Summer snacks

A quick and short post for this months blog party which is not very social, I know. Specially not as it's the 2 year anniversary!! But life is terribly busy at the moment with grant writing for work and some other stuff in the pipeline too. So my entry is short but sweet: this watermelon refresher based on this recipe but spiced up a bit with some sparkling white wine and mint. To go with it there are little squigly squids (with legs for me, without for Barry) coated in flour with a bit of chili and stuffed with stirfried onion, chili, fish sauce, sugar and thai sweet basil (this is added at the end). Very very tasty and for me they capture the spritit of summer perfectly! And with the drop in temperature predicted (again!) I'm desperately holding on to that.

When the cat's away...

....the mice can play :-) I don't mean this is in a bad way, but with Barry away for the weekend in Barcelona with his friends I had a chance to eat everything I wanted this weekend!! As lucky as I am with his willingness to try most things, in his heart he's a true Irishman and just likes his meat and potatoes. Whereas I prefer fish and so I'm making the most of his trip away. I started with trout and eggplant last night, followed by a lovely sushi lunch this afternoon.

Then tonight I finally got a chance to cook from my new book. I'd had my eye on it for ages and received it as a Christmas present this year...and even though I've been reading it lots, reminiscing of my trip down the Mekong river and through these countries two years ago. There was somehow so much to choose from and I just couldn't decide where to start. In the end it was an easy choice as I'd bought some squid and the book only had one recipe. I fell in love with this fish whilst travelling in Asia, I liked it before but I think often we get bad quality here. Over there everything was so fresh, prepared very simply but so well that it has now become one of my favourites. I think for the month we were in VIetnam that was all I ate! And this recipe delivered exactly the same, fresh tasty squid with crispy salad and fresh, spicy flavours. I think after this one, I shall keep cooking from this book as this dish was so simple yet rewarding to make!!

Squid with ginger-garlic sauce

2 pounds cleaned squid or 3 pounds small or medium whole squid
2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 cup coriander leaves
crunchy sald (I used oak leaf with chopped celery and fennel)
1 lime cut in wedges
salt and pepper

ginger garlic sauce
* 2 tbsp minced ginger
* 2 cloves garlic minced
* 1 bird or serrano chili, finelly chopped
* 1 tsp sugar
*3 tbsp fish sauce
* 3 tbsp fesh lime juice
* 1-2 tbsp water

First, prepare the ginger garlic sauce by crushing garlic, ginger, chili and sugar together in a pestle and mortar or by chopping it up finely. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and water to taste and blend well. Next, prepare the salad by cleaning all the veg and chopping it to whatever size you prefer. Finally, clean the squid and cut into rings or pieces, leave the tentacles whole or cut in half. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the squid in this for 4-6 minuted. Drain well, coat with lime juice and add coriander leaves. Serve with the salad and the sauce, either drizzle the sauce over or dip the pieces of squid in it with some veg.