Saffron and pea risotto with tiger prawns

Lots of people are afraid of making risotto at home and are often confined to just eating it at restaurants. This is a shame, because I honestly think it's a dish better made at home. Many restaurants start the process and spread the partially cooked rice out on trays until an order for risotto is fired, before finishing the dish. Although, it doesn't make a huge difference, I personally find it detracts from the overall taste.

Risotto is often misconstrued as a very time consuming dish, which I believe is also a fallacy. Yes, you do have to keep watch at the stove and keep stirring, but the whole process takes half an hour tops, from chopping to serving. Not many meals can boast that factor! It also makes for a sophisticated dish sure to impress.

This particular dish was inspired by our trip to Mallorca this summer. I loved the way saffron was used in many of the seafood dishes, and while this is no paella, there are certainly similarities. The creaminess of the risotto with the delicate shrimp and earthy saffron is just a wonderful combination. Saffron is quite pricey, but just a few strands boast a lot of flavour and using the boiling water to bring it out stretches this even further. I like my risotto a little more on the solid side, as you can see from the picture. Traditionally, it would be just a bit more fluid. I urge you to try this sumptuous dish!

Ingredients (serves 4 as main):

• 400g Carnaroli / Arborio rice
  
• 24 Tiger Prawns, peeled and de-veined
  
• Large handful of peas
  
• 1 large shallot, finely diced
  
• 1 glass dry white wine
• glug olive oil
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan
• generous pinch saffron
• 1-2 litres fish stock
• 50g butter
• 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp snipped chives
• parmesan shavings to garnish

Bring your stock up to a very low simmer, keeping covered.

Boil about 2 ounces of water and pour over saffron. Press on the saffrom with a spoon to release colour and flavour. Set aside.

Heat a pan over a medium heat and saute the shallot in the olive oil until translucent, but not coloured. Add the rice and stir for a minute or two. Add in wine and allow to simmer until wine is just gone.

Ladle in some fish stock and allow to simmer until stock is almost gone. Repeat as necessary until rice is just al-dente, usually about 4-5 times. On the last go add in the peas and saffron.

Meanwhile heat 1/3 of the butter in a separate pan. Season the prawns and fry for about a minute on each side until just cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.

Once rice is creamy, but retains a bite, remove from heat. Stir in parmesan, butter and herbs. Allow to rest for a minute or two before serving.

Divide among four plates, and top with the prawns and parmesan shavings. Serve immediately.


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Irish Readers: I need your help!

One of the reasons I've been scarce around here of late is due to the fact that I am working on a foodie business launch. I am hoping those of you based in Ireland would help me out by taking a quick market research survey. It will only take about five minutes and will be of great help to me as I get this launched! It's completely anonymous, and everything will be kept strictly confidential. If you would like to help, please click here. Please note that this is for Irish (north or Republic) readers only. Thanks a million!

Back soon with saffron risotto! ;-)

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Guest Post: Getting Kids to Eat Healthy Foods

As promised, Jessica of Blogcrumbs is here to share a guest post on child nutrition. Jessica is a holistic nutritionist and has some wonderful information on her blog. There are some awesome ideas here and many great suggestions. Thanks Jessica for sharing! Head over Blogcrumbs to read more!

Research has shown that childhood obesity has become a pandemic in today’s society. It used to be that malnourishment came from not eating enough food, now it’s from eating too much of the wrong thing. The definition of malnutrition is not the amount of food you consume, it’s how nutrient dense the food is. A sedentary life filled with video games and computers is also a huge contributor to this problem.

Feeding our children nutritious foods isn’t always the easiest task to achieve. Of course starting out never having given them sweets or an option as to what they want to eat is always the best way. When that time has passed and they’ve been exposed to chicken nuggets and chips it’s a hard road back to health foods. Most kids give some sort of fight or just flat out refuse to eat their vegetables altogether.

Here are some ways to get them to eat foods that are healthy.

• Start off by discussing with your child exactly why they need to eat good foods. Sometimes just a definition is enough to entice your child to do the right thing. More often then not this just isn’t the case.

• Arrange the healthy foods in a fun way. When making pancakes and give it blueberry eyes, a strawberry nose, and a banana shaped mouth. Even though fruits are sweet, sometimes kids refuse them as well. You can do the same with mashed potatoes. Flatten them out and make a face or another picture with the peas and carrots. Get creative.
  

• Serve the veggies raw. The consistency of certain veggies when cooked can be off putting. Mushy carrots, rubbery green beans, and bitter broccoli may just need to be crunchy and served raw instead with a ranch or honey mustard dip.
  

• If meal time is always a controversy, counteract it by trying to get them to eat healthy throughout the day with nutrient packed snacks. Cut up an apple and serve warm peanut butter drizzled over the top or on the side as a dip. Smooth some peanut butter or goat’s cheese on a celery stick. Laugh at the crunch it makes so they think it’s a game. Rice cakes with juice sweetened jams are also a healthier snack.
  

• It’s all about the packaging. Kids are wowed by brightly colored containers, so play into that. Get some creative packaging and put healthy foods in it. For instance, YOP yogurt drinks come in a plastic bottle with a twist cap and a fancy kid friendly logo. Buy that yogurt once and then refill it with this mixture:
• Fresh plain unsweetened organic goat’s milk or cow’s milk yogurt (prefer goat’s milk)
• Fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.
• Honey

Mix all of the ingredients together and taste it. If it’s sweet and tasty they’ll love it. It’s in the right packaging. You may need to cook the fruit slightly to get it syrupy and soften the fruit. This is easily done on medium heat with the honey and a little water.

Empower yourself to become creative. Think like a kid. If the TV says blue and purple packaged food is good for them, give it to them. Find a way to make real, healthy foods fun. And don’t make it a fight for either one of you. In the end you both lose.

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Linky Love January 29th, 2008

Once again I have been a bad blogger. I have no grandiose excuses other than the fact that I seem to have lost my cooking mojo. Or at least I had until Saturday night. I don't know what happened. I would have been quite content to eat takeaway had the budget allowed for it.

Finally on Saturday Ella begged me to make cupcakes and I did and all of a sudden it was back, culminating in an incredible saffron and petit pois risotto with tiger prawns, recipe to follow. I actually had the stupidity nerve to apply for Masterchef so I figure I better get rocking in case I get the call!

I will be back to posting some yummy recipes later this week, but in the meantime thought I'd share some interesting foodie links!

• Caroline is back and blogging with a vengeance. Bibliocook is always an excellent read, check out the Black Forest Gateaux post... not a big fan of cherries, but sounds amazing nonetheless!
• Jessica is my new friend from Twitter. Her site Blogcrumbs is a wealth of information about holistic living. I really enjoyed her article about getting kids to eat their veggies, something I think all mothers worry about. She has also agreed to do a guest post here on the theme, so watch this space!
• Kieran at the ever-popular Ice Cream Ireland is wondering how much extra you would pay for an organic latte!
• Damien has released a sneak peek on Gastronom.ie of the long list for the Irish Blog Awards Best Food Blog category and my humble self is on it! It's very very tough competition, so I don't think I'll be preparing my speech any time soon!
• I recently stumbled onto SourGrapes.ie, a wonderful wine blog specialising in reviews that the average Joe can relate to. I too like to dabble in the wonderful world of fine wine, when th budget allows. I expect lots of great things from Lar and especially enjoyed his picture review!
• Grannymar has been sharing some recipes. Her microwave broccoli and almond soup sounds incredible and is definitely on my to-do list, as is her divine sounding lemon drizzle cake!
• If you live in Ireland or have a vote, you need to go sign this petition, male, female, other - no excuses. Sabrina has put together the shockingly titled, but as she says no more shocking than waiting six months for a breast scan, Two Tits and a Vote. If you do nothing else today, sign this.

That is all.

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Blog Award Fever

With the Irish blog awards almost upon us, the fever is hitting! Events are being organised left, right and centre.


I would like to draw your attention to a particular event of interest to any female readers. The incredibly talented Sabrina Dent and Ina from Semantic Bits has organised a Ladies Tea Party at 4:30 on the Saturday of the awards, March 1. It will be held at the Market Bar in Dublin. I will be there with bells and whistles on! Not sure if himself is coming yet, but if so he's just going to have to enjoy Dublin on his own for a few hours! ;-) Head on over to Sabrina for more details and to RSVP.





And now for something completely different! I am organising a foodie brunch on the Sunday after the awards. The invitation is extended to all food bloggers, food blog readers and friends! Details as follows:

What: Brunch

Where: Ely Wine Bar, Custom House Quay, Dublin 1

When: 1pm, March 2nd

Why: Why not? It will be a great opportunity to meet like minds and compare notes and maybe hit people like Val and Laura up for some photography advice! ;-)

R.S.V.P. I will need to give them a final number by February 1, so if you could RSVP by then, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure there will be a little leeway closer to the day, but the closer we can get the better!

Please extend an invitation to your readers. You can use the badge above, graciously created by Sabrina and please link back here so people can RSVP in the comments. Look forward to seeing you then!

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Asian Prawn Salad

This is a really simple recipe I came up with this week whilst doing Phase I of the South Beach Diet. I was aiming for something like Wendy's Asian Chicken Salad in taste and texture. Since finding 1kg bags of raw and de-veined large tiger prawns at Lidl for a mere €4.99, I've been enjoying the lovely seafood a lot! If you weren't dieting you might want to garnish this with some wonton chips or those cracker type of chow mein noodles and of course some mandarin oranges. You could also use honey or brown sugar as a sweetener instead of Splenda, which would add a lot. Yum! Play around with different vegetables too. I bet lightly blanched broccoli would be great in this as would bok or pak choi.

Prawn Salad for One

Ingredients:

• handful raw prawns, peeled and de-veined
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1 inch piece root ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp dark sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• juice of a lime
• pinch Chinese five spice
• 1 tsp Splenda / other sugar substitute
• Sweet red pepper, cut into rings
• Mixed Greens
• Mange Tout (Snow Peas,) sliced
• Red onion, thinly sliced / Scallions
  
• Dry Roasted Peanuts, to garnish
• Cilantro/Coriander to garnish

First prepare the prawns. Heat the olive oil over a medium heat and fry the prawns for about a minute on the first side. Add the garlic and 1/3 of the ginger and flip the prawns. Cook until done another minute or two. Season with salt and plenty of black pepper.

For the dressing whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, lime juice, remaining ginger, Splenda and five spice powder until it emulsifies.

Arrange greens and top with vegetables and prawns. Sprinkle with peanuts and drizzle the dressing on top. Garnish with cilantro.

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Thursday Thirteen: (Mostly) Foodie Link Love

Lot's of controversy below, if that's your thing, but in the meantime, thought I'd take the Thursday Thirteen opportunity to share some great links and draw your attention to some worthy sites, thirteen even!

1) First of all for those of you who were fan's of Ali's Something So Clever - she's back - bigger and better than ever and with an adorable munchkin in tow! Ali was my inspiration to start this blog. I love her unpretentious approach to food and the photography is wonderful. Her new lair is at the beautifully designed Divine Domesticity. Check it out!

2) Beccy shares a hilarious foodie joke / cartoon here!

3) Barbara is making Challah - one of my favourites, but especially depressing to look at on Day 4 of the South Beach diet. MUST HAVE CARBS!!!!! This is a wonderful egg bread and so attractive with it's lovely plait/braid.

4) Rachel made a gorgeous looking Lemon and Lime Cream Tart. Looks divine. She also shares her favourite shortcrust sweet pastry recipe. Yum! Can you tell I'm fiending for carbs?

5) Despite what she says Tartelette is very evil for sharing this amazing looking recipe for Apple and Cider Beignets. If you don't read this blog, you should. Every single post makes my mouth water. I do not have the patience and attention to detail to be a pastry chef, but I sure can drool! ;-)

6) If you too are trying to be good for the New Year, check out one of my favourites, Ruth and well known food blogger, Kalyn for some wonderful South Beach / Low Carb recipes. Ruth's "Caulifried Rice" has been on my menu twice already this week. It really is tasty!

7) Don't forget to stop by Chez Pim tomorrow to see if you won anything in this year's Menu for Hope, if you entered!

8) Laura cooked up some incredible traditional gingerbread (the loaf kind) and as usual has me licking the screen. I really really really want to make this NOW, but will try and restrain myself. *SIGH*

9) We won't discuss my senseless hatred of zucchini / courgette, but for those of you who enjoy the dreaded stuff, check out Lorraine. In her usual conversational and Italian falir, she has whipped up a simple but wonderful looking zucchini soup. If I just squint and pretend it's asparagus! ;-)

10) Barb shares a wonderful freeze and bake chocolate chip cookie recipe. Always a handy item to have on hand!

11) Mandy has been crafting up a storm. Check out her beautiful distressed creations. I'm distressed just looking at them. How about a lesson on Saturday Mandy?

12) The Irish Blog Awards are looking for judges. Click here to find out more. Annie - I'm looking at you here!

13) Kieran at Ice Cream Ireland gives some wonderful advice on measurements and conversions - advice I am much too lazy to follow! ;-)

Now go forth and drool browse!

More Thursday Thirteen posts here.

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Anthony Bourdain Sums Up the Problem with Irish Cuisine

Damien linked to a wonderful interview with one of my favourite chefs, Anthony Bourdain, in his fluffy links this morning. The full interview is here for those of you who are interested.

One particular quote stood out to me immensely:

"In the last few years, for the first time in American history, chefs are being allowed to serve their customers and get them to eat what they themselves believe to be the good stuff. We're not cooking down to them."

Although in reference to American cuisine, I think it can aptly be applied to the culinary crisis here in Ireland. Sure in Dublin, Cork and Limerick you can go out and have a wonderful fresh and unique meal, but that is not the general standard. I for one am completely sick of being "cooked down to." I am sick of the same old standards on every menu, even if it is done well. Speaking of the culinary days of yore, Bourdain says

"When we put together menus, we had to have a sirloin steak, we had to have a pasta, we had to have a salmon. By the time you filled up all the slots of things you had to have, you had very few slots left on the menu."

This is so true of Irish restaurants as well. Have you not seen that on 90% of menus in this country? Lorraine frequently mentions her frustration for not being able to stay true to Italian cuisine in La Cucina, due to customer demand. This is so unbelievably sad.

Bourdain attributes the positive changes in America's restaurants to the celebrity chef culture - something we don't really have. We have Rachel Allen - who I feel has absolutely no passion about what she cooks - and we have Richard Corrigan, another wet fish and that's about it. We have the UK chefs, but many of the things they cook with from hard-to-find vegetables to alternative cuts of meat are simply not available in Ireland.

I was pleasantly surprised to find venison in my local Dunnes Store a few weeks ago. It was brought in early December and has since met it's demise. Why? Nobody knows what to do with it! We have wonderful free range venison available to us and no one buys it. This is a tragedy. We need someone with passion on television, on the radios, on the internet to teach us to get over the cremated steak, wedges, sweet chili sauce and garlic mushrooms and show us how to make the most of what we have.

Too often newspapers and radio stations bring on people who just want to brow beat us with the evils of not buying organic or processed food, but until people know how to make the most with what they have, this is a waste of everyone's time. Apart from the above chefs the only real food type show we have is The Restaurant, which is just another way to flout "celebrities." Bring on the real people say I!

We need someone like Nigella. Someone passionate who can show Ireland that anyone can cook, despite time constraint and lack of confidence. Not a pompous food writer or chef, but a down to earth real person who is passionate about real food, fresh local ingredients and proper cooking. This is what the average person relates too.

Ireland has got to get out of this rut, we just can't keep applying liquid latex on our culinary problems. I am not delusional, I don't expect every restaurant to strive to Chapter One heights, but at least let chefs do what they are supposed to do - cook real food - using the skills they worked so hard to acquire and perfect. We are surrounded by ocean and have access to incredible fresh seafood, yet the required overcooked salmon or shriveled prawn cocktail seems to be the residing seafood on a menu. We have wonderful local beef, lamb and free- range poultry available to us and we need to make use of that in it's best form, that is stop overcooking it and serving it with store bought sauces. Our climate makes local vegetables a year round treat and with more and more organic smallholdings springing up, things are looking up. It's about time our restaurants started utilizing what's around them and we started demanding the ones that do.

Lecture over. More recipes later today! ;-)

Corned Beef and Cabbage – as Irish as Green Budweiser, Killian’s Red and Lucky Charms

As an Irish national holiday for many years, St. Patrick’s Day is now celebrated throughout the world. Celebrations usually include obligatory green garb, free-flowing Guinness and – outside of Ireland - plenty of corned beef and cabbage, which holds the dubious distinction of being the main course of choice on this day of revelry. It occupies this place of honour due to its obvious Irish roots, but exactly how far back do these roots go? Not as far as your average Bennigan’s guest would suspect!

No one disputes the popularity of cabbage. Cabbage is a cheap vegetable that was widely used when Ireland was not as economically prosperous as it is today. Yet, it is an extremely versatile vegetable, and remains popular and relevant even in the rapidly evolving cuisine of today’s “Celtic Tiger” Ireland. Traditionally cabbage is served with bacon. To the Irish, bacon refers to a boiled ham joint rather than to the smoked and fatty strips of pork belly that North Americans would commonly use in B.L.T. sandwiches. Ham as the Irish know it is very different from ham commonly consumed in America or Canada. When purchased, it is either cured - often referred to as “pale” or “green” - or smoked, but in both cases it needs to be cooked before serving.

Cabbage and Bacon is Ireland’s true national dish. So why the confusion, and how did corned beef enter the equation?

During the troubled nineteenth century it is estimated that Ireland lost more than half its population to emigration and to the devastating potato famine. Most of these emigrants travelled to the United States and ultimately New York City. Once in Manhattan, they could not find the bacon with which they were familiar, but were instead introduced to corned beef by their Jewish neighbours. At the time, corned beef was substantially cheaper than other meats, an overriding consideration in those days. Thus, instead of being related to its Jewish forefathers, corned beef and cabbage has ironically become synonymous with Irish fare.

Here in Ireland, corned beef is available but not at all popular. A different type of cured beef, called “spiced beef” is a more popular alternative, especially during the Christmas season. Craft butchers around Ireland regularly compete in competitions for the best spiced beef cure.

Traditional cabbage and bacon is a simple but hearty meal. The bacon joint is boiled in water for about 2-3 hours, until cooked through. These days, some cooks add herbs and vegetables to make a ham stock as their joint boils, but in meals of old, the ham was simply boiled in water. Other vegetables to accompany the meal are often boiled in the resulting stock. Rutabaga - referred to in Ireland as turnip - is a popular choice and potatoes of some kind - usually mashed - are a must. The turnip is boiled in the ham’s water and served with butter and nutmeg in either a mashed or cubed form. The cabbage is also boiled in the ham stock until tender, then drained and gently mashed or pressed. Many Irish cooks add a tablespoon of baking soda when boiling as this is rumoured to keep the vibrant green colour of the cabbage. It is usually topped with butter, salt and white pepper. The bacon is sliced and served either plain or with parsley sauce - a béchamel sauce flavoured with curly parsley. On special occasions such as Christmas, it can be glazed, studded with cloves and baked until glistening.

Historically, Irish food has relied on ingredients that are cheap and readily available, but ultimately wholesome. Cabbage and bacon is a prime example of this. While corned beef and cabbage is vaguely similar, it should actually be considered an American meal and an historic one at that, as it marked a transition into a new life for thousands of American immigrants. So if you visit Ireland and go out for a traditional Sunday dinner, don’t be surprised to find yourself face-to-face with a heaping plate of cabbage and bacon, mashed potatoes, carrots , turnip and plenty of parsley sauce.

*** I've been asked to write a few articles like this for a publication I can't mention at the time, but would love to get feedback. Generally when I blog it's extremely conversational, so this might seem quite formal to some of my regular readers. Will be posting some more articles about Irish food and culinary trends probably once a week. All feedback gladly accepted! Thanks!***

A Pretzel is a Beautiful Thing

I was reading Barbara's menu earlier when the word pretzel caught my eye. Synonymous with pretzels to me, are the American mall kiosks, Auntie Anne's. If you've never had an Auntie Anne's pretzel you are missing out. As I got thinking about these glorious delicacies it occurred to me to google them and see if there was a copy cat recipe out there. Um, yeah, at least 100! The following is my version. I read lots of different recipes along with the comments and reviews to try and devise the most accurate and simplistic recipe I could. The result - fantastic - not an exact copy, but pretty close and a big hit one way or another. This one is definitely a keeper! You could of course leave the salt off and dip in a cinnamon and sugar mixture after baking for a sweet version. My rolling technique leaves a bit to be desired as the lumpy picture will attest, but it didn't effect the taste! Next time I will probably use clarified butter to brush on them, but other than that I would keep everything the same. I used organic sea salt to garnish, but you could use whatever crystallised salt you have on hand. Apparently there is even "pretzel salt" in case you are an avid pretzel fan! Fleur de sel or sel gris would be wonderful too!

Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 4 tsp yeast
• 3 tbsp soft butter
• 1 heaped tsp salt
• 3/4 cup baking/bread soda
• boiling water
• sea/kosher/rock/pretzel salt
• melted butter to brush
  

Dissolve the yeast and butter in the warm water and allow to sit for a few minutes. Sift flour, sugar and salt into large bowl. When yeast mixture begins to froth slightly, add into dry ingredients. Mix together with a spoon until it comes together. Knead for about ten minutes until very smooth. This dough is very elastic, but should not be sticky.

Allow to rise in a greased bowl in a warm place until doubled in size.

Make a water bath for the pretzels by adding the baking soda to a pot of simmering water.

Once dough has risen divide into ten pieces and roll the first piece out. You want to start rolling in the middle and stretch it with your palms as you go. You will roll and stretch until you have a fairly uniform piece about 3 feet long. Loop into a pretzel shape and pinch to connect. Add to water bath. Allow to boil until it floats. Meanwhile roll second piece of dough.

Once floating, remove pretzel from pot and place on greased baking tray. Remove any excess water with a paper towel. Repeat with remaining pretzels.

Sprinkle with salt and bake in the highest temperature of your oven for 5-10 minutes until golden brown.

Brush with butter and serve immediately!

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2008 will be soup-er!

I can't believe it's 2008! Where are the robots and hover-crafts we were promised back in the nineties? I always get a little down in the New Year. Not sure why, but it seems it's yet another time to reflect that I am not where I want to be, physically, geographically or emotionally! This year I am trying to focus on the good things ahead. My sweet Ella will start school in September and that is going to be a huge adjustment here, so one of big goals is to appreciate all the time I have with her until then. This includes lots of cooking - she's my biggest helper! The girls are really on a big soup kick right now and love to help make and eat it. I love making vegetable soups and find it's a great way to highlight the natural sweetness of root vegetables and fill the kids up with nothing but goodness! Here are two simple recipes that I have been making a lot of lately.

The Thai inspired soup is super easy and full of goodies. You can adjust the amount of curry paste to your desired level of heat. I keep it light for the girls and then add a bit extra to my bowl. Also - how have I lived this long without mange tout (snow peas)? Seriously - is there anything bad about them? You can eat them raw, blanch them, even cruelly overcook them and they are still delicious! Something tells me 2008 will see a lot of mange tout in this house!

The butternut squash recipe is a really easy frugal recipe. You can add additional vegetables to bulk it up, but I find just the three work really well. Make some garlic croûtons with old bread for a decadent topping! This is based on the Avoca Cafe book 2 version - I read it once then sent the book on to Amy - so this is all I remembered, but it's yummy so who cares?

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 large red skin potato, peeled and diced
  
• 1 whole butternut squash, de-seeded and sliced in half
• 1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 inch piece root ginger, grated
• 1-2 litres vegetable stock/nage
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 slices stale bread, crusts removed and cubed
  
• cream to garnish
• parsley to garnish
  

Drizzle the butternut squash with olive oil and bake in a 200C/400F oven for about half an hour or until fork tender. Allow to cool. (You could just chop it and add to the carrots and potatoes in the pot instead of roasting first, but I find this brings out the most flavour)

Saute the chopped carrots, potato and onion in a large pot with some olive oil. Allow to soften slightly. Scoop the flesh from the squash and add to pot. Top up with vegetable stock and add the grated ginger. Allow to simmer until all vegetables are tender. Puree with a stick/immersion blender. If too thick, add more stock. Season with salt and pepper.

To make the croûtons heat up the olive oil in a pan and add the bread. Once the bread is beginning to crisp up and brown add in the garlic, stirring until fragrant and soft, but not browned.

To serve pour soup in a bowl. Drizzle with some cream, top with some croûtons and sprinkle with some fresh parsley or coriander (cilantro.)

"Thai" Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken fillet, breast, thinly sliced (you could use prawns instead)
  
• 1 white onion, thinly sliced vertically
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp (or more to taste) Thai curry paste (green or red, whichever you prefer)
• 200g mange tout (feel free to use other veg as well, green beans or asparagus work well)
  
• 100g (dry weight) vermicelli rice noodles, cooked per packet instructions
  
• 200ml coconut milk (you can use light, if watching fat)
• 800ml chicken stock
  
• coriander (cilantro) to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a pot. Add chicken and onion and stir-fry until chicken is just cooked. Add curry paste and stir fry until fragrant. Add coconut milk and stock. Add in noodles and mange tout. Season with salt and pepper. Once mange tout is cooked al-dente server garnished with cilantro. Easy and delicious - perfect for a winter lunch! This will serve 3-4.

On another note - the Irish Blog Awards are accepting nominations for 2008. There are lots of new categories including best food blog - so if you feel inclined head over and vote for your favourites!


Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for all your support and comments during the past year - it has meant much! Look forward to more recipes and fun this year. Feel free to send any recipes you think I should try and I will do so and post them on the site. No lamb or courgette (zucchini) please! Other than that I'll try anything! ;-)

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