Month: March 2016

Carrot and Ginger Soup

Soups don’t have to be complicated and time consuming.  In the real-world of family food stock cubes are acceptable and a soup can be cooked in about 30 minutes. And most of that time it can be left unattended, leaving you free to get on with other tasks.

With lunch looming the fridge was virtually empty except for some carrots, an onion and a tired piece of ginger, all you need for Carrot and Ginger soup.

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Ingredients

1 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped [optional]
5 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
6cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 vegetable stock-cube

Method

  1. Boil the kettle.
  2. Heat some oil in a saucepan and gently sauté the onion, garlic and ginger.
  3. While this is softening, peel and cut up the carrots and add to the pan, along with the stock-cube.
  4. Cover with boiling water and simmer until the carrots are very soft, probably about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your chunks.
  5. Blitz with a hand blender to a smooth soup and add salt and pepper to taste.

Take it further

  1. Start off with frying some bacon.
  2. No fresh ginger? Use a tablespoon of ground ginger instead.
  3. Take more care preparing the carrots and onion. Chop into small dice and serve the soup without blending.
  4. Make your own vegetable stock and use this.

Malaysian Chicken Curry

If you visit Asia for any length of time I am sure you will come across the ubiquitous Chicken Curry. Never too much chilli and always soothing; an Asian comfort food.

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This is my first attempt at replicating this dish so I started on-line and researched a recipe. Can’t remember where this was from, so I apologise if this is yours.

The result was OK, but not like the dishes you get in the restaurants in Asia. Repeating this recipe I would use stock instead of water, add more salt, but still I do not think this would replicate the dish.

The quest continues!

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 oz (25 g) curry powder for meat
1 1/2 lbs chicken, chopped into pieces
3 cups water
1 big tomato, cut into wedges, optional
2 small potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
4 hard-boiled egs, optional
1/2 cup coconut milk (or 3/4 cup milk)
Salt to taste

METHOD:
Add the oil to a big pot and heat it up until hot. Add the onions and stir-fry until aromatic before adding the curry powder. Do a few quick stirs until you smell the aroma, then add the chicken, stir to combine well, for about 1 minute. Add the water into the pot and bring it to boil. Lower the heat and add the tomatoes, potatoes and eggs. Cover the pot and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes, or until chicken becomes tender. Add the coconut milk and salt to taste and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.