Dried lime leaves?!
Answers: I have just doubt some dried lime leaves from an oriental supermarket, can anybody recommend some interesting dishes to use them in?
Use them in Thai green curry or Thom Yum soup. If you were doing this properly, you'd need a tin of coconut milk (also nice on puds), some green chillies, a lime and a stalk of lemon grass as well as a chicken breast and maybe some cubed and peeled pots and perhaps a few mange tout (flat pea pods) but you could use whatever ingredients you prefer. If you don't have any of these things, try cooking some onion in butter add a little flour and stir to get rid of any lumps then gradually add milk, whisking all the time. Add salt and pepper to your taste and then simmer very gently with your lime leaves for about twenty mins maybe adding a slice of lemon if you've got it plus any bits of veg cut small that might be lying about. (Look in the fridge chiller for some peas?). Not a bad soup.
Maybe coconut soup it is great
lime leaves, yes well they are mainly used for flavour in thai and indian dishes as well as other eastern cusine, so check out some recipes, when i make saffron rice [ a friend brought an ounce back from nth africa recently cost about 3 pounds sterling and gave me a 1/4 ounce]i cook the rice in boiling salted water with 4 cloves,12 cardimum seeds,or 4 whole cardimums and when soft split the seeds out into the rice a pinch of caraway and cumin seed, a piece of cinamun bark 2 bay leaves and 2 lime leaves, a pinch of saffron or a teaspoonful of termaric, the taste and smell is terriffic
I to am a chef, I worked in Singapore and travelled to Thailand and Vietnam, they go well in Thai and Asian soups, in curry pastes, with other savoury dishes like fish and non curry dishes.
I have used both the fresh and the dried ones over the years, just remember a little goes a long way, I have also made a seasoning with them and other Thai spices like galagal, lemongrass, chili flakes, I buy the dried ones and buzz them in my spice grinder (a coffee grinder I use for spices only).
They go well with fish and seafood soups and shellfish/mollusk dishes, they tend to take the fishy taste away for soup people, just keep them in a air tight container or Ziplok bag, they last about one year.
Scallops Wrapped in Kaffir Lime Leaves
FAST
SERVES: 4
Buy the lime leaves first, so you can gauge the size of scallops that will fit neatly inside. You might buy extra lime leaves for serving because the leaves that flavor the scallops as they cook lose their vibrant green color.
ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 large kaffir lime leaves
12 sea scallops (10 to 12 ounces)
Cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
directions
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium skillet. Add the onion and water and cover with a piece of moistened, crumpled parchment or wax paper. Cook over low heat, stirring once or twice, until the onion softens, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, cover partially and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and keep the onion warm.
Using a sharp paring knife, make a lengthwise slit in a lime leaf along the vein, without cutting through either end. Carefully slip a scallop into the slit. Repeat with the remaining scallops and lime leaves. Season the scallops with salt and cayenne.
In a large skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the olive oil. Add the scallops and cook over high heat until golden on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Carefully turn the scallops and cook until opaque throughout, about 2 minutes longer.
Spoon the onion sauce in the center of warmed plates and arrange the scallops on top. Sprinkle with the nutmeg and serve.
MAKE AHEAD The lime leaf—wrapped scallops and the sauce can be refrigerated separately overnight.
NOTES
Cooking Club Tip: Don?t be fooled by bright white scallops at the fishmonger—that perfect color usually indicates the scallops were soaked in a preservative solution that leaks out in the pan and prevents browning. Look for scallops that are not soaking in any liquid and are less uniformly white, or even ivory, in color. To help ensure browning, dry them well between paper towels before cooking.