Soy chicken thighs and egg fried rice

Soy chicken and egg fried rice

Another recipe based on one from Nigel Slater, again from his book Eat.

I've yet to find the recipe online but when I do I'll include a link. In the meantime, here is my version.

Soy chicken thigh ingredients

• About 150ml oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried chillies
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 4 chicken thighs

 

How to make soy chicken thighs

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees C
2. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken together in a shallow, ovenproof dish.
3. Add the chicken thighs and toss to coat.
4. Put in the oven for about 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes or so. 

In the meantime, make the egg fried rice.
You need to use rice that has already been cooked and then cooled for egg fried rice, otherwise it will be soggy. I normally make double the quantity of rice for dinner the day before, then immediately cool the rice I don't use by running under a cold tap and leaving to drain, before storing in a tupperware container in the fridge till the next day.

As a rule, measure out dry rice by volume, not weight - about 75g per person will give you a greedy person's amount. 

Egg fried rice ingredients (enough for 2)

• 2 portions long-grain or Basmati rice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten in a jug.
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 rashers smoked back bacon, or 3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, cut into small pieces
• A large handful frozen peas
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• Soy sauce, to colour and taste

How to make egg fried rice

1. Heat some groundnut or other flavourless oil in a wok.
2. When it is very hot, add the chopped onion and cook till it starts to brown.
3. Add the chopped bacon and cook, tossing it around the wok.
4. Add the cooked rice and toss to coat with the oil and mix with the onion and bacon.
5. Once the rice has heated through, add the eggs to the pan with the spring onions.
6. Leave unstirred for about 10 seconds, then stir the eggs around with the other ingredients in the wok to coat.
7. Once the egg has cooked, remove from the heat.
8. Add a splash of soy sauce and stir again, so that all the rice turns brown.*

*For this recipe I didn't add any soy sauce as there was plenty of cooking sauce from the chicken which I used insterad.

Pasta with mushrooms

This was a really tasty pasta dish. Since I'd already made the mushroom ragu it was ready in the time it took the pasta to cook (just under 10 minutes). 

Pasta with mushrooms and walnuts

Pasta with mushrooms ingredients

• 2 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
• 1 portion leftover mushroom ragu (which contains Stilton)
• A v small handful walnuts
• Sploosh red wine
• a slice feta, crumbled
• About 50ml cream, or as much as you have left over from something else
• 4 cherry tomatoes
• 50 ml milk if needed
• Enough pasta for 2 people (I used conchiglie)

How to make pasta with mushrooms

1. Boil the kettle then fill a large pan with boiling water.
2. Add a large pinch of salt to the water, then add the pasta. 
3. Heat a large frying pan on a high heat
4. Add the chopped streaky bacon and fry until the fat begins to render and the bacon is crisp.
5. Add the walnuts and fry for about a minute.
6. Add the red wine and cook till most of the liquid has evaporated.
7. Reduce the heat and add the mushroom ragu and tomatoes.
8. Cook till the ragu has warmed through, the tomatoes have burst and the pasta is ready.
9. Drain the pasta, reserving a small amount of the water, and blanch with freshly boiled water. 
10. Add the cream and the reserved cooking water to the sauce. If it is still a little too tick, add the milk.
11. Tip the pasta back into the pan and pour in the sauce.
12. Add the crumbled feta and toss to coat the pasta with the sauce.
13. Serve in warm bowls.

Salami and vegetable pasta with feta

Another really quick and easy pasta dish that can be ready in the time it takes your pasta to cook (unless you use fresh pasta which cooks in 2 minutes).  

Pasta with salami, vegetables and pasta ingredients

• 1 medium or 2 large fresh plum tomatoes, chopped into 8th or quarters
• 1 large handful frozen grilled mixed veg (from Waitrose, others may exist, I haven't found them if they do)
• 1 large slice from a pack of feta (or half fat feta), crumbled
• 1-2 tablespoons homemade pesto
• 4 or 5  salami (I used a few slices of mixed salami from Aldi - some were actually a bit spicy)
• Enough spaghetti for 2 people 

How to make salami and vegetable pasta with feta

1. Put the pasta in a pan of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes under the cooking time stated on the packet.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a frying pan to a high heat then add the frozen vegetables.
3. Cut the salami into strips. 
4. Cook the vegetables for a a few minutes till cooked through then turn off the heat.
5. Add the tomatoes and salami to the vegetables and stir through. 
6. Drain the pasta then tip it back into the pan and stir through the pesto.
7. Add the vegetables and feta to the pasta and stir through.

Smoked mackerel and potato cakes

Smoked mackerel with potato cakes

Not for lunch, but a lovely supper that uses up any leftover mashed potatoes you might have. (Being from the North, I hate waste.)

I used the following quantities for 2 people, and ate far too much - I could have happily done with half the amount. Admittedly I served this with a corn on the cob, which was wholly unnecessary. The potato cakes need a lot of oil too, so this is more of a mid-week indulgence than a healthy supper. I don't think you should add any flour to potato cakes - this may help keep them in one piece but their taste will be spoiled.

Ingredients for the potato cakes

• Approx 250g cooked mashed potato
• About 30g goat's cheese
• About 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

To serve with potato cakes

• 1 pack smoked mackerel fillets (ie 4 fillets)
• 4 cornichon (small gherkins), chopped
• 10 baby plum tomatoes

 

Optional vegetables to serve with potato cakes if you're greedy (like me)

• Greens
• Corn on the cob

Method for making potato cakes with smoked mackerel

1. Add enough rapeseed oil to cover the bottom of a large frying pan then heat till hot.
2. Heat the grill to medium, ie about 230 degrees C.
3. Add the finely diced goat's cheese to the mashed potato.
4. Stir in the parsley.
5. Season well with tons of salt and black pepper.
6. Shape the potato mixture into 4 equal sized balls, then flatten ball to give flatish cakes.
7. Lower each cake into the hot oil in the frying pan.
8. While the cakes are cooking, line a baking tin with tin foil, pour in a small drop of rapeseed oil and spread this all over the tin either with your fingers or a pastry brush. 
9. Add the smoked mackerel to the lined tin along with the baby tomatoes and scatter over the chopped cornichon.
10. Place under the grill for about 5 minutes till the fish is warmed through and the tomatoes are bursting. 
11. Once the underside of the potato cakes are crispy, carefully turn them over to brown the other side.
12. Boil the kettle, then fill a large pan with the boiling water, and place on hob.
13. Remove the thick vein from the centre of the greens' leaves, cut into even sized pieces and place in a bamboo steamer. 
14. Put 2 plates in the oven below the grill to warm.
15. Lower the corn cobs into the boiling water and add a little salt.
16. Boil for about 4 minutes before placing the bamboo steamer over the pan and steam the greens for another 2 minutes. 
17. Remove everything from the pans/grill and transfer to the warm plates to serve.
18. Add a small drizzle of rapeseed oil to the corn on the cob, plus plenty of salt and pepper. 

 

Potato cakes cooking