Thai Red Curry Soup

Back in November I made Pad Prig King (to accompany some Thai fish cakes.  I bought some red curry paste for the recipe but it only required a tablespoon.  The small pot of paste claimed to be enough for ten to twelve servings of curry. It also had a short shelf life once opened, so I needed to use it up fast. We had a good curry a few days later*, but that still left me with over half a tub.

One of my favourite tricks for the use and storage of leftovers is to turn them into soup and freeze them.  That is exactly what I did but not before seeking the advice of The Soup Witch**.  I was unsure about what to use as the base for the soup.  I didn't want to use traditional stocks as they are all very western in flavour.  Jo suggested using tins of tomatoes and coconut milk and that is exactly what I did.

After defrosting the soup for tonight, I added sliced peppers, carrots, spring onions, a handful of corriander and some rice noodles to make a meal out of a snack.  I'm not actually a fan of soup as a main meal.  To me it's a starter or lunch dish but the flavours of this rich, sweet and hot soup made all the difference.  There is still a portion left in the freezer.  I think that it will be receiving just a little bit more chilli and possibly some prawns.  I'll let you know.

*missing blog post.
** Jo from Thistlemist Farm

Roast Pork Miso Soup

Our attempts at meal planning this week have not been a raring success.  Don't get me wrong, the meals we have cooked have all been great but they have not necessarily been the meals that we had planned to eat.  Today was no exception to this trend and I am happy to take full responsibility for the forced change of plan.

As it's the weekend and the weather wasn't too bad, I thought it would be nice for us to go out for lunch.  We wandered down to the Midnight Bell ready to tuck into some of their delicious sandwiches.  It wasn't until we got there that we remembered that it was Sunday and therefore only the Sunday menu was on offer.  It was a main meal or a dejected walk home so we sat down and ordered more food than we had bargained for.  I had fish and chips, Z had a chicken and mushroom pie and R had everything that was within his reach.  The food was really nice but it put the kibosh on roast pork with all the trimmings.

Unfortunately, we had already defrosted the joint of pork so we had to cook it, but there was no way that we were going to sit down to a second stomach-bursting meal in one day.  Instead we made a light miso broth with fresh vegetables, udon noodles and some of the roasted pork.  One of these days I'll plan a meal and actually cook it, but until then I'll just keep enjoying the food we cook.

Vegetable Miso Broth with Udon Noodles

When faced with a fridge full of vegetables what do you do? Panic? Make soup? Cook a curry or a stir fry perhaps?  We have ended up with said fridge of vegetables by buying too much for any particular meal.  This isn't our fault for a change, when cooking for two it is frustrating when things like pak choi come wrapped in threes.  Half a pepper is plenty for a lunch time salad.  We didn't need all of the aubergine for the satay kebabs at the weekend.  I can't remember why we have such a small amount of broccoli left over, but you get the idea.

Tonight Z managed to combine two of the above options to make a light and delicious meal. Without a whiff of panic Z stir fried broccoli and ginger with a splash of water, then added the pak choi stems, green beans and peppers. Lastly the shredded pak choi leaves and aubergine were added to the pan with dark and light soy sauces and rice wine vinegar.  In a separate pan she rehydrated udon noodles in a miso broth then added this to the vegetables.  Garnished with spring onions and toasted peanuts this was a great meal.  Although it's tagged vegetarian this is a vegan meal and probably one of the healthiest things that we cook.  Perhaps we'll go back to meat tomorrow.

Chicken Miso Soup

...Or The tale of two soups.

I was in a rush leaving the house this morning.  I hadn't left myself enough time to make lunch before I set off, so I grabbed an emergency packet of soup and went on my merry way.  It wasn't until lunch time that I discovered that the packet that I had selected was "chicken noodle".

This is one of my preferred flavours and on any other day it would have been very welcome.  Not today however.  Today we had planned chicken noodle soup for our evening meal.  As luck, and a fair amount of nous in the kitchen, would have it, the two soups were as different as chalk and cheese.

The soup I had for lunch was a Chinese style chicken and sweetcorn soup and consisted of rehydrated powder and noodles.  The soup that we cooked for tonight's menu was made with fresh ingredients and miso paste.

Miso Soup

Schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\ , noun: satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.

 

I know that I have had the odd pop at supermarkets, that Z works for one is irrelevant.  I dislike a handful of companies having too much power and influence.  I long for small, independent, greengrocers, butchers and bakers in our streets.  I am also aware that the convenience of supermarkets, is super.  

 

There are reasons why I revel in supermarket shopping.  I get excited by the range of food and the possibilities of how I'll cook them.  Also, we live in an area that is not known for its affluence and people around here know what they like.  These two things combined mean that the local supermarket always has high-end and interesting ingredients in the "reduced to clear" section.  I'm talking about venison, duck, celeriac, chicory etc.  I'd think twice about paying full price for items like these but reduced?  I'm in!

 

A trip to the shops yesterday, lead to the discovery of some reduced Japanese White Beech Mushrooms.  There was, and is, nothing wrong with them.  Due to an obsession with use by / sell buy dates, good food is being chucked away.  The reduced section in shops is where I get most of my inspiration, such is my desire to not waste food.

 

I know that I said, just a couple of days ago, that soup wasn't an evening meal.  However, a Japanese Miso soup with fresh vegetables and udon noodles, served with Gyoza and Edamame (dumplings and soy beans) is a feast.