What are you eating and drinking tonight?

[William the White]

After a fine birthday celebration of my wife's 60th we are left with multiple leftovers. So, it looks like tonight I'll be cooking a chicken curry (Madhur Jaffrey recipe) and serving it with champagne.

[clapton is god]

Had a proper Spanish tapas in Juan Sanchez on Barlow Moor Road Chorlton yesterday afternoon. This was the real deal with a truly groaning table as dish after fabulous dish was served. The occasion was a going away 'do' for some friends of ours who are off to live in El Salvadore for a year and even included an authentic musical treat too. Felt privileged to be present. Not be the last time we visit this restaurant, I can tell you!

[Burnden Paddock]

Pum Thai in Bury town centre for lunch today. First visit, but it won't be the last!

We shared starters of Chicken Satay and a herb salad. One of the nicest satays that i've ever eaten. Cooked in a tasty sauce, with satay on the side, alongside a sweet dip with cucumber and chilli. The salad complemented it really well, with a drizzle of lime and a hint of chilli.

Mains were Chicken Penang curry which had a real depth of flavour in the sauce. The other was a red chicken curry with vegetables which whilst not quite the same depth, was still delicious. Both served with sticky rice.

A beer and a coke brought the bill to £25. However, the mains are available as lunchtime specials for £4.95 which is an absolute bargain. They also have a takeaway menu and offer Thai cooking lessons, which Mrs BP now has her eyes on!!

[TANGODANCER]

Wife's away with the daughter for a couple of days, so I dined right royally. I removed a couple of Carrs potato and meat pies from the freezer, defrosted and tenderly baked them to perfection, marinated two barmcakes with Lurpack ,filled the barmcakes with the pies, added salt and pepper to taste and scoffed the lot. For sweet I had a Greek Fruitopolis cherry yoghurt with a Jaffa cake dropped in it. I know how to eat on the wild side....

[William the White]

Pum Thai in Bury town centre for lunch today. First visit, but it won't be the last!

We shared starters of Chicken Satay and a herb salad. One of the nicest satays that i've ever eaten. Cooked in a tasty sauce, with satay on the side, alongside a sweet dip with cucumber and chilli. The salad complemented it really well, with a drizzle of lime and a hint of chilli.

Mains were Chicken Penang curry which had a real depth of flavour in the sauce. The other was a red chicken curry with vegetables which whilst not quite the same depth, was still delicious. Both served with sticky rice.

A beer and a coke brought the bill to £25. However, the mains are available as lunchtime specials for £4.95 which is an absolute bargain. They also have a takeaway menu and offer Thai cooking lessons, which Mrs BP now has her eyes on!!

That sounds fantastic - and handy for us. good tip.

[William the White]

Wife's away with the daughter for a couple of days, so I dined right royally. I removed a couple of Carrs potato and meat pies from the freezer, defrosted and tenderly baked them to perfection, marinated two barmcakes with Lurpack ,filled the barmcakes with the pies, added salt and pepper to taste and scoffed the lot. For sweet I had a Greek Fruitopolis cherry yoghurt with a Jaffa cake dropped in it. I know how to eat on the wild side....

You are from Wigan, aren't you?

[KeyserSoze]

Needs more gravy.

Actually, tthat could be said for every post in this thread

[Bruce Rioja]

They also have a takeaway menu and offer Thai cooking lessons, which Mrs BP now has her eyes on!!

Can you get her on a crash course before Chelsea away?

[TANGODANCER]

Wife's away with the daughter for a couple of days, so I dined right royally. I removed a couple of Carrs potato and meat pies from the freezer, defrosted and tenderly baked them to perfection, marinated two barmcakes with Lurpack ,filled the barmcakes with the pies, added salt and pepper to taste and scoffed the lot. For sweet I had a Greek Fruitopolis cherry yoghurt with a Jaffa cake dropped in it. I know how to eat on the wild side....

You are from Wigan, aren't you?

Halliwell, William, Halliwell. The home neighbourhood of the Carrs Pasty is where I'm from. .

[William the White]

Wife's away with the daughter for a couple of days, so I dined right royally. I removed a couple of Carrs potato and meat pies from the freezer, defrosted and tenderly baked them to perfection, marinated two barmcakes with Lurpack ,filled the barmcakes with the pies, added salt and pepper to taste and scoffed the lot. For sweet I had a Greek Fruitopolis cherry yoghurt with a Jaffa cake dropped in it. I know how to eat on the wild side....

You are from Wigan, aren't you?

Halliwell, William, Halliwell. The home neighbourhood of the Carrs Pasty is where I'm from. .

Amazed the shop is still going!

[KeyserSoze]

I thought you were a farnworth lad as well, tango? Illusions shattered!

[Burnden Paddock]

They also have a takeaway menu and offer Thai cooking lessons, which Mrs BP now has her eyes on!!

Can you get her on a crash course before Chelsea away?

Of course. You can donate via my paypal account to fund the course.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

They also have a takeaway menu and offer Thai cooking lessons, which Mrs BP now has her eyes on!!

Can you get her on a crash course before Chelsea away?

Of course. You can donate via my paypal account to fund the course.

I've a thai green curry recipe you're welcome to. Got a chef in Thailand to show me how to make it and it's a doddle if you can get the ingredients.

[Burnden Paddock]

They also have a takeaway menu and offer Thai cooking lessons, which Mrs BP now has her eyes on!!

Can you get her on a crash course before Chelsea away?

Of course. You can donate via my paypal account to fund the course.

I've a thai green curry recipe you're welcome to. Got a chef in Thailand to show me how to make it and it's a doddle if you can get the ingredients.

Excellent! Cheers.

Mrs BP once did a Delia recipe. Not the most authentic obviously. The recipe stated 8 seedless chilli's. For some reason, known only to herself, Mrs BP put in 16 whole chilli's but only told us once we started to eat it. That was hot!

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Excellent! Cheers.

Mrs BP once did a Delia recipe. Not the most authentic obviously. The recipe stated 8 seedless chilli's. For some reason, known only to herself, Mrs BP put in 16 whole chilli's but only told us once we started to eat it. That was hot!

The recipe is as given to me, but I tone it down a bit as it's blow your head off stuff!

Curry paste
5-10 green/red chillies (thai birdseye)
10 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon chopped galangal
1 tablespoon thinly sliced lemongrass
1/2 teaspoon lime zest (kaffir lime if available)
1 teaspoon chopped coriander root (I use stem as can't get root here)
1 teaspoon shrimp paste.

Bash the hell out of it in a pestle & mortar, or whiz in food processor until it becomes a paste. P&M is better, but FP is ok. Keeps for a month in the fridge and can be frozen.

Advice - the thai birdseye chillies available here make your eyeballs explode! I use about 4 to make the paste, and even that is hot. You might need to experiment with whatever chillies you have available.

To make the curry

Ingredients
6 ounces of meat (or whatever quantity you want)
1/2 cup of coconut milk
4 ounces of thai eggplant (optional)
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon sweet basil
1-2 table spoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar
1-3 tablespoons of the curry paste
Red chilli (optional)
Oil for cooking

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the curry paste until fragrant (medium heat). Lower heat a little.
Add the coconut milk slowly and stir. Keep cooking until a thin film of oil appears on the surface.
Add the meat and bring to a boil.
Add eggplant.
Once meat and eggplant is cooked add the rest of the ingredients to taste. Once mixed in and you're satisfied with the taste - serve.

I tend to leave out the sweet basil as I can't always find it. I quite like it with a bit of coriander leaf at the end instead. The fish sauce I add 1 tablespoon and taste, then add more if I feel it needs it. I tend to add all the curry paste, but use more coconut milk to take a bit of the heat away. The whole recipe is flexible, so use it as a starting point and amend quantities to your own taste. Because it can be very hot due to the chilli type you use, I'd advise having plenty of coconut milk to hand so you can tone it down if needed!I find it best to have smaller pieces of meat so it cooks quickly. When I've used larger pieces I've found it to be a bit tougher/dry.

He also gave me a salad and soup recipe that I can dig out if you want them.

[Bruce Rioja]

They also have a takeaway menu and offer Thai cooking lessons, which Mrs BP now has her eyes on!!

Can you get her on a crash course before Chelsea away?

Of course. You can donate via my paypal account to fund the course.

Payment upon results, my man.

Anyway, yer place has the seal of approval here. Colleague of mine that lives in Bury and is married to a Thai girl says that they rarely eat anywhere else.

Also in Bury, a couple of years ago we had a bunch over from our factory in China so took them to the Flaming Dragon. I feared the worst (imagine being in Shanghai and being taken for their crack at a hotpot) anyway, they absolutely loved it, and so did we.

[Burnden Paddock]

Cheers AT. I'll give that a crack. Yes please to the soup and salad recipes too. Thanks!

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

No problem BP.

Thai salad

Ingredients
Meat - chicken, beef or pork. Seasoned and grilled/cooked, then thinly sliced.
Sliced onion, tomatoes and cucumber
Chopped spring onion and chinese celery
Thinly sliced prik ki nu (scary chillies!). Use whatever chilli and quantity you want.

Dressing
Fish sauce - 1/2
Lime juice - 2
White sugar - 1/2
Chilli sauce - 1 (they used a bottle of heinz chilli sauce, any should do)

I forgot to write down the measuring instrument, but I guess if you keep the proportions you'll be more or less there. I seem to remember a tiny squeeze of lemon too, but didn't write it down - just taste as you go. Mix it all together and you're done. It was pretty spicy, but very tasty.

Tom Yam Talay soup

Ingredients
Some mixed seafood of your choice. Ours had some snapper chunks, squid and prawns, sliced into chunks.
1-2 cups of water
1-2 shallots finely chopped
1 stalk of lemon grass, lightly pounded and cut into 1 inch segments
2-3 slices of galangal
6-7 small mushrooms, halved
3 kaffir lime leaves
2-3 small chillies
Some coriander
Some spring onion chopped

Put the water in a pan and add the shallots, lemon grass and galangal. Boil for 3-5 minutes.
Add the seafood and mushrooms and boil until seafood is cooked.
Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and remove from the heat.

If you want a thicker soup, add cream and sweet chilli paste immediately after removing from heat. I would recommend tasting the liquid before adding the seafood to make sure you have a fragrant liquid. The recipe is a bit vague with water quantity and this will ensure you have a good base for the other flavours. Just add a bit more galangal and lemongrass if needed.

Hope you enjoy. I'm hoping to get back to Thailand next year, so will be looking to do a proper cooking class this time.

[Burnden Paddock]

Cheers AT.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

You're welcome. I've made the massamam curry off this website that was quite nice. Not as good as what I had in Thailand, but definitely better than the pastes you buy. http://www.thaitable.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;