Pumpkin noodle soup

 
 

I had very little fresh food in the house.  So I made a warming soup with what I had.

 

Ingredients:

 

½ a pumpkin (medium sized)

2 cups of stock (homemade out of the freezer)

Fine cut egg noodles

Seasonings – salt, pepper, grated nutmeg/ few drops of tabasco

Parmesan cheese

Something green for garnish

 

Method:

 

Steam your pumpkin cut up into pieces and deseeded  but not peeled. I use a simple little microwave steamer I got from the supermarket – which works very well.

 

Defrost your stock and then put on the cooktop to heat. 

 

Peel your pumpkin after it is cooked and add it to the stock – mash roughly (or if you are a soup purist whizz it in a blender til smooth).

 

When your soup is simmering add your seasonings other than the salt.  Add your noodles (remember they will swell up so don't go too far overboard).  Cook for a further 10 minutes.  Taste and add salt as required.

 

Serve in a bowl with a garnish of something green – I ended up using a couple of outside leaves of a brussels sprout – not ideal but you do need a bit of green for contrast.

 

If you don't normally eat pumpkin soup, give it a go you will be surprised how good it can be.

 

Hoki Noodle Bake

Hoki is a firm white fish.  You could also use lightly smoked cod or whiting.

Ingredients:

Lightly smoked hoki

Oil

Fresh noodles

½ a zucchini

Alfredo sauce

Capers

Lemon juice

Salt & pepper

Dijon mustard

Sliced mozzarella

Breadcrumbs

Butter

Parsley for garnish

Method:

Heat your oven to moderate.  While it is heating oil your baking dish.

Then flake into it your smoked fish.  Add some fresh noodles and chopped zucchini.  Add a spoonful of capers (I don't bother to rinse them). 

Pour on your Alfredo sauce, add your lemon juice (a couple of squirts) and the mustard.  Season with salt and pepper.

Mix this together then layer the slices of mozzarella on top.  Cover with a generous layer of breadcrumbs.  Put some knobs of butter on top.  Then into the oven for about 45 minutes.  The top should be nice and golden and crunchy.

Garnish with some chopped parsley

Prawn & Spinach Noodles – A Do Over

This simple dish – Prawn & Spinach Noodles – doesn't require any specialised technique.  You do need to be guided by your taste but other than that it is a doddle.

Ingredients:

Noodles – I used thick cut ones

Prawns – defrosted

1 block of frozen spinach

Parsley

Cayenne pepper

Fish sauce (or salt)

Chicken stock cube

Red chilli

Spring onion (scallion)

Pepper

½ a capful of Chinese black vinegar (balsamic would be fine)

Method:

Bring your water and stock cube to the boil.  Add your noodles and cook until they are tender.  Then add everything else.  Taste and season to your liking – whether that means more fish sauce or even maybe a touch of sugar.

Reminding You of My Home made Chicken Noodle Soup

My Home made Chicken Noodle Soup is not a quick dish – but it is a simple one.

First you create a good chicken stock – that's what takes the time.  And then a few minutes before you want to eat it you pop in your noodles – any sort you like - I had rice stick noodles which worked just fine.

Making a good chicken stock can be quite freestyle – this time I used:

From the freezer – leftover roasted chicken bones, vegetables saved in the freezer like leek tops, floppy parsnips, mushroom stalks, herbs a bit past it).  Don't worry about chopping or peeling – the end result will be strained.

Aromatics – Chilli oil, garlic oil, white wine, sherry vinegar, salt & pepper, Fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, chives), Sichuan peppercorns, ½ tsp turmeric, 1 dried red chilli, small piece of cassia bark, small piece of star anise, bay leaves and a thumb of ginger (peeled).

You can add pretty much anything that is aromatic – including garlic and onion if you can tolerate it.  The only things to be careful of not overdoing are rosemary and star anise.

Cover it all with water and simmer for at least 4 hours – the longer the better.

Drain your stock and dispose of the veges etc.  Check your seasoning and add fish sauce, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Bring your stock to a rapid boil before adding your noodles.  Serve with a small garnish of chopped chilli.

Simple, satisfying, nutritious and cheap!

Crispy Noodle Cakes with Chilli Sauce

I was home alone and realised I haven't cooked for the blog in a while – so I needed a lunch idea.  In one of the many cookbooks I have flipped through in the last wee while I had a vague recollection of seeing an egg and noodle dish.  This is my version of it.  I recommend it to you – I'll be doing it again.

Ingredients:

Rice noodles (vermicelli)

2 tblsp chopped parsley (didn't have coriander)

1 tsp grated ginger

½ tsp Chinese 5 spice

2 eggs (lightly whisked)

1 tblsp sesame oil

½ tsp garlic oil

2tblsp sweet chilli sauce

1 tblsp cornstarch (cornflour)

Salt & pepper

Canola oil (for frying)

For the sauce – sweet chilli sauce, tomato paste and soy sauce

Method:

Boil some water and soak your rice noodles in the hot water for 5 minutes.  While they are soaking cut them into shorter lengths with some kitchen scissors.

Drain them and rinse with cold water – this is important because you don't want to mix hot noodles with the egg because you'll scramble.

Put the cold noodles into the bowl with the whisked weggs and all the other ingredients – except for the canola oil which you put into a pan.  Keep back a little parsley for a garnish.

When your pan is hot pour the mixture into some egg rings – I only had the ones with little handles so fried the mix on the first side until I felt it was safe to release it from the ring with a knife and then flipped it over.  It would have been better if I could have flipped the whole thing but it worked well enough.  You could also do it without the rings but the mix will spread and be thinner and more like an omelette.

The sauce is a simple mix of 3 parts sweet chilli sauce to one part tomato paste and soy sauce.