FLOWER POT KITCHEN: BIG GIRLS DIET THAI CHICKEN BURGER WITH A CRISPY DEEP FRIED POACHED EGG

7 Mar 2017

BIG GIRLS DIET THAI CHICKEN BURGER WITH A CRISPY DEEP FRIED POACHED EGG

Low Carb Eating

This is out of bounds! Juicy chicken thighs blitzed with fragrant lemongrass, lime zest, chilli, coriander, cumin and galangal pan seared and served on a bed of fresh mustard salad greens tossed in a seasoned lime drizzle, topped with a crispy deep fried poached egg, Oh Boy this is a marriage made in food heaven.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

500g boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 tsp coriander seeds ground

1 tsp cumin seeds ground

1 tsp white pepercorns ground

1 tbsp lemongrass finely chopped

1 red chilli

1 small shallot

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 lime zested and juiced

1 tsp galangal roughly chopped

2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped

2 tbsp coriander stalks finely chopped

4 portions (400g) green mixed salad

Deep Fried Poached Egg

1 ltr ground nut oil

4 eggs organic free range

This is super quick and easy, place all the ingredients except the lime juice, coriander leaves and green salad in a blender and blitz to a medium coarse consistency, divide into four and form in to burgers. Heat a non stick pan or griddle medium hot and place the burgers on to cook, do not turn the burgers until 3-4 minutes and try to only turn once during the cooking, cook the second side for another 4 minutes and then turn off the heat and leave the burgers for a couple of minutes to rest and relax making them extra juicy while you whip up the salad and bring the oil up to 180 degrees to deep fry the eggs.

In a deep frying pan place the oil and carefully bring the temperature up to 170-180 degrees C, crack in the eggs, the hot oil will bubble around the eggs just as water would if poaching and this envelopes the yolk keeping it soft but gives you a lovely crispy outer. Cook for around 2-3 minutes for a just soft slow running yolk. Take out and drain on a fresh clean tea towel, serve immediately.

Place the salad greens in a large bowl and season with sea salt and pepper, drizzle over the lemon juice and place on your plates, top with your rested burgers and top with your beautiful crispy soft deep fried poached egg.

The Self Sufficient Bit...

For me this is great I got to pick the mixed green salad leaves from the garden which I love that it is the start of March and my over wintered salad is producing well, I took a dried red chilli from the garden larder along with a plaited shallot and garlic clove along with four eggs from our girls in the garden, the chicken I can not go there after hatching our own chicks for that purpose so I support Riverford an Organic Farm in Devon who deliver what I can not, not always my choice ! or choose not to produce.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.