Author Archives: Phil @foodfrankly

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About Phil @foodfrankly

I love to eat and I love to cook. Always on the look out for new dishes and ingredients which isn't always compatible with a young family, but that won't stop me trying....

Singapore Style Noodles

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South Asia meets East Asia in one of my favourite stir fry dishes. Rice noodles are cooked with curry spices and chilli for a kick.

Apparently, this dish originates out of Hong Kong and isn’t entirely accurate as Singapore has many noodle dishes and in any case is unknown in the country. I love it though and providing you don’t go mad with the oil, is healthier than its flavour suggests.

Serves 2. Prep and cooking time 15 minutes (Dan).

Ingredients:

  • 150g Vermicelli rice noodles
  • 1 chicken breast, finely sliced
  • 50g lean cooked ham cut into thin batons
  • 100g prawns
  • 1 small (or half a larger) red pepper & green pepper, finely sliced
  • 1 small onion finely sliced
  • 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
  • 1 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp curry power
  • 1 red chill, finely chopped
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • Soy sauce

Get your favourite knife out and prepare all the ingredients beforehand. You’ll need to do this as it cooks quickly!

Start by cooking the noodles as instructed. Once done, drain in a sieve and cool under a running tap until cold. Drain thoroughly and add a little oil (so they won’t stick)

Add the oil to the wok and heat until smoking. Put in the ham and brown for a minute followed by the onions, peppers, garlic, chilli and ginger for a minute more, with a good splash of soy sauce.

Add the chicken and prawns and stir until cooked, keeping the heat on.

Once done, sprinkle over the curry powder and the oyster sauce. Stir in the noodles and continue for a minute or two more to heat through.

Serve it up with the chopped spring onions on top. Taste and add a little more soy sauce if necessary.

Great with a Tiger Beer!

Singapore Style Noodles

Lazy Sunday Biscuits

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Today’s post was borne out of idleness to be honest!

As neither of us could be bothered to venture out for bread and biscuits this afternoon, I made the decision to make my own. Now, I realise that by the time I’d done all this, and Helen had helped clear up, we could have been to the shops and back countless times, but where’s the fun in that? Exactly.

The bread, nice as it is, was a fairly run of the mill wholemeal loaf.  I’ll be doing some more posts on the subject of bread later anyway

I’ve made these oat biscuits  before and they turned out well enough, being made from store cupboard ingredients and costing pennies.  I thought I’d try them again as they’re quick and easy but pretty good. I’ve added a pinch of salt this time though.


To make about 12 biscuits:

  • 100g wholemeal flour
  • 100g rolled oats
  • 100g soft brown sugar (white will do)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 100g butter
  • 1 tbsp cream (or milk)
  • 3 tsp golden syrup (about 1 and  a half tbsp)
  • Seeds from half a vanilla pod (optional – I had some left to use up)

Heat the oven to 160ºc.

Combine the flour, oats, baking powder and sugar in a bowl until a homogenous mixture.

In a small pan, melt the butter and add the cream, salt, syrup and vanilla (if using). Whisk it all together.

Then, just pour it into the flour and oats and combine it all together well.

Scoop out about  a tbsp  and roll it into a ball. Put it on a non-stick baking tray and flatten, shaping it into a round about 1cm thick (the biscuits will expand in the oven, so don’t worry they look a bit small). Repeat until all the mixture is used.

Put in the oven for about 15 minutes then cool on a rack for as long as you can resist them…..

Fish, Prawns & Risotto

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I fancied trying something a bit different tonight. I’ve been up in Scotland today and popped into a farm shop on the way back down where I picked up some some haddock fillets landed in Eyemouth. I’m a huge fan of fresh fish, but it has to be fresh. We’re lucky enough to have the North Shields Fish Quays nearby and I get over there whenever I can.

For this dish, I had four pans on the go but it was worth it. The haddock was simply grilled with a leek risotto, whole prawns and a a sauce made from their shells. I finished it off which some pickled mushrooms, an idea I got from a local occasional TV chef called Kenny Atkinson after I saw a cooking demo by him. They really finish it off and contrast the richness of the other flavors.

I was pretty pleased with the results, as was Helen, and from someone who is normally fairly indifferent to fish, that’s praise indeed!

(Serves 2)

For the fish:

  • Oil – I used rapeseed
  • Salt and Pepper

For the Risotto:

  • 1 tbsp oil & 10g butter (optional, health fans!)
  • 150g Arborio Rive
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stick, finely chopped
  • 500 ml chicken stock
  • Glass of white wine
  • 1 medium leek, finely sliced.
  • Handful of grated parmesan cheese (or to taste)
  • Salt and pepper

For the prawns/sauce:

  • 6 whole prawns
  • About 300ml chicken stock
  • Dash of Brandy or Cognac
  • 1 tbsp double cream
  • 15 g butter (to finish)
  • 1 heaped tbsp chopped parsley

For the pickled mushrooms:

  • 100g button mushrooms cleaned and trimmed
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp stock
  • 2 tsp sugar (or to taste)
  • Salt

Start the prawns/sauce: Add the prawns and stock to a small pan, bring gently to the boil and poach for a few minutes until cooked. Remove the prawns with a slotted spoon and peel them -apart from the tail, it just looks better… Return the peeled shells to the pan for a while to extract more flavour for 10 minutes (or as long as possible). Keep the cooked prawns to one side, they’ll be warmed through later.

Ge the risotto started: Unless you have any homemade, get the kettle on and make up some stock (I often use the little pots made up with boiling water). Put the stock in a pan/Pyrex bowl and place on a small burner on your hob to keep hot.

Add the oil to a large pan, heat, and fry the celery,  garlic and leeks. Tip in the rice and coat well in the oil. Pour in a glass of wine and stir well until absorbed. Add a ladle of the stock and stir well until nearly absorbed. Keep adding ladle-fulls and stir in the same way  for about 15-20 minutes.

Whilst doing this, prepare the pickled mushrooms: fry the mushrooms in a little oil with some salt for a minute, add the vinegars, stock and sugar. Heat until boiling then leave to simmer very gently to reduce whilst you crack on with the rest.

Keep stirring the risotto and adding the stock! You need to keep an eye on this one!

Finish the sauce off. Strain the prawn shells using a fine sieve (or muslin cloth for a clearer liquor) and discard, keeping the liquid in the pan. Add the cognac/brandy, double cream and reduce for a few minutes. Add salt to taste and the chopped parsley. Finish with the butter by whisking it in until melted away. Add the prawns to warm through gently.

Finally! Cook the fish. Heat  the grill and put the fish under, seasoned with salt and pepper and brushed with oil. They will only take a few minutes to cook. I confess, I took my eye off them and slightly over did it, but it was still good!

I served it up with the prawns on the risotto, and the sauce on the fish, with a few of the pickled mushrooms scattered round the edge.

Phew! Bit of a balancing act, this one, but well worth sticking with! Lovely with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

Toulouse Sausage

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Fantastic flavours are the order of the day here. Sausage flavoured with wine and garlic – what’s not to like?

I’d love to try the real thing one day but these supermarket versions were ‘created’ by Pierre Koffmann apparently. That’s a good thing. To be fair, they tasted pretty good too.

I served them up with a kind of speedy butter bean stew for a nice, quick and easy bistro-style dinner:

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

  • 4 Toulouse sausages
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 large tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed (which I used for speed) or 150g dried butter beans soaked overnight
  • Half a green and half a red pepper, chopped
  • Two large tomatoes, seeds removed and diced
  • 250ml chicken stock
  • Sprig of thyme, leaves only
  • Chopped basil leaves
  • Salt & Pepper
For the butter beans stew:
If using dried beans (having been soaked overnight), gently simmer in water for around 30 minutes first until softened and tender. Heat the oil in a small pan and add the tomatoes, peppers and a good pinch of salt. Saute for a little while then add the beans, stock and thyme.

Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes to heat through and absorb the flavours, but be careful not to overdo it, especially if using tinned beans. Add chopped basil and season with the pepper.

Whilst simmering, grill the sausages as instructed, but for about 10-15 minutes. Alternatively, fry them!
In hindsight, some French beans or buttered spinach would have been a good accompaniment. Next time……

Down Under

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Two good friends of mine were lucky enough to spend an entire MONTH travelling across Australia recently. I asked them to send me pictures of anything interesting they sampled en route. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what constitutes Australian food other than the stereotypes of barbecue, Vegemite and seafood, but that’s my ignorance. It seems, like the UK, they’ve adopted a lot of other cultural cuisines. But, from what I can see, light and fresh seems to be way of things. I guess this goes for most countries which, very much unlike the UK, are bathed in sunshine!

So, on their behalf here are some of the highlights!

 

Pork belly sandwich. Mouth watering and yet, literally, heart-stopping….

 

Gourmet crepes with kangaroo (yes, kangaroo) prosciutto, bush tomato chutney, egg cheese and baby spinach

 

Crushed avocado, feta and lemon juice focaccia

 

Mushrooms with balsamic reduction, feta and wilted spinach on sour dough bread.

Chilli Basil Chicken Burger

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A nice quick one tonight!

Sometimes, (but only sometimes!) like most people,  I can’t really be bothered to spend an hour or so in the kitchen after a long day at work. This takes 15 minutes tops, if you have everything ready.

Chicken, the blank canvas that it is, means these burger are completely customisable too. I was thinking of using some coriander, fish sauce and lime for a Thai flavour. Or, you could throw in some curry spices or cajun spices of course and change the condiments to match.

I went for chilli and basil with a little garlic oil here though.

Ingredients and method:

Simplicity itself really –  just blitz two chicken breasts in a food processor with a whole (mild-ish) red chilli, a handful of basil leaves, two good sized pinches of salt and a glug of garlic infused oil.

Wet your hands and scoop out the mixture, forming into two burger-patty shapes.

Heat a griddle pan until you’re on the verge of setting off the smoke and alarms and add the patties. Once you start to see the sides colouring all the way up (5-6 mins or so), flip them over for another 5 mins or until cooked through.

Try not to overcook them or they will dry out, so a temperature probe is useful here (insert it at a low angle though to get the centre).

Set the cooked patties aside and char the buns a little on the griddle. Serve it up with salad leaves, tomato and some cracked black pepper mayo.

Smoked Salmon and Leek Quiche

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I thought I’d try out a quiche this afternoon. Not words I thought I’d be saying as a younger man, but then I suppose things change as one, err, ‘matures’.

Besides, quiche is a kind of Gallic pizza. Working from a base of shortcrust, and unsweetened custard you can go on to produce all manner of combinations to taste. I thought I’d try smoked salmon and leek, mainly as that was what I found rummaging through the fridge.

Sorry, salmon is featuring a lot on this blog I know, but I did have a fair bit left over from the party last week. That’s mainly because, I’d forgotten all about it and left it in the fridge. For the record, I do recognise that other fish species exist and are edible….

Ingredients:

  • 225-250g shortcrust pastry (the BBC do a recipe here that always delivers for me)
  • 200ml double cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g smoked salmon, chopped into small pieces.
  • 1 medium sized leek, finely sliced
  • Small knob of butter and 2 tsp oil for frying
  • Handful grated parmesan cheese
  • Handful of grated cheddar cheese
  • tsp of chopped dill (optional)
  • Salt and pepper

Method:

Start by softening the leek: add the oil and butter to a small frying pan and gently fry with a pinch of salt until softened. Turn off the heat and leave to cool whilst you get on with the next stages.

Very lightly butter or oil a smallish circular baking tin (if using a solid one). You won’t need to if using a loose base version, but I don’t have any.

Roll the pastry into a large circle so that it fits into the tin with plenty overhanging (4 or 5cm). This extra will help ward off shrinkage in the oven.

Gently press the pastry into the sides of the tin and use a fork create small holes to ensure the base doesn’t puff up. To be sure, I lined the top of the pastry with baking parchment and baking beads (courtesy of my friend Sarah). I used a tip flying around at the moment which is to screw up the paper first so it’s flexible and doesn’t need to be cut to fit.

Blind bake the pastry at 190ºC (Gas 5) for 25 minutes or until golden. I removed the parchment for the last 10 minutes to help it crisp up better.

Whilst that’s baking, you can make the filling:

Whisk the eggs in a bowl and simply combine all the remaining ingredients, including the now cooled leeks. Season with salt and pepper (I tasted the mixture at this point in case something was needed, but just to point out, there is raw egg in there….)

Once the pastry case is ready take out the oven and allow to cool for a little while on a stand. Leave the oven on though as it won’t be too long until it goes back in. When cooled enough to do so, neatly trim off the excess pastry from the edge with a sharp (but not your best) knife.

Pour in the mixture and return to the oven for around 30 minutes, or until the top has started to brown and the middle is ‘springy’.

Leave to cool, again, and serve it up still warm if you can. Just as nice cold though of course…..

Party time!

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To celebrate my wife’s 40th we held a party, for the first time really, since our kitchen ‘upgrade’ last year.

I took on the challenge of making the food (with the help of our friend Sarah) including the bread and was therefore pretty much at it from 09:00 until the guests began arriving. Never the less, I thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully it went down well with everyone. And stayed down of course….

Having been on a relatively healthy food spree recently I went for an American theme for the evening – big flavours and plenty of it.

Centre piece was the pulled pork, which I put in the oven 130c for about 8 hours. Low and slow as I believe Heston Blumenthal put it, or maybe someone was trying to insult me, but whatever, it’s a long time. Served up in homemade bread buns, with homemade coleslaw, itself made with homemade mayonnaise it was pretty good. I think you can see why it took me all day now….

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I also made corn dogs, which I first tried on a trip to Vegas. Great for parties, but wasn’t sure they were quite so good after keeping in a warm oven for an hour or so.

What else? Burgers on the barbecue of course, some southern part-fried chicken which I started in the fryer and finished in the oven and a chilli using aforementioned Heston Blumenthal’s spiced butter, which I think worked well.

Vic again made a fabulous ganache based cake and we got Helen’s colleague’s wife to knock up some great cup-cakes.

All finished off with a barrel of award winning Workie Ticket (complete with hand pull courtesy of Geoff and Catherine) and Vic’s extensive cocktail range!

A great day, or technically, two days. Salad for week now though.

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Chop Suey

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One of my favourite ways of preparing vegetables, Chop Suey can be made as healthily as you want, providing you don’t drown the dish in oil.

My wife much prefers my attempt at Chinese cooking as it’s not as ‘greasy’ as the local takeaways, but I must admit I personally think good a restaurant dish is pretty difficult to copy faithfully.

The version here uses, chicken, a lot of veg, and Oyster Sauce. I’m not sure if there is an ‘authentic’ combination in a chop suey, so apologies people of China if not! I recommend using a ‘premium’ Oyster Sauce from a Chinese Deli. It’s a few pounds more, but far richer flavoured than the cheaper supermarket approximations. It’ll last a while if you get a large bottle and keep it in the fridge.

The key to Chinese food seems to be preparation and plenty of heat. Get everything ready so that when you start to cook, you only focus on that.

I’ve had many a tantrum in the kitchen before learning this, I think it has something to do with the panic induced by cooking in a super hot wok. Anyhow:

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts thinly sliced (and, if you can, marinated in 2 tbsp rice wine, good pinch 5 spice, soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil for a minimum 20 mins).

1 Tbsp oil (you need more in a steel wok – I’m going for healthy here and used non-stick……)
2 garlic cloves, sliced finely
Thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
Vegetables of your choice (Pak choi, carrot, mange tout, onions, bean sprouts etc) – I used tender stem broccoli, sugar-snap peas, onions, baby sweet corn and bamboo shoots, all sliced into bite sized pieces. About a handful of each.
Soy sauce
2 Tbsp Premium Oyster Sauce
About 150ml water mixed with a tsp cornflour
White pepper
2 Spring onions, chopped

Method:

Heat the wok and oil until hot and smoking.

Add the chicken (drained well if marinated) and brown well, until cooked through. Take out and set aside, retaining as much oil as possible.

Drop in the onion and garlic and ginger for a minute (don’t burn the garlic, keep it moving!)

Add the vegetables and stir fry for two or three minutes. Stir the chicken back in along with a good splash of soy sauce and the Oyster Sauce. Stir well, turn the heat down then add the cornflour mixture, mixing thoroughly and using more water if too dry. Taste the sauce and adjust as necessary using the soy sauce.

Season with pepper, add the chopped spring onion and serve with boiled rice (or egg fried rice if you’ve fallen off the wagon!). Yum.

Breakfast Royal

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A rare thing for me, the time and inclination to have a proper breakfast.

I’m just not a morning person, so very little thought goes into it usually. Smoothie and microwaved porridge I’m shamed to say are the norm.

So today, having the opportunity to be out the office, I popped into Cafe Royal in Newcastle (opposite the Grainger market those who know the city).

I went for the Egg Benedict which were pretty good, but a bit tight on the Hollandaise, and a large coffee as I’m sadly addicted.

Anyway, better sign out and head back to the day job….