fried egg and spicy chorizo rice

When we're home on the weekend I will often make us a lazy, slightly indulgent brunch - the sort that you want when you're perhaps feeling a little worse for wear from the night before. I usually crave something a little spicy, there needs to a certain 'stodgy' quality to it and there must be eggs involved too. This is a very easy to make dish can have infinite variations depending on your level of creativity. I think it could be wonderful with some cheese melted on top or stirred through, maybe add in some chopped carrots, peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn and/or peas along with the onion for a healthier option or use a different kind of sausage. Really do whatever takes your fancy but I do urge you to top it off with a crispy-edged but runny-yolked fried egg. It rocks.

Ingredients serves 2 greedy people
3 spicy chorizo-style sausages, raw
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green chilli, de-seeded and chopped (optional)
180g white rice
500ml chicken stock
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 organic fried eggs, to serve

1. Heat up a wide frying pan or casserole that has a lid. Add the oil then remove the sausage meat from the casing and place bite-sized pieces in to the pan. Cook over a medium heat until it starts to develop browned edges.
2. Add the onion, garlic and chilli to the pan and stir scraping the bottom of the pan with your wooden spoon to pick up any of the stuck on tasty stuff from the sausages. Keep cooking, stirring the whole time until the onions start to turn translucent. 
3. Add the rice to the pan, stir through so that everything is well combined and the rice starts to pick up colour from the chorizo juices. Add the paprika to the stock, stir then add the whole lot to the pan. 
4. Once the stock in bubbling put the lid on the pan and leave to bubble away on a medium to high heat for 5 minutes. Do not stir or do anything else to the pan at this time. When 5 minutes is up leave the lid on the pan, turn of the heat then leave for 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is cooked through. 
5. In the mean time you can fry your eggs how you like them then serve the rice up with the egg on top. Yum.

Pad See Ew - Thai rice noodles with pork and soy sauce

As you probably know, we've recently moved to Bangkok for my work. Having found an apartment to live in that has a proper kitchen with gas stove and oven, a rarity in Bangkok, it means we have the luxury of being able to cook many things from scratch at home. Setting up home in Bangkok has been a fun experience and a main focus for my husband and I since we got here. You can read about our adventures here. Once we had our own wok, one of the first dishes I wanted to try out was Pad See Ew. This has been one of my favourite Thai dishes since we visited Thailand last Christmas. I first learned to make this dish on a cookery course at SITCA along with chicken Penang curry and an awesome fried prawn salad. I'll post my versions of those recipes in coming weeks and I can thoroughly recommend the SITCA cooking courses if you ever find yourself in Thailand. They're a good enough reason to visit Koh Samui on their own.

One of the things I love about living in a new country is the variety of ingredients and produce you can buy in the markets and grocery stores. Being able to buy real fresh wide rice noodles is wonderful and so much nicer than having to use reconstituted dried rice noodles. Don't get me wrong, dried rice noodles, just like dried pasta, have their place but for some recipes such as this Pad See Ew, fresh noodles really are the best thing to use if you can get them. If you are struggling to find fresh rice noodles where you live, buy the widest dried ones you can find and soak them for a couple for hours in cold water before using. This is something I only learned in recent years and it has hugely improved my success with noodle cookery. Also, before you fire up your wok you will need to get everything prepared - things will move fast once you start cooking.

rice noodles in sweet dark soy

Ingredients for about 2 servings
about 200g dried rice noodles soaked in cold water for at least an hour
OR
400-500g packet of fresh, wide rice noodles
1 pork loin chop or similar
2 eggs
handful of baby sweetcorn, cut widthwise in to small pieces
bundle of tender stem broccoli, chinese cabbage or other green veg of your choice
1 large carrot, peeled, halved and cut on the diagonal into bite size pieces
1 tbsp dark, sweet soy
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp regular soy
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp palm sugar
1 tbsp cornflour or baking soda
1 cup chicken stock (you may use all or none of this depending on the moistness of your noodles)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Lime wedges, sliced spring onions and chilli flakes for serving

stir fry sauce

1. In a large bowl separate the rice noodles if needed and add in the dark sweet soy and mix so that the noodles have a thorough coating. 
2. Beat the eggs together in a small bowl.
3. Thinly slice the pork, place in a bowl with the corn flour and massage it together with your hands until the powder is completely covering the meat. Place the finely chopped garlic on top then set to one side.
4. Mix together the oyster sauce, white pepper, fish sauce, palm sugar and regular soy. This will be your stir fry sauce. 
5. With all your ingredients prepare and ready to go heat your wok so that it is very very hot. This is the key to your success with this recipe. 
6. Once your wok is super hot add the oil and ensure you have an even coating over the base of your wok, then add the beaten egg and cook through. Next add the pork and garlic and kepp moving until it is cooked through.
7. Next chuck in the prepared veggies and stir for about a minute. 
8. Now you need to add the rice noodles. Try to keep everything move but don't worry too much if there is a bit of sticking on the bottom of the wok - this is all extra flavour, just make sure you scrape it up with your wok paddle. 
9. Pour in the stir fry sauce and give everything a good mix. You may need to add a little of the stock at this stage. Add it a little at a time while keeping everything else moving until your noodles are cooked through and have absorbed enough liquid. You don't want the finished dish to be gloopy but you want  the noodles to be properly cooked. This stage will probably take 3-5 minutes.
10. Turn out into your serving dishes and add the spring onions, chilli flakes and lime juice to your taste.

egg and pork

adding the veggies

now the noodles

add the stir fry sauce and keep it moving

add the stock as needed until everything is cooked through

yum

south indian style chicken, spinach and tomato soup

I often have soup as my evening meal in the week, it can be quick and easy to prepare, filling and warming on these wintery nights. This recipe is no exception, it is full of flavour and can be put together in under 30 minutes. Feel free to adjust the number of chillies according to your taste.

Ingredients
350g chicken breast cut into large chunks
400g tinned tomatoes
500ml chicken stock
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cm chunk or ginger, peeled and grated
100g leaf spinach, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
10-20 curry leaves
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground white pepper
2 bay leaves
3 green finger chillies
3 tbsp oil
salt to taste

1. Put 2 tbsps of the oil in to a large, hot saucepan. Chuck in 1 tsp cumin seeds, the bay leaves, curry leaves and chillies and allow to sizzle for a few seconds until the scent is released.
2. Reduce the heat a little and add the onions cooking them until they are translucent, next add the ginger and garlic and keep moving for about 300 seconds.
3. Next add the chicken and seer all sides. Once you have done that add the tinned tomatoes, reduce the heat, cover and leave to simmer for around 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. 
4. Once the chicken is cooked use a slotted spoon to remove the pieces, place on a chopping board and break up into smaller pieces that are easy to eat with a spoon. Return the chicken to the soup and keep warm while you complete the the next stage.
5. In a small frying pan heat up the remaining tbsp of oil. When its hot throw in the remaining spices, sizzle for a few of seconds then pour in enough of the stock so that all the spices are picked up then add the whole lot to the soup pan along with any remaining stock and the spinach.
6. Once the spinach has wilted serve the soup with flat breads and/or poppadoms.

I've entered this recipe into A Kick at the Pantry Door's 'Feel Good Food Challenge'. Why not take a look at all the other great recipes featured. 

chicken soup

What better way to use a great homemade stock than with this delicious and simple chicken soup. You can use any kind of noodle or pasta in it but I chose to use my homemade kluski, they're great. My sister has a similar version on her blog. Check it out here.

Ingredients
1 litre chicken stock
approx 500g chicken meat (use left overs from your roast, making the stock or raw pieces of your choosing)
2 carrots finely sliced in batons
fresh dill
lemon
salt and pepper
1/2 portion of kluski dough

1. Put the stock in a saucepan and heat over a gentle flame. If you're using raw chicken add it now and poach until cooked through then shred or slice in to small pieces and return to the stock.
2. Add the carrot and and kluski into the stock and heat for a further 5 minutes until all the little noodles have risen to the surface.
3. Check the seasoning and adjust to your taste, add the dill and a good squeeze of lemon juice then serve.

chicken stock

It's always useful to have some chicken stock in the house, either in the fridge or the freezer, as it is the base to so many great dishes. If you have the time, energy and ingredients to hand it is well worth making your own stock, there is something quite satisfying about knowing you made every part of a dish. It also means that you can adjust the flavours to your own taste.

I made this chicken stock as I was craving proper homemade chicken soup and stock cubes just don't quite do the job. My sister has posted her version of chicken soup and homemade stock which is well worth a look. Having a Polish heritage it's hardly surprising that chicken soup and soups in general are important to us.

My stock uses chicken wings rather than a whole bird main because they were on offer when I did my shopping. Feel free to substitute the left over carcass from your roast or a whole bird. Using pre-cooked chicken will alter the flavour and colour but still give you a lovely stock. I have found that by using the wings I end up with a proper 'jellied' stock when it's chilled.

Ingredients
2 kg chicken pieces or left over chicken carcass
2 celery sticks, halved
2 carrots, halved
2 onions, halved
bunch of parsley stalks
4 all spice berries
12 black peppercorns
3 bay leaves

1. Put all the ingredients in a large sauce pan, cover with cold water so everything is just submerged.
2. Bring the pan to a gentle boil then reduce the heat to as low as you can and there are occasional bubbles appearing then leave, uncovered for at least a couple of hours. The longer and slower you can cook this the more pronounced the flavours will be. Keep an eye on the water level and add additional hot water if the ingredients are popping above the water. 
3. Once you have finished cooking the stock strain it through a fine sieve and leave to cool, ideally overnight in the fridge. 
4. The next day a layer of fat should have formed on the top, skim this off (you could use this for making traditional dumplings). You can either use the stock as it is now or gently simmer to reduce and intensify the flavours further.  

super easy pumpkin soup

I know I say this about a lot of my recipes but I really do love this one. It is stupendously easy, even after a crazy busy day at work I can bring myself to make this when I get home. It is very low calorie, pretty much fat free if you don't use oil for the roasting or for garnishing and surprisingly creamy for a dairy free soup. Sometimes I will vary this recipe by roasting the pumpkin with a couple of tablespoons of ras al hanout or cumin powder and chilli flakes, or I might add in some whole garlic and rosemary for something completely different a current favourite is to add a little creamed coconut and thai green or red curry paste when I blend it. There really is no end to what you can do with this awesome, simple recipe. The version in these pictures is topped with a dollop of mascarpone cheese and some smoked chilli and garlic oil.

Makes enough for 2-3 people

Ingredients 
1 butternut squash, acorn squash or similar sized amount of pumpkin (approx 1kg unpeeled)
Oil spray (optional)
1 or 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes (to taste)
c.500ml just boiled water
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200C fan. Cut the pumpkin/squash in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
2. Spray the pumpkin flesh with a little oil if using, season with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you are using. Place the pumpkin cut side down in a roasting pan then put in the oven for around 45 minutes or until cooked. I usually check after 30 minutes. You will know the pumpkin is ready when you can easily insert a knife and the skin is coming away from the flesh.
3. Once the flesh is cooked, boil the kettle then scoop the pumpkin flesh into a food processor.  Add the stock cubes and blitz it all together until you have a smooth puree and everything is combined. While the food processor is still running slowly and carefully add the just boiled water until your soup reaches your desired consistency. I usually use around 500ml.
4. You can either pour this straight into bowls from the food processor or transfer it to a saucepan and keep warm until you are ready to eat. I'm sure this soup would keep well in the fridge for a few days however I've never tried as it always disappears in one sitting in my house.

  

Optional Extras To make your soup more special why not try one or more of these optional extras. There's also nothing wrong with a chunk of crusty, buttered bread with this soup either, in fact you're missing out if you don't!

1. Drizzle with some smoked chilli and garlic oil such as this one from L'ail Olive with which I am currently obsessed. It's glorious.
2. Sage leaves gently fried in a little butter.
3. Crumbled feta/riccotta/cottage cheese with or without some chilli flakes.
4. Crumbled blue cheese.
5. Crispy fried bacon or pancetta.
6. Poached, shredded chicken.
7. Roasted pumpkin seeds.
8. Crispy fried onions.
9. Chunks of roasted squash.
10. Harissa paste swirl.

Let me know if you've got any other ideas for favourite pumpkin soup additions - I'm always looking for new inspirations.