Adrian's Blog

Category: Recipes

  • Chicken Kare Lomen

    For Rachael.
    Kare means “curry” and lomen is a corruption of “Lo Mein” which means boiled & drained noodles.

    Ingredients

    For the kare base:
    2 pieces of lemon grass, discard any dry leaves
    3cm piece of galangal root, peeled and sliced
    2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated
    2 small onions, peeled and chopped
    1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
    1 tsp paprika
    1 tsp fennel seeds
    1/2 tsp chilli powder or small red thai chilli, de-seeded and sliced
    1/2 tsp turmeric (fresh is best, finely chopped, but use powder if you don’t want yellow stained fingers)
    1/2 tsp yellow curry powder
    1 tsp shrimp paste

    For the kare sauce:
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp sugar
    1/2 tsp MSG (optional)
    250ml water
    250ml coconut milk

    For the noodles:
    250g of somen (fine white wheat noodles, these are very thin and so need very little cooking)
    50g beansprouts (ok, a handful)
    50g cucumber, sloppy seeds removed, and cut into thin strips
    10g corriander leaves, remove any tough stalks

    For the chicken:
    2 medium skinless chicken breasts, inner fillet removed, fat trimmed
    2 tbsp soy sauce
    1 clove garlic, grated

    Method

    Mix the garlic and soy together and marinate the chicken for at least 1/2 hour.

    Take all of the ingredients for the kare base and whiz up in a blender to form a paste. Cook in a hot oiled pan for 10-15 minutes, the sauce will thicken slightly and turn a lovely red colour. Add the coconut milk, water, salt, sugar and MSG if using. Simmer slowly, do not boil, or the coconut milk will split.

    Grill the chicken, check it is cooked through.

    Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and drop in the somen. Cook for 2-3 minutes and drain. Quickly blanch the beansprouts* in the same boiling water.

    Divide the noodles between a couple of bowls and pour over the kare sauce.  Dress with the cucumber, beansprouts and coriander. Slice the chicken and arrange over the noodles. Serve with teryaki sauce.

    *Never, ever eat raw beansprouts, unless you have grown them yourself or can otherwise be sure they aren’t contaminated with e-coli.

  • Pressure Cooked Shoulder of Pork

    Ingredients

    2 kg boneless pork shoulder
    2 tablespoon olive oil
    300g mushrooms, thick sliced
    1 onion, diced
    2 carrots, diced
    2 tbsp tomato paste
    500ml stock, either chicken or vegetable
    2 bay leaves
    salt & ground pepper to season

    Method

    Salt and pepper a board, roll the meat on it. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the pressure cooker and brown meat all over. Temporarily remove meat. Fry onion and carrot in the remaining oil until softened. Add tomato paste, stock, and bay leaves. Place roast on top, add sliced mushrooms, cover and bring up to full pressure. Cook for 50 minutes. Reduce pressure using the natural method. Remove meat to rest for 10 minutes. Separate fat from stock and thicken with cornflour to make a gravy.

  • Parsnip and Butternut Squash Soup

    Here is a nice combination of Autumn flavours.

    Ingredients

    2 large onions, halved
    3 large parsnips, peeled and halved
    2 medium butter-nut squash, sliced in half lengthways, de-seeded
    Small handful of lemon thyme
    Olive oil
    Salt and pepper
    1.5 litres vegetable stock
    2 tablespoons crème fraîche

    Method

    Place the vegetables on a baking tray, pour over some olive oil, season and add the thyme. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for one hour.

    Scrape the flesh from the squash, remove any twigs from the thyme, and blitz the cooked vegetables in a food processor adding the stock a third at a time.

    Put in a pan and bring to a simmer, balance the seasoning, take off the heat and stir in the crème fraîche. Serve.

  • Oatcakes Recipe

    Ingredients

    175g Oat flakes
    150g Butter
    85g Oatmeal
    50g Caster sugar
    40g Honey
    Pinch Salt

    Method

    Melt the butter, mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 6mm thickness and cut out into rounds. Bake at 180 degrees C for approx 20 minutes or until browned. Cool on a wire rack.

  • Carrot and Raisin Muffins

    Ingredients

    375g plain flour
    175g brown sugar
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    Pinch of salt
    150ml vegetable oil
    2 eggs, beaten
    250g carrots, grated
    75g raisins

    Method

    Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
    Grease a 12 cup muffin tray.
    Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
    Mix together vegetable oil and eggs, then add to dry ingredients. Fold in carrot and raisins; divide into muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

  • Orange Glazed Carrots

    Ingredients

    600g carrots, cut into batons
    2 tablespoons butter
    1 tablespoon honey
    1 teaspoon orange juice
    Pinch salt
    Chopped parsley

    Method

    Cook carrots as usual until tender, drain. Melt the butter in a pan and add honey and orange juice. Stir through the carrots and sprinkle with parsley to complete the dish.

  • Parsnip Stuffing

    Ingredients

    10 oz Onion, peeled and finely sliced
    1 lb Parsnips, peeled, cored and finely sliced
    2 oz Butter, melted
    14 oz Sausagemeat
    1 Clove garlic, crushed
    1 tsp Sesame seeds
    1 Apple, peeled cored & cubed
    2 tsp Lemon thyme leaves, chopped
    1 tbsp Parsley, chopped
    3 oz Fresh breadcrumbs
    2 Eggs

    Method

    Saute onion & parsnips in butter over a low heat for 15 minutes until soft. Remove.
    Fry together sausagemeat, garlic and sesame seeds for 5 minutes. Stir all of the time.
    Drain any fat and add the sausagemeat mixture to the parsnip & onions in a large mixing bowl. Crush together well with a potato masher. Beat to blend well. Alternatively, use a food processor for this step, but don’t over-process.
    Add the apple, eggs, breadcrumbs, parsley and thyme.
    Bake in a hot oven for approximately 1 hour.