Category Archives: One pot wonders

February 10, 2015

Cinnamon Noodles

By lettercollumkitchenproject

This is a very surprising recipe that I learnt in Bangkok with May Kaidee. Cinnamon with noodles didn’t sound attractive to me so I was very impressed with the result
It’s just the business for a cold day and a very warming and a fast lunch

It’s a very simple recipe and it’s also quite flexible – I’ve already changed it as I didn’t have all the original ingredients – and it still tastes just as good.
Here’s my ‘Irished’ home version. The original recipe used mushroom sauce and soya bean sauce – this keeps it vegetarian – but I didn’t have either in the house so I used a mix of sweet soya, tamari and a little bit of shrimp paste to give it some body.

This is my take on the dish but feel free to play around!

1tbs coriander seeds bashed up in the mortar and pestle
3 fatty cloves garlic
1 hot red chilli
1 stem lemongrass
all roughly chopped then added to the mortar and pestle and ground to a paste.

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1 tsp ground black pepper
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
stirred into the paste

1 carrot, sliced thinly.
a little chopped cabbage
a handful of chopped mushrooms
the centre of a head of celery – the fronds bit, chopped
a handful of chopped spring onions
700mls vegetable stock

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1tbs sweet soya sauce
1tbs tamari sauce
1 tsp shrimp paste

a handful of rice stick noodles soaked in tepid water for five minutes

Heat a table spoon on oil in the wok then stir in the spice mix and cook on medium heat for a few minutes.
Stir in the vegetable stock, add the carrots, mushroom and tofu and bring to the boil.
Cook for 3-4 minutes then stir sweet soya sauce, tamari and shrimp paste. Next add the cabbage followed by the noodles. Cook for a couple of minutes more, take off the heat and stir in the chopped celery and spring onions.

Ladle into bowls and serve with crushed roasted peanuts and wedges of lime on the side.

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2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in General foodie news, gluten-free, One pot wonders, Thai, vegetarian, Vegetarian Recipes

January 20, 2015

Yuzana on a Beach

By lettercollumkitchenproject

We’ve discovered a delicious new salad. It’s known as  Yuzana- a salad from Burma,

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It’s an intriguing kind of upscale cole slaw with lots of different dimensions. Super skinny slices red and green cabbage,  julienne of carrot, Honey toasted cashew nuts, peanuts and sesame seeds. chunks of tomato, garlic and chilli, crispy fried chickpeas and  split dal and then there’s something else. It tasted quite earthy, a little fermented. I thought it might be some kind of mushroom.

We asked the lady of the house and she said she didn’t know what this ingredient was called, just that it was Burmese, so we asked her if we could have a look and she came out of the kitchen with a sachet on a plate. It was very dark, soft and  a little bit stringy and we were none the wiser until we got back to our hammocks and googled Yuzana.

Yuzana are a Burmese company that pickle tea leaves. The chilli seasoned tea leaves are pickled then buried underground where they ferment. No wonder there’s such a flavour impact. There have been some dodgy write ups about their ethics and ingredients – the dye used was banned everywhere that knew about it and it would be difficult if not impossible to get in Ireland so I was thinking ‘pickled kombu’. I think that would deliver that intense umami that a little bit of Yuzana does.

It’s definitely one to try when we get home.

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Here’s a run down of the ingredients that I noted. I’m sure it would be a delicious combo whichever way you interpret it.

Red cabbage – very finely sliced

green cabbage – very finely sliced

carrot – super skinny julienne

tomato – a few meaty chunks

green chill chopped pretty small

garlic- thinly sliced

a handful of toasted peanut, sesame seeds and cashews

deep fried legumes – chickpeas, split peas, fava beans

lime juice, olive oil and salt

about 1 tbs of the mysterious pickled tea leaves

Put on a big bowl and toss everything together.

 

 

 

 

Comments Off on Yuzana on a Beach   |  tags: , , , | posted in burmese, General foodie news, gluten-free, One pot wonders, Salads, Thai

December 8, 2014

Roots and Wine

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Sometimes we enthusiastically drink wine in the middle of the week, this can lead to a ‘hang on a minute, what the heck are we doing’ moment and the cork goes back in the bottle. The bottle then loiters on the counter until we drink it or fling it in a dinner.

Roots and wine are a excellent combination and get the left over wine off of the counter and out of temptations way. The robust flavours of carrots, parsnips and beetroots mellow nicely when cooked slowly with wine, puy lentils, bay leaves and onions. I stirred in tablespoon of pomegranate molasses at the end which gave it a bright little lift.

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Served with some mash they make an easy midweek dinner.

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The mash can be spuds alone but often it’s a blend. Last night it was pumpkin and kale.

We’re eating a lot of pumpkin and kale at the moment, having a stash of pumpkins and plenty of kale growing in the garden. I mix fifty fifty potatoes and pumpkin, mash them with a little olive oil or butter then stir in finely chopped and sautéed kale.

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This is a delicious winter dinner and I might as well mention it’s very good washed down with a glass of red wine!!

2 onions – peeled and chopped into wedges

a good glug of olive oil

3 stems of celery – diced

2-4 carrots – peeled and chopped into chunks

1-2 parsnips – peeled and chopped into wedges

4-6 beetroots -peeled and chopped into equal sized chunks

3 cloves garlic – peeled and finely chopped

2 bay leaves

150g puy lentils

about 250mls red wine – or whatever’s left in the bottle

750mls vegetable stock

1 tbs pomegranate molasses

salt and pepper

 

Heat a large saucepan the add a good glut of olive oil, enough to just cover the bottom of the pan.

Add the onions and cook on medium heat for five minutes. Stir in the celery and continue cooking

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Peel and chop the vegetables in the above order, adding to the pan as they are prepared. Season with a little salt and keep cooking and stirring on a medium heat.

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Add the bay leaves then the puy lentils, wine and vegetable stock, bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for forty minutes. Check the vegetables and puy lentils. If they are tender they’re ready to go. Stir in 1tbs of pomegranate molasses and season with a little salt and pepper.

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in General foodie news, One pot wonders, vegetarian, Vegetarian Recipes

November 27, 2014

Moujadarra – Rice and Lentils from Lebanon

By lettercollumkitchenproject


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I used to think rice and lentils were the most boring dinner and they certainly have a dodgy reputation but since eating them Lebanese style with lots of crispy fried onions I have changed my mind.

It’s the ultimate comfort food and perfect partner for so many simple things. Roast vegetables, fried egg, grilled fish…. They are also delicious one their own with just a little labneh or Greek yoghurt on the side.

Here’s a picture what’s left in the bowl half way through serving. Hunger overcame us and the picture got delayed!

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We ate them tonight with  spicy pumpkin and stir fried kale

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Here’s the recipe, it’s called Moujaddara

or Rice and Lentils with Crispy Onions.

This is enough for four hungry people

 

4 big onions, peeled and sliced

200g green lentils

200g long grain rice or basmati rice

1tsp cummin

1 tsp seven spice

150mls olive oil

Put the lentils in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil then simmer, covered, for about 15minutes – until the lentils are half cooked and most of the water has been absorbed.

Heat the oil and add the sliced onions.

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Fry on a fairly high heat until the onions become golden and begin to get crispy. Lift the onions out of the oil and leave to drain on a piece of kitchen paper.

When the lentils are half cooked add the rice, the cummin and seven spice mix, 300mls of water and half a tsp salt. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Take off the heat, give and leave to relax for five minutes.

Tip the rice and lentils onto a warmed serving dish and scatter the crispy onions on top.

Serve with labne on the side or try some pumpkin chopped into chunks and tossed with olive oil and roasted with a little cinnamon, cumin and coriander.

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Served with a drizzle of tahini sauce

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Yum!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in General foodie news, Lebanese, One pot wonders, vegetarian, Vegetarian Recipes

May 4, 2014

Pak Choi Explosion

By lettercollumkitchenproject

All the Chinese greens that we planted in the tunnel have gone crazy. There are six rows requiring immediate eating.

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One minute they were politely growing, very quickly admittedly, and the next it’s Wham Bam Eat Me Now or I’ll shoot up and flower.

It’s a lot of pak choi to eat at once. Luckily they are very fast and easy to prepare. It’s something that we ate a lot of in Malaysia, in fact we ate them at every opportunity being addicted to fresh greens. I used to have this notion that they were stir fried but I  discovered that the secret is to blanch the pak choi for thirty seconds then put it on a hot plate and pour over oyster sauce and hot garlic oil.  So simple, so yum and looks the business too.

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3-4 baby pak choi per person

2tbs oyster sauce

2tbs water

1 tsp sugar

a pinch of ground white pepper

2 cloves garlic

2tbs oil

Put a big pot of water to boil

Chop the garlic finely, heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and gently fry the garlic until it’s lightly golden. Tip out of the pan and put aside – if you leave it in the pan it will continue cooking and might  burn.

When the water is boiling drop the pak choi in, submerge with the help of a wooden spoon and cook for 30 seconds. Drain into a colander and shake off any excess water. Arrange on a warm plate. Put the oyster sauce, water, sugar and pepper into small pan and cook at full heat. As soon as it boils pour it over the the pak choi. Drizzle the garlic oil on top and eat immediately.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in General foodie news, One pot wonders, Vegetarian Recipes

April 2, 2014

Ortiga Tortilla

By lettercollumkitchenproject

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Now that the woofas have discovered that we can eat nettles we have a new culinary craze in our household. They were clearing around the fruit bushes this morning and of course what did they discover? Nettles. Lots of baby ones, which they picked and put into a large flowerpot . Todays lunch is Spanish tortilla with nettles. The Spanish woofa is in charge of  making the basic tortilla – there’s no disputing that they have the best technique- and I am in charge of the nettles which are washed and ready to sneak in with the spuds.

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The potatoes are cooked with garlic in plenty of olive oil and the onions are cooked separately, which is where I sneak in the nettles. When all the veg are cooked the olive oil is drained off and everything is mixed with beaten eggs – six or seven in this case – seasoned with salt and then the mix is slipped back into one of the frying pans. When it’s half cooked the tortilla is inverted onto a plate and flipped over,

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I have to say that we have always cooked our tortillas more but I’m beginning to realise that a ‘prized’ tortilla is slightly wet in the middle.

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If you don’t eat it too quickly it does in fact firm up and cook completely – this is from the residue heat – and it definitely tastes good this way.

We ate it with ‘blond’ coleslaw on the side. The tortilla was delicious but next time for such a fatty tortilla I think we’ll use more nettles. The flavour was there but it was subtle enough.

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2 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in General foodie news, One pot wonders, Vegetarian Recipes

March 24, 2014

Paella Friday

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Friday night was paella night, cooked by our Catalan neighbour. He makes a mean paella. It was so good, and we were so hungry that we didn’t remember to take any photos until we had eaten. We have one phone pic of a nearly empty pan and a pic of the contents of the nearly empty pan on the late diners plate.

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In fact by Friday night, rebellion had started to take grip and the detox began to fall apart. Five of the six fell by the wayside and had a glass of Rioja with the paella. The sixth neighbour was late and the bottle was empty.

It was an interesting week. We discovered that eating wheat, dairy and sugar free wasn’t too difficult but the funny thing that happened was the amount of animal protein that we suddenly consumed. On a regular week we might eat fish once and this would depend who cooks on a Friday as that’s the day the fish man is at the market  – last week we had two fish dinners and a chorizo hit. Maybe it was the lack of snacks that made us want to eat like that, who knows.

The community dinners are continuing but without such strict restrictions!

We eat so well and with so many variations that it doesn’t seem to make sense to deprive ourselves of food that we aren’t allergic to, each dinner is like a trip to a restaurant. Long live community dinners I say – it sure beats trashing our own kitchen every night!

 

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Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in Fish dishes, General foodie news, One pot wonders

February 25, 2014

Spicy Lentils

By lettercollumkitchenproject

When we arrived home from our holiday and found the place rearranged by the wild weather we were surprised to find how much had moved. The beach was re-organised as was the view with several trees missing and the tunnels in our garden were no more. We opened the garden gate and saw sad looking skeletons with plastic flapping in the wind. It was quite a comeback and the sunny memories went into shock.

I have to say that I’m now enjoying the new view and we do have lots of firewood. The tunnels will be fantastic when they are re-covered as new plastic lets in lots of light and we will also be able see out of them. We’re just waiting for a clear calm day so that we can get cracking. This means that the garden is going to be late kicking off this year but considering the dire weather it probably won’t set us back too much. I have plugged in the propagator and all going well we should have seeds germinating within a couple of weeks.

Here is an easy warming recipe for lentils

It’s a recipe we’ve been making for years and it originated in the Quaglino cook book.

I recently discovered that I don’t follow the recipe at all. I have my own madey up version. It was only when I watched Con make it for dinner one night that I realised. I thought he had some fancy pants angle on it when in fact he was following the recipe. It doesn’t seem to make much difference though as both versions are equally delicious.

Here’s my method

300g puy lentils

50g butter or 50mls oil

2-3 red onions, peeled and chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

3cm ginger, peeled and chopped

2 red chillies, chopped

1 tsp turmeric

4 cardamoms

2 star anise

3-4 tomatoes, chopped

600mls vegetable stock

1-2 tbs fish sauce

100mls cream

a handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Heat a saucepan, add the oil or butter and the onions. Cook on a medium heat stirring from time to time until the onions begin to melt down a little.

Add the chillies, garlic and ginger and cook for a couple of minutes then stir in the cardamoms, star anise and turmeric.

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Chop the tomatoes and add to the pan. Keep cooking until the tomatoes begin to break down then add the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil and then cover with a lid and simmer for about forty minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Season with the fish sauce and then stir in the cream .

Our current favourite for eating this dish is the Toonsbridge Haulomi cheese, which we grill and pile on top.

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To do this simply cut the haulomi into slices, season with black pepper and a few drops of olive oil and put on a grill pan or under the grill. Be stingy with the olive oil, you don’t need much.

Leave a comment | posted in General foodie news, One pot wonders, Vegetarian Recipes