Smoked Chicken Rice Paper Rolls with Dipping Sauces

This recipe is very similar to the one Jen posted earlier but I thought I would put it up anyway to show you just how easy rice paper rolls are and how you can pretty much put any flavours you want in them. We had some herbs and smoked chicken in the fridge that needed eating, we had carrot and lettuce in the garden, and, some more herbs in the herb barrel which is how I came up with these flavours.

I have also given you two dipping sauces that are super easy to make - these are based on recipes from Annabel Langbein.

 

Smoked Chicken Rice Paper Rolls

100g fine vermicelli noodles

a handful of lettuce leaves, shredded (we used cos lettuce but it really doesn't matter)

1 carrot, grated

1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar

2 large handfuls of mint, roughly chopped (some of our vietnamese mint also snuck into the recipe when I accidentally picked it - it's not quite ready for picking yet, but it added a yummy flavour to the mix)

1 small handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped ( you could put more in but I limit the amount as my other half doesn't like coriander so I have to sneak it in where I can)

1 smoked chicken breast, shredded

1 packet of rice paper rounds

Soak the vermicelli for approximately 10minutes in boiling water until tender, then drain.

Mix together the vegetables, herbs and sugar.

When well mixed, add the vermicelli and smoked chicken.

Now you are ready to roll. The best way to roll is to be organised and set up everything before you start.

I place a damp cloth down on the bench which you can use to place the soaked rice papers on to fill and roll. The damp cloth stops the rice paper sticking to the bench. I also have a fry pan filled with warm water next to me. I find the fry pan works well to dip the rice paper in as the rice paper rounds fit in just nicely.

Place a rice paper round in the warm water, fully dunking it under the water for a few seconds. 

Place the rice paper round on the damp cloth.

Wait for about 30 seconds - you will notice the rice paper round soften over this time, making it easier to roll.

Place some filling in the centre about a 1/3 of the way up the round.

Roll the rice paper up tightly tucking the edges in.

Enjoy!

Peanut Dipping Sauce

3 teaspoons of crunchy peanut butter

2 tablespoons of boiling water

1/4-1/2 cup of sweet chilli sauce

2 teaspoon of fish sauce

2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice

Mix the peanut butter and boiling water together to melt the peanut butter down.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together with the peanut butter mix.

If you want a thicker sauce just add more peanut butter.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons of caster sugar

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

2 garlic cloves, crushed

a pinch of dried chilli flakes

Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy!

Meet Florence and Ivy

We have two little friends to add to our suburban farm - Yay! So meet Ivy and Florence. These two are ISA Browns that we picked up at the local farmers and craft market.
ISA Browns are a crossbred chicken that are probably the best layers within the chicken family. They lay approximately 300 eggs per year. They have a bit of a reputation of being a bit high strung and sometimes a bit of a bully. But these two are just the opposite and seem to be best of friends. Both are a bit shy at the moment but are getting tamer every day.
Ivy is a bit of a houdini escaped on the first two days - so both have had a wing clipped now and it seems to have solved the problem.

Ivy

Ivy is the more photogenic of the two. Florence keeps hiding behind Ivy when the camera comes out so below is the best we could get!

Florence

Hopefully our first eggs will follow soon! But they are such fun and interesting pets despite also giving us nice, fresh eggs.

We Are Getting Chickens!

When we shifted into our house it came with the most amazing cubby house. It has sensor lights, electricity, power sockets, everything! We had no use for it but felt it was too good to pull down.
Since then we have made the decision to keep some backyard chickens, so our cubby has now been converted into a chicken coop mansion. I haven't fully pimped out the exterior of our chicken mansion yet so you just get a sneak peak at the moment.

The Chicken Mansion

Both myself and my partner grew up having chickens in the backyard. I clearly remember being horrified when I tasted a store bought egg for the first time - it tasted awful! You can not compare home eggs to store bought eggs. Home eggs are far better in not only taste but also size and yolk colour.

Although we both grew up with chickens and everyone says 'its so easy to keep chickens', this is still a first for myself and my partner. We are super excited but also a bit nervous.

To keep chickens you need a secure coop that keeps animals like foxes out, and, keeps the chickens dry and warm. You also need an outdoor area where you can let the chickens out to scratch and forage during day light hours. You should aim for about 2 square meters of space for each chicken.  You can drop down to 1 square meter per chicken if you are really stuck for space. 

Place your coop in a space where the chickens can get lots of sun but also some shade. Ensure that you have looked up your local council website also. Each council has there own rules and regulations about where you can place a chicken coop and how many chickens you can keep. Generally you cannot keep roosters in residential/urban areas.

Nesting boxes

For 3-4 chickens you need about 4 nesting boxes. We have used shallow plastic containers that we picked up cheaply from Ikea. We then built a wooden frame to slot and secure them into. You then fill the nesting boxes with straw. The straw needs to be changed about once per week. By having these lift out boxes we can just lift out the box and tip the whole lot into the compost - the chicken poo will be fantastic for the compost. Being plastic you can also wash them out easily.

The Perch

Chickens won't sleep in the nesting boxes so you will need a perch. Chickens like sleeping on perches as it makes them feel safe and also keeps them warmer. You should have a flat surface rather than a rounded surface for your perch. The reason for this is that it causes their feet to flatten out, which then causes them to sit on top of their feet and this actually helps keep them warmer. The perch should also be made of wood as the chickens have trouble gripping other materials.

There are varying recommendations as to how high you should have your perch above the ground. I have come to the conclusion that as long as it is higher than your nest boxes and at least 30cm above the ground you should be ok.

Ensure that the perch is not above the nest boxes as your nest boxes will end up full of poo.

We have covered the bottom of the chicken coop with lino and then a layer of straw. The straw provides warmth for the chickens, and, the lino makes it very easy for us to clean the chicken coop.

The completed interior of the mansion.

So now all we need is chickens!!!!

Fresh Spring roll of herbs, cos lettuce and cucumber with a peanut chilli dipping sauce

I made these to take to a wee New Years shin dig. We make a similar thing at work. They are nice a fresh tasting and go well with the spicy peanut dipping sauce. You can add poached shredded chicken to the mix or poached prawns, sticky beef or if you really want to step it up a notch Confit duck!! The Cos lettuce, Vietnamese mint, Thai basil and chives all came from our garden.


Fresh Spring roll of herbs, cos lettuce and cucumber with a peanut chilli dipping sauce

12-14  large rice paper wraps
1 cup coriander leaves
1 cup Thai basil leaves
1 cup mint leaves
20 Vietnamese mint leaves
a small bunch of chives, cut into 5cm lengths
1 small cos lettuce
half a cucumber, seeded and cut into thin batons

First pick all your herb leaves and place them in a bowl. Wash the lettuce and finely slice, prep the cucumber and cut the chives. Mix together in a bowl.

Boil the jug and fill a large bowl. Dip the rice paper wraps into the boiling water for about 2 seconds, drip dry and place on a clean surface or a chopping board. Place a small handful of the salad herb mix on the rice paper. Roll in the bottom then the sides and then keep rolling up to seal the herbs in.  Repeat until you run out of herb mix.

To serve cut diagonally in half and arrange on the platter with the dipping sauce.


Dipping sauce

1/2 cup boiling water
5 T coconut sugar
5 T fish sauce
3 T lime juice
2 T rice wine vinegar
1- 2 T Japanese soy
1 T Hoisan sauce
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
2 T coriander stalks, finely chopped (from the leaves you picked for above)
1/4 cup finely chopped roasted peanuts

Place boiling water and sugar together. Mix and cool. Add remaining ingredients.
This dressing is also nice for a Thai beef salad but just put the peanuts through the salad at the end.

Homemade Granola with nuts and seeds

This granola was part of my homemade Christmas goodies that I gave away this year. I have had quite a lot of feed back about it so I thought I would share the recipe. I don't like my granola very sweet as I usually eat it with fruit but you can always add more honey to your taste. You can of course change the nuts and dried fruit in the recipe to whatever you fancy.

I made this recipe times 5 and it filled 12 x 1L jars and made just under 10kg of Granola. This recipe is more domestic kitchen friendly and makes around 2 kg.


Homemade Granola with nuts and seeds

320g whole oats
60g sesame seeds
80g sunflower seeds
60g coconut shavings or chips
200g pumpkin seeds
120g cashew nuts, chopped
200g blanched almonds, chopped

40g honey
60g unsweetened apple puree
100g coconut oil

200g dates, chopped
200g apricots, chopped
60g Goji berries
60g linseed

Place the first seven ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
Heat the honey, coconut oil and apple puree over a low heat until everything is melted.
Pour into your oat seed mix and mix well.
Spread out on to two trays and place in a 160 degree oven stirring every 10 minutes until everything is a nice light golden colour.
Cool and then add in your chopped fruit and linseed.

Keeps in a airtight container for about 3 months.

Oatmeal-Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

I recently had my birthday and Jen always spoils me - generally with a cookbook. This birthday I was spoilt yet again with a beautiful cook book released by an American Bakery called Tartine.

This book has some delicious recipes and according to Jen they are foolproof! I can now confirm that the recipes are foolproof!!! I have NEVER been able to make cookies and using a recipe from this book I mastered cookies! Yesterdays choice of cookie was a chocolate-oatmeal-walnut cookies - and they were delicious.
Most of the recipe is done using a stand mixer. The mixture also has lots of chunky bits making a very textured and tasty cookie. Yum!

The recipe made a large stack of 24 giant cookies!

And the best way to enjoy a cookie - in true American style with a glass of milk.

Potato Harvest

We have just done our first harvest of potatoes. It is so satisfying digging through the soft dirt and finding little (sometimes huge) potatoes. There is always a slight competition as to whose potato patch will have the most and the biggest potatoes.
Growing potatoes is so so easy. They are especially good to grow if you don't have much space. We grow our potatoes in a stack of tyres. Although there has been some talk that perhaps the tyres might leach heavy metals into the soil. You could also use a large pot too if you didn't want to use tyres. Or you can plant them straight into the garden.
We brought seed potatoes a number of months ago, just from the local garden store. You then place the potatoes in the dirt placed in the bottom tyre or pot (or you can plant them straight into the ground).
As the potatoes sprout and you see the green shoots starting to sprout through the dirt you top up the tyre/pot/garden with more dirt - ensuring that you cover the green shoots. You keep doing this until you have a stack as high as you like. We usually have a stack of tyres between 2-4tyres high.
Once the stack has reached as high as you want to go you just leave the shoots to grow. Make sure the potato plants have plenty of water and sun. You should also give them some regular liquid fertiliser to help get a bumper crop.
Once the shoots start drooping and turing yellow you can start harvesting. If you want smaller potatoes you do it early, if you want larger potatoes you leave them a little bit longer. You can get some new potatoes without disturbing the rest of the crop too much. Just scrap away the top layers and pull out the small ones.
When you want to harvest the potatoes you basically just sift through the soil and pick out the potatoes. Don't use a fork or spade as you could accidentally stab your potato, ruining it. You can buy fancy little potato harvesting scoops from garden shops and online but we just use our hands. They are just as effective.
Store your potatoes in a dark, cool place. We generally keep ours in a hessian or cotton bag at the back of the pantry.