BBQ Chicken and lime leaf

We learnt how to cook this flavoursome chicken dish during our recent cooking class at the famous Morning Glory Cooking School in Hoi An, Vietnam.

BBQ chicken with mango salad

Ingredients
800g boneless chicken thighs, skin off
1/3 cup fresh turmeric or 1 Tbsp ground turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp five spice
1 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup lemongrass, pounded
4 kaffir lime leaves, sliced finely
2 Tbsp garlic, pounded
2 Tbsp shallots, pounded
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp fish sauce
8 wooden skewers soaked in water for an hour

Method
1 Cut thighs into 16 pieces. Place in a bowl. Add salt, sugar, black pepper and five spice and mix well.
2 Pound turmeric, add to chicken with garlic, shallots, lemongrass, chilli, lime leaves, sesame oil, and fish sauce. Mix well. You may like to wear plastic gloves to stop your hands turning yellow if using fresh turmeric.
3 Marinate for 30 minutes.
4 Thread 2 pieces onto each skewer. Grill 5-6 minutes on each side on a low heat.

Serves for as a main and is lovely accompanied with a mango salad.

Cranberry and White Chocolate Biscotti

Because of their dry texture, biscotti are traditionally served with a drink such as coffee or wine, into which they can be dunked. I like to serve it with the white chocolate creme brulee (see recipe in blog) that I also love to eat!

Ingredients
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups flour (2 cups depending on the size of your eggs)
1 tsp baking powder
100g white chocolate, coarsely chopped
70g blanched almonds
100g dried cranberries

Method
1  Preheat oven to 175oC. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until pale and thick.
2  Add sifted flour and baking powder, chocolate, almonds and cranberries and fold together to form a sticky dough. Divide mixture into two and turn out onto a lined baking tray.
3  Using wet hands, shape dough into two flat logs about 7cm x 20cm. Bake 25-30mins until lightly browned and firm.
4  Reduce oven to 150oC. Allow logs to cool at least 15 minutes then cut into 1cm-thick slices. (I like to cut mine thicker than this). Place on lined trays and bake for 15-20 mins until dry and crisp, turning over halfway through cooking. Cool on wire racks. Makes up to 35.

You can create your own biscotti flavours from this recipe using different chocolate, dried fruit and nuts, rum essence, or finely grated zest of an orange.