Rick Stein is renowned for his delectable, yet do-able recipes, and whether you’re a fan of Asian aromatics or European classics, there’s lots to love about his latest cookbook.
Rick Stein at Home contains the chef’s all-time favourite dishes, and it’s a feast of colour and flavour, with fresh ingredients, simple steps and top tips.
Today, we’re sharing two recipes to whet your appetite – one savoury and one sweet – from Rick’s home to yours. Enjoy!
VIETNAMESE POACHED CHICKEN SALAD WITH MINT & CORIANDER
What appeals to me about this salad is the combination of lightly poached chicken, bean sprouts, spring onions and herbs with roasted chopped nuts and sesame seeds, and the slightly gloopy fish sauce, lime juice and chilli dressing.
Serves 8-10 as a first course or 4 as a main course
50g root ginger, peeled and sliced
4 small skinless, boneless, free-range chicken breasts
1/2 large cucumber
8 spring onions, trimmed, halved and shredded
150g fresh bean sprouts
Small handful mint, leaves torn into small pieces
Small handful fresh coriander sprigs
1 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
60g roasted, salted peanuts, finely chopped
Dressing
4 tbsp Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp light soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
1 medium-hot red chilli, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Put the ginger into a large, shallow pan with a litre of water and bring to the boil. Add the chicken breasts and leave them to simmer for 5–6 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken to cool in the liquid.
For the dressing, put the Thai fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice and sugar into a small pan and bring to the boil. Mix the cornflour with a teaspoon of water, stir this into the pan and simmer gently for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then stir in the red chilli and garlic.
For the salad, peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut the flesh into 5cm long matchsticks and add them to a large bowl with the spring onions, bean sprouts, mint and coriander, then toss together.
Lift the chicken breasts out of the poaching liquid and pull them into long chunky strips. Add these to the salad bowl and mix gently. Serve the salad with the dressing drizzled over the top and scattered with sesame seeds and chopped peanuts.
TIP: When peeling ginger, use the bowl end of a teaspoon to scrape the skin off. It’s much easier than using a peeler.
APPLE CHARLOTTE
I’ve mentioned the television series that I recently filmed in Cornwall often in this book, mainly because most of the recipes in the programmes are for dishes I cook at home a lot. The runaway success of the series was this apple Charlotte, which I cooked in an orchard at Tresillian House, near Newquay. It’s a very special recipe – my mother’s and one of her favourites.
Serves 4
125g butter
350g Bramley apples
350g Cox’s apples
2 tbsp sugar
A little grated lemon zest, to taste
6–8 slices white bread, about 5mm thick, crusts removed
Custard, clotted cream or ice cream, to serve
Grease a pudding basin, about 15cm in diameter and 10cm deep, with plenty of the butter. Peel, core and finely slice the apples. Rinse in cold water and put them in a saucepan with the sugar, lemon zest and 30g of the butter. Cook to a pulp over a low heat and then beat to a purée with a wooden spoon. Allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C.
Melt the remaining butter. Dip each slice of bread into the butter and then line a pudding basin with about three-quarters of the slices. Pack them in tightly and don’t leave any gaps. Spoon in the cooled apple purée and cover with the remaining buttered pieces of bread and gently push down.
Tightly cover the pudding with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 8–10 minutes until the top is golden brown. Leave the pudding to rest for 5 minutes before turning out on to a serving plate. Serve with custard, clotted cream or ice cream.
TIP: I love the clean taste of apple and lemon in this, as cooked by my mum, but you could add a good pinch of ground cloves or some ground cinnamon if you like.
WIN THE BOOK!
Thanks to Penguin Random House Australia, we’re giving away two copies of Rick Stein at Home.
For your chance to win this gorgeous new release, just tell us in 25 words or less, why you love Rick Stein’s recipes.
Email your entry to competition@careforkids.com.au by Friday 19 November.
Recipes extracted from Rick Stein at Home by Rick Stein (BBC Books, $55).
Photography by James Murphy
