I have gone a little bit Jamie, a little bit war-time rationing.
My aim is
A. To cook everything we have ... zero waste!
B. To find interesting ways to combine store cupboard staples with other ingredients.
C. To find interesting things to freeze that might come in handy for our aged Mums.
We are also trying to use local shops and farm stores and to eat local where we can.
I have also promised myself that I am to enjoy the very mindful process of cooking every day.
One of my birthday presents was subscription to the excellent New York Times food site and my first recipe comes from it, or to be more precise the inspiration for it comes from there as I have adapted it to fit what I had.
I love this kind of Thai soup/pho kind of thing .... it’s always a crowd pleaser, it’s easy to adapt to what you have and you can easily dial up or down flavours or chilli heat to suit your audience and your store cupboard. It’s also pretty healthy. I made it last night and the response was pretty good.
This is a very gentle, warming and comforting soup with the coconut milk making it very silky. The thing I absolutely love most though are the little chicken meatballs, you could obviously do this with chicken breast but the meatballs add lots of flavour and interest. Personally I don’t like the chicken to be minced too finely but obviously it will work whatever it’s consistency.
You could also fry the meatballs (in fact the NYT recipe suggests that)or if you cooked them for longer they could just cook in the broth.
As I said I have adapted this recipe to fit what I had but the original is excellent.
serves 4 -6
Ingredients
1 (4-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 jalapeño or green chilli
1kg ground chicken
1 large bunch coriander, leaves and stems finely chopped, a few whole leaves reserved for serving
3 tablespoons fish sauce
salt
2 tablespoons vegetable or coconut oil, plus more as needed
500ml chicken stock
1 tin full-fat coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
5 ounces baby spinach or other delicate leaf veg like Swiss chard (leaves separated and stalks chopped into fine slices)
1 tablespoon lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
Breadcrumbs - optional
Steamed white or brown rice, or egg noodles
Method
Step 1
Using the small holes of a box grater, or a Microplane, grate the ginger, garlic and jalapeño (or finely chop them by hand). Transfer half to a large bowl and set the rest aside. To the large bowl, add the chicken, finely chopped coriander, 2 tablespoons fish sauce and 1 teaspoon salt. Use your hands or a fork to fully combine but do not overmix ( I added a handful of breadcrumbs to give a touch of body) Use your hands or an ice cream scoop to form 2-inch meatballs (about 2 ounces each).
Step 2
Pre heat the oven to 200c
Heat a non stick oven tray for about ten minutes then cook the meatballs in the oven for about 5-8 minutes flipping half way.
Step 3
Whilst oven is heating Take a large Le creuset or saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat add the reserved ginger mixture and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, sugar and the remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and bring to a simmer. If you are using chard add the stalks now. Also add the egg noodles at this point to cook for how ever long the packet says.
Step 4
Add the meatballs and simmer until the flavors come together and the meatballs are cooked through, around 5 minutes.
Step 4
Add the spinach and or the chard and cook until wilted. Finally add the lime juice.
Divide among bowls, Serve with lime wedges.
Nb cooked rice could be used as an alternative to noodles. This should be cooked separately.
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