French toast

Not strictly Thai food, but French toast Thai-style is delicious, cooked in the traditional way, and all the better for being served in a restaurant right on the beach, with hot sun shining down from a blue sky, and the waves of the Andaman Sea lapping gently on the shore. This was one of my favourite breakfasts while we stayed on Koh Lanta.

Served with honey on the side, these slices of bread are dipped in beaten egg and then fried until golden, so the inside is soft and the outside is crunchy. Try it with tomato ketchup or marmite for a savoury version.

© Katheryn Rice 2008

She likes Thai food

Happy New Year! 

Mr and Mrs Rice are currently liking their food in Thailand. Watch this space for some cracking fish from the Hua Hin street market, a superb family restaurant in Koh Lanta and the unique culinary delights of Bangkok…

Potato Salad

Another from the family recipe book, this potato salad is so simple. Everyone has their own version of this summer dish, and I have found this one, which has a taste that evokes memories of childhood, to be the best combination.

Recipe for Potato Salad
8 medium potatoes, skin on
2 eggs
6 spring onions
4 tbsp mayonnaise

Scrub the potatoes, but don’t peel them. Chop them into inch-sized chunks, and boil them for 10-15 minutes until they are soft, then drain them in a colander. Meanwhile, boil the eggs too, for 7 minutes, so the yolks are a bit soft. When you have removed them from the boiling water, put them straight into a bowl of cold water. This will cool them down and also stop the yolks getting that grey tint. While the eggs and potatoes are cooling, mix the mayonnaise with the chopped spring onions and any seasoning in a big bowl. Peel the eggs, rinsing them under the tap to make sure all the shell is gone, then chop them as finely as you can (an egg slicer is best – chop them both ways to get thin strips). Then add them to the mayonnaise and mix well. Finally, add the potatoes, which should still be warm, and serve.

© Katheryn Rice 2007

Mango Daiquiries at the Mumbai Oberoi & Welcome James Anthony Ravai

I may have reached Mango Daiquiri overkill, but I have been saving this post for a special day. This trip to India was the first time I had joined Mr Rice while he was working abroad, and I realised what a life of riley the telly people lead! I have no complaints though, as long as I get a share of it too. I love India, and Mumbai was as eccentric, chaotic, scary, funny and charming as expected.

This meal at the Mumbai Oberoi is one of my best memories of time spent with Mr Rice and his good friend Henry. The highlight of the meal was the toast – Henry told us that his girlfriend Rosanna was going to have a baby!

Congratulations Henry and Rosanna on the birth of James Anthony Ravai.

© Katheryn Rice 2007

Warm chocolate brownie with white chocolate sauce, Accra Beach, Barbados

I can’t think of a better way to soothe a hangover than to lie on a boiling hot beach, staring at the blue sky and turquoise sea, and tuck into a warm chocolate brownie with white chocolate sauce and cream on the side. YUM.

© Katheryn Rice 2007

Disappointing British Airways bread roll

I suppose the more you big something up, the more you are building yourself up for disappointment. Having abstained from white bread for the past few weeks, even the bread roll and butter on the plane had me salivating in anticipation. It was a let down. Cold, stiff and stale. I ate it anyway, after all, I had been looking forward to it for a while. In hindsight I should have set my sights higher, like a restaurant bread basket. It wasn’t until the last day in Barbados that I had the perfect bread basket. Crisp, buttery melba toast, with soft, creamy butter at David’s Place.

Incidentally and inevitably, the British Airways experience was infinitely better than American Airlines in every way imaginable. The staff were human, there were eye masks and comfy socks for all, everything was on time, and no-one had to sleep in Puerto Rico airport.

Oh and and thank you American Airlines for offering to compensate my 28 hour delay from London to St Kitts in April with an offer to reimburse me for the bottle of water and hot dog I bought to keep me going whilst sleeping under a plant pot in San Juan Departures. That took the edge off the memory of having to sleep on my suitcase with my coat on my head all night.

© Katheryn Rice 2007