(Todays recipe: Green beans and coconut milk)
We met a delightful Dutch couple and she has a really interesting name. It's spelt Trees but pronounced Trace. Ron and Trees spend many months of the year traveling around Europe and Morocco in their camping car. We spent a couple of weeks traveling together and had an absolute blast, laughing and joking together. A lot of the jokes are a bit naughty so I shall spare you the details – sorry!

They also have an adorable Border Collie doggy, Zorah, who has a total ball fixation. Tennis balls, you silly person! I spent the 2 months we were underway fixated on finding Internet access so I can completely understand such behavior. We both had varying success to say the least. Next year I will solve my “tennis ball” problem a bit better and then I'll be able to post a bit more often (not a hard thing to do at my slow rate of posting).

Trees cooks a lot of Indonesian food in her wok in the van and at home. Everyday we'd ask each other what the other was cooking and if the deevine smells from their van is anything to go by, it was awesome. She gave us some base recipes for Indonesian cooking and we are totally hooked. I didn't have all the spices in the van with us this time, but next time you'll be as jealous when you walk by and smell the deelicious spices.

This is us sitting outside enjoying a meal outside inspite of the weather in Gibraltar.

Today I am going to do something a bit different and give you her recipe, untried by me, and ask YOU to try it and tell me what and how you made it / liked it. This dish is apparently a total hit with all so be brave! I too will be cooking it so please join the fun. You too Trees!

A couple of words to the ingredients:
Sambal Oelek is a slightly salty chili based sauce that has varying degrees of heat. Some are salty and mild and others are a lot hotter, so check before adding a huge dollop of it.

Fish sauce (and the powder too) smells vile and when you smell it for the first time, you'll think it's off and won't be able to imagine that it could possibly add anything other than foulness to your meal. But Fear Not! A few shakes of this uplifts the entire dish and is vital to the finished product.

The base recipe:
GREEN BEANS AND COCONUT MILK

Blanche the green beans 3-4 min.
Add olive oil and lots of chopped garlic to the wok.
Then add lots of sambal oelek and some fish powder or sauce.
Cook for a minute.
Add a can of coconut milk, bring to the boil, add green beans and then simmer for 5 minutes.
Makes a great sauce to serve with rice.