We had one of my favourite meals this week and I took pictures so I could share it with you. I think this would be an a excellent meal to have, if the ingredients were on hand, for over the holidays. That way, if you tire of rich, sugary, and fatty foods, you will have a refreshing and healthy option. Stev and I were introduced to this fun, healthy dinner by our great friends Suzanne and Bernie who own and operate the Victoria Rose Inn , in Gananoque. Suzanne and Bernie lived in Ottawa before they bought the Victoria Rose Inn and while living there, discovered a Vietnamese restaurant that offered this meal for take out. One night, several years ago, they brought this take out meal (from New Mee Fung, 350 Booth St., Ottawa) to our then home, in Gananoque and a new favourite supper was born.

Vietnamese Salad Rolls are fun, fresh tasting and easier than you think to make. You basically take fresh herbs, vegetables, rice noodles and meat or shrimp or tofu and wrap them up in a sheet of softened rice paper. Hoisin, sambal, and fish sauce are used for seasoning and dipping.

To start, here's what you need to have: thin rice vermicelli noodles, rice paper sheets (they are thin and round and come in two sizes, we use Rose Brand), Hoisin Sauce (Asian Ketchup), Sambal Oelek (fresh ground chilli paste), and fish sauce (recipe below).

You can use any fresh herbs you like, however, we used basil leaves, coriander leaves, and mint leaves. The herbs add a significant liveliness to the taste, so they are definetly worth getting. Don't worry if you only have one or two of these on hand, you can still make the salad rolls.

Julienne (match size cut) fresh vegetables. We used yellow and red peppers and cucumbers. Bean sprouts are good too, but we didn't have any.

Grill/cook the meat or seafood. You can use chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or any meat/seafood/tofu you like. Once cooked, thinly slice. Stev and I shared one chicken breast and we cooked another for the kids.

Add the rice vermicelli noodles in a small pot of boiling water. Stir often and boil for 2 minutes. Then drain and rinse in cold water.

Fish Sauce Recipe 

We make ours in a measuring cup.

Ingredients:

-1/3 cup lime juice (approx. 2 limes)

-1/3 cup fish sauce (we like Lucky Brand)

-1/3 cup water

-1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

-1/2 teaspoon finely chopped Thai chilli, or more to taste.

Stir all ingredients together. It will taste pungent and strong and mabey a bit weird if you haven't had it before, but don't worry it works as a dipping sauce for the rolls.

Assembly

Make a platter with the washed and dried fresh herbs, julienned vegetables, cooked rice noodles, and sliced cooked meat/seafood/tofu.

Put the platter on the table with individual dishes of fish sauce, and have some Sambal and Hoisin sauce on the table as well.

Take a pie plate of warm water to the table and the rice paper wrappers. 

Dip the rice paper wrapper in the warm water for approximately 30 seconds. Remove when it is slightly softened but not limp, and lay flat on a plate.

Once you have selected the filling for your salad roll, roll it up.

This is is the finished Vietnamese Salad Roll.

I shop at the Asian Market at 354 Princess Street in Kingston. This store has all the ingredients I've mentioned, including the fresh herbs and chillies.

When we had these salad rolls this week, I also cooked some rice in the rice cooker. Olivia, our daughter, had rice, chicken and soy sauce wrapped up in her rice paper roll. Our son Harry asked me to take a picture of his dinner. He food styled this picture himself, so I'll leave you with this lovely picture of his nutritious dinner.

This year back in March or April, Stev and I went to Les Fougeres for the first time and fell in love with everything about this place. I love it's location in Chelsea Quebec. I love that it is a beautiful restaurant set in an old roadside gas station. Creatively made over, of course, to include: a restaurant; gourmet food shop; wrap around screened in porch; and a plentiful gardens that produce food for the restaurant and act as a backdrop for summer weddings. There is also an outdoor dance floor, little nature paths through the woods, and old fashioned swings for the kids. I love the owners Charles and Jennifer! We met them at the 2008 Gold Metal Plates event, where Charles won the gold and Stev the bronze. They invited us to come and visit them at Les Fougeres, and two years later we did. Since then we have been back three more times and bought their cookbook...which is why I had a busy week!

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Lamb Curry as presented at Les Fougere

On one of our visits to Les Fougeres Stev ordered the Lamb and Apple Curry. Charles is originally from England where there is a strong tradition of going out to the pub for a curry, so I was excited to get to taste this tradition without the airfare. I had the feeling I was tasting something authentic. It was fragrant with spices and lime and tasted rich and layered with ginger and coconut. There is a recipe for this dish in the Les Fougeres cookbook so this week I decided to make a big batch for Bella Bistro.

I started this endeavour by talking to Wendy at Wendy's Mobile Market and ordered some local boneless lamb shoulder. Then Tuesday morning made a shopping list....there are 27 ingredients in the Lamb and Apple Curry!!  And one of which is a Lime Pickle which you have to also make and it has 19 ingredients! This endeavour just got more daunting! The Lime Pickle involves boiling the limes, then cutting them in quarters and squeezing out the pulp, chopping up the skins, then boiling it all in sugar and vinegar with onions and spices. This took me so long that it did not even make it into the lamb curry; which was already bubbling well on its way by the time I had finished. So Paul is serving it on the side as a condiment. It tastes.....interesting....a little bitter like the pith of citrus fruit bitter and with lime pickle. Somehow, I'm sure this is my fault, the one at Les Fougeres was perfect.

When I made my shopping list on Tuesday it was raining, so I just made one stop at No Frills for Granny Smith Apples before I collected my kids from school so they wouldn't have to walk home in the rain. I thought to myself, I'll shop tomorrow when the weather is better. Wednesday the weather went from bad to worse! I needed to get some ingredients from Tara Foods and Asian Market downtown so I went for lunch at Olivea...I had a lovely lunch and when I left Olivea it had started saining (snow/raining). So I did all my shopping in the worst weather of the week!

Finally on Thursday I made the lamb curry. I started around 10 am browning the lamb and frying the onions, which I added together. The peeled and chopped apple went in next, along with the coconut, green pepper and spices, which I had toasted and ground. Lastly I added the coconut milk and apple juice as the liquid, and then the whole curry goes into the oven to cook slowly for 3 to 4 hours till the lamb is tender. Success! While nothing can compare to the original, especially since someone else made it and served it to me, I am happy with my Lamb and Apple Curry.

Today I made a mango chutney to serve along with the lime pickle. I froze some of the curry to feature on our Port-A-Bella Menu of Frozen Prepared Foods and it's the special this weekend at Bella Bistro, while supplies last.

Thanks to Charles and Jennifer for the generous cookbook. I recommend it. My favourite sentence from the book is "At it's very best a restaurant is a handmade project in a world of mass production." I couldn't agree more and reading that sentence helps me know I'm on the right path in life, and keeps me striving to make Bella Bistro the very best it can be.

Bella Bistro is owned and operated by Paul Muller, Stev George and Deanna Harrington. We all met at the Stratford Chefs School 20 years ago! It's me, Deanna Harrington who will be the main author of this blog.

I am a chef, restaurant owner (Bella Bistro and Olivea), wife (married to Stev George, Chef/owner of Olivea) and mother to three great kids (all picky eaters!). I graduated from chefs school in 1992 and have been working as a chef or server in the Kingston area ever since.  In 2001 Stev and I opened Casa Bella Restaurant and B&B which we ran for 8 years. In 2006 we opened Bella Bistro and 2008 we opened Olivea in down town Kingston. I am in the restaurant business because I love eating and drinking. I learn something new about food and cooking every day.

This blog will be a place for me to share my passion about all things food related and to keep our customers up to date on what's happening at Bella Bistro and Olivea. I plan to share recipes, food photos, restaurant and cookbook recommendations, and more - like what my kids are eating (not much), or what my friends' kids are eating.

Thank you for your interest, check back soon.