Month: Mar 2021

Tom kha kai soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Thai chicken and coconut soup. Surely as good for fixing coughs and sneezes as traditional Jewish chicken soup. Pale and soothing in appearance, extremely comforting, but also aromatic and exciting to eat – the perfect balance of salt, sweet, sour and spicy.

  • 125g chicken breast, sliced into strips around 5mm thick
  • 100g cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
  • 50g little button mushrooms, halved (optional)
  • 1 stalk of lemongrass, bashed with the back of a knife then cut into 3
  • 3 cm piece of fresh ginger, cut into 6 pieces
  • 4 lime leaves, torn in half (can substitute 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 red birdseye chilli, cut in half
  • 1 tin coconut milk
  • 250ml water
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • ¼ tsp sugar
  • Fresh coriander
  1. Put the coconut milk and water in a large saucepan on a medium heat for a couple of minutes but don’t let it boil. If it shows signs of boiling, just turn it down
  2. Add the lemongrass, ginger, lime leaves, chilli, mushrooms and tomatoes, stir in and cook for another 2 mins
  3. Add the chicken strips and cook on medium heat for 5 mins until they’re cooked through. Again, turn it down if it looks as though it might boil.
  4. Add the lemon juice, fish sauce and sugar and cook for another minute. Taste for seasoning.
  5. Totally optionally, this is the stage when you would pick out the lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger and chilli
  6. Serve straight away with fresh coriander leaves sprinkled over the top

Enid’s bublanina

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A family heirloom recipe for traditional apricot or plum kuchen (cake). I remember tasting this as a child, sitting on the scratchy horsehair sofa in my Granny’s living room and thinking it was the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten. The tart fruit contrasts beautifully with the sweet, light, lemon-scented sponge.

  • 170g unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 170g flour
  • 3 eggs
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • A little milk (if needed)
  • Apricots or plums, pitted and cut in half
  • Granulated sugar to sprinkle on top
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C). Grease and flour a 9″ square cake tin (although there’s no reason this cake can’t be round, for some reason it was always square in my Granny’s house)
  2. Separate the eggs
  3. Beat the yolks and sugar until pale yellow and thick
  4. Add butter and lemon zest and beat again
  5. Add flour and lemon juice a spoonful at a time, alternately between them (using a little milk if the consistency is too thick – it should be thick, dropping off only spoon reluctantly
  6. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks
  7. Fold the egg whites into the batter
  8. Spoon into the cake tin and place halved fruit, cut side upwards on top of batter
  9. Sprinkle with a little granulated sugar and bake for about 35 mins
  10. Cool thoroughly before cutting into squares to serve

Roast red pepper soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Delightful soup, the vibrant colour of a postbox

  • 4 red peppers, halved and de-seeded
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 1 potato, diced
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • Large pinch dried thyme
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Dash of balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Pre-heat the grill to high and place the peppers skin side up on to a baking sheet. Char under the grill until the skin is blackened
  2. Remove from the heat and place in a bowl with a plate on top to steam for 10 mins, then remove and discard the skin and slice the flesh
  3. In the meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and garlic for 4-5 mins until softened
  4. Add the potato and fry for a further minute
  5. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, red peppers, sugar, vinegar, paprika, thyme and veg stock
  6. Season, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 12-15 mins until the potatoes are tender
  7. Use a wand blender to whizz until smooth. Serve with crumbled feta or a spoonful of Greek yoghurt on top

Chicken stock in the slow cooker

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

I always try to make stock after we have a roast chicken, and the slow cooker is the simplest way to do it. It’s so satisfying to make something delicious and useful (and easy!) from a thing that would otherwise be thrown away.

  • Chicken carcass, broken into a few pieces
  • 1 onion, cut into quarters (could be the onion from inside the chicken if you did that with your roast)
  • 1 carrot, cut into 4 pieces (don’t worry about peeling it)
  • 1 stick celery, cut into 4
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 6 or so black peppercorns
  • Other bits if you have them in the fridge – parsley stalks, leek tops, spring onion trimmings
  1. Stick everything into the slow cooker, cover with boiling water and set on low for 6 hours (although longer is fine if you’re out all day). Go and do something else.
  2. Sieve the now pale golden stock, ideally through muslin to catch the tiny bits

That’s it. 2 steps and you’re done. Use it in soup, risotto, orzotto, casserole, freeze it for later, whatever.

You can adjust the flavourings of the stock however you like. Instead of parsley and bay leaves, add any combination that goes with what you plan to cook – fresh herbs, garlic, fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick, star anise, chilli flakes.