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I like to make chicken stock after roasting chickens (thrifty and tasty!) but then end up with loads in the freezer that needs to be used. On one of my weekend cooking sprees, I decided to make a chicken noodle soup for the colder days, and to stave off the beginnings of any colds.
Quick Chicken Noodle Soup
Adapted from AllRecipes
Ingredients
15g butter
1 small onion, chopped
3 sticks celery, chopped
2L chicken stock
400g boneless skinless chicken thigh, chopped
125g noodles
3 medium carrots, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Method
1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.
2. Cook onion and celery in butter until just tender, 5 minutes.
3. Pour in chicken and vegetable stocks and stir in chicken, noodles, carrots, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes before serving.
I am really loving cauliflower - especially roasted or in curries. It's really versatile and in curries, it soaks up all the flavors and just collapses into this amazing chunky texture. Here's a useful recipe that works well with frozen cauliflower as well.
Turmeric Cauliflower Curry
Adapted from Simply Recipes
Serves 8
Ingredients
800g cauliflower (fresh or frozen)
600g potatoes
1 1/2 cups water
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp red chili flakes
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup frozen green peas
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup plain yogurt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 limes, quartered, for garnish
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the cauliflower and potatoes: Cut the potatoes into 1 1/2-inch cubes. To prepare the cauliflower, use a chef's knife to cut a deep cross into the base of the cauliflower. Place your thumbs into the crevice and pull the head apart into 4 quarters Stand each quarter upright, and slice off and discard the core and outer leaves. Break or cut the cauliflower into bite-size florets.
- Cook the potatoes and cauliflower: Carefully transfer the potatoes into the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook for 10 minutes longer, or until the vegetables are tender. (Total cooking time is 14 to 15 minutes) Drain into a colander.
- Make the curry sauce: In a blender or food processor, combine the water, onion, chili flakes, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, and salt. Puree until smooth.
- Cook the curry sauce: Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cooked cauliflower and potatoes. Taste and add more salt and garam masala, if you like.
- Finish the dish: Stir the peas and tomatoes into the pot. Heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until hot. Just before serving, stir in the yogurt and reheat gently (do not let it boil, or the yogurt may curdle.)
- Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
6 Southwark St
London
SE1 1TQ
This is not exactly a hidden gem - if anything it is a gem that far too many people know about. In summary: amazing pasta. Incredibly affordable prices. Go.
205 23rd St
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
USA
I took a too-short weekend trip to see some of my favorite women in the entire world. Virginia Beach ended up being the best location for everyone to get to (a bit awkward from London, but it was going to be hard for me no matter where they chose in the US). We enjoyed the free hotel breakfasts and snacked enough throughout the day to make lunch unnecessary, but the two dinners I was there for were great opportunities to eat some seafood and catch up on hanging out time. We went to Tautog's on the second night and I had the snow crab legs for dinner. Man, I have missed having enormous crab legs. They were fantastic, as was the cup of drawn melted butter to dip the sweet crab meat into. We also had raw oysters and oysters Rockefeller, so all in all, I was a satisfied customer by the end of the meal. The place was rammed full so make a reservation - or prepare to be disappointed!
14 City Rd
London
EC1Y 2AA
After reading several rave reviews of a new Sichuan place around Moorgate, I made plans with P to give it a whirl. P is one of my favorite people to have a big Chinese feast with - he is just as adventurous as me, and we both love variety. Pictured above are frog legs, pork in a spicy broth, and "man and wife" offal slices. Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the dry fried green beans with minced pork. Everything was fantastic and there was a true numbing heat to some of the dishes that spoke of high quality Sichuan peppercorns. It was also a bargain for the quality of the cooking. Can't wait to go back and try a whole different range of dishes.
Looks fancy, tastes good.
Smoky Fish on Cheese & Spinach Mash
Serves 2
Ingredients
400g potatoes
2 spring onions
40g cheddar
2 medium eggs
2 garlic cloves
2 smoked fish fillets (haddock, saba, etc.)
150g spinach
1 tbs butter
1/4c milk
olive oil
pepper
salt
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200C/390F. Boil a kettle of water.
2. Cut potatoes into wedges (leave skin on). Peel and roughly chop garlic. Add potatoes and garlic to a pot of salted boiling water and boil for 15 minutes or until you can easily pierce potatoes with a fork. Boil another kettle of water.
3. Wash spinach in colander, then point boiling water all over it so it wilts. Rinse in cold water and squeeze excess water out. Chop spinach roughly. Boil another kettle of water.
4. Grate cheddar. Slice spring onions finely.
5. Place fish on baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, and season with pepper. Put tray in oven for 10 minutes or until fish is cooked.
6. Drain potatoes and mash with butter and milk. Add spinach, cheddar, and spring onions and season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Bring a pot of salted boiling water to a simmer over medium heat. Crack eggs into water and leave for 2 minutes. Transfer them with slotted spoon to kitchen towel.
8. Serve smoked fish over mash with poached egg on top.
I have all these ingredients on hand that I buy because certain food people tell me they are wonderful (coconut oil, tahini, etc.) and then I put them on my shelves and stare at them and am totally unclear on how to incorporate them into the every day food I make.
Thankfully, I read enough food blogs to get inspiration every once in a while - and Molly's blog on Coconut tahini monster cookies (with chocolate chips instead of ginger) made me run to my cabinets and check yup, I had everything except for the chocolate chips and toppings. A quick substitute of candied ginger and here we were, ready with cookies as a gift to our old neighbors in their new house. These are cakey cookies - lovely and soft and chewy. Next time I think I could cut the sugar a bit as I really don't have a sweet tooth, but they're pretty awesome as is, too.
Coconut tahini cookies with candied ginger
Adapted from My name is yeh
Ingredients
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 c melted virgin coconut oil, slightly cooled
1/2 c tahini
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tb vanilla extract
3/4 c candied ginger, chopped
1/2 c flaked unsweetened coconut (optional)
sprinkles, optional
Method
Preheat the oven to 350ºf and line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl.
In another bowl, combine coconut oil and tahini. Whisk in sugar until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then mix in extracts. Finally, stir the flour mixture into the tahini mixture along with candied ginger.
Scoop cookie dough onto lined baking sheets, leaving a few inches between them for the cookies to spread. Top the dough with coconut and sprinkles if using.
Bake until the bottoms are lightly browned and the coconut is toasty, begin checking for doneness at 15 minutes. Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes, and then remove to a rack to cool completely, or eat them warm.
