Cauliflower soup, with Red Pepper and Potato

Cheap cauliflower and cabbage from the Coop resulted in this wonderful soup. The cauliflower was cooked first, after it was stripped of its leaves. Thirty minutes all told. Then it was diced with a sharp knife in the pot. Then I added the diced red pepper and potato, plus the chopped green cabbage.

Simmered for twenty minutes. Mash if you prefer. I added vegetable stock and  black pepper. Simple and fabulous!

 

Silverside Beef Stir Fry

Made with trimmings of silverside beef, sourced from Aldi, and a stir-fry mixture of bean sprouts, carrot, white onion, three fresh green finger chillies (topped and diced), plus green and white cabbage.

The beef came from the freezer, so was allowed to thaw for several hours. the pieces were fried in sunflower oil at a medium heat until they began to brown a little (about five or six minutes), stirring occasionally in the wok.

Then the vegetables were added, and the heat turned up to high for two minutes. Stirred together more or less continuously for six minutes or so, after turning down the heat (judge readiness by eye).

Served on a spiral of dark soy sauce. Excellent dish!

Cabbage, Beansprouts and Green Bean StirFry

Made with julienned red onion, two colours of cabbage, sliced carrot, diced green beans, beansprouts, curried rice boiled with turmeric (drained), and a whole red red chilli.

Stir-fried for ten minutes altogether in some sunflower oil, first at a high heat, and then turned down to a low to medium heat.

Served on a spiral of dark soy sauce.

Garlic and Black Bean Stir Fry

The stir-fry mix was sourced from the local Co-op at a bargain price. Since I also had some mushrooms in the fridge which needed to be used, I decided on a stir-fry with mushrooms in a garlic and black bean sauce.

I diced eight mushrooms (I discarded the stalks) into four pieces, and stir fried them in a little sunflower oil. I also deseeded a red and a green chilli pepper, and cut them into small pieces. The chillies were fried with the mushrooms, along with two small julienned white onions.

Once the onions began to brown, I added two teaspoonfuls of the black bean sauce, plus about 100 mls of boiling water, stirred everything together, and allowed this keynote of the dish to simmer under glass for ten minutes at a low heat. Check the pan regularly so that the sauce has the desired consistency.

The stir-fry mix was 26 per cent sliced red and orange bell peppers. Much of the rest of it was three colours of cabbage leaves (purple and light and dark green), plus bean sprouts and diced onion. I heated a flat pan and brought some groundnut oil to a high heat before adding the mix. I turned the heat down, and stirred the vegetables every thirty seconds or so, for around eight minutes.

After that, the stir-fry was decanted to the serving plate, and the mushrooms in the garlic and black bean sauce were spooned on top. Easy to prepare, healthy and delicious!

Pork, Mushroom and Chilli Stir-Fry

 Diced pork steak stir-fried in sunflower oil, with a deseeded chopped scotch bonnet chilli pepper. With bean sprouts, mushrooms, white and green cabbage, carrot, and crushed garlic.

Scotch bonnet chillies are about as hot as they come, so the diced pieces were added to the pork stir-fry. The pork was cooked for twenty to twenty five minutes at a medium heat.

The beansprouts were blanched for three minutes in boiling water before being added to a wok with a drizzle of sunflower oil. Then the other ingredients were added. Cooked at a medium to high heat until the mushrooms, white and green cabbage, and carrot strips begin to soften.

Decant the vegetables to a serving plate on a spiral of dark soy sauce, and pick out the pork pieces from the cooking pan, discarding the remains of the chilli as far as possible.

A very hot dish, but delicious!

Chicken Stir-Fry

Stirfried breast of chicken, with two colours of cabbage, red and yellow pepper strips, red onion, carrot strips, and beansprouts.

Chop two chicken breasts into small chunks and stirfry in a wok in a little sunflower oil, for fifteen minutes, until the pieces start to become golden brown. Keep the chicken pieces moving every half minute or so. Turn the heat down for the final five minutes, and use the lid of the wok, if it has one, to ensure thorough heating.

The vegetables were cooked in a separate wok at a high heat for three minutes, moving continuously, also in a little sunflower oil. The heat was turned down low, and the lid added. Stir once a minute for another 4 to 5 minutes to ensure thorough heating.

Serve with the chicken, and dress in some pepper and dark soy sauce.

Fried Chicken Stir Fry

 Chicken breast chopped and fried at a medium heat in sunflower oil the previous day.

The vegetable stir-fry comprised red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, bean sprouts, two varieties of green cabbage, chopped carrot, sweetcorn.

Add the vegetables to a wok with sunflower oil at a high heat, and stir for a couple of minutes. Then turn down the heat and add the chicken pieces. Stir together for another couple of minutes.

Continue the cooking under glass for another three or four minutes in order to ensure thorough heating.

Decant the stir-fry onto a plate with a spiral of dark soy sauce, and a dusting of white pepper.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Stir-Fry vegetable mix from the Co-op. Pork from the freezer. Actually pork chops, which I divested of bone, and then stir-fried in sunflower oil.

I added thinly sliced Scotch Bonnet chilli, spring onion, and diced red pepper. Stir-fried for fifteen minutes, until the pork was properly cooked, turning occasionally.

The  sweet and sour sauce was shop bought from Aldi, which includes tomato puree, chilli, vinegar, and sugar. Heated in a separate pan, to which the pork and other vegetable ingredients were added. Allowed to simmer under glass until the stir-fried vegetables were ready.

The stir-fry vegetables were cooked in sunflower oil for between five and seven minutes, depending on the heat, befor being decanted to a plate, followed by the sweet and sour pork. Delicious!

Lamb, Cabbage, and Root Vegetable Soup

Made with the remains of a lamb and root vegetable stew, originally made with neck steak, with parsnips, potato, onion, spring onion, celery, plus yellow and green pepper. Plus lamb stock, but no herbs.

The Lamb Stew - Brown the steak. Add the other vegetables plus boiling water, and stir together. Cook at a low simmer for two hours until the lamb is tender. Add the lamb stock in the last fifteen minutes or so to retain the strongest flavour.

The Lamb Soup - Green cabbage was added to the remains of the lamb and vegetable stew, plus some tabasco sauce, some red chilli sauce, and rosemary. Cook at a medium heat for twenty minutes. You can mash or blend the vegetables if you prefer. Serve with ground black pepper.  Delicious!

Roast Chicken in Hoisin and Garlic Sauce Stir-Fry

Chicken breast from the freezer. Allow to thaw thoroughly, chop, and then cook in water for ten minutes.  Then add a Hoisin and Garlic Sauce, and cook at a high heat for five minutes.

The stir-fry vegetables included white and green cabbage, bean sprouts, onion and carrot. A cheap Thursday evening purchase from Sainsbury's.

The vegetables were cooked for eight minutes at a moderately high heat, stirring frequently. I used the oil from a jar of roasted peppers, rather than sunflower oil (waste not, want not).

Served on a spiral of dark soy sauce. Delicious!

Chicken in Hoisin Sauce with Garlic

A mixed pepper stir-fry, topped with roast chicken in a hoisin and garlic sauce. With green and white cabbage, white onion, shredded carrot, bean sprouts, and some finely chopped root ginger.

The pieces of chicken were placed in a bowl in a steamer, and steamed for ten minutes, then the sauce was stirred in, and then the lid of the steamer was replaced, and the combo was cooked for another ten minutes.

Which gave me time to cook the stir-fry in a wok, starting with the ginger in hot sunflower oil for a minute, and then the chopped peppers and other vegetables were added. I turned the heat down, and stir-fried for seven to eight minutes, stirring the contents of the wok with a bamboo paddle every thirty seconds or so.

decant the stir-fried vegetables onto the serving plate, and spoon the chicken pieces in the sauce on top. Delicious and quick!

Stir-Fry Marinade, with Crispy Pork

The vegetables - white and green cabbage, onion, carrot, red pepper, brocolli, red chilli, root ginger, chopped garlic cloves, cashew nuts, bamboo shoots - are marinaded in a little white wine, rice wine, fish sauce (nam pla), and sunflower oil. Leave for at least an hour and a half in a covered glass bowl, occasionally turning the mix.

The pork I used is some ham trimmings, cut into strips. Cook the ham first at a medium heat for at least four minutes, until the edges start to become crispy. Drain the marinade from the bowl, and add the vegetables to the wok. Stir-fry at a medium heat for about seven minutes. Serve piping hot.

Stir-Fry Marinade, with Crispy Pork

Chicken and Cashew Stir-Fry

A bargain bag of Sainsbury's Basics range Vegetable Stir-Fry prompted this dish. I normally don't buy pre-prepared vegetables, but it was a good value purchase, and I can't cut my carrots they way they they do. I bought two chicken breasts, chopped them into strips, fried them in a wok with chopped chillies, cashew nuts, and garlic until they were approaching golden brown. Then I added the stir-fry and cooked at a high heat for a further five minutes. Served on a spiral of Oyster Sauce or Dark Soy. Black Pepper to taste.

Stir Fry ingredients included Green and white cabbage, carrot, white onion, and bean sprouts.  

Chicken and Cashew Stir-Fry