Asian Chicken Salad

Michael shows how to take leftovers and make them into something new with Asian chicken salad wrapped in rice paper, potato pancakes with smoked salmon & herb sour cream dressing, baked tomatoes "Provencal", and flambeed bananas served with ice cream.

• Asian Chicken Salad Wrapped in Rice Paper
• Baked Tomatoes ‘Provencal’
• Flaming Bananas
• Potato Pancake with Smoked Salmon and Herbed Sour Cream Dressing

Asian Chicken Salad Wrapped in Rice Paper

Yield: 4

Ease of Preparation: Easy.
A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook. For that reason feel free to stir your own ideas into this dish. When you cook it once, it becomes yours, so personalize it a bit. Add more of an ingredient you like or less of something you don't like. Try substituting one ingredient for another. Remember words have no flavour, you have to add your own!

Ingredients:

The Dressing

• Juice of 2 limes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• Dash hot sauce
• Dash sesame oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 
  

The Salad

• 1 x small bundle of rice vermicelli noodles
• 2 x cooked chicken breasts, shredded
• 1 cup snow peas, thinly sliced
• 1 x carrot, peeled and shredded
• 1 bunch cilantro, leaves picked
• 4 x large rice paper wrappers, soaked until soft

Directions:

The Dressing

1. Whisk the dressing ingredients together until they form a smooth dressing.

The Salad

1. Cover the noodles with boiling water.
2. Soak until noodles are softened. Drain noodles well.
3. Place shredded chicken into a large bowl, add noodles, peas, carrot and cilantro leaves.
4. Add dressing and toss well.
5. Place a softened rice paper wrapper onto a kitchen towel and blot dry.
6. Carefully transfer it to a flat work surface and place a large spoonful of the chicken salad at the edge closest to you.
7. Fold edge over the filling, and then fold in the two ends.
8. Continue to roll up, securing loose edges so that it is sealed. Repeat for other three rolls.

Baked Tomatoes ‘Provencal’

Yield: 4

Ease of Preparation: Easy.
A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook. For that reason feel free to stir your own ideas into this dish. When you cook it once, it becomes yours, so personalize it a bit. Add more of an ingredient you like or less of something you don't like. Try substituting one ingredient for another. Remember words have no flavour, you have to add your own!

Ingredients:

Baked Tomatoes 'Provencal'

• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 x cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 4 Tbsps olive oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Sea salt
• 4 x ripe tomatoes

Directions:

Baked Tomatoes 'Provencal'

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place breadcrumbs, cheese, garlic, parsley, olive oil, oregano and sea salt into a bowl and mix well.
3. Cut a cone shape out of the top of each tomato and then scoop out most of the seeds carefully.
4. Stuff with breadcrumb mixture and place in an 8" x 8" baking pan.
5. Bake until stuffing is golden brown and tomatoes are softened, about 20-25 minutes.

Flaming Bananas

Yield: 2

Ease of Preparation: Easy.
A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook. For that reason feel free to stir your own ideas into this dish. When you cook it once, it becomes yours, so personalize it a bit. Add more of an ingredient you like or less of something you don't like. Try substituting one ingredient for another. Remember words have no flavour, you have to add your own!

Ingredients:

Flaming Bananas

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 x bananas, peeled and sliced into 6 pieces each
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• Vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Flaming Bananas

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add butter and when it begins to foam, add bananas and sugar.
3. Sauté and let bananas caramelize.
4. When they are golden and while the pan is hot ignite them.
5. Tilt the pan away from you, pour in rum and hold a match over the simmering mixture. Be careful!
6. When the alcohol has burned off, the flame will die down.
7. Serve over vanilla ice cream.

Potato Pancake with Smoked Salmon and Herbed Sour Cream Dressing

Yield: 4

Ease of Preparation: Easy.
A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook. For that reason feel free to stir your own ideas into this dish. When you cook it once, it becomes yours, so personalize it a bit. Add more of an ingredient you like or less of something you don?t like. Try substituting one ingredient for another. Remember words have no flavour, you have to add your own!

Ingredients:

The Pancake

• 3 x baked potatoes
• Half of an onion, grated on box grater
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 
  

The Dressing

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 Tbsps capers, lightly chopped
• 2 Tbsps chopped dill

Garnish

• 12 slices smoked salmon
• Handful of baby greens

Directions:

The Pancake

1. Grate potatoes into a large bowl.
2. Add onions and season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium to low heat and add butter and oil.
4. Add potato mixture and pat down into the pan so the bottom of the pan is completely covered and the cake is about 1 inch thick.
5. As the cake cooks, pat it down along the edges to compact it.
6. Cook for about twenty minutes, until it has formed a thick, golden crust.
7. Flip pancake by inverting it onto a large plate and then sliding it uncooked-side down back into the hot pan.
8. Cook the other side until golden and firm.
9. Slide pancake onto a serving plate and garnish with slices of smoked salmon and sour cream dressing.
10. Place the greens on top and serve.

The Dressing

1. Mix ingredients in a small bowl.

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