Above: Marinading pork - you know those arcarock plates aren't small either!
Well, the pork was only $7.99 a kilo at New World Metro in town, which is actually cheaper than mince was when we last went to Pak'n'Save. Nothing against mince though, as it was used to great effect at last night's dinner, Thai beef in lettuce from Nigella's Forever Summer. It is so quick, all you need to do is zap some rice to go with. It is also cheap to make and a great use for Fish Sauce, should your bottle be languishing in the cupboard. The kindest way to describe fish sauce is pungent...but it really is worth getting over the initial scent for the salty depth and flavour it brings to food. It's only about $2.50 a bottle, to boot.
Thai Crumbled Beef in Lettuce Wraps
-1 t vegetable oil
-1 red chilli, finely chopped (I used some of that chilli and lime that comes in a jar, because neither Tim nor I can handle tooo much heat)
-375g beef mince (or however much will feed the people you are serving - this is a loose recipe)
-1 T Thai fish sauce
-Zest and juice of one lime
-Coriander and iceberg lettuce to serve.
This is a loose, undemanding recipe, which I have adapted slightly from the book. Heat the oil in a wok/pan, and when it is hot add the chillis and stir till softened. Add the mince, and cook till it is no longer pink. Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice/zest, and most of the coriander. It might look quite dry and crumbly, but don't worry. To serve, rip off whole lettuce leaves and fill with the mince, so the lettuce acts as a kind of bowl. Sprinkle over the rest of the coriander. It might end up looking something like this-
Above: Last night's dinner. I sprinkled sesame seeds over, and stirred some frozen beans into the rice because, well, it's so easy.
This is seriously delicious! Speaking of which...here is the blonde mocha cake, 24 hours later...
Above: That's how good it is!
Well, you'll be pleased to know that your blog has been read in USA (Hi Anne - if you're reading it again.)
ReplyDeleteJust about to do something boring with mince for dinner (I accidentally left the 'n' out of mince until proof-reading it.... work that one out.) I should get Julian to read this so he can be inspired to cook.
I thought your cats had been busy Kay - maybe in the ceiling? Leave any ladders about lately?
ReplyDeleteLaura, you would be interested in last night's dinner - rice paper wrapped corned beef, FRESH beans, FRESH asparagus, tomato, and cucumber drizzled with corriander saucy stuff!! Totally yum even though it sounds strange. I have this amazing corriander bush growing which is about to give me millions of seeds - I will save you some.