Chinese Leftover Roast Pork Noodles

Firstly sorry I've not been around much this past week, I've been struggling the past few weeks with a dodgy hip among other things so I've not been cooking very much and making very good friends with the sofa! We also went away for Easter for a few days by the sea to relax, which was well needed! I hobbled around as best as I could for brief spells and we had a nice lunch out over looking the sea plus the odd ice-cream! The journey back was awful, the motorway was solid so we did a magical mystery tour of A roads and what seemed like farm tracks, including through the spectacular Cheddar Gorge! I am back home now but will off a few more weeks so I apologise now if I get a little ranty on my twitter feed from being stuck indoors!

Going back to the most important thing - food! We love noodles it is no lie. Whenever I ask B what he wants to eat it’s nearly always Noodles! I play around with my recipe as to what needs using, slowly perfecting it and this was pretty darn good! When I served it up it looked a bit small but I think it was my new dishes being quite big as I was full up afterwards! Plus we did have a plateful of freshly cooked prawn crackers alongside! I am so pleased we bought them on our last jaunt into China Town!

I made this back in February I think, (I've started dating things in my notebook now as memory fails me some days!) using up some leftover roast pork. There wasn't very much pork leftover after making some other dishes but when mixed up with everything else it was most adequate! I think noodle dishes are great for making something out of not very much! I also garnished it with ribbons of egg to help bulk out the protein and make it look attractive too!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 nests Fine egg noodles
½ courgette, sliced into half moons
½ red onion, sliced thinly
1 basics vegetable stock cube
75g leftover cooked pork, finely shredded
2 tsp garlic and ginger paste
1tsp Chinese 5 spice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sherry/ Shaoxing wine
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1 tbsp sunflower oil
3 spring onions, finely sliced
½ tsp sesame seeds
1 egg, beaten


Place the shredded pork, 5 spice, pepper, sherry, soy sauce and sesame oil in a bowl to marinade for a little while before ready to cook. 

Heat a large frying pan, spray a little oil and add the beaten egg, tilt the pan to make a thin layer, cook until browned underneath, flip for 20 seconds and remove to a chopping board. Roll up and slice finely into ribbons and keep warm.

Meanwhile cover the noodles in boiling water, crumble in the stock cube and cook as per packet instructions - normally 3-4 minutes. When cooked, drain and reserve 50ml of the cooking stock.

Add the oil to the pan and cook the onion until softened, add the courgette and fry until golden, add more oil if its burning. Reduce the heat and add the ginger and garlic paste. then add the white part of the spring onion, and fry for a minute or so. Then add the pork and its marinade, then stir through the noodles and the reserved stock and heat through. Season with salt and pepper - I find soya sauce quite salty but B likes more so adjust to your tastes!

Spoon the noodles into your serving bowls, sprinkle over the sesame seeds, egg ribbons and green parts of the spring onion

Three Ways with Smoked Salmon

Up until about 18 months, perhaps two years ago I really didn't 'get' smoked fish, just could  not understand what the fuss was about. I recall laying out prettily a packet of smoked salmon at a garden party for my auntie when I was probably about ten years old and nibbling it - eurgh what are these people eating!! I guess its like olives - I adore them now but back then noooooooo way!!

Fortunately time has passed, and my taste-bud's have matured - and I am finding myself rather partial now to smoked salmon! It started with trying out smoked mackerel at a restaurant, as it came as part of a seafood starter platter thingy and then progressed onto smoked trout a food forum friend sent me, then finally smoked salmon!

A few weeks back 'The Handpicked Foodstore' sent me a rather delicious packet of their MacGilvray Smoked Salmon and it vanished very quickly! It was buttery soft, carried a gentle smoky flavour and made mine and B's meals that bit more special! Something like this is a rare treat for us, I am a budget queen but its nice to have something like this once in a while!

Lovely layers of Smoked Salmon!

 A honestly perfect way to eat breakfast - Buttered white toast, topped with creamy scrambled eggs and a scattering of smoked salmon strips! Heaven!

We had dinner guests last week, and as typical one of them was running late so I knocked up some quick canapes whilst wating - simply a tub of Divo ricotta cheese, a sprinkling of Divo Parmigianno Reggano seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice, atop a ritz cracker (so classy!) and a twist of smoked salmon and a sliver of cucumber! This dish however was hit and miss - me and the boyfriend really enjoyed it but my dad and brother were not so fond of the creamy filling. Ah well, more for us!

Last but not least - Stir-fried noodles with peppers and mushrooms, with the last few pieces of the smoked salmon. Unfortunately someone knocked at the door, then my phone kept ringing and by the time I ate it, it was lukewarm....was tasty at least still!

Many thanks to The Handpicked Foodstore who supplied me the Smoked Salmon, and to DIVO Italiano for the Ricotta and Parmigiano Reggiano

Spring Onion Pancakes

Historically Pancakes and I, were not close friends. Growing up when Pancake Day came around I was always eating something else, not being quite able to bear eating them. This is despite quite happily making their thicker cousins the drop scone and enjoying them too. This saga carried on till at least around aged 25. Then I got a bit older, learned to cook, felt brave one evening in early 2010 and then nearly abandoned it all after my first disastrous attempt!

Time passed..

And passed..

Then I plucked up courage in the summer of 2011, and with friend L's help we successfully made Tuna and Olive filled pancakes. I have since made them several times, though replacing the tuna with ham makes a wonderful substitution! However this is a once in a blue moon dish, not sure why but it just doesn't make a regular appearance. Though I did buy some tuna earlier so perhaps this week...

Nowadays I am feeling more confident with batter, and a couple of weeks back made a delicious king prawn stir-fry, and the marinade needs only egg white, leaving an egg yolk going spare...

By chance a few nights prior to Friday, my dad was over and we were discussing something he had seen about about how people tend to think the Chinese don't eat potatoes, which made me rummage through the cookery books until according to one called 'World Food - China' and yes in fact they do. Maybe not a huge amount but there are indeed recipes! Apparently the humble potato we English worship was introduced to China by the French. And according to wiki China is the worlds largest Potato producing coutnry. Blimey. That was unexpected!

Anyway, back to the recipe. Whilst going through said book, I spotted these spring onion pancakes, and by sheer luck the recipe uses 1 egg yolk! And so they were made, very succesfully. They produce a softish pancake, I added black pepper as thought needed a little boost. The recipe suggests them as a snack or to fill with crispy meats. We just dipped ours in sweet chilli sauce.

N.b. I have adjusted the original recipe quantities to suit us.

Makes 8

Ingredients

2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 heaped tbsp finely sliced spring onion
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
100g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
8 twists black pepper
200ml milk
100ml water

1) Soften the spring onion in 1/2 tbsp of from oil total until lightly cooked - it will only take 2-3 minutes, using a flat non-stick frying pan

2) Clean the pan using kitchen paper. Make the batter by sifting the flour and salt together and gently combine in the eggs. Slowly stir in the milk and water, and remaining oil to form a creamy smooth batter.

3) Heat the pan to a moderate heat, add enough batter working fast to tilt the mixture to form a thin pancake. When the batter has set, and its lightly browned underneath, gently using a fork and serving spatula (or similar!) gently fold up and place on kitchen paper. Repeat with remaining mixture. If you are using as wrappers - don't fold them, use greaseproof paper or similar to seperate.

Sweet Chilli Gammon Noodles - Credit Crunch Munch

Cooking a gammon joint at home is so easy and can be reclined into many more meals, making it very good value too without compromising on taste. I love using up leftovers and always inventing up new recipes based on what we have in the cupboards and what we fancy eating. These noodles were delicious hot for our dinner but also I am told cold the next day, as B had a tub for lunch the next day and has asked for this again already!

Over the past few years, my own financial situation has changed considerably following redundancies, prolonged ill health, housing costs, petrol costs going up, relationship changes etc... Fortunately things are now a lot more settled, another recent house move was stressful but its a lot cheaper than the previous room so in the long term is worthwhile... I also don't drive to work anymore, so I have cut costs there...However over this time the cost of food shopping during all this has considerably increased and I've been looking at what I spend on food a lot more than before, and have become rather thrifty when it comes to stretching out meals. Now I budget for the two of us, as the house move also meant moving in with the boyfriend, and so the budget is a little more flexible but I always am a firm believer in that if you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves!

My gammon joint came from a cheaper supermarket, at £4.99 and has so far done five meals, and there is another bagful in the freezer. I think there might have also been a sandwich or two made as well.. far better value and taste than buying packets of pre-sliced watery ham!

I'm also sending my recipe over to Credit Crunch Munch, headed up by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All, and the host for this month is Fish Fingers for Tea

First time around it was simply boiled up with bay leaves, then sliced up and served with a fried egg, potato wedges and courgettes fried with tomatoes in Christmas butter that's been lurking in the freezer! And it was gorgeous!

My poshed up ham, egg and chips:

So Monday night came around, I had just finished two exhausting night shifts and a bit zombie-fied, needing something quick, easy and delicious to eat. Fortunately in the fridge was some of the leftover gammon, a quick rummage through the cupboards found 3 nests of noodles, a courgette in the salad draw that needed eating and half a pepper, leftover from something else. Oh and a permanent stand by - a bottle of Thai sweet chilli sauce! One thing I couldn't live without is garlic and ginger paste - often found in the 'world food aisles' or in specialty shops.

The noodles were gorgeous, full of sweet spicy meaty flavours, this recipe will be a definite keeper!

Serves 3, well

Fridge to table - 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tsbp sunflower oil

3 fine egg noodle nests

1 onion, finely chopped

1 heaped tsp garlic and ginger paste

1 courgette, cut into half moons 

180g leftover cooked gammon, chopped into chunks

1/2 yellow pepper, sliced

3 heaped tsp Thai sweet chilli sauce

1 chicken stock cube

1) Cover the noodles in boiling water, add the stock cube and bring to the boil and cook as per packet instructions. Drain, reserving 250ml of the water.

2) Meanwhile heat the oil in a wok or large saute pan, cook the onion for 3-4 minutes, stir in the peppers, courgettes and garlic and ginger paste, and cook over a moderate heat, keep stirring so they don't burn. 

3) After a further 4 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened, stir in the gammon, reserved cooking water and the sweet chilli sauce, reduce the liquid slightly and stir through the noodles, warm through and serve.

Enjoy!

Crispy Honey and Spice Beer Battered Tofu with Vegetable Stir-fry

Growing up, I knew I was a bit different from other children my age. My dad took me to various food places and food festivals, including trips around Southall, which to those who are not familiar with is smaller version of India, and never fails to surprise me how late everything stays open compared to the sleepy town I live in!

In addition during these various trips and years, I had the opportunity to try lots of different cuisines and as a result, my cooking style is now rather varied and I happily dip in and out of various cuisines, loving all but with no particular favouritism, other than perhaps a genuine love for Oriental flavours. 

When I was at secondary school, a long, long time ago, I studied food technology at GSCE, and I remember my final piece of coursework was all about Chinese cooking and this cuisine as a result of the studies, and my above mentionned love of the Oriental flavourings, I am probably most experimental with. Somehow despite this, this was actually my first attempt at cooking with Tofu, having only ever eaten it very sparingly within spicy dishes or soups in restaurants.

During a venture into Chinatown the other week, following a very civilised afternoon tea with a girfriend, within a mecca of a supermarket spread over many floors and seemingly catering for everything it would appear from the Orient, I had picked up a block of ‘firm silken tofu’ on a whim and decided I would finally try and do it some justice. I’ve heard lots of people say how bland it was but in my head that’s how I feel about pasta/ rice etc – they too are bland, but with a little love are so easy to transform into something quite beautiful....

Just look at all that lovely crispyness! Try not to eat them all before serving!

This was also the first time deep frying where I live now, always a bit scary but it was fine apart from a couple of new blisters on my arm! Remember to never leave hot fat unattended and keep safe!

On a separate note Sharp’s brewery had sent me some beers from their 'Connoisseurs' range, one of them being a honey spice one, which I thought would work well with sort of Chinesey flavours… and it did a great job too! Very smooth with hints of sweetness of honey and lovely gently spiced notes to it. Also in their range is a rather drinkable Single brew, which is perfect for a warm summer evening, and last but not least a rather potent Quadrupel Ale, which I actually googled the units on as felt a little tipsy after 'testing'! I am unashamedly for a woman a keen ale drinker but whilst it was drinkable, was just a little too strong for me! 

In my next post I am giving away a set of the three beers so come back soon!

Serves two 

Tofu ingredients:

225g firm silken tofu  *I had too much batter - use the whole pack of tofu if desired or you could probably sneak some veg too with the excess!
125ml honey spice beer – chilled
125ml ice cold water
250g plain flour
½ tsp salt
1 egg yolk
Sunflower oil for frying

Honey and Soy Vegetable Noodle Stirfry ingredients:

Fine Noodles - Enough for two - I like the fine rice ones but choose any you like
½ red pepper, sliced into chunks
2 sticks celery, sliced at an angle into 1cm chunks
5 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp dark soy sauce
3 tsp Chinese cooking wine (or beer)
1 heaped tsp cornflour
Black pepper to taste - freshly ground
Squirt runny honey
1 clove minced garlic
Heaped tsp freshly grated ginger
Egg white

Once the batter has been made – it needs using so make sure everything else is ready to go!

Sunflower oil for frying - roughly 2cm in a large pan, allow plenty of bubbling space! Heat to when a small cube of the tofu browns within 30 seconds or so

Note: Chilling the tofu will probably work best - I did mine from the cupboard and was a little soft and I couldn't use the whole block, hence my note above saying to use it all up - would do three servings instead

Start by chopping the tofu into roughly 1cm chunks. Sprinkle with a little of the flour and gently toss in it to lightly coat

Beat the egg yolk, then add in the beer and water, stir in the remaining flour and salt. Gently add the tofu to the mix, use a slotted spoon to transfer to the hot oil, don't crowd the pan - it will need to be done in batches. Cook for around 3 minutes or until crispy and lightly golden, gently turning if needed. Drain on plenty of paper.

Meanwhile, heat a little vegetable oil in a wok or large saute pan, whisk the leftover egg white and fry quickly until just cooked, remove from the pan and shred. Then stir fry the vegetables for approximately 3-4 minutes until just cooked. Blend the honey, wine, soy, garlic ginger, black pepper and cornflour together, add a little water to loosen if needed. Pour over the vegetables and heat through - it should just lightly coat everything. 

Boil the noodles as per packet instructions, drain well and add to the cooked vegetable mix and stir together. Serve on plates and top with the crispy tofu and shredded egg white.

Spatchcocked Chinese Chicken

The pictures are not that great but this was a definate successful dish!

A few years back I was given some poultry shears and once I overcame general squeamishness, jointing chickens is something thats a regular occurence at home. However I had always fancied getting a bit more creative with them and following a browse of the internet and in particular the great videos they have over at BBC Good Food, I decided spatchcocking was the way forward!

This recipe is no way meant to be authentic chinese cookery but it tastes gorgeous and is so easy. Another bonus of spatchcocking the chicken, is it cooks in half the time! I used a small whole chicken from M&S, bought as part of their fab 2 dine for £10 deal, we ate this with a very nice bottle of Spanish red, which was also part of this weeks offer.

Firstly, spatchcock your chicken as per the video. Prepare ideally a disposable roasting tray or line a shallow roaster with lots of foil, the marinade will burn on the foil so be careful not to use your best dish! Place the chicken in the middle, breast side up.

In a jug, combine the following:

50ml sweet chilli sauce
50ml runny honey
1 heaped tsp cornflour
50ml chinese cooking wine
Black pepper
50ml dark soy sauce
Black pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1cm piece ginger, finely chopped (or grated)
1 spring onion, finely chopped

Pour gently over the chicken, using a silicon / pastry brush to thoroughly coat, cover lightly with foil and refridgerate for at least 4 hours.



Pre-heat your oven, I have a electric fan assisted oven which has its own mind and was about 170o, about 180/ 190 for a standard oven. Remove the foil cover and roast for 40-45 minutes or until the juices run clear. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before removing the skewers and carving as desired. I seperated the leg from breast, into four portions. Garnish with diced spring onion, though not essential.

This really is so tasty, sweet, savoury and so moist. Spatchcocking is the way forward for chicken I think!

Beef and Broccoli in Oyster sauce

This one is a bit of a cheat but was very tasty and easy!

Serves 4

500g finely sliced frying steak (mine was a mixture of tescos beef stir fry strips and 1 large piece of frying steak bought reduced!)
1/3 bottle (enough to cover) Good quality thick oyster sauce, mine came from chinese supermarket..
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp meat tenderiser (I used Rajah's)
Black pepper
1/2 head broccoli cut into small florets
sunflower oil

1) Mix the beef, garlic, meat tenderiser and season very well with the black pepper, and marinade for 10 minutes

2) Heat a pan to medium-hot, add 1 tbsp oil and fry the broccoli for 2 minutes, stirring reguarly, now add the steak and its liquid, fry for 3-4 minutes and serve immediately with noodles / rice etc


(If you have leftover liquid after everythings gobbled, save it and freeze, next time you make rice add the sauce and and veg diced small and serve as a one pot, add extra stock if needed)

Chinese Style Salmon

Serves 6

Get some nice fresh salmon fillets, skin on, allow one per person

Marinade them in a bowl for about 30 mins or so in the following (have left it a few hours before and is fine, just make sure has some marinading time!):Kikkomans Teryaki sauce liberally added so that they 'sit' in it!.
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 dessert spoons 'gourmet garden' liquid ginger or 1 d.spoon grated ginger
2 dessert spoons sweet chili sauce
1 small green chili, de-seeded and finely sliced (optional)
1 d.spoon runny honey if you have any


Line a deep baking tray with foil and place salmon fillets skin side up, grill on medium heat for about 12 mins until the flesh breaks away easily, turn over carefully and grill for about 2/3 minutes more, serve immediately with mixed wild rice (is a mix of wild and normal white rice, allow about 75g per person) cooked in water and a tin of coconut milk.

If you wish to serve any veggies mange tout goes nicely or baby corn but normally serve on its own.

Also if you don't like ginger / chili then just simply leave it out or adjust to your tastes!

Requires minimal effort and virtually no prep leaving you more time to be with your guests! :)