Sunday Post Magazine Online Cookery

“I love Thai food and this is one of my favourites,” claims Lorraine Kelly. “It’s quite easy to do and you can make it as hot as you like. It’s perfect if you’ve friends round as it can be ready in advance, then you just put it in a big dish with rice and naan bread and everyone can get stuck in.
“We often make it on Boxing Day with left-over chicken and it’s also a good alternative to the traditional steak pie New Year’s Day dinner — although I don’t think any New Year is complete without steak pie, potatoes and neeps at some point over the holiday.”

How Lorraine Kelly makes . . .
Thai green curry paste

(Serves 4)

15 green chillies, chopped
4 spring onions or 1 large
   onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and
   roughly chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp galangal or
   ginger, chopped
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp shrimp paste or 2 tsp
   dried shrimps
3 stalks lemon grass, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
4 tbsp or 1 bunch fresh
   coriander leaves, chopped
Juice and grated rind of
   two limes
3 fresh kaffir lime leaves,
   optional

Combine all the ingredients and liquidise or process to a smooth paste in a food processor. This can be added to lightly fried strips of breast of chicken or beef, green and red pepper, onions, baby sweetcorn or anything else that takes your fancy. Serve with Thai fragrant rice.

Rene Looper and Pamela Van Ankeren gave up their jobs in the Netherlands to convert Cluny Bank in Forres from a family home to a hotel. They sold all their possessions, including their bicycles, to achieve their dream of having a small quality hotel in Scotland.
Now they’ve franchised out their restaurant to top chef Alan Gibb, who has previously worked at Balbirnie House Hotel in Fife, Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder House and La Tante Claire in London. Alan admits, “This is an exceptional opportunity for me to create my own restaurant in an established hotel. My style is modern Scottish with a French influence and where better to source excellent produce than in the heart of Speyside?”

How Alan Gibb makes ...
Sauteed wood pigeon breast with parsnip and apple remoulade

(Serves 4 as a starter)

4 skinless pigeon breasts
2 tbsp double cream
1 clove of garlic, crushed
Sprig of thyme

For remoulade:
1 Granny Smith apple,
peeled
1 medium parsnip, peeled
Juice of ¼ lemon
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp crème fraiche
Few chives, snipped
Sea salt and black pepper

1 At least 12 hours before cooking, place pigeon breasts, cream, garlic and thyme in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until required.
Use a grater or mandolin to shred apple and parsnip, mix with lemon juice and season well. Add mayonnaise, crème fraiche, chives and then season to taste. Cover and refrigerate until required.
To make vinaigrette, place three tbsp balsamic vinegar in a pan and reduce by two-thirds. Whisk in two tbsp extra virgin olive oil and seasoning.

2 Heat a non-stick pan, season the pigeons and place in a pan, cook for two minutes on each side. Take pan off the heat and allow pigeons to rest for eight to 10 minutes. Meanwhile divide remoulade between four plates. Carve each pigeon breast into six thin slices and lay on top. Dress rocket leaves with vinaigrette, reserving some for decoration around the plate. Serve immediately with parsnip crisps and slow cooked cherry tomatoes.

If you’ve ever seen a Lakeland Limited home shopping catalogue then you’ll know that Michelle Kershaw is responsible for finding its amazing array of household gadgets and gizmos. But which product does Michelle, who is Customer Director, find she can’t live without? “That’s a tricky question!” she laughs. “But life would not be the same without my Remoska electric cooker and in my opinion it cooks better than an oven. For those snacky moments I rustle up toasted sandwiches and baked potatoes but it does great roast chicken pieces, toad in the hole and this tasty goulash.”
For more details on the Remoska tel. 015394 88100 or www.lakelandlimited.co.uk

How Michelle Kershaw makes . . .
Potato and frankfurter goulash

(Serves 4)

Oil for cooking
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp caraway seeds, optional
500 g (1 lb) potatoes, peeled
and diced
200 g (7 oz) frankfurters, cut into
2 cm (3¼ 4 inch) pieces
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp crème fraiche

1 Heat the Remoska with a small amount of oil in the pan, stir in the onion and cook until pale golden, add the garlic, paprika and caraway seeds, if using. Stir well, add the potatoes, salt, a good cupful of water, cover and cook until the potatoes are almost cooked.

2 Add the frankfurters, some black pepper, marjoram and sprinkle with a little of the flour to thicken the gravy, cook for a few minutes. Finally stir in the crème fraiche.