OISÍN DAVISstirs with the stars
LOGAN FAMILY CHICKEN THAI CURRY
“Jedward? Well, I wish them all the best, like I would any other Irish person, but they’re just not my bag.” That’s the only Eurovision quote from Johnny Logan during an hour-long interview in Bruxelles bar in Dublin. But that suits me fine, as we are really there to talk about food and his current activities.
He may be the hands-down king of the world’s biggest and longest-running song contest, but it’s his role as another king that Logan is keen to talk about. He has been on a huge European tour performing in a Celtic rock opera, Excalibur, in which he plays Arthur. Audience numbers for the shows were as high as 12,000 a night – Johnny, after all, is a megastar on the continent.
But he’s still a homeboy at heart, because even with all that wealth and fame, his favourite restaurants are Captain America’s on Grafton Street and a northside neighbourhood fish joint. Every Christmas for the past 11 years, his brother and musical director, Sean, have invited their band and crew round with their respective partners to cook their favourite curry and to “create the opportunity for the road to go away a bit and for us to be friends again”.
I’d like to see Jedward do that.
INGREDIENTS
6 chicken fillets, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 fresh lemongrass stalks
4 coin-sized slices of galangal
4-6 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly
1 cup of green beans, sliced in half
1 cup of coconut milk
¼ cup of water
3-4 tbs red curry paste
Fish sauce, to taste
Fresh coriander leaves
METHOD
* Begin by heating two tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok. Once hot, turn the heat to low and sauté the garlic, galangal and shallots for about 30 seconds until they colour slightly. Add the lemongrass and lime leaves and fry for about 30 more seconds, stirring constantly. Add the curry paste and stir.
* Turn up the heat and drop in the chicken pieces. Make sure they’re all well-coated in the paste.
* Pour in the coconut milk and turn heat to high. Bring to a boil, then add the green beans. Add the water. Bring to a boil again.
* Turn heat to medium low and cover, allowing to simmer for at least 20 minutes (check occasionally). Remove the cover and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes.
* Add the fish sauce to taste.
* Serve with some rice and garnish each plate with some fresh coriander leaves.
* If Jedward make it through the semis on Thursday, they will be in the Eurovision final on Saturday, May 14. Watch it on RTÉ2 and BBC1 (if you must). Gay Community News hosts a Eurovision Party at Dublin’s Sugar Club on the Saturday from 7pm
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