Thai green curry turkey burgers

This is one of those that’s more an idea than a recipe as such.

I literally just scrunched up maybe 100g or so of turkey mince with a good teaspoon of my favourite green curry paste and a squeeze of lime.

Browned on both sides in some hot oil in a non-stick pan and then cooked for 10 minutes or so in a medium oven.

C’est ca.

Literally that was it.

Oh hold on, I did make a sweet chilli lime mayo though to go with it.

A big spoon of a good shop-bought mayo (or make your own of course) plus a spoonful or so of Thai sweet chilli sauce.

Again shop-bought or make your own as you choose. Plus a good squeeze of fresh lime.

Taste, taste, taste and adjust as needed.

The first time I made these burgers I had them with leftover Burmese cabbage (but made with sprouts in keeping with the kind of Christmassy turkey theme).

And then I had them next with cucumber and tomato and onion and it did feel fresher and more tasty to me.

But again, all up to you!

Make them as you like and have them with what you like.

I really liked these and will be having again.

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Welsh rarebit

I love cheese on toast …. who doesn’t? Actually, really, IS there anyone who doesn’t?

But, confession. I have never, ever either eaten a proper Welsh Rarebit (or Welsh Rabbit and I understand it goes by both names) out for supper, or at home, or made it myself.

Last week at work, we had a just-for-fun challenge to make a Welsh Rarebit and it was just the impetus I needed.

I made it immediately! Ha, competitive much?

And it was so delicious I’ll definitely be making it again.

It was also much richer than I’d anticipated so I won’t be making it for lunch again - I think it’s definitely a light dinner or a supper option!

I could only get cheddar at my local shop but I’d like to try a Lancashire next time.

I did research many recipes online before deciding how I’d cook mine and in the end I went with The Guardian’s ‘how to cook perfect Welsh Rarebit’ (pretty much).

I liked it so much that I might buy another can or two of stout (never bought before in my life) and keep in the fridge for late night supper emergencies.

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So, for two, here’s what you need:

2-3 tablespoons of stout

1 teaspoon English mustard powder

4 teaspoons butter

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

175g of grated cheese (whichever cheese you like)

2 egg yolks (small or medium; or perhaps 1 large egg yolk)

2 slices of bread (I had some nice thick sliced seeded bread, but again of course use whatever you like)

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Get a small pan and mix the stout and mustard power together over a low heat.

Stir in the butter and Worcestershire sauce and continue heating gently, stirring, until the butter has melted.

Next tip in the grated cheese and keep stirring over that nice gentle heat, until the cheese has melted - but don’t let it boil.

Remove from the heat while you toast the bread under the grill - just make sure to do one side a little more lightly than you want it when finished.

Beat the egg yolks into the warm cheesy mixture and then spoon over the more lightly toasted side of bread.

Put back under the grill and just keep watch - it suddenly bubbles up hugely!

When it’s bubbling and golden and beautiful, then it’s done.

Eat immediately - just as it is or with some salad on the side perhaps - I liked the fresh cool salad alongside the rich cheese on toast.

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Salmon with sesame, honey + other good things

Well, here in London it was a grey, cold, windy and absolutely lashing rain kind of a Saturday.

And I had salmon in the fridge so was definitely going to make it into something for dinner - hate food waste, so that’s it, if there’s salmon and it needs eating, that’s what I’ll have.

I usually like to cook salmon on the griddle so it’s crispy on both sides and have it like this with a spicy sour sauce.

But something about the rainswept day just made me want something softer somehow.

So I made this and it was soft and it was good with rice and the sauce was enveloping and warm and just right.

You don’t need to wait for a day indoors though, I think this would be lovely almost any evening for dinner - perhaps with a salad if the weather is a little cheerier though.

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I made this just for me but actually the sauce would have probably just about been enough for two, so add and subtract as you choose for your perfect quantity and for your taste - you really can’t mess it up or get it wrong, it’s always going to taste good!

Get the salmon fillet out of the fridge and if you like to take the skin off, then do so now.

Personally, I like to take most of it off but leave about an inch at the end as a treat for when it’s all crispy and crackly … but, I forgot it wouldn’t go like that if baked so I’d probably remove the whole of the skin next time. Up to you!

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For the sauce, you’ll need:

1-2 teaspoons runny honey

1-2 teaspoons coconut oil (but you could use another oil instead)

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 clove of garlic, squashed and minced

a small piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon or so of sesame seeds

1/2-1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1/2 a juicy lime

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OK, I know this is where it starts looking like too much hard work to be bothered to do but I PROMISE it takes only a minute or two to do the heating/saucepan-y bit.

You just put the honey, oil and soy sauce into a little pan and heat gently until it’s melted, and then add a slosh of water and mix it all together and then take it off the heat.

THAT’S IT. Hard part done.

Then add all the other sauce ingredients to the sauce - either in its pan or mixed together in a different bowl - and stir to combine.

I couldn’t resist a little taste too - so good.

And next, just a dish for the salmon to go in, lined with a big piece of foil.

Tip most of the sauce onto the salmon, keeping just a little back.

Then fold up the foil so the salmon is in a little parcel with enough space for the sauce and fish to steam - don’t wrap it up tight, let it have room.

Put the salmon parcel in its dish into a medium oven - I have a gas oven and it was on Gas Mark 6 - for about twenty minutes.

I then tipped the salmon and sauce out of the foil into the dish to put under the grill for a further five minutes.

I take it out of the foil as the foil could catch alight. Also keep an eye on it while under the grill as that sweet, sticky sauce could potentially catch too.

What I was after was for it to all just cook a bit more and maybe even caramelise a little.

Pour over that last remaining bit of the original sauce - I just love that there’s a fresh kick somehow by adding this to the beautiful marinated cooked flavours.

Serve with rice and finished with some chopped spring onion and fresh coriander leaves, if liked.

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Lemon garlic breadcrumb spaghetti

It’s all about the simplest, most delicious, spaghetti for me this year.

In all the craziness there’s something just very grounding and nurturing about it.

I just want easy. I want simplicity. I don’t want to faff around with a million ingredients.

Yes, I still love cooking, I just want it to be simple and kind of meditative. There’s something about the simplest spaghettis that provide this for me.

I hope you love making and eating this too.

For one big portion I used:

olive oil

1/2 lemon zest, just peeled off and chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled, squashed and minced

a big handful of breadcrumbs (I just blitzed a slice or two in the food processor - by the way you can do this and keep bags of breadcrumbs in the freezer and no need to defrost before using)

a small handful of fresh chopped parsley leaves

spaghetti cooked to your liking (around 75 - 100g for one)

a little of the pasta cooking water

juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon

a pinch of dried chilli flakes

salt and pepper

grated parmesan to serve, if liked

Put a slug of olive oil into a non-stick pan and then add the lemon zest and garlic.

Stir and after a few seconds - maybe 30 - when it smells incredible, tip in the breadcrumbs.

Keep stirring and cooking until the breadcrumbs are gorgeous and toasty and crisp - and then remove from the heat.

Add the chopped parsley and stir to make a lovely garlicky, lemony, toasted breadcrumb mixture - and set to one side.

Cook your spaghetti in boiling salted water but drain it a minute or two before it’s perfect and make sure to retain half a cup or so of the water it was cooking in.

Return the pasta to the pan along with a good slosh of its cooking water, a little drizzle of olive oil, the juice of 1/2-1 lemon (to your taste and also depending on how juicy your lemon is of course) and a good pinch of dried chilli flakes.

Stir it all together over a low heat for a minute and then turn the heat off.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tip in most of the breadcrumb mixture and combine.

Pour into a bowl and top with the remaining breadcrumb mixture and some grated parmesan, if you choose (to be honest it doesn’t really need it but sometimes you do).

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Greek yogurt coleslaw

I think coleslaw looks nicer when it’s shredded into thin strips and probably just wins on texture too, but I just wanted to make something super-fast, so whizzed it quickly in the food processor instead.

To make enough for two, I used:

1/2 small green cabbage

1/2 red cabbage

2 carrots, peeled and quartered

1/2 white onion

I also finely chopped a green chilli to stir into the vegetables (I don’t think the food processor would have minced it finely enough).

And for the dressing:

Greek yogurt (about 100g - it was what was left in the carton)

The juice of half a lemon

A teaspoon of honey

A teaspoon of Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

To save time (and washing up) I just mixed it all into the Greek yogurt pot as I was using the last 100ml or so that were in there, so it just made sense instead of using a bowl.

Taste and adjust any seasonings to your liking and then stir into the vegetable mixture.

For a really speedy lunch, have it with some cold leftover roast chicken or other cooked meat.

It would also be great with burgers or veg-burgers.

This is one of those salads that just tastes so much better than it looks!

So it you’re after a quick lunch or a healthy coleslaw recipes, do try this one.

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Courgette leek salad with (possibly) the best dressing ever

This one’s firmly based on a recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks, The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano.

I love her writing and her recipes but I do usually change them up just a little bit, as with most recipes, as here.

This is the most beautifully simple dish that would be an utterly elegant side dish but I’m on a focused lose-the-lockfown-weight THING so I had this for lunch.

And I’ll be having it again soon. It was DELICIOUS.

The dressing makes enough for two so I have my second portion (this image) in the fridge ready for tomorrow’s amazing salad lunch idea (that I have already).

Honey, mustard, olive oil, lemony dressing = AMAZING.

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To make it the way I did and to make a glorious, sunshine, light, gorgeous, healthy lunch for one, you’ll need:

FOR THE SALAD

2 leeks, cleaned, any tough outer layers removed, most of the green part cut off (use in soup another time) and the white piece remaining cut into a few smaller pieces

1 courgette, washed, peeled if you prefer, cut horizontally into slices and then these halved again

FOR THE DRESSING

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp runny honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

FOR THE MAKING IT ALL AMAZING

salt and pepper

fresh parmesan cheese, grated into little slices

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Bring a big pan of salted water to the boil, throw in the leeks and boil on a fairly gentle boil for five minutes.

Add the courgettes, bring it back to the boil and give it another two minutes.

Drain and leave to cool.

Make the dressing while the vegetables cool by mixing all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl (to be honest, I started eating it straight from the bowl with a spoon). Obviously taste and adjust the quantities so it’s exactly right for you.

When the vegetables are cool, tip into a bowl and season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Toss and add some of the dressing and toss again.

Taste again!

Crumble or peel or grate on some parmesan cheese.

When it’s perfect, just pile it all up and dig in …. this is SO SO GOOD.

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Beautiful Asian-inspired spaghetti

I’m currently, unashamedly, singularly, OBSESSED with the simplest pastas.

Which means yet again it’s pretty impossible to show in a picture just how good this is.

I’d actually wanted noodles but didn’t have any (I KNOW - outrageous, right?).

So I cooked some beautiful spaghetti. And this turned out so gorgeous I’m GLAD I was out of noodles.

I warmed oil in a pan and added garlic and spring onions and chilli and after 30 seconds or so when it smelt really good, I added a big ladle of the pasta cooking water and crumbled in 1/3 of a chicken Knorr stock cube and a slosh of light soy sauce.

Next time I make this i might add a little grated fresh ginger too at the start along with the garlic, onions and chilli.

Cooked for three minutes, simmering. Added the spaghetti that was deliberately a little under cooked and cooked for two more minutes.

Added a teaspoon or so toasted sesame oil and let it simmer for another minute. And then added just a little salt and a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes for seasoning.

Here’s the reminder of what you’ll need to make this:

Spaghetti

Olive oil

Garlic

Spring onions

One fresh red or green hot chilli

Pasta cooking water

A little Knorr chicken stock cube

Light soy sauce

Toasted sesame oil

Salt

Dried chilli flakes

This was so satisfying and so quick.

I really, really liked this.

It has so much of everything I love about it - it’s simple, classic, easy and has some of my favourite flavours.

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So simple, so good - & it's just aubergine, tomato, onion, chickpeas

Yep I did actually pretty much write a whole recipe in the title!

So let’s write this recipe quickly too so you can just get on with making and eating this.

It’s so simple and so good.

I bought a beautiful glossy aubergine the other day - just because it was so beautiful and so glossy … and then didn’t know what to make with it.

i asked my friends on FB for their suggestions, recommendations and recipes and chose to make the simplest - sent by my friend Amoul.

OK, confession .

Even though I have eaten in Amoul’s restaurant and so tried her wonderful food, and not just once, oh no …

But I STILL read the simple recipe she kindly shared with me on my asking for help and I read it and I thought, ‘mmmmm I’m not sure about this, it sounds a bit bland’.

I asked her several questions, almost like I wanted it to be more complicated, like I didn’t really get that this much simplicity would be so delicious.

But hey - I have eaten her amazing food and I see her mouth-watering posts and I know she knows all about simple delicious food.

So I trusted.

And oh my goodness, it was utterly delicious.

My dinner didn’t even make it to a bowl or plate, I ate it straight from the pan.

Then I stopped and tipped the rest into a dish so that I would have some the next day (this is enough for two portions).

And then I got the spoon again and dug right back in again.

Amoul suggested serving with rice.

Not a chance here! I tried it and I couldn’t stop eating it.

This is definitely a new regular dinner over here and I hope you love it too. I think it would also be a very lovely accompaniment to some simple baked or pan-fried white fish.

Also - go follow Amoul …

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Oops sorry, chatted on there more than I’d meant to.

This will make enough for two but if you have rice with it maybe more. Or maybe just make as much as you can as it’ll keep in the fridge a couple of days anyway.

Here’s what you need …

one white onion, peeled and finely chopped

a tablespoon of olive oil

one lovely beautiful glossy aubergine (eggplant) washed and diced

a tiny crumble (maybe a quarter) of a Knorr stock cube - but just omit if you don’t have/don’t want

three nice happy large vine tomatoes (more if small) peeled and chopped

salt and pepper

one tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

rice to serve, if liked

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Saute the onion in the oil over a low heat, stirring often, for AGES - or it feels like ages anyway.

Don’t let it burn or stick so add a splash of water if needed.

Just go gentle, this is a very gentle dish.

Let it saute at its own pace - maybe up to 10 minutes - until soft and translucent.

Add the diced aubergine and the little crumble of stock cube, if using, and a little splash of water and stir.

Cook gently with a lid on the pan, stirring every now and then, for 6 or 7 minutes.

Check that the aubergine is really softening and cook a little longer if not.

Add in those lovely peeled fresh tomatoes and also now’s when to add the seasoning - so salt and pepper to taste.

I’d go a little tiny bit more heavy handed than you might normally do, but remember you can always add more, can’t take away.

Cover the pan again and simmer - gently - for another five minutes then stir and taste.

Add the tin of drained, rinsed chick peas, stir.

Add a little water if needed but it shouldn’t need.

Cover and simmer - gently - for a few minutes, maybe three.

Take the lid off, turn up the heat a little if it’s very liquid and cook for another minute or two.

Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed.

Try not to eat the whole thing straight from the pan yourself but let others also have some dinner ….

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Super simple jerk sauce / jerk chicken

Oh my goodness look at these scotch bonnet chillies! I love scotch bonnets - they’re properly spicy but also have that lovely fruity tanginess to them.

This photo is one a friend sent me of the beautiful display at her local shop - and then sent me five chillies in the post (this was written in lockdown times, should you be reading it later) as we can’t meet up right now.

So I made jerk chicken and this simple jerk sauce is so easy and delicious I wanted to share it and you could use it with fish or vegetables too.

I confess I have absolutely no idea how authentic or not this is - it’s a simplified version of the one from Jamie Oliver’s 30-minute meals book (which I LOVE by the way - I don’t try to cook them in 30 minutes but there’s lots of great ideas there that I have taken inspiration from).

There are two ingredients here that might be a little harder to get but that to me you absolutely have to have … and that’s the scotch bonnet chillies (rather than using any other variety) and the golden rum. DO track ‘em down because I think they’re what makes this dish just so good.

So … ingredients - and this will be enough for either two or four I think, just one has more sauce but you can play around with it of course and just make what looks good to you.

1 scotch bonnet chilli, diced

2 spring onions, sliced

2 fat (or more smaller) cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 heaped teaspoon Allspice

1 big tablespoon runny honey

6 tablespoons golden rum

6 tablespoons white wine vinegar or scant ones of white malt vinegar as I used

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And then you just blend it all up to make a sauce, literally, that’s it.

I like to slice the chicken breasts in half to make them thinner, leaving them joined at one end, and ideally with skin-on, but I only had skinless so that’s what I used.

I season them and massage in olive oil and cook on the griddle (or in a non-stick pan) for a few minutes until golden each side. If your chicken has skin then start with the skin side down.

Then pour the sauce into an oven dish and lay the chicken on top and cook in a medium oven for maybe 20 minutes turning once halfway.

I’d also add fresh thyme and rosemary too now but have to confess I was just too lazy to down to the garden to get any! I will do next time and will add another picture - it’ll look much prettier and definitely worth adding for the extra flavour, but I still really love it just as it is.

Check if the chicken is done, cook a little longer if needed.

Serve with rice and salad. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander if you have any and if you like it.

I’ve realised writing this up that I was missing a lot of things that would make it even better, but hey it was still good … and very, very simple … and that counts for a lot for me.

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Easiest storecupboard tortilla/wrap ‘pizza’

Well, I only like very thin and crispy pizza bases so using one of these wraps just really works for me - I love it!

Plus it’s so simple and fast too.

Aha … but it’s fast if you already have some of this delicious tomato sauce in the fridge (and personally, I’m thinking I now need a batch in the fridge at all times) or you have a tomato pizza sauce that you like ready to use.

So, assuming you have your chosen tomato sauce ready to go, let’s go ….

For each wrap pizza, you’ll need:

tortilla / wraps (mine has got quinoa and chia and is so delish)

a good tomato sauce, whether homemade or store-bought

a big handful of grated mozzarella cheese (or cheddar, or a combination of both)

whatever other toppings you want! You might choose tuna, or mushrooms, or sweetcorn, or anything really. I had capers and some dried chilli flakes

And then I just took the grill off the grilling pan and put the pan in a hot oven for a couple of minutes to heat up.

Using oven gloves (ok, a tea towel) then took the pan out of the oven and put it over the hob and laid the tortilla wrap on it.

I spread the tomato sauce all over it and sprinkled over the cheese, then added the capers and some dried red chilli flakes.

Put back into the oven, now reduced to a medium heat, for ten minutes.

Then I put it under the grill for literally a minute or two more and that was that.

Crispy, cheesy, amazing tomato sauce. So simple, so delicious, so kind of just …. GOOD.

And we all need some just good right now.

I hope you like this one too.

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Savoury mince + oats

Oats are so , so good for us.

But I’d never liked them because of porridge being all gluey and / or sweet … so I didn’t eat them.

Until I experimented a few weeks’ ago with savoury oats and I’m now pretty addicted!

First I made a kind of Thai-inspired vegetable congee-type-thing - delicious - and then a South Indian-inspired kinda curried oats thing - also delicious, and now they’re my current favourite weekend brunch dish.

And today I had a piece of beef mince that needed using up, about 100g, so I thought I’d add it to a savoury mince - and it was ALSO delicious.

I mean it’s not going to win presentation awards but it’s a quick and easy, really somehow comforting dish for when you just want to curl up indoors and stay tucked away from EVERYTHING!

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This is definitely not a strict recipe, more an idea to use as a starting point to experiment with. Leave out anything you don’t like, add anything you like and think will work.

I started with a non-stick pan, a few sprays of oil, some garlic and chilli and then after a few seconds added the mince and cooked, stirring, to brown - add a splash of water if needed to stop it sticking.

Add some chopped vegetables of your choice.

Crumble in a piece (perhaps 1/4 - 1/3) a stock cube (I use chicken Knorr) and add a little water and then stir and cook for a few minutes until softened - I put a lid on to keep all the nutrients in when it steams although I have a say a saucepan might have been a better option.

Add some more water, a dash of light soy sauce, one of fish sauce, a tiny pinch of sugar and a couple of dessert-spoonfuls of oats and cook, stirring all the time, at a simmer until the oats are cooked and it’s all a lovely kind of savoury spicy porridge!

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

South Indian inspired breakfast savoury oats

I’ve been playing with making savoury oats recently.

I’ve never really been a big fan of oats/porridge - but I’m currently studying anti-ageing beauty nutrition and have learned what a real superfood oats are for beautiful skin.

When I learned how incredibly good they are, well, that was it, I had to see what I could experiment with and what I could do with them.

And so far, I’ve come up with two dishes that I think are delicious - a kind of Thai congee and this South Indian-inspired savoury breakfast. These are both really satisfying and filling as well as being so good for us.

What you’ll need to make enough for one person:

1 teaspoon coconut or olive oil

1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 small piece of ginger, peeled and grated - perhaps a teaspoon

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1/2-1 green chilli, chopped very finely (use enough for your own taste)

250 ml stock (boiling water and a small piece, perhaps 1/3, of a Knorr vegetable or chicken stock cube)

a mixture of vegetables, sliced or chopped into small pieces - carrot, peppers, mushroom, broccoli florets, spring onions … whatever you have and like

a tablespoon or two of cooked green lentils - entirely optional but I had some one day so decided to include them

oats (I use two scoops of this coffee scoop which says 7g on it) plus 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

chopped fresh coriander leaves to serve, if liked

Prepare everything so it’s ready to go as this cooks beautifully fast.

Add the oil to a saucepan and when it’s warmed add the mustard and cumin seeds and stir, cooking for maybe 20-30 seconds until it all starts to sizzle. Then add the ginger, garlic and chilli, stir and add a splash of the stock to keep it all moving and make sure it doesn’t stick.

After another 30 seconds tip in the rest of the stock, the vegetables and the lentils if using and bring to the boil.

Simmer with a lid on - or mostly on - to retain the water and steam - for three-four minutes (I did four minutes because I had broccoli which takes longer to cook, but without broccoli I’d have given it three minutes).

Add the oats and turmeric and simmer on a low heat for four minutes, stirring regularly - and of course add another splash of water if it needs it.

And that’s it!

Top with some chopped fresh coriander if liked.

I found this such a gentle yet satisfying dish, I really hope you like it too.

A spoonful of mango chutney on top would have been delicious - but I devoured it before I thought of it!

Next time …

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Chilli, ginger, lime, coconut sauce with salmon

This recipe just keeps evolving … I love it when this happens and one flavour inspires another or you think of a different way to cook it.

It started with a quick and easy beef rendang-style curry (so, so good).

And then one day that’s what I WANTED to eat but didn’t have beef (or lemongrass) so it became this chilli, lime and coconut chicken dish (also good!).

So next I thought I try making a version as a sauce and have it with a piece of fried salmon, and yep, this worked too.

I’d like to try it again but couldn’t resist sharing straight away although I often refine recipes a little bit on making them again (and again) so will come back and add to this if I have anything to update.

Also these pictures aren’t the best so I’ll change them for better ones when I next make it!

This is really simple too - it looks a lot of ingredients but

Make the sauce first …

Here’s what you’ll need to make enough for two (or one with leftover sauce, as I did:

a small piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1/2 a teaspoon turmeric powder (when I first made this, I didn't have any, so just leave it out if you don't either)

a couple of lime leaves, torn from the stalks and chopped into very small pieces (if you don't have lime leaves try the zest of a lime)

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1-2 red birds eye chillies (depending on your taste - I like it spicy!), finely sliced

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 whole cloves, or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

cooking oil

1/2 tin coconut milk (or like me, find a cute mini-tin!)

1 stick of cinnamon, or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 - 1 juicy lime (to your taste - I like lots of lime)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

green vegetable as liked - I had green beans and some asparagus tips

salmon fillet/s

Thai basil or coriander (if liked) to garnish, and extra chilli slices if you want!

Put the ginger, turmeric, lime leaves, garlic, chillies, coriander, cumin and cloves into a mortar, add a splash of water and use a pestle or rolling pin to pound into a beautiful paste.

Add a little oil to a pan and when hot tip in the spice mixture so it sizzles. Stir and add a splash of water if needed to stop it sticking.

After a few seconds, when it’s smelling amazing, add the coconut milk then add the cinnamon, lime juice, sugar and salt.

Bring to the boil and then throw in the vegetables and cooked until done to your liking - I think I cooked them for three minutes.

Remove from heat while you cook the salmon. I had a pretty huge fillet and cooked it for four minutes on each side.

Serve with rice or noodles if you want of course, or have it on its own …

Top the salmon with the sauce and garnish with Thai basil or coriander and extra slices of chilli if wanted.

Next time I think I’ll cook the green vegetables separately and make it all look a bit prettier - but it tasted good!

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Omurice (Japanese chicken fried rice omelette)

I've been captivated by Midnight Diner - Tokyo Stories on Netflix and, whilst it's not really about food per se, I do now have a total longing to visit Tokyo and also a few dishes I want to try and make.

Aside ... DO WATCH!

It's wonderful. Plus each episode around 20 minutes so perfect for my gnat-like attention span.

The first ... is omurice, or Japanese fried rice omelette. 

Now this sounds like something I'll love!

I ADORE a kao pad gai, Thai chicken fried rice, in which the egg is mixed in with the rice and chicken and then served with a little fish sauce chilli dip.

So these flavours are already my favourites and it looked like a simple little twist on my staple.

It looked so simple too!

A Western-style omelette filled with Asian-style chicken fried rice, neatly parcelled and decorated with a few stripes of ketchup.

Like THIS >>>>>> , this is what I'm aiming for.

I don't really like ketchup, so I was going to substitute that ... and I like spicy, so decided to add a finely chopped chilli to my chicken fried rice.

But Try Number 1 wasn't a great success.

I cooked far too much of the chicken fried rice, adding in peppers and vegetables and well, it was just too much.

I also tried to slide my somewhat anaemic-looking omelette onto a plate, add the (too much) filling then fold. 

OK that didn't work too well. Also I didn't have ketchup or Sri Racha sauce which I thought would work well ... so used my - also-anaemic-looking (but delicious) - hot sweet chilli sauce.

Well, it tasted ok .... but it didn't look great.

Try Number 2.

Got it!

You use less filling and add it directly to the omelette itself, then fold over in the pan.

AND I had Sri Racha sauce by then too!

Er ... it still broke, didn't look right, but this one tasted really good.

Omurice Try Number 1

Omurice Try Number 2

I tried again.

Here we go, Try Number 3.

Same as number 2 really, just knowing what I'm doing a little more this time.

And it showed - so practice does make perfect!

Easy fried rice mixture: onion, garlic and chilli in the pan with a little oil and then added diced chicken breast.

Stir fry to cook for a few minutes, adding a splash of water if needed. 

Crumble in a little piece of a Knorr chicken stock cube, a splash more water, a dash of light soy sauce and another of fish sauce, a little pinch of sugar, and stir fry for another couple of minutes until the chicken is cooked. 

Add more water if needed - you don't want a juice/sauce but you don't want it dry or burnt either of course!

Throw in a chopped spring onion and a small handful of chopped coriander leaves if liked (OK, confession - I thought I'd bought coriander but it was parsley! I used it anyway).

Put the chicken fried rice mixture into a bowl and cover to keep warm while you make the omelette.

2 eggs in a bowl, with some little chunks of butter, a splash of milk (I use almond milk) and a dash of white pepper, and beat together.

Non-stick frying pan on with a little oil or spray oil then cook your omelette on one side, tilting and moving ... then add the fried rice mixture to one side and fold the other side of the omelette over.

Allow to cook for a few seconds more and then slide off onto a plate.

Add the finishing stripes of ketchup or Sri Racha sauce, as liked.

I'm pretty happy with this one!

And then I had an idea and went in for Try Number 4 ... 

Fried rice. DONE.

Plated out using a little plastic bowl to make into that nice heaped shape.

And yes! 

THEN I just covered it in a quilt of beautiful soft omelette and added some decorative Sri Racha sauce.

Now this was also really good, but to me ... just a tad less pretty than Number 3, done in the pan (and also no easier either ha!).

But whatever it looks like and however you make it, decorated with traditional ketchup or with Sri Racha sauce ...

I don't think you can go wrong taste-wise with ANY chicken fried rice and egg combo!

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Stir fry seafood with chillies // pad talay

Often I have an idea in my head of what I want to make, create, cook.

Sometimes it works first time, sometimes it doesn't.

Today it did with this easy and delicious stir-fried seafood with chillies.

Make the rice first to have with it and then leave to steam with a lid on the pan or sieve hooked over a pan. 

This is for one but to make for two you'll just need more seafood really and adjust the seasonings to taste, don't just double without checking what it tastes like.

So for my exactly-as-I'd-wanted-it brunch stir-fry, I had:

2 small cloves of garlic, finely chopped

approx 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 green chilli, finely chopped

approx 1/3 a small-ish white onion, thinly sliced

a few long / fine green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch lengths

about 1/3 green pepper, diced

about 1/4 Knorr chicken stock cube

mixed seafood (defrosted if frozen) - I had a few prawns, scallops (cut in half if very large) and squid rings .... de-vein the prawns and cut along the outside back (leaving top and bottom intact) so they butterfly somewhat on cooking

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

a good slosh of oyster sauce

a pinch of sugar, perhaps 1/4 teaspoon

2 spring onions, thinly sliced 

1 red chilli, diced

Getting it all together, the prep, is the only time-consuming thing, and then it's so easy to bring together.

Put a non-stick frying pan over a low heat, add 20 sprays cooking oil (or a tablespoon if you don't use spray oil) and add the garlic, ginger and green chilli.

Stir for about 30 seconds until it smells good then add the onion, green beans and green pepper.

Stir and add a slosh of water and the piece of stock cube, and stir, cooking for about a minute.

Add the prawns first, toss and stir ... then the scallops - toss and stir ... and then the squid and stir again.

Add the soy and oyster sauces plus the sugar and cook for 2 minutes or so until the seafood is cooked.

Throw in the spring onion and red chilli and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Serve with the rice ... and that's it!

Super-simple, really tasty and a great storecupboard staple if you keep frozen seafood in the freezer.

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Red curry with crispy pork belly + noodles

I love pork belly and have it often in a really spicy sour salad, or in this lovely soft noodle dish.

And today I thought I'd make a red curry with it ... I didn't actually mean to have this with noodles, but I'd somehow - outrageously somehow - run out of rice!

I didn't even know that was a THING, to not have rice just always there in the cupboard!

ANYWAY.

Cook the pork belly first (as much as you like - I had two slices per person) as that will take longest.

I drizzle my pork belly slices with a little light soy sauce and then cook until crispy and gorgeous - it usually takes longer than I think, anywhere from 40 - 60 minutes - and I turn them every 15 minutes or so. 

Once cooked, remove from heat and cut into chunks. I also remove some of the fat at this point as I just don't want it all, but that's just personal preference and entirely up to you. 

For a crispy pork belly Thai red curry for two, you'll also need:

rice or noodles, so cook the rice so it's ready to go, or prepare the noodles according to pack instructions

cooking oil (I use a spray oil)

a good dessertspoon of good red curry paste

1/2 - 1 tin coconut milk (I really do think full fat is better than 'light' versions)

whatever vegetables you choose, or happen to have! I had broccoli and asparagus - and I do like adding a few halved cherry tomatoes to this too

1 tsp sugar

a slosh of fish sauce

the juice of a lime

Thai sweet basil leaves if you can get them (don't use Mediterranean basil, it's totally different)

a few slices of red chilli to garnish, if liked

OK, so we've got our pork belly cooked and chopped, and our rice keeping warm in a pan with a lid on it, or - like me - soaked noodles ready to add at the end.

Next, just put a non-stick frying pan over a heat, add a few sprays of cooking oil, and then go in with the red curry paste.

Stir this just for a few seconds really, enough to start releasing the fragrance, and then pour in the coconut milk (how much is how thin or creamy you like the consistency - personally I go for half a tin for two).

When it comes to a simmer, throw in the vegetables and simmer for five or six minutes.

Then add the pork belly pieces and the noodles (if using), stir to combine well and add the sugar, a good slosh of fish sauce and squeeze in the lime juice.

Cook for another minute and then remove from heat, stirring in the Thai basil if you have it.

It would have looked nicer with the green basil, so I tried to pretty mine up a bit with a couple of slices of red chilli.

That didn't really work but what this lacks in prettiness it certainly makes up for in the most comforting deliciousness and combination of textures and flavours!

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Coconut milk, noodles + eggs (perfect for a cold day)

And then from what seemed like finally spring ... we were blasted back to winter overnight, and it snowed all day.

So I wanted a really warming, nourishing brunch and came up with this - I'll definitely be having it again too! 

Quantities are kind of up to you and how much you want to eat of course, but I had leftover from the night before half a tin of coconut milk and half the nest of rice noodles (ready soaked and in the fridge) so that's what I used.

Cook eggs by carefully lowering into a saucepan of boiling water (with a pinch of salt) and boil for exactly six minutes, then drain and pour lots of cold water in to stop them cooking any further.

Into a non-stick frying pan with a spray of cooking oil, I added:

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1 green chilli, diced very fine (use more or less chilli of course, to your taste)

1 piece of ginger, peeled and grated

Cook for just a few seconds, stirring all the time, until you can start to smell the delicious flavours, and then add the coconut milk and 1/2 teaspoon garam masala.

Bring slowly to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add vegetables - I had some asparagus tips and broccoli - cook for another couple of minutes and then add the rice noodles.

Add a tiny pinch of sugar, a dash of fish sauce and cook for another minute or two, stirring often, until the vegetables are done and the noodles hot all through.

Tip out into a bowl and top with the eggs and a few drops of light soy sauce.  I added a slice of red chilli too but just to make it look pretty really! 

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7 fave comfort foods to beat this big chill

ONE

THIS quick version of a beef rendang curry.

It's the spice, it's the steak, it's the comforting warmth of coconut milk ... all on simple, easy-to-digest rice.

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TWO

Sticking with that soothing coconut milk and light spices, it's THESE beautiful eggs in coconut masala.

Honestly, food that gives you a hug from the inside out. (Er, I don't actually know what that means or how it would work, but hey).

Read more HERE.

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THREE

Fried rice with chicken.

I love THIS.

Best made with day-old rice so it's really cold and dry, but you can always cook it fresh and run cold water over it, but this week it's going to be worth making extra rice for dinner so you can have this for breakfast (it was one of my go-to breakfasts when I lived in Thailand), brunch, lunch, well, any time really.

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FOUR

OK, let's not sink into the comfort food with this one, but feel we're winning at winter, with a spicy, sour, YES LET'S GO GET 'EM Tom Yum soup with prawns.

THIS one's brings a fighting energy to things!

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FIVE

Well, durrr .....  roast chicken ... there couldn't be a comfort food list without it, surely?

Make it Thai-style, gai yang, and have with a spicy sour salad.

Or try my immune-boosting version with everything you need to keep colds at bay (if not the cold itself). HERE's the recipe.

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SIX

Rice soup ...

Amazing for a warming, easy breakfast - just make the rice the night before and you'll have a warming brekkie and alternative to porridge on the table in minutes.

Protein and rice and broth ... a little spice - this will keep you nicely full and nourished until lunch, no problem.

Read more HERE.

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SEVEN

Pad keemao.

My fave flavours of chilli, peppery Thai holy basil (hard to find so just leave it out if you can't get it or use Thai sweet basil instead, but never Mediterranean basil), soft rice noodles, utter easy-midweek-dinner deliciousness. 

Reminds me of sunny days and the sound of the waves on the shore.

Get the recipe HERE.

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Homemade tortilla wraps (+ pork / guacamole filling)

I rarely eat bread so when I do it’s got to be good!

Today I needed some flat bread, wraps, tortilla-type things for something I wanted to make.

But the ones in the shop all looked kind of insipid - plus I checked the ingredients list and it had an awful lot of things listed for something so simple.

I only want to eat real food - made from things that I actually know what they are!

And since I only needed two tortillas - it was going to be a waste buying a pack and I couldn’t face buying that plastic wrapper waste either.

I think it was a moment of laziness - that I couldn’t bothered to make them.

But looking at those added ingredients, and thinking of both the food and plastic waste ... of course I can make them!

It's not like I haven't made THESE before.

To make four, you just need:

100g plain flour

a pinch of salt

60g water

Mix the ingredients in a bowl or - as I did - in the jug I used to measure the water, and knead a little to really combine.

Leave while you make whatever it is you’re making to put in them.

Divide the dough into four and roll into balls.

Put some more flour on the surface and use a rolling pin to make each ball into a tortilla shaped thing.

Non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and when hot add the tortilla - it’ll blister and cook in about a minute then turn and same again the other side.

And that’s it!

Super simple, real food, no waste ... 

Oh and my filling today? 

I diced some pork belly strips and fried (no added oil) in a non-stick pan with 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, salt and pepper, a minced clove of garlic and a splash of light soy sauce - and another of water.

I made my favourite guacamole (my friend Ruth's recipe), sliced up some lettuce, and stirred a teaspoon of chilli paste - nam prik pao - but you could use any chilli sauce - into some plain yogurt.

Heaped it all up, rolled it up, dug in ... :) 

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Noodle soup with seafood

Yummy! This was perfect yesterday for weekend brunch on a freezing, icy but sunny day.

So many good things in this one, and it IS simple, although it might look like a long list of ingredients.

Read it through to get a sense of the simplicity.

Quantities are kind of up to you and what you feel like, but for two I used this.

I made a paste with the pestle and mortar, gently pounding (CAN you 'gently' pound? Well, I can when I'm trying not to get the food on my white sweater ha!):

a piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

a clove of garlic, peeled and minced

a chopped red chilli

a couple of kaffir line leaves (stalks removed)

a stick of lemongrass (only the middle part, outer woody layers removed, minced)

1 scant tablespoon each of runny honey, light soy sauce, fish sauce, toasted sesame oil

Then 3/4 of this paste went into a pan of boiling water along with a Knorr chicken stock cube, and the other 1/4 into a bowl to marinade squid and prawns and mushrooms.

You could mix it up of course - try chicken instead, add scallops, have just all sorts of different mushrooms.

Cook the seafood on a hot griddle pan or in a non-stick frying pan - you could of course just add to the soup if you want to keep it really simple but I love this charred griddled seafood.

I added another squeeze of runny honey over the seafood in the last minute or so.

Add lots of diced vegetables to the broth along with a nest of rice noodles (thin ones or wider ones, both work!) for a couple of minutes.

Finish with a squeeze of lime and a dash more soy or fish sauce as needed - to taste.

Share the noodles into two bowls, ladle over the soup and vegetables, top with seafood, griddled mushrooms or meat.

This is one that once you've made it you can just play with, adapting to whatever you feel like and whatever you have in the fridge and cupboard.

It was perfect for a frosty morning here in London, lots of warming flavours with the chilli, garlic and ginger, and then the rousing citrus lemongrass and lime juice, alongside comforting broth and noodles.

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