Sick Day: Tom Kha Soup

You know those days when you can just feel a cold coming on? When you're not technically sick yet, with just the early warnings of a sore throat or cough? I had one of those days this week and was all set to spend the rest of the week feeling sorry for myself while bemoaning my sickly existence and the unfairness of life. However, then something magical happened: I remembered how delicious and easy this soup is! With its vibrant mix of salty, sweet, and spicy flavors, this soup is my go to for stopping a cold in its tracks. I'll definitely be keeping it in mind as we head into the wet and miserable days of winter here in London... 

Strangely, the only times I've ever had tom kha soup in a restaurant were when I was living in Chennai, India. One of the nicer hotels has a little restaurant which offers a thai/vietnamese buffet where you can create your own version of different soup options. They have several soup bases available (such as tom ka or tom yum) and then a variety of toppings and add-ons, such as mushrooms, chicken, tofu, etc. Suffice to say, I was hooked. Since coming home, I've expiramented with trying to make it myself at home and this seems to be the easiest method. I love how customizable this dish can be since it's entirely up to you how spicy you make it or even what ingredients to include. I went with portobello mushrooms since that's what I had on hand but you could also add in some chicken or noodles if you're in the mood for a spicy twist on that old standby: chicken noodle soup. One thing to note: the coconut milk will continue to thicken the soup as it cooks so you may need to add a bit of water at the end to loosen it up before serving but that is entirely up to your personal preference.

Prep Time: 3 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

900ml chicken stock (or water with chicken bouillon)
1 can coconut milk
1-2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into rounds
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 pieces of fresh lemongrass, smashed and chopped into large pieces
2-3 red chilies
Fish sauce (to taste)
Zest of a lime
2 portobello mushrooms, chopped (or a handful of smaller mushrooms)
Juice of 1-2 limes (to taste)
Fresh coriander

Method:

Bring the chicken stock and coconut milk to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add in the ginger, garlic, half of the sliced red onion, lemongrass and chilies.

Lower to a simmer and leave to heat through for tenminutes, or until the soup has your preferred level of flavor. Add fish sauce to taste and the lime zest.

Strain the soup through a sieve and return to the pot. Make sure to press the ingredients into the sieve to make sure as much flavor is incorporated into the soup. Bring the strained soup back to a simmer and add the mushrooms and the remaining onion slices. Continue to cook until the mushrooms and onion slices are tender.

To serve, add the fresh coriander and lime juice to taste. Enjoy! 

Cookbook Challenge: Penne with Sausage Ragu

Oh Jamie, have you ever steered me wrong? I don't think I've found a recipe yet that I didn't immediately love. For example, your roast chicken is so simple and delicious that it's become a firm favorite for lazy Sunday dinners. Despite this fervent appreciation of your work, I have to admit that I have rarely opened this book since its purchase - even though I watched most of the television episodes that this book is based on. Baffling, I know. 

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast

By Jamie Oliver

Michael Joseph Publishing, 2010. 

This recipe (originally named Pregnant Jools's Pasta after his wife) has all the hallmarks of an excellent Jamie Oliver option - simple ingredients, quick prep and cook time, and a very satisfying result with minimal effort. This particular book tends to offer up entire meals (i.e. side dishes and desserts alongside a main course) but we only made the pasta dish in an effort to keep things on the lighter side. Or as light as they can be where pasta is involved! I followed the recipe and used penne but this could easily be made with whatever small pasta you had on hand like farfalle, rigatoni or fusilli. Jamie's recipe includes 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds but I've left them out since I didn't have them on hand. I also completely forgot to add the chilies so I sprinkled in some dried red chili flakes and was very pleased with the result (thank goodness!). 

The taste of the final dish will obviously revolve around the type of sausage you choose. Any favorites will work nicely although it is important to keep in mind that the addition of the balsamic vinegar will have a big impact on the final taste. Therefore, I chose a simple pork and herb sausage this time although I think pork and leek or even caramelized onion sausages would also be tasty. I'm a huge fan of balsamic vinegar (seriously, ask my friends. I'd probably drink it if it were socially acceptable...) so I loved the way it really comes through in the final dish. However, if you are less keen on it, I'd go ahead and add only half the suggested amount. I think this recipe is a great option for a midweek meal as the sausages basically do all the work as far as bringing in the seasonings. A big part of Jamie's 30 Minute Meals is the use of a food processor. However, since I wasn't rushing, I thought I'd skip that part and it still only takes a few minutes to get everything prepped. I removed my sausages from their casings and definitely recommend it so that they can break up nicely in the pan. 

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients: 

Olive oil
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
1-2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped (or 1-2 tsp dried chili flakes)
6 good quality sausages, casings removed
1 tsp dried oregano
500g dried penne
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 can of chopped tomatoes (400g)
Salt and Pepper
A handful of fresh basil
Grated parmesan

Method: 

Put a large pot of water on to boil while you chop the other ingredients so that it's ready for the penne.

In a large pan over a medium heat, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the spring onions, carrot and celery. Sauté until the vegetables have started to soften. Add in the sausages and use a wooden spoon to break them up as they cook. When the sausages have browned and are nicely broken up into smaller pieces (they should resemble the beef mince in a traditional bolognese), add the oregano and garlic and continue to sauté until the garlic is fragrant.

When the water has boiled, add a liberal amount of salt and the penne. Meanwhile, add the balsamic vinegar and chopped tomatoes to the sausage mix and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions and then drain and return to the pot. Make sure to reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid so that you can loosen the sauce if needed.

Add the sausage ragu to the pasta pot and stir to incorporate everything. Add some of the cooking water if needed. Serve with chopped basil and grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Cookbook Challenge: Mustard and Parsley Crusted Salmon

I was very excited to try today's Cookbook Challenge recipe because it comes from one of my favorite television chefs. I actually have two of Lorraine Pascale's books but, until today, I had focused primarily on her party foods. Since those have always been a hit in the past, I had high hopes for this salmon recipe. 

Home Cooking Made Easy

By Lorraine Pascale

Harper Collins, 2011

As I mentioned in my coconut prawn curry post, I have been trying to increase my familiarity with seafood dishes so this recipe seemed like a relatively simple way to continue that trend. While I haven't been the biggest salmon fan in the past, I think the cooked version is starting to grow on me. This recipe certainly helped to improve my opinion since it was so easy and tasty! 

This recipe essentially has two parts: making the topping and then cooking the fish. Both of these stages take only a few minutes though so this could easily be used as a weeknight dinner. I hit a slight snag since I forgot to take the butter out of the fridge in advance so struggled a bit to incorporate it into the other ingredients. However, properly softened butter would probably have meant an even quicker prep time. 

The only strange part was that the recipe did not seem to include a baking temperature. I set my oven to 200 degrees celsius since that's my most commonly used temperature and everything turned out fine so I've included it in the recipe below. 

I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with the final result! In the past when I've tried to cook salmon, I definitely overdid it and ended up with fairly unappetizing results. However, I think ten minutes was the prefect length of time in the oven for my little fillets. The brown sugar was fairly subtle but definitely added a nice element of sweetness to balance out the Dijon mustard. When serving, I used the zested limes as added garnish and thought the lime juice also added a nice dash of flavor. Although I used salmon, you could also use trout or whatever type of fish you prefer. 

I served the salmon with a simple tomato salad and some broccoli and onion that I had sautéed in sesame oil. As a result, the final dish felt like a very healthy and light summer dinner! Finally, this recipe was originally for four people so I have cut the quantities in half below since I only had two salmon fillets. 

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Serves: 2

Ingredient: 

50g dried breadcrumbs
1 tbsp soft light brown sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
knob of butter
Zest of 2 limes
1 bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 Salmon fillets
Salt and Pepper

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 200C.

In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, light brown sugar, Dijon mustard, butter, lime zest and parsley. The mixture should form a paste.

Spread evenly onto the tops of the salmon fillets and then place them onto a baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes or until your fish is cooked to your liking. Enjoy!