Finger Food | Finding Feasts

Thai Pork Skewers

Here is another recipe from David Thompson’s, Thai Street Food – one of my all time top 5 favourite cook books.

I have made a couple of minor adjustments and alternative ingredient options if you have trouble sourcing the exact recipe, but it’s basically the same.

These Thai Pork Skewers are beautifully sweet and salty, and with the cooking processing requiring coconut cream and a pandanus leaf brush for basting you can really feel like you’re on the streets of Thailand. Ideally cook these over gentle coals but you can use a grill on the stovetop – I really need to get my self a hibachi for cooking such dishes as the smoke that rises with the dripping juices adds an authenticity that can’t be beaten. I think every house had one 20 years ago!

Enjoy… Blondie 🙂

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Baharat and Panko Crusted Salmon Croquettes

I am on a mission to make the perfect Bitterballen, so far without much luck. I know what I’m looking for and the recipes I am experimenting with just aren’t cutting the mustard, but I will get there and will proudly announce my efforts when I do!

In the meantime, here is a gorgeous mid-week meal to serve with a crisp salad and a little yoghurt, Baharat and Panko Crusted Salmon Croquettes. Also works very well for finger food at a party!

How can anyone pass on these little deep fried little flavour bundles? Bite into the crispy outside with the beautiful flavours of the Middle Eastern spice mix then break through to the creamy salmon centre… Heaven!

Enjoy, Blondie 🙂

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Slow Cooked Pork Ribs

FinSkis_Moorish Ribs Main — Click on image for recipe

These ribs are my adaptation of Gary Mehigan’s ribs from MasterChef – Season 2.

It’s fair to say that up until recently I hated pork. My family ate plenty of it when I was growing up but it was just one of those things that didn’t sit well with me.

I decided to give this recipe a go for one of our BBQ’s and OMG it was finger licking good. The ribs disappeared off the plate!

The fat cooked out and the meat just fell off the bone.

I have altered this recipe to a child friendly version but if your kids love chilli and ‘heat’ then I definitely suggest adding some chilli powder or flakes.

The lime juice is a gorgeous way to finish off the dish and it balances the sweetness very nicely.

Very mooooooreishhhhhh!

Bella

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Crunchy Barley and Oat Bars

So how did I come around to making these delicious Crunchy Barley and Oat Bars?

Well, my husband loves his porridge in the morning and I usually buy the quick cook rolled oats sachets (these cook in 90 seconds in the microwave because the oats have been finely cut as opposed to the full oat which takes a lot longer) anyway to make a boring story short, I got the wrong brand and he wasn’t too impressed!

Left with 9 sachets of Rolled Barley and Oats I figured that healthy snack bars will be the best way to use them up. Just to pump up the healthy side of them a bit more, I used Coconut oil instead of butter – AMAZING! They are like Anzac biscuits but even better!

With baked recipes you can replace the butter or margarine with coconut oil – Measurements are 1:1 so if your recipe asks for 2 tbs of butter you use 2 tbs of coconut oil. If the butter in the recipe needs to be solid then place the coconut oil in the fridge till firm, if it needs to be melted then gently heat till liquid… so easy.

These are a fantastic and healthy lunchbox snack for the kids!

Crunchy, sneaky goodness… Blondie 🙂

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Mini Spinach and Ricotta Tarts

Mini Spinach and Ricotta Tarts… These are a tasty mini tart that everyone will love at your next party… made even more special if you make your own ricotta cheese for it.

Light and fluffy, as finger food nothing beats cheese and spinach!

Eat up! Blondie

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How to make the perfect pork crackling

How to make the perfect pork crackling… Pork crackling is as important a part of my Christmas dinner as the ham or the pudding.

Every year my dad makes a delicious Christmas cocktail to greet all the family when we arrive, each year it’s different and sometimes quite experimental, but this is generally when the crackling gets eaten as no one can wait till dinner time – cocktails and crackling what better way to start a beautiful Christmas evening…

Since most of us in Australia will buy a Smoked Leg of Ham – and you can’t use the skin off this, you will need to buy the pork skin separately from your butcher. It is so cheap, if not free if you are lucky, so buy up big.

There are some vital elements to making this that will determine whether you succeed or fail…

Firstly, get pork skin that has quite a bit of fat still under the skin, at minimum there needs to be .5cm. It’s the the contrast of the juicy fat under the crispy skin that makes pork crackling perfect!

Secondly, get your butcher to score the skin. You may think you can do it yourself but trying to score skin that’s flat on a bench is really hard. They have super sharp knives and can do it seconds flat!

Finally, the pouring over of the boiling water is what will open up the scored skin, which will then let in the salt, which then forms the crispy skin. Without one process the others won’t work.

Happy crunching! Blondie.

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Pork & Lentil Thai Red Curry + Thai Pork Meatballs w/ Dipping Sauce

What to do with leftover roasting pork? Make Pork & Lentil Thai Red Curry + Thai Pork Meatballs w/ Dipping Sauce

With close to a kilo of pork to use (leftover from our Christmas in July) and the weather warming up, a roast was out of the question. Feeling like something Thai inspired I decided to do meatballs.

It feels like forever since I spent a day in the kitchen pottering around, which is why there are 3 different recipes included in the one post. The first one is…

Pork and Lentil Thai Red Curry

Mum does a gorgeous Curry Pork and Lentil soup, which can also be served over rice if you choose, so this is my version, Thai style!

The benefit of using a roasting pork for the curry is that the pork becomes beautiful and tender while simmering away with the lentils for 40 mins or so, but you can most certainly use pork mince. I also cooked them in the oven first though so they would retain their shape.

Some notes for making this dish…

Buy a pre made Red Curry paste – there are so many out there and it’s trial and error to find the one you will love. Be warned some are extraordinarily, mouth searingly hot!

If you do find that it’s just too hot for you but you love the flavour add some sweet yoghurt (not Greek style) and lime, works a treat.

Use coconut oil to cook with – it smells divine when cooking and has just so many health benefits – LOVE IT!

Thai Pork Meatballs w/ Sweet Chili, Dill and Coriander Sauce

While rolling out the meatballs I started feeling hungry – it was lunchtime, so quickly fried some of them up and they were just so good I had to give them their own recipe page, which is the reason for this second recipe. Served with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce they make a lovely plate of appetisers. Skewered onto some ornate chopsticks or served with the sauce already over them (very Christmasie) they are great tasting and so quick.

You can make these at anytime, freeze them and then cook as you need them.

Sweet Chili Sauce

I always have Sweet Chili Sauce on hand, it’s the only sauce my son likes so I make big batches of it and it lasts for ages. I also have the jar out on the kitchen bench so it’s always at hand to add to food that needs some sweetness, it’s used instead of sugar as it already has the chili infused and the zing of vinegar that is the perfect compliment to any Asian dish.

Enjoy, Blondie

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