Chicken Soup With Carrots, Parsnips, Courgette & Corriander/ Parsley

This is a great soup for days when you are feeling under the weather or even when you are feeling just fine. Easy and quick to make - you will really win if you make it for an ill loved one. Save some for the dogs - they love it! Its a real treat - (but don't use ginger/ garlic or onions if you are going to do that)


Ingredients

Chicken - I use thighs or legs and remove all the skin and fat.
Chicken Stock - what the chicken was cooking in.
Knorr Chicken stock cube
Carrot
Courgette
Parsnip
One clove of garlic - optional
Ginger (optional - great for curing colds though)
Pasta eg penne, shells, twists, or those mini soupie ones
Fish Sauce

Boil the chicken. I put a lid on and leave it at a low/medium heat and it boils slowly and gets done in about 20 mins.

Take out the chicken and shred one thigh for one portion. Put the bones back into the stock to add flavour.

Boil some pasta. You don't need much for one person as there are all the other vegetables in the soup.

Cut one courgette, parsnip, carrot.
Then put it all the soup to continue cooking, adding the courgettes last as they do not take long to cook. Add the stock cube.
Add some ginger and garlic if you wish. Or even a chilli if you are like Thilo and wants everything hot! Season with fish sauce.

Bring to a slow boil. In less than 10 mins the carrots and parsnips should be soft, then add in the courgettes and the shredded chicken pieces.

When your pasta is done, place as much as you want to eat in a bowl and pour the soup over it. Garnish with parsley or corriander.

Mill lots of black pepper onto it.

Get lots of love. x

Omlette With Vietnamese Salami - Lac Xung & Spring Onions

When my mother ran out of money she would whip this one up. No matter what, it always used to cheer my brother and I up. There is always a packet of Vietnamese Salami in the fridge in case of hunger emergencies. It has always been great as a midnight snack too as there was always a pot of rice on standby.

Ingredients

Vietnamese Salami
Eggs
Garlic
Spring Onions


Slice the salami into half centimetre pieces and fry in a pan without any oil on medium heat. The fat in the salami will come out with the heat. Then add the garlic.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs. I use 2 per person.
Watch that the salami does not burn. Fry only about 2 - 3 mins
Add the eggs and chopped spring onions.
Turn
Turn again

(if you want, you can scramble it all up)

Serve With Rice
Season With Soy sauce at the table. The flavour of the salami fills the omlette so I don't usually add it.

The Aggs has dreams about this dish and I have given it to her since we were little children. It takes 5 mins and its the best comfort food. Now its more like a special treat.
I have not tried it with any other salami - let me know if that works.

Pancetta & Pea Penne

Another one from Bela's kitchen I bought back from Zurich

Ingredients

Penne
Pancetta or Ham - Chopped into squares
Peas
Single Cream
Parmesan
Onion
Garlic


Fry Onions and Pancetta until slightly brown
Add Peas (you can also use courgettes)
Add Cream
Add Garlic
Add Parmesan
Season With Salt & Pepper

Serve immediately

I have been naughty and used frankfurters & courgettes. Its also amazing. It was all that was in the fridge at the time. Agnieszka couldn't believe her luck and probably uses frankfurters more often than pancetta.

Roasted Aubergines With Sweet Caramelised Spring Onion Soy Sauce

Coming soon

Thai Red Chicken Curry

Coming Soon...

Breast Of Duck Sliced With Ginger & Garlic Fish Sauce Served With Congee

Coming Soon...

Trout or Seabass Covered In Herbie Breadcrumbs

Coming Soon...

Canh Chua - Vietnamese Sweet & Sour Tamarind Fish Soup With Tomatoes, Pineapple & Beansprout

Coming Soon...

Roast Chicken With Mustard, Honey, Marmalade & Rosemary Served With Roasted Potatoes & All The Trimmings

Rosemary

Sunday Best... coming soon

Pan Fried Golden Bananas & Ham Served With Onion Rice

I found this Brazilian dish in Paris when I was a young 21, made by Bela whom I met in New York. It always reminds me of coming home.

Ingredients

Bananas
Good Slices Of Ham
Onions
Rice
Chicken/ Vegetable Stock


Fry Onions in the pan you are going to cook the rice in until brown
Add the rice and fry together until the onions are oozing itself into grains.
Pour in chicken stock instead of plain water for full flavour.
Cook

Slice the bananas in half and pan fry with the ham until golden brown

Serve

Wonderful!

Sliced Pork Fillet With Onions, Egg & Sake

Kaoru loves eating. Just like me. We can eat all day and night.
She introduced me to the use of Sake in Japanese cooking.

coming soon...

Pan Fried Thyme Tuna Steaks With Lemon Butter Served With Mash

This dish should take as long as it should take you to make mash potatoes!
I used to cook this for Adam after a long day at work and the last thing you want to do is to hang around in the kitchen but you still want to have a lovely and healthy home cooked meal.

Ingredients

Tuna Steaks
Soy Sauce
Lemon Thyme (optional)
Lemon
Butter
Parsley (optional)
Potatoes

Boil some water for the potatoes.
While that is on, marinate tuna steaks in soy sauce and leave in fridge until you are ready to use
You can add garlic if you wish. You can also not use the soy sauce and pan fry it in olive oil.

Peel potatoes, then cut into little chunks (makes it go faster). Boil it in salted water.
When done, mash it how you mash it
Sometimes, I add spring onion and/ or garlic to it
Sometimes, I add cheese, like cream cheese or parmeasan
Sometimes the best way is just to add butter and milk

Heat frying pan. Get it quite hot but not too hot that the oil is steaming.
Fry the tuna with thyme (which is optional) this gives a lovely lemony flavour.
One minute on each side
Rest

Using the same pan, add some butter to melt and a squeeze of lemon. If you want, you can add a little bit of chopped parsley and/or garlic. Pour over the tuna.

Serve with green beans or salad or anything you want
Add salt and pepper on the table.

This is also great with rice. Pan fried with just soy sauce.

Stir Fried Sweet & Sour Squid With Pineapple & Seasonal Vegetables

This is Fatine's favourite dish I once made for her birthday
She tried to make this again but used salt as well as Fish Sauce (hihihi..)
Remember that you do not really need to add salt to Vietnamese cuisine as it in the fish sauce & always taste before and after seasoning.

INGREDIENTS
Squid - fresh or frozen - cut into rings
Pineapple - fresh or canned
Courgettes
Carrots
Tomatoes
Mushroom
Pepper
Onions
Garlic
Thai Basil
Corriandder
Fish Sauce
Pineapple Juice
Chillis
Lime


Delicious and simple: you can add as much or as little veggies - its easy to make this dish different every time.

Hot pan - high heat
Fry chunky onions
Whole chillis. You can de-seed them if you want
Tomatoes
Garlic
Peppers
Carrots
Pineapple chunks
Mushrooms
Pour in some pineapple juice & fish sauce to taste
Sprinkle some brown sugar
Make sure you are always tasting
Add courgettes
Once everything is a bit soft, add the squid.
You can also use chicken, prawns, pork or tofu or whatever you feel like sweet and souring...

Cook for about 2 mins

Add thai basil, corriander, optional spring onions
Squeeze of lime

Serve with rice

Enjoy x

Fried Tomatoes & Tofu

I was not pleased when Fatima announced she was inviting a Vegetarian to dinner as there was even meat in the salad. But I got this together very quickly whilst I was cooking other things. It became the favourite dish of the evening!

Tofu
Onions
Garlic
Tomatoes
Fish Sauce
Orange Juice
Spring Onion &/ or Corriander

Cut fresh tofu into squares.
Fry tofu until golden brown in some oil - could be olive oil, ground nut oil, sunflower oil - should take about 20 mins on medium heat.
Leave on the side

Heat pan
Throw in roughly cut onions
Add chunks of tomatoes
Garlic
Then tofu
Fish sauce to taste
A splash of orange juice

This is should all take about 5 mins
Sprinkle spring onions/ corriander

Serve with rice

You will love it!