsley.
6. Top with your prawns and serve with the lemon wedges.

codcake

A colleague suggested fish and chips for dinner. I nearly barfed. See, you think living in a country where chippies (chip shop/fish & chips store) are as ubiquitous as the air we breathe would make one very much into battered fish fillets served with greasy chips in newspapers. No thanks, dare I say. I’ve had about two proper servings of fish and chips in my entire life – the first one I threw away immediately after the first bite because even after pampering it with tissue to soak the oil it still tasted like used oil (5 times over), the second one I couldn’t finish because it felt like oil spill in my mouth.

I like fish best when it’s slightly seasoned and cooked on its own but I also like them when they’re covered in some sort of batter. I like oven-cooked (read: not fried) fishcakes. The cod cakes I bought from Tesco (with cheese and chives) were screaming to be eaten. With massive portions of oven-cooked (read: not fried) wedges or chips. Which I didn’t have. Improv – a massive portion of vegetables stir-fried with light unsalted butter, paprika and garlic. I also rarely eat coleslaw but the Tesco Finest ones are nice. Mmm. My 5-a-day (portions of veg) in one plate. =D