Hot & Sour Prawn Soup

It’s Christmas week. The boy is only working a half day today so I want to make him a lunch that is both light and warming.

1tbsp oil

3tbsp Thai red curry paste

750ml chicken stock

1tsp grated lime zest

1tbsp shredded ginger

1 head pak choy, quartered

500g raw king prawns, peeled

3tbsp lime juice

1tbsp Nam Pla (fish sauce)

1 red chilli, thinly sliced

Coriander leaves to garnish

Jasmine rice to serve

It’s a dark grey day, so I’m putting on some misattributed Haydn string quartets to lighten the mood. This recipe is so quick, that I should barely get through one quartet.

The boy usually needs filling up so I’m serving this with rice on the side. I’m not rinsing it, so that it remains sticky. It just goes in the rice cooker (aka the kitchen god).

 Start by gently frying off the curry paste in the oil, to release the aroma. A decent brand, will be thick and almost dryish. Add the stock, lime zest and ginger.  If the prawns were whole and unpeeled I would add some heads and shells too. Bring to the boil and simmer for just a few minutes. If you have been lucky enough to use prawn heads and shells, fish them out.

Add the pak choy, chilli and raw prawns and cook until the prawns are pink – just another few minutes. Season with the fish sauce and lime juice. I’m not as keen on fish sauce as the boy is, though I do like Worcestershire sauce, which surely has the same derivation.  Taste and adjust to suit. Sometimes a little sugar will rebalance it. Sprinkle with coriander.

The boy is happy to have a two bowl lunch – one of the soup and one of rice. He has found an oily garlic pickle to have with the rice. We have grown our own this year – far too much and it has put me in mind of trying to pickle some of it Asian style….. 

Home Made Marzipan

The boy adores marzipan and has been known to just nibble it straight out of the packet. Frankly, Christmas cake is just an excuse to have marzipan.  He has no concept of being able to make it, or how easy it is.

500g blanched almonds

100g icing sugar + more for dusting

50ml water

A couple of drops of rosewater (optional)

You can use almonds with the skin still on, but I think this gives it a flecky look and the boy will be more impressed if it looks like what comes out of a packet. I never feel this is a good yardstick for food quality, but it is his treat. The almonds should be fairly fresh as they will have more oil in them – pick the ones with the most distant sell-by date.

You need a food processor for this. Put the almonds in until they become a paste. That is the oil working. Pour in the icing sugar and whizz again. Add the water (and rosewater if using – but don’t overdo it), and whizz again. If it feels too sticky to work, add more icing sugar.

Dust your surface with yet more icing sugar and knead it like bread dough for a few minutes . It won’t take on the elasticity of dough but it should start to feel like a big firm lump of marzipan. After this it is ready to go.

I’ve pinched a big cube off for the boy to nibble but the rest is going in the fridge for the Christmas cake. It will keep for 2 weeks .

Constance Spry offers a version that contains beaten eggs, sherry and orange flower water but I’m not convinced that it needs them, or about trying to keep something that uses raw eggs. I’m sticking with this version.

Incidentally, if you don’t like Christmas cake, it is probably because you haven’t had it with Wensleydale cheese!

Grilled Cucumber & Walnut Salad / Cucumber Slush

I’m including both of these recipes because I crave fresh tasting foods in cold weather, almost as much as I do, warm and hearty ones. I wouldn’t include these in the same meal, but am showcasing cucumbers as the boy thinks they are only for salads. I got both of these recipes from the Guardian and found them fascinating.

Chargrilled Cucumber with Walnuts

1 cucumber – a long thin one would be best

25ml white wine vinegar

25g Dijon mustard

5g salt

100ml extra virgin olive oil

30g walnut halves

I always think, that with so few ingredients, you should go for the best you can get. Get a ridged griddle pan really hot.  Peel the cucumber and then cut it into four roughly equal cylinders.

Toast the walnut halves  in the oven at 180 for five minute. If you have a two skillets you could do it that way. Chop them roughly.

Put them in the griddle pan and slowly roll them around so that they get lovely black char marks all over them. Use tongs to up end them so they get char grilled all over. You’re not looking to cook them through. Set them aside until cool enough to handle.

Cut them into coins, appropriately about pound coin thickness (5mm) or so. Whisk the oil, vinegar, salt and mustard together. And stir in the walnuts. Pour this over the cucumber, give it a quick mix to coat and just let it all socialise for 10 minutes.

I’m letting the boy taste for extra salt as it can often take it.

Frozen Cucumber Slush

The boy is making this as puddings are more his thing than mine, though I’m reading him the recipe.

2 cucumbers

Caster sugar (see below for volume)

Lemon juice, to taste

So a lot of discretion here, Freezing mutes flavours so again I’d go organic if you can so that the cucumber taste more of cucumber than water. Oh and you need a juicer.

Juice the cucumbers. If you don’t have a juicer, peel them, blend them and wring as much juice out of them by wringing the results out in a clean tea towel.

Next, weigh the cucumber juice – odd instruction I know! Add 10% by weight of caster sugar. Ours weigh 220g, so it needs 22g of sugar so we have  a net weight of 242g. The boy is doing the maths, not me!

Stir until the sugar dissolves. Squeeze in the lemon juice to taste, remembering that the flavours will tone right down after freezing.  We’re using half a lemon.

Pour into a plastic tub and put it in the freezer. The tedious part is that every half an hour I have to prod the boy to whisk it with a fork until it is frozen and grainy. You've got time to listen to the whole of Meistersingers while this freezes. Make the most of it.

When you sere it you can make it extra special by pouring a tablespoon of liqueur over the top. I don’t add it to the mix as the alcohol just inhibits the freezing. My two recommendations would be  Gordon’s Cucumber Gin, or St Germain which is an elderflower liqueur. Anything goes really but I think delicate flavours would work best.

Lebanese Chick Peas with Chard

This is properly a mezze, but it makes a really good side dish. Swiss chard is one of the best things about the colder months.

800g canned chickpeas (probably 2 tins)

3tsp harissa paste

2tbsp oil

1 red onion, thinly sliced

8 cherry tomatoes

1 bunch Swiss chard

Juice of 1 lemon

Small handful parsley, chopped

No idea what size of bunch the chard should be, so I’m just going with what I have got. Remove the leaves and shred them. I’m keeping a few of the stems and slicing them very finely, as they will take longer to cook and it seems a shame to waste them.

I really favour the Harissa brand called Le Phare du Cape Bon. The boy told me it translates as The Good Hope Lighthouse. No idea what that has to do with anything. Anyway its packaging is iconic, though I think it needs loosening down with a little olive oil if you’re using it as a condiment.

Onwards! Drain the chick peas and warm them through in the oil with the harissa paste. Add the onions and tomatoes and cook for another few minutes, until the tomatoes start to blister and split. Add the Swiss chard leaves and let them cook for a further 3 minutes until just starting to wilt.

Squeeze in the lemon juice and sprinkle with parsley – ideally flat leaf.

The boy is cooking the steaks, that this will accompany. His cat is wrapping himself around his legs. Good luck kitty! I think a big spoonful of thick set yoghurt would also not go amiss. I’m having a little more harissa for dipping. The boy decidedly isn’t.

Polish Pot Roast with Sour Cream

Amongst all the winter stodge I crave a hint of sharpness and freshness, and thought this would fit the bill. It’s from a book called The Old Warsaw Cook Book. I have kept the measurements as they are in the book.

3-4lb chuck or rump steak

3tbsp butter

1 bay leaf

½ cup beef stock

2 onions, cut

2 carrot, cut

Flour

Salt & Pepper

1 large dill pickle

2 cups sour cream

The boy doesn’t much like dill pickles, but as these will cook with the meat, they will mellow. I’m cutting it into very small dice. I sought his opinion as to how fine the “cut” vegetables should be and reckons very coarsely, as otherwise they will disintegrate during cooking. Very wise.

Get a large flame proof casserole and brown the beef all over in the butter. Add the bay leaf, carrots, onions and salt and pepper. Once it’s all coated with the melted butter, add the dill pickle.  Cook over a low heat for about 3 hours, basting with water from time to time so it doesn’t burn. This gives me plenty of this Sunday afternoon to enjoy with the boy. We’re making Christmas wreathes out of dried orange slices, dried chillies and cinnamon sticks. Very foodie! I have to admit his is better than mine, so we will keep my one and give his to his Mum.

So keep basting and 30 minutes before it is done, sprinkle the beef on all sides with the flour. Add the stock, to make a sauce.  Once it is bubbling away. Mix a tbsp. of flour with the sour cream and whisk it well so it is smooth. Pour this in and stir it in as well as you can. Cook for the final 30 minutes so the flour cooks through and it all combines and thickens.

We are having this with boiled, buttered potatoes and green beans. The boy is agonising over red wine for the beef or white for the cream sauce. He goes for an unstructured Chilean Chardonnay.

It’s good – it chases out the winter chill, but still has a fresh taste. I’d like to try a version of this in a Crock pot/Slow Cooker some time. I also think a little chopped dill sprinkled over when serving would be good, but I don't have any.

Asian Virgin/Bloody Mary

My search for the perfect Virgin Mary/Bloody Mary recipe continues. The boy spotted this on in The Guardian and thought we should give it a go. Our local supermarket isn’t quite cosmopolitan enough for Wasabi powder, but we did find it an Asian grocer. If we hadn’t found it, the boy had sweetly offered to go into Chinatown.

750ml tomato juice

1tsp Wasabi powder

Juice of 1 lime

1tsp chilli garlic sauce

1tbsp Worcester sauce

A few drops light soy sauce

1 Jalapeno, very finely chopped

Pinch of celery salt

A big pinch of finely ground black pepper

4 spring onions to garnish

Cucumber to garnish

We are using Libby’s tomato juice, as it’s got more flavour than Del Monte, which is insipid, but less salty than Princes. I do love Princes, but I want to give the seasoning more chance to stand out. The chilli garlic sauce is Maggi.

The boy thinks this should be made by the jug full and I agree.

Mix the wasabi powder with the lime juice until it’s smooth and add to the jug with the other ingredients and some ice cubes.  Give it a good stir.

For the garnish, trim the spring onions and make a slits in the green part and curl them over the back of a knife, like you would do with ribbon, for gift wrap.  Ours are not perfect but it’s the garnish, not the main event. Add a strip of cucumber. You’ll need to judge the depth of your glasses to know how long the cucumber and spring onions need to be.

The boy is having his with vodka.,which surprises nobody. I will definitely be toasting the Chinese year of the sheep (or ram, or goat, depending on who you ask), with this.

Meanwhile, my search continues

Portuguese Eggs with Chorizo & Peas

This makes a lovely light lunch. Telling the boy he is getting eggs and peas for lunch won’t go down that well. Letting him know a Portuguese dish is on its way works better.

50g cooking Chorizo

2tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

400g peas

1tbsp chopped parsley

2 large free range organic eggs

A little paprika (the sweet kind)

Salt

It’s too late for fresh peas but frozen are good, as long as they are defrosted first. The eggs need to be free range organic. Unfortunately free range on its own just means “brought up in a shed”.  If your chorizo is whole, peel the skin off and slice it up into coins and then halve them.

Heat the oil and gently cook the onions until soft and golden. Add the chorizo and garlic. The chorizo should leach a lot more oil which will turn the entire pan orange, from all the paprika. After a few more minutes, add the peas and salt to taste.

Add a cup of hot water and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Give the bottom of the pan a good scrape so all the sticky goodness joins the broth. When this has almost evaporated make two hollows in the mixture and crack an egg into each one.  Cover the pan to raise the heat and check every few minutes. The boy likes his yolks runny but the whites completely cooked through.

When it’s ready sprinkle the eggs with the paprika and a little more salt. Serve with bread rolls for dipping. I tell the boy it is Ovos Com Ervilhas.

Vietnamese Coriander Chicken & Rice Casserole

I love the clean fresh flavours of Vietnamese food, and this recipe is especially good as it can all be done in one pot. You will need a 2.5l casserole – ideally one that can go on the stove top but use a frying pan for the first part, otherwise.

8 dried mushrooms

1tbsp coriander seeds

8 chicken thighs

1tbsp oil

400g long grain rice

2 onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1tsp turmeric

700ml chicken stock

2tbsp fish sauce

3tbs chopped coriander leaves for sprinkling at the end

Start by pouring water over the mushrooms and let them stand for 20 minutes. Drain and chop them. I’m saving a small ladleful of the soaking water to add a little depth to the stock. We’re using Shitake mushrooms, as they were the best I could get. I ignore the uual instructions to discard the stalks, but slice them thinly.

Give the coriander seeds a quick bash in a pestle and mortar. Our chicken thighs still have the skin on, so this needs to be removed – the boy’s cat gets one of them. Heat half the oil and brown the chicken in batches.  Ours are bone in by the way as it will add to the flavour. Drain on kitchen paper. The boy loves chicken and has come sniffing around the kitchen. Too bad for him that he has to wait about an hour.

Heat up the remaining oil and gently fry the onions, garlic, coriander seeds and turmeric. This needs to be slow so nothing burns. I always add the garlic after the onions have had a couple of minutes as the onion steam slows things down a bit.

Put everything, including the rice and fish sauce, into the casserole. This is one of those few occasions when I recommend American long grain rice rather than Basmati – its delicate flavour would be lost here. The chicken goes on top of the rice mix. Pour in the stock and saved mushroom water. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook for 45 minutes at about 200/Gas 5, but just check that the rice is done.  Sprinkle the coriander leaves on top.

The boy seems as pleased with how little washing up is needed as he is with the dish.

Lebanese Butternut Soup with Almonds & Chilli

It’s been the first genuinely cold day of the year, which means it’s the perfect day for soup!

1 butternut squash

2tbsp oil plus more for drizzling

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

¼ tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp cumin seeds

900ml chicken stock

2 apples, peeled and grated

100ml plain yoghurt

3tbsp flaked almonds, toasted

Salt and white pepper

The original recipe starts with peeling and cubing the butternut squash but as it is then going to be roasted, I’m not putting myself through this torture, and blunting my best knives in the process. Instead I get the boy to cut it in half and then into quarters. He does this in the most macho way possible with the cleaver. Still, job done. Remove the seeds and the stringy stuff in the hollow bit. Put in the oven at 190/Gas 5 for around half an hour or until the flesh is cooked through and soft.

Meanwhile heat the oil and gently soften the onions. Add the garlic chilli flakes and cumin seeds. The chili flakes are supposed to be smoked chilli but I can’t find this so am just using a mild Turksih variety called Pul Biber. Cook off for another 3 minutes, while you peel and grate the apple. If the almonds aren’t toasted just toss them in a dry skillet for a few minutes.

Pour in the stock and grated apple. Get the squash out and it should lift from the skin very easily. Chunk it up and add it to the pan.

Use a wand blender to get this into a smooth soup consistency. The boy likes soup to be soup and sometimes pumpkin soups are pretty much baby puree in a bowl, so I add more stock to thin it down if it needs it. It’s a good job stock usually comes in 1 litre pouches, so there is some left to top up with, but water would do.

Let it cook for a minute or so and then pour in the yoghurt. Turn the heat right down so it doesn’t split and add plenty of salt and white pepper.

Pour into bowls and garnish with the almond slivers and chilli flakes. I’m actually putting hot chilli flakes on mine and the mild Pul Biber on the boy’s. Drizzle with olive oil.

The Boy's Marmite Toast & Canned Spaghetti

I cannot believe the boy has persuaded me to post this recipe. It really isn’t a recipe. However he loves it and thinks it’s the perfect pre or post pub treat. In the name of a quiet life I have agreed.

2 thick slices wholemeal bread to toast

1 knob of butter

Marmite to spread on the toast

1 400g can Heinz spaghetti , in tomato sauce (ideally with sausages)

Freshly ground black pepper

His recipe:

Come home a bit drunk and absolutely starving. Put the bread on to toast – I like it quite well done so the spaghetti doesn't make it soggy.

Heat the spaghetti up but don’t let it boil. The kind with sausages is the best though I'm not sure what the sausages are made of. I think it has to be Heinz really.

Butter the bread and spread with Marmite. Quite thinly spread, usually. Put on a plate.

Pour the spaghetti onto the Marmite toast. Add a big knob of butter on top, allowing it to melt. Add loads of black pepper. This is apparently one of your five a day so it doesn't need a salad to go with it!

This works just as well with baked beans. Again Heinz, and again the ones with the little sausages are best. Also not the reduced sugar, low sodium etc….

I told you it wasn’t a recipe!