weekend in siem reap

Those of you that follow me on twitter will know that I recently went on a trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia. I had never been to Cambodia and really didn't know what to expect. The purpose of our visit, as it is for many, was to visit the temple 'ruins' of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and around. We spent our days cycling around on rental bikes stopping to explore the temples that we found along the way. It was wonderful being out of hectic city life and being reminded that there is another life beyond the city.

Of course no visit anywhere is complete with out some foodie treats. So in the evenings we headed into the town in search of food and drink. Siem Reap is a relatively small city but there are lots of great food options there to be found. As we were only in the country for a few days and it was my first visit, I wanted to get an understanding of Cambodian food and flavours. On our first night we enjoyed a great dinner at the Cambodian BBQ. There are similar versions of this dining experience around the region but here they bring a bucket of hot coals to your table, put a kind of hot pot / griddle over the heat and then bring you dishes of meat, vegetables, noodles and rice. The idea is to grill the meat over the central part of the griddle allowing the cooking juices to fall down into the moat of stock below. In the mean time you would be cooking fresh rice oodles and pieces of pumpkin or other vegetables in the developing broth, occasionally ladling some out to eat. The waiting staff will keep topping up your noodle, vegetable and broth supplies until you can take no more! It's a great fun and sociable way to eat and I'll definitely be seeking out other Cambodian style BBQ places when I get chance.

The next night we wanted to try some classic Khmer cooking and headed to The Sugar Palm. This is considered to be one of the best restaurants in Siem Reap and Gordon Ramsey has even visited to learn how to cook traditional amok.

Anyway, we had cycled the best part of 30 miles and felt we had earned a feast for dinner so ordered plenty. We enjoyed the Beef Skewers marinated with lemongrass, pomelo salad with pork, shrimp, mint and coconut, chargrilled aubergine/eggplant with pork and finally Amok Trey. Every dish we had at The Sugar Palm was delicious and next time we're in Siem Reap I will definitely be coming back. 

Check out my version of amok trey here. 

Amok Trey

Spring Rolls

pork ball and noodle soup

Life is all about balance and sometimes you just need to give your body something nutritious and tasty. This is especially true if you've just had a big slice of apple pie with cheddar cheese crust! This soup is very, very easy to make, incredibly healthy and best of all it's delicious. If you can't get hold of the wood ear mushrooms where you are by all means substitute another kind such as oyster mushrooms. Equally if you can't track down egg tofu, silken tofu will work perfectly well and is available in pretty much every supermarket in the UK.

Ingredients serves 2

250g lean pork mince

1 tube egg tofu cut into slices

2 handfuls of wood ear mushrooms

bunch of coriander with the roots (if possible)

1 tsp ground white pepper

small bunch spring onions

1 litre water or good quality chicken stock

100g glass noodles (uncooked) or 200g shiritaki noodles (1 packet)

1 tbsp soy sauce

couple of handfuls of chopped white or chinese cabbage (or similar)

Chilli paste, lime wedges and extra soy sauce to serve

1. Mix together the pork mince, white pepper, soy sauce and finely chopped coriander root in a bowl.
2. In a large sauce pan bring the water or stock to a gentle boil then make small balls out of the pork mixture and place in the stock.
3. Gently simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the pork balls are cooked through. The add the mushrooms, cabbage, noodles, spring onions, chopped coriander leaves and egg tofu and cook for a further 3-5 minutes. Take care when stirring and try not to break up the tofu too much. 
4. Serve with chilli paste, lime wedges and extra soy sauce to taste.

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.

(sort of) minestrone

This is a 'sort of' version of minestrone based on the ingredients I already had in the house and to use up the small amounts of left over pasta that were taking up space in my food cupboard. My recipe changes all the time but the basic principles remain the same. I'm a great believer in trying to avoid wasting food and saving money so feel free to vary the quantities and types of veg depending on what you like and already have around. Ideally I would have liked to add some celery but this worked out fine without. The pesto addition is non-essential but great if you can do it. It really lifts the dish to something special. You can always use shop-bought but homemade, fresh pesto is without equal in my opinion.


Ingredients

400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 large soup bowl of finely diced vegetables (I used 2 onions, red and green peppers, 2 carrots and a courgette)
2 handfuls of dried pasta, if they are different size break them up so that they are similar sizes - this will help them cook at the same time.
approx 8 large cabbage leaves, sliced
2 handfuls of green beans
Parmesan or pecorino cheese rind (if you have one)
2 tbsp oil
1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock
selection of herbs (I used 2 bay leaves, some dried oregano and asprig of dried rosemary)
salt and pepper to taste

Homemade pesto for serving.

Heat a large saucepan over a medium high heat, add the oil then the bowl of diced vegetables. Cook until soft but not coloured and the onions are translucent. Stir frequently.

Add the tinned tomatoes, herbs and a good sprinkling of black pepper and stir well. Next add the stock, reduce the heat and cook gently for around 30 minutes.

Now add the pasta and cook for a further 10 minutes until it is almost completely cooked then add the cabbage and green beans for another 5 minutes or so. If the soup is quite thick add extra hot water from the kettle until you achieve your desired consistency.

Check seasoning, remove the cheese rind and any whole herbs then serve. This is excellent with a dollop of pesto in the middle. My recipe for basil, rocket and walnut pesto is particularly good.

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.

spicy tomato coconut soup

This was my warming supper tonight. The weather has turned a lot colder the last few weeks and I've started craving the comforting warmth of bowls of home made soup with thick slices of bread and butter. I made this soup with ingredients I had in my cupboard as I haven't had chance to get to the shops for a few days. For a store cupboard recipe, I have to say, this is pretty classy and well worth making.

Ingredients

2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 tsp red chili flakes (adjust according to how spicy you want it)
2 tsp panch phoran (a Bengali 5 spice mix, available in larger supermarkets)
3 cm chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves of garlic, grated or crushed
2 tsp garam masala
400ml can of half fat coconut milk

1. Place a large saucepan over a medium high heat, add the oil and heat for a few seconds.
2. Add the onion to the pan and cook until translucent and soft.
3. Add the  chilli flakes and allow the spices to sizzle for around 30 seconds, next add the panch phoran, ginger and garlic and cook out for a minute or so. 
4. Next add the tinned tomatoes and simmer the mixture over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
5. Stir through the garam masala and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes have thickened and taken on a rich, more orange colour.
6. Add a generous pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar then either using a stick blender or food processor blitz the soup for until you have removed the lumps. This stage is optional but I prefer a smooth tomato soup.
7. Return the blended tomatoes to the saucepan, add the coconut milk, stir thoroughly and heat through for a few minutes.
8. Serve with either rice or a thick chunk of bread. I ate mine with my homemade, savour pumpkin bread.