Cucumber-Rambutan Julienne Salad with Baked Lotus Chips

With the weather in the tropics being what it is (blazing!), every day is an occasion to eat a refreshing salad to cool things down. For this particular julienne salad, I didn't have to think very hard - not very. What vegetable is cooler than a cucumber, anyway? No brainer, Cuke's clearly the salad Hero. What's more Zen than a lotus root? Well, Lotsy just became Cuke's reliable sidekick. LOL. Are these ingredients starting to sound like some characters I'm inventing for a comic strip? Well, I don't know how it got there, but no, I'm describing my tropical salad: Cucumber-Rambutan Julienne Salad with Baked Lotus Chips.

Cucumber-Rambutan Julienne Salad with Baked Lotus Chips
Ingredients:
1 cucumber, peel skin and make into julienne strips
4-5 rambutans, peel and remove seed
1 lotus root, peel and slice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons biryani spice powder
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, cracked
1 lime

Now, the rambutans. The season for these red, hairy fruits has just started over here. Sweet, juicy and thoroughly addictive, rambutans are quite irresistable and during season, many of its fans will develop painfully sore throats. Yep, very heaty, those dang fruits! They look and taste enticing but an overdose of rambutans can potentially make you feverish. By too much, I mean if you ate a whole bunch all by yourself! If this salad was a James Bond movie, then the rambutan must surely be the Miss Moneypenny. Discreet, but you know she's there. Sweet, but yeah, just watch out for your throat!

RAMBUTAN = MONEYPENNY

CUCUMBER = SUPERHERO CUKE

Okay, I admit that the post title may be a bit of an overkill because the only julienne part of this salad is the cucumber (sans skin). Using a potato peeler, I carefully stripped away long, thin strips of translucent cucumber flesh along its length, stopping just short of the seedy core. Added a sprinkling of salt to the cucumber to draw the moisture out, although on hindsight, I could've just left it as it was and the dish would've been equally wonderful. After about 5 minutes, I squeezed and drained the cucumber water. Peeled and pitted a couple of rambutans, tore them into small pieces and added those into the cucumber bowl. Squeezed lime juice and sprinkled freshly cracked peppercorns over the whole thing, and we were ready to rock! Hang on a sec, have I forgotten something??

LOTUS ROOT = LOTSY

Ah yes, the lotus root. It turned out that Lotsy had its own thing going on while I was busy with Cuke and Moneypenny! Cut the root into 1/8" slices and parboiled these for about 4 minutes to soften them up. Drained and dried the slices with a paper towel, before coating them in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. You can season yours with salt, cajun pepper or other favourite spices. Mine, I sprinkled with some biryani spice powder and with breadcrumbs, for that extra ooomphh, you know. Then placed the 'chips' on an unlined baking tray and baked at 175C for 20 minutes, turning over once after 10 minutes. I loved, loved, loved Lotsy as the crispy, flavourful sidekick to cool Cuke and his Moneypenny.

SUPERCOOL SALAD!

  

To bring out the flavours of cucumber and rambutan, I added a dash of green lime and freshly cracked peppercorns. Nyummm.... I can't even begin to describe how this tasted, and how sublime the textures were...*long dreamy sigh*.

If you do try making this heroic salad and can't get any rambutans (not even canned ones?) where you're at, then sheez, throw in some other fruit!

Crusty Avocado Treasure Balls

I cook exactly the same way I work – literally, by throwing my whole being into the task at hand. Nothing is too difficult or complicated or even impossible if you break it down into small steps. Oh, having a strategy, being well-informed and organised helps too, as does good delegation. Well, perhaps there is one difference in that when cooking, I NEVER delegate. I am the female Gordon Ramsay of my own kitchen, trusting only my own tastebuds, my own heart and no-one else’s. Having other people around when I'm cooking just makes me agitated – never a good thing when one is yielding a sharp knife! *grrrrrrh* *grins*

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to write about this dish for ages but haven’t yet been able to find any decent avocadoes in the market. Either they’re rock-hard or mushy-like - why do people sell these sub-standard produce? - and nothing much can be done with them except play hand-ball (with the hard ones) or make guacamole/facemask (mushy ones). But today, today I found perfect ones for my Treasures recipe! Well, almost perfect because they’re a tad on the small side. Still, good enough to throw my whole being into making this eye-candy of a dish.

Why the impossible title? Well, I had wanted it to be longer to include the description of the filling, but my sensible side stopped me from embarrassing myself (further). Here’s the title reasoning:

Crusty - The de-skinned avocadoes were coated in white rice crumbs (breadcrumbs will also do).

Avocado – Well, it’s the main player in this show, of course!

Treasure – Describes the filling, made up of tabbouleh – bulgur wheat, tomatoes, olives, shallots, pesto. Fresh coriander and mint would have made it more authentic and brilliant, but I had neither, so there.
Balls – The split avocado was put back together into a ‘ball’ shape before being encrusted.

At centrestage: Avocado, tomato, lemon, white rice crumbs, black olives, bulgur wheat, basil pesto, shallots

              Cooked bulgur wheat

 

 The Bald and the Crustyful.

Okayyyy…. Let’s move on from this nonsense and get on with the recipe.

Crusty Avocado Treasure Balls

Ingredients:

8 small or 4 large avocadoes

White rice crumb or breadcrumbs, enough for coating avocadoes

1 egg, lightly beaten

For the filling:

125g bulgur wheat

600ml water

10 black olives, chopped

1 large tomato, diced

2 shallots, finely diced

1 tablespoon pesto sauce

½ lemon, squeeze for juice

Method:

1. For tabbouleh filling, add bulgur wheat to water and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 15 minutes until most of the water is absorbed. Drain and set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine chopped olives, tomato, shallots and pesto sauce. Add the cooked bulgur wheat to the bowl and then add lemon juice. Mix tabbouleh gently, season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Prepare the avocado ‘shells’. Slice each fruit into two and carefully peel the skin by hand, remove seeds. Scoop out a portion of the core of each avocado half, still leaving a thick layer to hold in the filling. Add the scooped-out avocado to the tabbouleh.

4. Spoon the filling into each shell and after that’s done, press the two halves together to form what looks like a ‘whole’ avocado.

5. Carefully dip the avocado in the beaten egg and then roll it in the crumbs.

6. Place avocado in a broiler for about 3-5 minutes to just brown the crumbs. Roll over once and do not let the avocado cook or split! Serve immediately.

Even if you’d stopped at Step No. 4, this dish would still be the “Wow, Homaygad!” talk of the table. Eat it as an appetizer, mains or just to curb that hunger whenever it hits. I have a big smile every time I make this (not very often) because I know the effort, no, the LOVE, is just so worth it!

Just some post Posting notes:

White rice crumbs are my new discovery. They look like dessicated coconut except they have a rather neutral taste. Wonderfully crispy, I didn't even wait till they were properly browned before chowing these down! Can't find these? Just use regular breadcrumbs or even toasted nuts, chopped very finely. If your imagination is as wild and uncontrollable as mine, the possibilities for the coating and the filling are endless! 

Tabbouleh is just the best combination with avocado. Just in case, in case you didn't know, this is a Middle-Eastern salad - more about it on Wiki. Okay, I'll stop insulting your intelligence now.

Parmesan Crusted Fish with Carrot Flowers

Funnily enough, ever since Ivanka Trump tweeted that this was one of her favourite dishes (not that she actually cooks it, of course. She has people to do that!), I've been wanting to try it out. Maybe my inner psyche was in actual fact wanting to experience what it must be like to be Ivanka, even if it's only through this one dish and even though I have to cook it myself.  Sigh...

Luckily, she had posted the recipe up on her FB profile, so off I went to the kitchen to ahem... be Ivanka's chef, and later on, her. Lol! At least she has a good head on her shoulders and is a great role model for women everywhere.

Parmesan Crusted Fish with Carrot Flowers
Ingredients:
1 large (1 inch thick) cod fillet (or you can use sea bass, halibut, even grouper)
3 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1 tsp grated ginger
1 lime, squeezed
Ground pepper salt

For the crusted topping:
2 tblspn grated Parmesan cheese
2 tblspn butter
2 tblspn plain yoghurt
½ cup breadcrumbs

For the carrot flowers:
1 medium carrot, grated thinly lengthwise
1 egg

Method:

1. Preheat broiler/oven to high.
2. In a small bowl combine parmesan, butter, yoghurt and set aside.
3. Chop the garlic and shallots and mix together with the grated ginger. Set aside.

I love the smell of fresh ginger!

This one's just after being grated, with the fibres standing upright at the top.

4. Season fillet with lime juice, salt and pepper, then place it on a lightly greased broiler pan. Sprinkle garlic, shallots and ginger mix over the top and broil 6 inches from heat for 10 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and spread cheese mixture on top of the fillet - top that with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs.

6. Return to the oven and broil for about 3 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and bubbly. The breadcrumbs burn easily so do keep an eye on it.

7. While the fish is cooking, prepare the carrot flowers. Use a potato peeler to thinly slice carrot strips along the length of the carrot.

8. Arrange carrot strips in a microwave egg poacher (below), spoon in the egg white that has been separated from the yolk and season with black pepper. If you don't have this poacher kitchen gadget thing, just use a shallow bowl.

9. Microwave for about 1 minute and it’s done. Take this out and arrange on top of each other to form “carrot flowers” and serve with the crusted fish fillet.

  

I retired to the dining table and ate this accompanied by some iced jasmine green tea laced with lime and  raspberries. 

Like Ivanka, I'm a very happy girl indeed! (To The Donald - If I can't be your daughter, can I at least be your Apprentice?)