this week's meal plan

It's a pretty straightforward week for dinners. We have a preschool information evening on Wednesday and everyone is bringing a plate so I'm going to make my trusty carrot cake.

I've made Thursdays dinner today so I can reheat it after work on Thursday evening. My secret ingredient for bolognaise is a good lug of wine which evaporates while it simmers. I also add plenty of veggies. The Vietnamese eggplant dish comes from our visit to the Red Bridge Cooking School in Hội An, Vietnam. I found a little surprise in an onion today... grubs.

What are you eating this week? Do you plan your meals ahead of time or do you grab ingredients on your way home?

Monday - Vietnamese eggplant in clay pot
Tuesday - Pizza night at our local (& really yummy) gourmet pizza restaurant. Two for $20 on Mondays & Tuesdays.
Wednesday - Preschool information evening: nibblies.
Thursday - Meat with four veg aka bolognaise with zucchini, carrot, tomato & onion.
Friday - Omelette with fresh eggs.

Vietnamese eggplant in clay pot - serves four

Ingredients
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1 clove garlic - finely chopped
2 tomatoes - quartered, inner section and seeds removed
1 lemongrass stalk - finely chopped (keep stalk)
1 spring onion - cut into 3cm lengths
2 Asian (long & thin) eggplants, cut not 4cm long & 1cm wide pieces
1 red chilli - cut into thin strips
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce*
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pinch turmeric
1 punch of pepper
Basil

Method
Put medium sized clay pot** on heat, add oil and stir in garlic until fragrant.
Add tomato and lemongrass to the pot (not lemongrass stalk).
Add 2 tablespoons water and stir.
Allow mixture to simmer for approx 2 minutes.
Add fish sauce & sugar - mix well.

Add eggplant and pour in a cup of water.
Add another 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce and sugar - mix well.
Add turmeric, pepper & lemongrass stalk.
Allow mixture to simmer for approx 5 minutes (until the eggplant is tender).
Add the spring onion lengths and simmer for a further 2 minutes coating the spring onions with the juices so they caramelise.

Garnish with basil, coriander and chilli.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

* I had run out of fish sauce so I dissolved a teaspoon of shrimp paste in a 1/3 cup of hot water.
** I used a heavy bottomed frying pan.

day five: dec 20 Hội An

There's plenty to see in Hội An and one thing that we missed seeing (and I wished we had have) is the town's well. The water from the wells is used to make authentic Cao Lau noodles.

What better way to broaden a culinary adventure and take home Vietnamese cooking techniques than to attend a cooking class? Red Bridge Cooking School is one of the two famous cooking schools in Hội An. We mentioned, in our booking, that we'd be bringing our children so they gave us the afternoon class. That way our kids didn't get in the way of other attendees and the staff could watch our kids when the kids lost interest in watching us cook. 

The Red Bridge Cooking School class began in the town where we visited the Hội An Cho (market) with a guide who talked us through the produce and some equipment used in Vietnamese cooking. I can just see and smell and dream of those fresh, fresh herbs!

From the market we took a boat along the river to the cooking school which is situated in superb, lush grounds.

We made 

• Seafood salad with Vietnamese herbs (from the garden) served in half a pineapple - Goi han san trong thuyen thom 
• Fresh rice paper rolls of shrimp - Chà giò tuoi
• Fresh rice paper - bánh uot (though, like so many things, it would be far easier to buy these than repeat the process of making, cooking and drying for two days.) 
• Hội An pancakes - Bánh xèo
• Vietnamese eggplant in clay pot - Cà tím kho tô
• Food decorations - trang ti

We were also given the recipes for sweet and sour sauce (sõt chua ngot), peanut sauce (sõt tuong dâu) and fish sauce (nuóc mam). 

An early dinner was served with a beer and the kitchen brought out a steamed ocean fish (cá hãp Viêt Nam) on a bed of fresh vegetables (even better than it sounds) once we'd devoured what we'd made. The setting was magnificent with the river flowing on one side and being enveloped by tall palms.

The meal was very satisfying, especially knowing we would take these recipes home to make later. We sipped our beer and rubbed our bellies and our children, still mildly interested in Lego, built towers at our feet. *Sigh* This is the life. 

Oh, except that when you have children most things don't go the way you think they will. B suddenly jumped up and starting running towards the river so I did too, towards him. All of a sudden he stopped and there, at the entrance to Red Bridge Cooking School, with its fine ornamental vases (and prefect lawns) he peed. 

___________________________________________________________________________________

The thing about having tailor-made clothes is you are required to revisit the tailor for fittings so J suggested that after the cooking school he'd take the kids back to the hotel so I could visit the tailor. 

I was told later that when J ordered room service of toasted sandwiches and hot chips B exclaimed "Dad, this is the best dinner ever!" 

As I wandered through Hội An the town became dark and the streets buzzed with activity. It was later that night that I discovered the convenience of a rickshaw but I was happy walking. I came across a great shop, Metiseko. It was the fabric that caught my eye and drew me in.

Metiseko is owned and run by a French couple - she designs the prints but all are made in Hoi An - and each piece is made from natural silk or organic cotton certified Global Organic Standards. As well as clothing and accessories (the quilts were so beautiful but too heavy to take home - they do deliver) they sell fabric by the metre but beware, according to the owner (his name escapes me but he was lovely) their workshop closes at 5pm. It's "not a sweat shop.... And that's a good thing!"

From Metiseko I was pointed in the direction of another meal. I was getting hungry so I asked after a place, not too touristy, but with great, affordable Vietnamese food. Only a stones throw from Metiseko is Mai Fish. The owners (who also own Green Mango and Mango Room) want to serve good Vietnamese food - not street food and not fine dining - somewhere in the middle. This restaurant isn't like most 'restaurants' we frequented. It was far more Westernised - very comfortable with mood lighting but just what I was after.

Although it was now dark, it was still warm and humid so I ordered a fresh coconut and a mojito. Most places in Hội An have half price happy hour each day so the mojito was cheap but I resisted having two.

My duck curry came with an accompanying baguette. The curry was just perfect. It was fresh, the duck melted in my mouth and it was the right balance of spice and sweet. The only thing that left a sour taste in my mouth was knowing that J was having to get the kids through that messy part of the day (getting ready for bed) and that he wasn't there to share the meal and drinks with me.

Metiseko
Address: 03 Chau Thuong Van, Minh An
Telephone: 0510 3929278
http://www.metiseko.com/en/index

Red Bridge Restaurant & Cooking School
Address: Thon 4, Cam Thanh
Hoi An, Viet Nam
Tel: +84 510 3933 222
Mobile: +84 905 452 092
Email: info@visithoian.com
http://www.visithoian.com/redbridge/

Mai Fish
45 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai