Chicken Noodle Curry

I really love a good Thai green curry, but in the past I’ve really only served it with rice. So, when I came across this recipe for cooking the noodles *in* with everything else, I was intrigued. I do love a one-pot meal, and this combines a lot of my favourite flavours.

Very simple, but do be warned, the noodles suck up the sauce like no-one’s business, so it isn’t the soupy/saucy thai green curry you may be used to. It is nevertheless delicious! One of those perfect weekday meals when you’ve come home wanting something low effort, but still warming and utterly delicious. I added broccoli as a side, but it didn’t work all that well, might have been better chopped smaller and added at the beginning of the veggie cooking process.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips
• 3 spring onions, diced
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 3cm piece of ginger, frinely chopped
• 1 tbsp green curry paste
• 300ml chicken stock
• 200ml coconut milk
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 100g egg noodles
• Juice of 1 lime
• Optional: 2 tbsp peanuts, to serve (I didn’t have any!)

Method

Heat 1 tbsp oil and fry off the chicken for 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the rest of the oil, and fry the scallion for a few minutes. Then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 more minute and then add in the curry paste and stir.

Add in the chicken stock, coconut milk and fish sauce – bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Add the noodles and chicken, and allow to cook until the noodles are cooked through – about 5-7 minutes.

Spoon onto the plate and sprinkle the peanuts on top.

Sweet Potato and Rice Croquettes

Crunchy, sweet, and filling, I’m kind of in love with these little flavour bombs. 

So, my love of the sweet potato must be boring everyone by now. Each time I post a new recipe, you must be thinking, finally, she’s found the absolute last way to cook a sweet potato. And then I post another!

So, in my search for more ways to utilise this most versatile of tubers, I came across the idea for these delicious croquettes, perfect for a side eg at a barbeque with some sweet chilli sauce, but I really liked mine alongside some curry, the saucy spiciness really complements the sweet crunchiness.

Sort of like a hash brown IN A DREAM WORLD.

Autumnal Baking - Apple and Marzipan Crumble Tart

OMG this one is a good one. I love autumn baking.

I decided to make some tweaks to an old favourite, because despite the boyfriend CLAIMING he enjoyed my Apple and Marzipan Pie when I first made it, now he doesn’t. Right.

So, I took what he didn’t like (big chunks of apple) and decided to make stewed apple to put on top of the marzipan layer. And he LOVES crumble, so I topped it with a spiced cinnamon almond crumble. Note – this is also a MUCH easier topping than a pie crust!

I have to confess, this is the first time I’ve ever made stewed apple. For some reason I thought it was a really labour intensive , time-consuming process. FALSE.

It’s so easy! It’s the opposite of labour intensive. Do it now. You won’t regret it.

Caramelitas

So, I went home recently and was trying out a few new coffee places. And all of them were serving these flapjack looking caramel chocolate creations. They were called labelled “caramelitas” and I’d never heard of them before. I obviously bought one to try, and then immediately decided that I had to make my own. We’re basically talking a sugary crumble bar with chocolate and caramel filling.

Buuuut the amazing thing about this is that you can make a load of different types based on what you like and what’s in the cupboard. Here, I’ve made the basic chocolatey caramel ones (with coconut!) as well as some nutty ones with hazelnuts and Nutella sprinkled in. I’ve also made them recently with coconut added to the caramel and chocolate, and also spiced ones with Lotus biscuit spread and cinnamon powder.

This recipe makes two full trays of biscuit-y, caramel-y, chocolate-y gooey goodness. Feel free to halve it if you don’t feel like gorging on dozens of these things. You crazy person.

Halva Tahini Brownies

I might have mentioned  before (a million times) that I like Greek food. And when we went to Greece this summer, I had a great time browsing the little supermarket for random ingredients. I ate a lot of honey and sesame bars because they have a million different types there.

I also went to the supermarket specifically looking for halva - it’s like a crumbly nougat made with sesame seeds/tahini. I love the flavour of sesame and I’ve used tahini to great effect before in brownies. 

Halva was an obvious choice for a brownie topping – sweet but not overpoweringly so, with a beautiful nutty undertone and a mildly sticky texture when cooked. You can get halva in the UK but the only ones I could find were in a speciality food stop, therefore expensive. Obviously heading to Greece to get some was the next step.

Madeira Cake

The weather is turning colder, so comfort food is comcing back to the fore. And this is the absolute definition of comfort food. Madeira cake is just a total classic. It’s not a fancy cake. You don’t add sprinkles or drippy icing, or even glitter. It’s just good, comforting, and incredibly delicious food. I have to say, I absolutely love how my house smells when I make Madeira cake.

Now, I haven't made a Maderia cake in years and years. My issue with Madeira cake in the past has been that the top cooks so much quicker than the rest, meaning that avoiding a cremated topping is difficult. I also find the density of it a little overwhelming.

But I decided to employ one of my favourite cake tins for this project – instead of the traditional loaf cake, I went with my square brownie tin, which is my favourite for cakes. This meant that the cake was a lot thinner, meaning it cooked through quicker, while avoiding the top getting burned. It also gave it a slightly lighter quality. Maybe it doesn’t look like a totally traditional Maderia, but it tastes just like I remember.

Sticky Honey Chicken

I really like Chinese takeaway. But, unfortunately I can’t eat takeout every day. Would that I could!

So this weekend, try this little homemade wonder. It is basically is my at home version of honey chilli chicken.  It's easy to whip up, and it really does satisfy that hungover craving that you may or may not suffer from come Sunday...

The chicken comes out beautifully sweet and tender and this is fast becoming one of my favourite dinners!

The great thing about making it yourself is that you can play up the flavours that you prefer – I don’t like sour so I keep the vinegar element to a minimum, but I like honey and chilli so I amp up those, and I throw in some sesame for good measure. Peanuts would also be killer with this.