… Coconut Rice & Jiggy Jiggy Greens
Its Wednesday night, which is my church home group night. My friend Hannah, who I lead the group with, is coming for dinner first. She’s late …
This meal was specifically requested by Hannah, a very long time ago, and I feel bad that I have only just got round to cooking this for her. Today is one of those days where I have a feeling that I probably won’t get the meal done on time. I’m not really sure why.
The meal starts with the preparing the rice. From doing these meals there is a neat little trick that you learn (that Jamie teaches you) about cooking rice that is easy to remember. Basically its 1 measure of rice to 2 measures of liquid and then cook for about ten minutes on a relatively high heat, stirring occasionally. This works for either the 10 minute rice (I have expressed my feelings about ten minute rice several times now) or basmati rice. Where Asian dishes are cooked, especially ones that that a Thai bent to them, often one of the measures of liquid is a tin of coconut milk. So for this recipe you add 1 tin of coconut milk to the pan fill the empty tin with basmati rice, add it to the pan, and then add a tin’s worth of hot water. It has worked really well every time. Tonight I did leave the lid on a bit long so it did boil over a bit and made a mess of the hob. Luckily I did not do the clearing up.
This meal seemed to take a long time. It felt it took a bit too long to put the rice on. It took far too long to prepare the tuna with the green tea and sesame seed coating. In fact I had to add more green tea and seeds because I ran out before all the tuna was coated. And then the greens took a long time to slice up in the food processor. I think the main issue was that it took much longer for my tuna to cook than the recipe suggests. I think this has more to do with my hob than the recipe. I have a fairly unhappy relationship with my hob.
However, disappointing time aside, this really was a very, very nice meal. The rice was nice. The tuna with its coating and dressing was very nice. The greens were amazing. They tasted lovely and were very filling. I would like to do this one again, but most of all I hope I can remember the recipe for the greens so I can cook them over and over again.
Hannah says that this is her favourite of the 15 Minute Meals she’s had to date.
I’m writing this blog entry listening to Roddy Woomble’s (from Idlewild) new record for the first time, which I’m really enjoying and I’m looking forward to seeing him on Saturday. I now enjoy listening to his folk music as much as I used to enjoy watching him roll around a stage screaming punk songs into a microphone.
In other news – I won the “open Class” for my orange and poppy seed cake in my work’s “Great West Somerset House Bake Off”. I am now the proud owner of a certificate and a signed photograph of Marry Berry and Paul Hollywood. However, my entry to the chocolate biscuit class didn’t rank!
Who with: Hannah and Gavin
How Long: Eighteen minutes and thirteen seconds
