​Vietnamese food made simple.

If you want to experiment with cooking Vietnamese food then take a look at this book. It's available as a paperback or for Kindle (you can download the app from the Amazon site - too easy!)
Lemongrass, Ginger and Mint Vietnamese Cookbook: Classic Vietnamese Street Food Made at Home
Author: Linh Nguyen
Authentic and delicious, the recipes in Lemongrass, Ginger and Mint Vietnamese Cookbook bring Vietnamese restaurant favorites to your family’s dining table.
From phở and spring rolls to bánh mì and sticky rice, authentic Vietnamese food is as rich as the culture from which it comes—and replicating these dishes at home is easier than you might think!
Available at Amazon.com

Chook's note: I don't have a copy (yet) so can't recommend it, but from what I have seen from the preview it looks interesting.

A couple of fishy little numbers!

Ann's Tuna Pie

Looks good enough to eat! 

425 g Tuna drained
4 eggs lightly beaten
120 grams grated cheese
24 Premium biscuits crushed
1 onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups evaporated skim milk

Method
*Mix all ingredients together pour into a casserole or quiche dish, bake at 180 c for 35 –40 minutes
Serves 6

Chook's suggestion: if you don't have an oven, cook in deep pan. Dot with butten or a little grated cheese and flame the top.

Ann's Salmon Patties

Pat a cake, pat a cake

200 g canned salmon
1 egg
2 slices bread
1 onion finely chopped
¼ tsp mixed herb (optional)
Freshly chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp bran (optional)

Method
* Beat egg and mix in salmon.
* Add remaining ingredients to blender and process until combined
* Add to fish and egg and mix well. Divide equally and shape into patties (you can use 2 tbsp of bran to coat patties).
* Refrigerate several hours or overnight then cook in non stick pan.
Serve with yogurt sauce

Yogurt Sauce
¼ cup natural skim milk yogurt
2 tsp mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Place all ingredients into a saucepan and simmer gently until mixture thickens

​Ann's Chicken Cacciatore

A stand in for Ann's dish!

2 x 180 g chicken Maryland pieces without skin
¼ cup sliced onion
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
90 g button mushrooms sliced
400 g can of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 large bay leaf
Black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped

Method
* Slash chicken pieces 2 or 3 times to prevent shrinkage. Dry fry for 3 to 4 minutes in a non-stick pan to brown lightly.
* Add all other ingredients, cover and cook slowly for 45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove bay leaf.
* Sauce maybe thickened with 1 tsp cornflour mixed with water.
* Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Serves 2

Variations on the humble zucchini!

This is a ring-in but it is zucchini slice - just not Ann's!

Ann's Zucchini Quiche
2 cups sliced peeled zucchini
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 finely chopped onion or 2 chopped spring onion
1 cup evaporated skim milk
60 g grated tasty cheese
Pepper

Method
* Place thinly sliced zucchini in bottom of ovenproof dish, cover with onion.
* Beat eggs, add milk and pour the mixture over zucchini and onion. Top with cheese.
* Bake in hot oven for 35 - 45 mins
Serves 2

Chook's suggestion: If you don't have an oven turn this into a frittata. Perhaps halve the milk and add another egg. Flame the top with your trusty kitchen torch.

Ann's Zucchini Slice
370 grams zucchini
1 large onion finely chopped
4 eggs
3 tbsp SR flour
120 g grated tasty cheese
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Big pinch mixed herbs

Method
* Grate the washed unpeeled zucchini coarsely.
* Combine all the ingredients and mix well.
* Pour into a greased lamington tin. Bake in a moderate oven 30-40 minutes or until browned.
Serves 4

Chook's suggestion: again if you don't have an oven cook this in deep pan stove top. Finish off by browning the top with your trusty kitchen torch.

​Date and walnut loaf

This recipe is a sort of fusion of 2 plus recipes (taken from Taste.com.au - my favourite online recipe source - and SBS Food). I tend to fiddle and tweak but this is pretty basic and simple to make.
I am calling it the 'cuppa' recipe - measured in cups and with a tea bag added to give a little extra flav.

Wobbly towers of sticky yummyness straight out of their cooking pots.
The cans in the background are what these were cooked in (and waiting to be washed!) 

Ingredients
1 cup boiling water
1 tea bag
1 cup dates cut in large chunks
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup (3 tbsp) butter
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 3/4 cups SR flour
pinch salt
100 g walnuts chopped only a little (you want lovey chunks of walnuts and dates throughout the loaf)

Method
* Steep teabag in the boiling water then discard bag.
* Place water in saucepan with sugar, butter, dates and bicarb and bring to the boil, simmer 30-60 sec then cool.
* Mix flour, salt and walnuts then add the cooled date mixture.
* Cook
* Serve thick slices with slabs of butter.

Oven bake method
Place mixture in greased loaf pan and bake in 170 degree C for 50-55 mins
Turn out onto wire rack to cool
DreamPot method
Divide mixture between three 420 gm fruit/soup tins sprayed with oil (or greased).
Cover tightly with oiled foil and place on 3cm trivet (empty sandwich tuna cans work well) in large inner pot. Fill to half way up side of cans with hot water.
Boil gently for 15 mins (with lid on) then place in DreamPot, close and leave for at least 45 mins to cook.
Turn out to cool. They will be sticky when you firstbturn them out but will dry out with cooling.

Chook's hint: If you don't have either oven or dream pot, I reckon you could do this in a large pot on the stove top. Boil gently for 15-20 mins with lid on, then reduce heat to a low simmer for a further 30-45 mins. You'd need to check water levels from time to time to make sure it didn't boil dry.  Timing is a bit of a guess so see how it goes. Don't you just love experiments!?

​Oven baked fish on stove top

One of the simplest meals but impressive on the palette. It could just as easily be cooked on the BBQ if you have the facilities.

Here I have used sage leaves (freeze dried at home before leaving) 

* 2 salmon fillets (or any other thick fillet/cutlet of fish)
* 2 pieces of foil sprayed with olive oil or greased
* lemon grass, ginger, chilli,
* a few slivers of fresh or preserved lemon,
* green onions or garlic
* herbs
* butter
* salt

1. Place salted fish in centre of foil. Sprinkle with lemon grass, ginger, chilli, a few slivers of fresh or preserved lemon, green onions if you have them or a small amount of minced garlic, sage or other fragrant herb. Top with a piece of butter
2. Wrap the fish to seal
3. Heat frying pan place a double layer of foil in bottle to help prevent burning. Place fish parcels on foil and cover with lid (I carry a small pizza tray which doubles as a lid when needed).
4. Cook on low heat until cooked through - check after 10 mins.

Serve with buttered rice or jacket potatoes

​Quick Mushroom risotto

This dish is made with Farro but barley or rice taste just as good.

* 1.5 -2 cups cooked pearled Farro, pearl barley or rice - cook enough for a couple of meals and freeze or store in fridge
* 1 cup cooked Mushrooms - I buy pre-sliced mushrooms ~500 gm
* green onion chopped or 1/2 onion sliced
* chilli
* 1/2 tsp minced garlic
* 1/2 cup chicken stock
* a couple of rasher of bacon (optional)

Preparation
1. Cook mushies in butter and oil a touch of spice, black pepper and 1/2 sliced onion makes enough for couple of meals as pasta sauce accompaniment with steak or just on toast for brekkie.
2. Heat tbsp oil and butter add a little chilli (semi dried, dried fresh whatever you have), onion, garlic and chicken stock (just enough to make a sauce). Add cooked farro or whatever grain you are using and heat through.
Serve with shaved Parmesan and squeeze of lemon juice. Add a few rashers of bacon or serve on the side for meat lovers.

Chook's suggestion: if you intend using Farro, buy pearled as it gives the best texture. I use Mount Zero bio dynamic; it's local.

​Yummy vegie dishes, dips and nibbles

Chinese Eggplant with spicy garlic sauce

Yes it does mean thinking ahead to make sure you have some of the ingredients but then having a variety of yummy things to eat along the way is worth it - we reckon anyway.
This is an easy and quick dish to make. So ....

* 2 tbsp oil
* 3 small eggplant Lebonese or Chinese (or one large) cut into long strips
* 2 cloves garlic or 2 tsp garlic mince (those jars of minced garlic are a must for me - portable and don't have to be tossed at the border)
* 1 red chilli finely chopped or 1 tsp semi dried chilli to taste
* 1 tbsp minced ginger (again you can use semi dried or frozen, but fresh tastes better)
* 1 stalk green onion or if you don't have any just add a little sliced red onion
* 1 tbsp soy sauce
* 1/2 tsp sugar to balance out the flavours
* 1 tbsp black vinegar (available at any Asian supermarket. I decant a little 100-200 ml into a plastic bottle to pack in the van.)

Method.
Add 1 tbsp oil to hot pan or wok and cook eggplant till flesh is tender and skin a bit wrinkly.
Push aside or remove from pan while you cook the aromatics until they are fragrant.  Combine all and stir fry 1 minute.
Serve immediately with rice or, if you are hungry, as a side dish with BBQ pork. It is a tangy, spicy delish dish!
Chook's suggestion: if you are nervous about the chili just leave it out, every recipe should be modified to taste. You'll know what your palette can handle.  Fried eggplant is delish simply on its own also.

Chook's travel note: I save plastic screw-top jars and small bottles for when we travel; glass is heavy and liable to shatter going over rough roads and the lids work loose.  I am travelling with too many glass bottles/jars this trip cos I ran out of plastic. As a result I have had to tape the fridge shelves up - we also travel with heavy duty gaffer tape! Keeps the windows closed when the catches get a bit loose and the fridge doors and shelves in place. Our trip Borroloola to Hells Gate resulted in the freezer door coming off one hinge. Sacre bleu! it is taped in place until we get passed the worst bits of road but will be back on there if we do roads like the Gibb River Road.  
Another thing that works in some cases is putting glass jars and bottles in stubby holders to protect them from breaking. Nothing worse than having a cupboard full of sticky jam or fridge smelling of fish sauce which one has to have of course but Yuck!

Broad bean and pea mash/dip
Use frozen vegies as they are easier and quicker
* 3 cups broad beans
* 1 cup peas
* A few springs of mint or if not available use half to 1 tsp semi- or dried mint or add a slurp of mint sauce.
* 1/2 garlic or 1/2 tsp minced garlic
* salt and pepper
* 100 ml olive oil

Steamed Broad beans are great served as a nibble tossed with a little garlic salt
and oil/butter. Or put them on toasted or in a sanger.  Try also lightly frying in oil and pepper. 

Method
Cook beans until cooked, remove outer shells, drain and add blanched peas.
Smash all ingredients together till the consistency of mash potato i.e., not slush).

Serve with grilled lamb or meat of choice, use as a pasta sauce (maybe add a little more oil) and/or use as a dip to have at Happy Hour!
​
Quick hummus
I always travel with tins of chickpeas in the pantry. Good for salads, curry or dip.

If you want to impress sprinkle with paprika and a little oil.

* 400 gm can chickpeas drained and rinsed
* 3 tbsp lemon juice (fresh or from your freezer!)
* 2 garlic cloves or 2 tsp minced garlic
* 1 tsp ground cumin (from your spice cache)
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1-2 tbsp tahina
* 4 tbsp water
* Add more lemon juice or tweak the spices to taste - it's all about what tastes good to you.

Mash all ingredients together. I don't have a kitchen whiz in the van so I use the old potato masher which comes in handy for a number of things.
Delish!

​Pikelets or Dropped scones - my Mums recipe

Every time there was something on anywhere, Mum cooked a batch of dropped scones.  They were a family favourite and no one makes them as good as she did.  I think it was her patience - which I have little of.

These look exactly like Mum's - obviously I didn't cook them!
(I borrowed the pic from http://www.bestrecipes.com.au thanks)

Ingredients
* 1 lg cup flour - depends what you're making. I use SR if doing dropped scones but I have used plain and for savoury pancakes (see below) I have used spelt flour and even used half and half fine polenta but they need to be cooked longer.
* pinch salt
* 1 egg
* 3/4 cup milk
* Add 1-2 tsp sugar if making sweet pancakes

Method
1, Mix egg into flour (to which the salt has been added). Add milk slowly until thickish batter consistency is reached.
2. Cook in spoonfuls in hot greased pan. Turn only once when you see the bubbles burst on top.

Chook's chuckle: if your mum was anything like mine, her recipes were dotted with esoteric instructions like - a 'good' or 'large' cup. Is that a mug or a heaped cup or ....? I just heap it up and hope for the best, but she had her favourite measuring cup, an old chipped one (pink at one stage) without a handle. It was precious. One also lived in the sugar tin.

Savoury pancakes.
This is a favourite in our kitchen and uses up left over vegies or meat - Mum used to use any scraps of  'lamb' left over once the Sunday roast leg had been milked for every meal it would stretch to - sangers, cottage pie, etc. They were big legs!

Make a batch of the batter above and toss in 1 cup or so of left over vegies (and/or meat) - you might want to pull back a bit on the flour or add a little more milk or water to the mix. If you're like us we love onion so I add 1/2 small onion finely diced.

I cook both sweet and savoury pancakes in butter - because as they say 'butter makes it better'!

And while we're talking about left overs. Vegies, rice. just about anything can be fried up - with diced onion of course! a couple of tbsp flour or polenta, add an egg to bind and there you have a stunning brekkie or lunch. My variation on Bubble and Squeak.

​Salads and a bit of a luck dip!

Having just a few little challenges being 'out bush' so to speak but I have managed to put together a hotch potch of ideas for simple salads plus a couple of other edibles.
Salads? The variety is endless but here are a couple of my favourites remembering that the emphasis is on cans and easy storable ingredients for those times when you are not in cooee of a shop or don't feel like a trip to 'town' however close. We are on holidays after all!

Spinach and sesame salad (Goma-ae)

You can shred or chop the spinach

1 bunch of spinach or a packet of frozen spinach (or if you are a home garden with silverbeet use the young leaves remove the stalks and use for something else)
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp sugar
1.5 tbsp soy sauce

* Fresh spinach - simple blanch and drain. Frozen spinach (I always have a couple of boxes in the freezer) allow to thaw or nuke for a couple of minutes.
* Squeeze as much liquid out of the cooked spinach and refrigerate till ready to use (can be used as a warm side in which case don't refrigerate - hello!?).
* Toast the sesame seeds in dry pan but watch them because they can quickly burn.
* Remove from pan and spread on a plate to cool - the heat in the seeds will keep them cooking which is not desirable. I always keep a jar of toasted sesame seeds in pantry at home and pack in the van. They are delish on toast or as a topper for lots of things, sweet and savoury.
* Add sugar to soy sauce and toss through shredded or chopped spinach. Add sesame seeds. Taste and adjust for salt.

Lentil salad (this works warm as well)

I always use ANNALISA

1 can cooked lentils, drained
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 small red onion finely diced
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup combined chopped fresh coriander and mint or use semi-dried.

Combine all ingredients and serve.

A few suggested dressings.

Greek yoghurt, squeeze of lemon juice, chopped mint. Mix and use for potato salad or serve with roast vegies or curries.

Easy potato salad dressing. Half and half sour cream and mayonaise (or add yoghurt to the mix. Adjust to personal taste), add chopped mint and a dash of mint sauce if you have it, a touch of garlic and it's delish. Tart it up with toasted pine nuts, chopped egg. Just let your imagination run wild!
For the sour cream which I usually don't have - there is only so much room in the van fridge, I use a small box of UHT cream and sour it with lemon juice. That frozen juice you're carrying comes in handy for lots of things!

Spiced yoghurt
This is rather exotic but variations of it will taste just as good.
* 4 tbsp oil
* 1 cup finely chopped onion
* salt
* 3 tsp minced garlic
* 2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
* 1/4 tsp each of turmeric, cloves, cinnamon (whatever you might have in your spice cache)
* 1 cup yoghurt

Gentle fry the onion and salt till soft, add ginger and fry for a minute or so. Then add the spices and stir for a minute. Finally add the yoghurt then remove from heat.
Serve warm with BBQed lamb chops or other meat. Or use as a spicy dressing for salads.

Coconut rice - yummy with curries
Wash 1 cup rice and place in pan with 250 ml coconut milk and enough water to come 1 cm above the rice (adjust the coconut milk-water balance to taste).
Cover and bring to the boil then reduce heat and leave covered for another 10 minutes. Check once or twice to make sure it hasn't stuck.

Pasta sauce ideas
* Grill some bacon, remove from heat add a raw egg and some cream and Parmesan. Viola carbonara in seconds. Yum!
* The good oil. Simply add a good slurp of good olive oil, garlic and chopped parsley. Add anchovies if you turn to these salty bites.
* Pesto from any of your home grown or store-bought herbs, add cream - viola!

​Brussels sprouts mornay

This ticks lots of boxes - yummy, versatile, healthy and easy.
It's a dish you can prepare almost anywhere - note I said almost!! If you have an oven, great, but yes it can be cooked on stove top or in microwave and probably in camp oven - although Gowan might need to comment on that! He's inventive.

Just add sauce and cheese and  ... voila!

So here's what you need.
* 250 g Brussels sprouts (BS)
* White sauce - by whatever name
* Cheese - gruyere or whatever you prefer or have on hand.
Opt: 1/2 onion, small strip of bacon, fried shallots to replace onions and as a topping (available in most supermarkets or Asian market. They are versatile and easy to carry).

Here's what to do.
* Rinse BS, crisscross cut stem then steam/microwave till tender.
* Place in oven proof (or microwave) dish or place in stove top pan. Whatever you are using it will work fine!
* Make 1-2 cups of your favourite white sauce recipe (no one will know if you use a packet one ..... shhh!). Add salt and pepper and any other condiment to taste. Add grated cheese - again the amount is something you can decide for yourself depending on your cheese tolerance!
And for a little je ne sais quoi, add some sautéed onion and bacon - don't go overboard! Or failing onions some dried fried shallots.
* Pour sauce over the BS, add extra grated cheese and viola almost done. Remember that little kitchen gem I mentioned before? your very own flambeau. Well here's a great chance to use it if you don't have an oven or grill. Turn that little baby on and bubble that cheese topping. Yummo!!
Of course if you have oven or grilled you can use that instead but the torch is a lot more fun! It still tastes good if you can't/can't be bothered browning the top.

It looks and tastes fab with toasted top!
Thanks to Simon  (ABC's/cookandchef) for the inspiration.

Chook's suggestion: add that butane torch to your 'what to buy me' list the family keeps asking you for. I reckon it's a winner. I used it today to crisp up a bread stick from the freezer. Nuked the frozen stick and then flamed it. Added a little crunch for a lazy lunch of bread and Brie ... and a glass of Sav Blanc.
Tried the Brussels sprouts with good old Gravox Cheese Sauce and topped the dish with dried shallots - I was feeling lazy, and it tasted yum!