Oops, I did it again…
If I look to my right, there is a big, dark brown wooden bookshelf that reaches almost up to my ceiling, and it is absolutely bursting with books. Sure, there is plenty of casual reading, but two bookshelves are completely overwhelmed by cook books and food magazines. A lot fewer than some, but an impressive collection for someone who only started seriously collecting around 18 months ago. The problem isn’t the bookshelf itself, but the fact that since I ran out of room at the end of last year, the cookbooks have started to pile up on my desk on either side of me. I am now working with barely enough elbow space for working - and when doing my uni work, the books get relocated to my bed so I have space to sprawl out papers and books!
Because of this severe lack of room (unfortunately, there’s no room for another bookshelf!), I made a new year’s resolution that I would not buy any more books till I had tried at least a quarter of the recipes from every book that I own. Perhaps this doesn’t sound like too big a task, but most of the cookbooks that I own are mini-tomes, numbering hundreds pages between the front and back covers. I highly doubt that I will ever try every single recipe on any of their pages, but that doesn’t stop me from looking for new books to thrill me!
A few months ago, I received a letter from my book club, saying that it’d been too long since I’d ordered any books, and in order to entice me, they were offering me a two-for-one deal. Now, with an offer like that, how on earth could I refuse? Of course, it was a very clever lure, and looking through the catalog I noticed that there were two books that I’d been eyeing for a little while, so with no further hesitation I filled out my order and popped it in the mail.
Then came the wait.
And more waiting.
And even more waiting.
Finally, whilst hanging out with my ma one day, the doorbell rang and I heard the “CLUNK” of a parcel being dropped on my doorstep!
“THEY’RE HERE!!” I squealed, and bounded off the couch to the front door.
“What’s here?” My ma enquired, as I hurridly yanked open the doors and grabbed the parcel, cradling it to my chest.
“My new cookbooks!”
I pranced back to the lounge room and plonked myself down next to her, tearing at the cardboard box to reveal the glossy covers of my newest acquisitions. The crackling of the pages was music to my ears as I carefully opened Bill Granger’s “Every Day” from the box, and slowly started flipping though the pages with their beautiful photos. Bill Granger is one of Australia’s better known chefs, owner of a couple of restaurants in Sydney and possibly known these days for featuring his pearly whites in a toothpase commercial. I’d heard many reports of his restaurant (mostly good), and as the likelihood of me visiting Bills is fairly low, I was keen to give some of his recipes a go myself.
A few pages into the book, I came across this recipe for what he called “Spicy Chicken Salad”. Reading through the ingredients and instructions, it came across as being fairly similar to the chicken noodle salads that are often found on the menus of ‘hawker-style’ Vietnamese restaruants. I loved the sound of it so much that I actually made it for lunch, and since then make it for my family about once a week as they’ve fallen in love with it’s freshness and flavours. I’ve since passed the recipe onto another friend who is often lacking time to cook decent food, and he’s also reported back that it definitely is a great recipe to have on hand, and it’s proof that healthy and tasty food doesn’t have to be time-consuming!
Once again, as I can never leave well enough alone, I’ve ended up making a few changes to good ol’ Bill’s recipe as my family and I prefer certain flavours to be much stronger, but remember - as with anything with a marinade, taste as you go and alter it according to your own preferences 
Spicy Chicken Salad (adapted from “Every Day” by Bill Granger)
Ingredients for chicken
3 tbsp fish sauce
6 large garlic cloves, crushed (or 3 tsp minced garlic)
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2 small birds eye chillis
4 tsp caster sugar
8 chicken thighs, boneless and trimmed of skin and fat
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Black pepper
Ingredients for salad
3 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp caster sugar
2 cucumbers, halved and thinly sliced
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, quartered
200g vermicelli noodles
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp roasted unsalted cashew nuts, crushed
1. Whisk fish sauce, pepper, garlic, ginger, chillies and sugar. Put chicken in a seperate bowl and pour over HALF the marinade (set aside the other half of the marinade for now). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 mins.
2. With the remaining marinade, add the lime juice and sugar and stir till the sugar has dissolved - this will be the salad dressing. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, then fry the chicken (in two batches), cooking for 3 minutes on each side. To get really crispy chicken, put a large and heavy pot on top of the chicken to press it down to the frying pan. However make sure that you’re doing this in a non-stick frying pan otherwise it’ll stick horribly.
4. Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave for a few minutes or till soft. Drain and rinse under cold water, making sure to drain all excess water. Place the noodles in a large bowl and add the cucumber, spring onion, cherry tomatoes and cashews.
5. Add the dressing, toss well and serve sliced chicken on top.
The great thing about this meal is that nearly all the components can be prepared beforehand and whacked together in about 10 minutes when you’re hungry. The chicken can be left in the marinade in the fridge for a week, and the salad dressing mixed up and left in a seperate container - so when you’re hungry you just have to fry up the chicken, boil the noodles, chop the veg and bung it altogether for a quick and super tasty treat!
Technorati Tags: chicken salad, asian, bill granger, recipe, cooking, lunch, recipe
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Comments
what a great new addition to your collection! this salad looks perfect for the summers coming up here!
Hey Ellie,
We be in the same boat mate! I only have one bookshelf and two of the shelves are packed everyway possible with cookbooks and magazines. In fact they’re starting to spill onto the floor! 
I have Bill’s everyday book too. It’s a great book one that we also bought for Alv’s brother as a Christmas present last year. I love how it’s all about simple and everyday food and the few special occasion recipes slipped in there.. just in case.
By the way, great photo of the salad. Looks fab. I must go and hunt it down. Might just be able to convince Alv to eat it.
I can completely understand, I havent got a new cookbook since Xmas & the only way I can stop myself is to not even look at them in the shops or I’m a goner. I’m dying to buy this book too! I’m curious, what was the second book?
i’m stacking new books in front of the book shelf and the towers keep toppling over, books sliding off each other. my problem is that i love cookbooks and do loads of other reading too. i really need a library!
the only good part about moving is to make order of books and magazines……..I think we are all in the same sinking boat 
Those are such amazing colors! That has got to be one of the 10 best salads I’ve seen! Awesome. It would just have to taste great.
Anh - You have a seperate study room? I am sooo jealous! Mmm, all that extra room for cookbook storage 
I’d highly recommend this cookbook, it would be a gorgeous addition to any cookbook collection!
Kat - Definitely a good summer salad, the flavours are wonderfully refreshing and the meal is light enough that it would go down well in hot weather
I-Ling - LOL, the floorspace is taken with other books, the cookbooks are far too precious for me to be able to bring myself to put them on the ground Good luck with Alv and the salad 
Ange - It’s awful, isn’t it? I just race past bookstores, but the book club sends me catalogues in the mail and I just go weak at the knees! No idea what the second book was as I’m very new to the Bill Granger fan club
Cin - Oh god, a library would be wonderful! Especially if it were right next to the kitchen…
Doodles - LOL, it doesn’t surprise me, it takes a certain amount of kitchen love and obsession for us to maintain food blogs I promise myself that I’ll organize them…one day!
Tanna - Thanks hon I don’t know if it’s *that* good a salad as it’s veeery simple, but it’s definitely in my family’s top 3 of favourite salads as it appeals to our tastebuds in all aspects
Cookbook towers, you could be the new Donald Trump! My bookshelves are full my boxes are full, I bump my head at night on cookbooks, they’ve overflowed to work and still I buy. It’s madness, no?
This sounds really good! I am with you on the cookbooks- I find it very hard to get rid of any, and I became a repository for other people who wanted to get rid of cookbooks! It’s a sickness…
This looks like such a refreshing and tasty plate. Beautiful photos!
I have almost kicked my cooking magazine habit…almost…
I love that cookbook (actually, I’m a little bit in love with Bill too!). We have a few fave’s from “Every Day” that have become regulars. Have you tried the Berry Yoghurt Muffins yet? They are excellent.
I feel your bookly pain…I just pulled a number off my shelf to be sold…I just need to price them..and post them…
j
Ihave a whole room for my cookbooks, and they threaten to escape that. The real lesson is that there is NEVER enough room, so don’t fight it.
Salad looks lovely. I think I couldmake it with grilled tofu too. Just out of curiosity — howmany cherry tomatoes in a punnet?
are you me???
Yay for new cook books!! And that salad looks AMAZING! I love marinated chicken on my salads… yum! Why is it that every time you post pictures with sliced tomatoes in them I crave them horribly? Not that that’s a bad thing, at all.
I just ate dinner and your salad is making me hungry again. Your family is awfully lucky, in fact they should support your cookbook habit- no?
Neil - Oh dear, sounds like your predicament is worse than mine!
Deborah - To which there is no cure… would we want one, though?
Truffle - LOL! Oh god, don’t even talk to me about the magazines, I experience PAIN when going to the supermarket, it takes all my strength not to buy the new editions of Delicious and Gourmet Traveller!
Mandi - Haven’t tried that yet but will give it a whirl this weekend Thanks for the recommendation!
Jasmine - Oooh, so they’ve made it off the shelf? Good luck with the follow-through, I don’t think I could ever do it myself!
Peabody - Please tell me that you have a seperate room for these books?? Egads!
Christine - You actually have a room for your books? Oh my goodness, can you sense my utter jealousy??? I think the punnet is about 350g and roughly 10-12 cherry tomatoes?
Julia - Hehehe, perhaps we’re just kindred cookbook-hoarding spirits?
Lisa - I think tomatoes are just one of those things that photograph well, I feel the same way when I see pictures of them
Cheryl - I think my brother feels the same way
Callipygia - That’s what *I* tell them! Unfortunately, they just laugh and tell me that I should never have become addicted in the first place 
Ellie ,
I feel your pain! My family and friends say that I have too many cookbooks (can you really have too many though?) but I don’t hear them complaining about the food! It doesn’t matter whether you have tried the recipes or not, although they tend to be more useful when you do! It’s just a compulsive collective habit, and everyone has to collect something - right? lol…
I have a bookshelf in the loungeroom dedicated only to cookbooks, it is taller than I am!… I’m also in the process of cataloguing my books on http://www.librarything.com - which is very addictive let me tell you - don’t start or you won’t be able to stop!! One shelf (50 books) down, 4 shelves to go…
Doubleday is evil - they are always sending me offers too… luckily I’ve served my 2 years or whatever it was and now I am a VIP so I don’t have to buy a book every 2 months, just when I want to… which is probably still every 2 months… haha…
Great recipe too… I will have to give it a try… looks really yummy…
Ellie. I am in the same situation, too. My cookbooks and food mags are very expansive at the moment and I still want more. I have cook related stuff around me, too (note: i have two big tables in my study room)… But Bill Grangers’ cookbook is worth buying! I like his casual style