RaeAllen.net

Author: Rae Allen

  • Salad of Char Grilled Chicken & Thai herbs with a Chilli & Tamarind dressing

    DishesIngredients
    500 grams of chicken breast, char grilled, cooled & chopped.
    8 red shallots, finely sliced
    2 stalks of lemon grass, tender part only, micro planed
    8 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
    3 tablespoons of ginger, julienne
    Half cup of coriander leaves*
    quarter cup of mint leaves*
    1/4 cup Viet mint leaves*
    250 grams chopped cos for the base.
    *Never cut herbs with a knife, if leaves are too big just tear with your fingers.


    Dressing
    3 tablespoons of palm sugar, grated.
    3 tablespoons fish sauce
    1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice or lime juice
    1.5 tablespoons of tamarind water
    1 hot red chilli, deseeded & finely chopped

    Method
    To make dressing, dissolve palm sugar in fish sauce and combine with remaining ingredients.

    Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl, toss with dressing & serve on chopped cos lettuce base on serving platter.
    Garnish with crispy fried shallots & coriander sprigs.

    Red shallots can be substituted with red onions, but flavour will be less intense.

    Always grate palm sugar if using in recipes that don’t require heating. If you cut with a knife the larger pieces of sugar will be harder to dissolve.

    Serves 4

    modified from a recipe from the James Street Cooking School

  • thinking

    “As I grow older , I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be getting a hold of me.” – H. Rider Haggard

  • Searching

    Often the only way you will find something,
    Is to stop searching for it

  • Fame Speaks

    Fame Speaks

    Stand forth,John Keats! On earth thou knew’st me not;
    Steadfast through all the storms of passion,thou,
    True to thy muse,and virgin to thy vow;
    Resigned,if name with ashes were forgot,
    So thou one arrow in the gold had’st shot!
    I never placed my laurel on thy brow,
    But on thy name I come to lay it now,
    When thy bones wither in the earthly plot.
    Fame is my name. I dwell among the clouds,
    Being immortal,and the wreath I bring
    Itself is Immortality. The sweets
    Of earth I know not,more the pains,but wing
    In mine own ether,with the crownéd crowds
    Born of the centuries.-Stand forth,John Keats!

    ee cummings

  • On Fame

    “You cannot eat your cake and have it too.” -ProverbHow fevered is the man who cannot look
    Upon his mortal days with temperate blood,
    Who vexes all the leaves of his life’s book,
    And robs his fair name of its maidenhood;
    It is as if the rose should pluck herself,
    Or the ripe plum finger its misty bloom,
    As if a Naiad, like a meddling elf,
    Should darken her pure grot with muddy gloom;
    But the rose leaves herself upon the briar,
    For winds to kiss and grateful bees to feed,
    And the ripe plum still wears its dim attire;
    The undisturbed lake has crystal space;
    Why then should man, teasing the world for grace,
    Spoil his salvation for a fierce miscreed?

    – John Keats

  • Hippocrates soup

    I got this recipe from a contact who got it from The Gerson Therapy book, which preaches no salt. Dr. Max Gerson was a German, who escaped Nazi Germany and practiced medicine on Park Avenue, NYC. He recommended the Hippocrates soup, yes, the man himself, and suggests that it cleanses the liver. As you would imagine, without salt and other seasonings, the soup tastes a bit bland.

    “To make the Hippocrates special soup, the following vegetables should be thoroughly washed, not peeled, but into cubes, covered with water, and cooked for two hours. Put everything through a food mill; allow only fibers and peels to remain. The result is a thick, creamy soup.”

    – 1 medium celery knob (root). If celery root is not in season, substitute 3 or 4 stalks of branch celery.
    – A small amount of parsley
    – 1-1/2 lbs of tomatoes (more if desired during the summer season)
    – 2 medium onions
    – 1 medium parsley root (rarely available; omit if not)
    – 2 small leeks (if not available , substitute 2 additional medium onions)
    – several cloves of garlic
    – 1 lb of potatoes

  • poem no place for an idea

    “A poem is no place for an idea.”

    Edgar Watson Howe

  • Female Fruit Fly trap

    A lot of fruit fly traps are designed to attract male fruit flies and dispose of them. This one is however designed to attract the female fruit fly which is the one that actually attacks the fruit. This was originally on Gardening Australia
    You need:
    2 plastic drink bottles

    1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
    1 tablespoon of ammonia or bleach
    1 cup of water

    Leave the lid screwed on one of the drink bottles, remove the lid from the other and then cut it off at the shoulder.

    Make a hole in the body of the intact bottle the same size as the neck of the one that has ben cut and place it into the hole like a funnel.

    The cup shape that remains exposed will be the entrance to the trap. Mix the water vanilla essence and bleach together and pour the solution through the hole. Hang the trap from a tree near tomatoes or other plants.

    The mixture of the vanilla esence and water will attract the fruit fly into the bottle from which they cannot escape.

    They will be killed by the bleach or ammonia.

  • Growing Older but not up

    For all those who dont feel as old as they are and never will
    I rounded first never thought of the worst
    As I studied the shortstops position
    Crack went my leg like the shell of an egg
    Someone call a decent physician
    Im no pete rose, I cant pretend
    Though my mind is quite flexible, these brittle bones dont bendChorus:
    Im growing older but not up
    My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
    Let those winds of time blow over my head
    Id rather die while Im living than live while Im dead

    Sometimes I see me as old manatee
    Headin south as the waters grow colder
    Tries to steer clear of the hum-drum so near
    It cuts prop scars deep in his shoulder
    But thats how it goes (thats how it goes), right to the end
    Though his bodys quite flexible, that barnacle brain dont bend

    Chorus:
    Im growing older but not up
    My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
    Let those winds of time blow over my head
    Id rather die while Im livin than live while Im dead

    (instrumental)

    Now dont get me wrong
    This is not a sad song
    Just events that I have happened to witness
    And time takes its toll as we head for the poll
    And no one dies from physical fitness
    So what the hell, well take it right to the end
    As the days grow more complicated the nightlife still wins

    Chorus:
    Im growing older but not up
    My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
    Let those winds of change blow over my head
    Id rather die while Im living than live while Im dead
    Let those winds of time blow over my head
    Id rather die while Im living than live while Im dead

    Jimmy Buffett (1980)

  • Paranoid

    Paranoid? Probably. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face.

    – Storm Front by Jim Butcher