Hot and Sour Chicken Stir Fry

Today I made Hot and Sour Chicken Stir fry 

One of the most versatile dishes you can make has to be the magnificent Stir Fry. You can use any meat you have available, throw in what ever Vegetables are in season and get creative with the Sauce. I have used everything from Fillet Steak to Chicken Thighs, pretty much every Vegetable under the sun and everything from Asian to Mexican inspired Fusions. A Stir Fry is one of the healthiest dishes you can make if you are on a Calorie/Fat/Carb controlled diet. You can pack it full of Veggies and good Proteins to keep the munchies at bay while also not feeling guilty. You can serve your Stir Fry with Brown Rice, Sweet Potatoes or yummy noodles. I love to serve mine with super fine noodles.



The Sauce I use for this Stir Fry uses a lot of my favourite ingredients.Red Chili, Lime Juice, Garlic Ginger, Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce, Rice Wine Vinegar, Chicken Stock and Paprika. It's important to get the right mixture between Hot and Sour for this dish to work. The kick of heat comes from the Red Chili, Ginger and Paprika, these ingredients give three different types of heat, the Red Chili gives you a heat that goes deep and lingers the ginger is more of a shallow heat with a zingy finish. The sour edge is delivered by the Lime Juice and White Wine Vinegar. The Chicken Stock ties all these big punchy flavours together. 

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)  

For the Stirfry:

• 4 Chicken Fillets
• 1/2 Red Pepper
• 1 Medium Onion
• 12 Button Mushrooms
• 4 Spring Onions
• 20 Mange Tout
• 12 Florets Broccoli
• 150g Sweetcorn
• 20g Cashew Nuts 
• 200g Fine Noodles

For The Sauce:

• 1 Red Chili,
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• Teaspoon Minced Ginger
• 2 Tablespoons Seasme Oil
• 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
• 2 Teaspoon Paprika
• 200mls Chicken Stock

Instructions: 

1. Wash all your Vegetables and set aside.

2. Rinse and pat dry the Chicken Fillets.

3. Slice the Chicken into fine strips. Try keep the slices to be the same size so they cook at the same time.

4. Finely Slice the Onions and Red Pepper. Cut the florets of Broccoli into bite size pieces. I like to keep the Mange Tout and Button Mushrooms whole for an extra crunch.

5. Drizzle a little Sesame Oil into a hot Wok or Frying Pan, add in the Chicken and fry for 5-7 minutes. Place the Noodles into a pan of Boiling Water.

6. Add in the Crushed Garlic Cloves, Ginger and Chili. Then add in the finely sliced Onion and Red Pepper and Stir so everything gets exposed to the heat.

7. Add in the Mange Tout and Button Mushrooms. Stir the Noodles to ensure they don't stick together.

8. Add in the Broccoli and Sweetcorn and stir through.

9. Add in the remainder of the Sesame Oil. Soy Sauce, Rice Wine Vinegar, Lime Juice, Chicken Stock and Paprika and stir through.

10. Add in the Noodles and mix through so that all of the Noodles get coated with the Sauce and gets laced around the Chicken and Vegetables.

11. Serve up a portion of  your Stir Fry onto a large Serving Plate. Sprinkle with some finely chopped Spring Onion, Red Chili and Cashew Nuts.

"Wok and Roll"

Winter Warmer Soup

Today I made my  Mother's Winter Warmer Soup

As soon as November hits Soup comprises 90% of all my meals. I can literally have soup at any point during the day I've even been known to have it for lunch and dinner in the same day. When I'm at home I love to make my Soup from scratch. I have such good memories from my childhood of being out playing in the snow on a frosty Christmas day then coming in to thaw out in a big bowel of my mother's homemade soup. Even to this day when ever I have this Soup recipe it takes me right back to those fondly remembered days. As I grew older my mother started to teach me how to make this bowl of warming goodness. I started with basic recipes then began to start experimenting.

Not only did I start experimenting with different Soup ingredients but also with different Soup Toppers and different Soup accompaniments. When I have the time I love to make my own stock. Sometimes I make concentrated stock in bulk and then freeze it in ice-cube trays so I can pop out a couple of cubes and throw them in with the Vegetables at the start of cooking. I like to make my own croutons or Melba toast type slices of bead using gluten free bread. Other Soup toppers I like include Sour Cream, Natural Yoghurt, Seasme Seeds or Vegetable crisps. If you want to up the protein in your soup you can add in some Shredded Chicken into this recipe.

Ingredients:

(Serves two hungry people)

• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Red Onion
• 1 White Onion
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Parnips
• 1/2 Butternut Squash
• 5 Florets of Broccoli
• 5 Florets of Cauliflower
• 600mls Chicken or Veg Stock 
• Salt
• Pepper 

Instructions:

1. Crush or finely chip the two cloves of Garlic. Finely slice the White and Red Onions. Dice up the Carrots, Parsnips and Butternut Squash into small cubes. Cut off the florets of the Broccoli and Cauliflower.

2. Spray a small amount of Low Kcal Spray into a medium sized pan. Add in your Garlic and fry for a minute or two to flavour the pan. Add in the Onions and a splash of the Stock stir with a wooden spoon and allow to soften for a further 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

3. Add in the remainder of the Vegetables and all bar 100mls of the Stock and cook until all the Vegetables are softened. 

4. Blend all the Vegetables with a hand held blender or place into a smoothie maker and blitz until smooth and all the lumps are gone. Add in the remainder of the Stock until your reach the desired consistency. 

5. Ladle up the soup into your bowl of choice. I served mine with one giant Crouton, sprinkled with Seasme Seeds and served with home made Melba Toast. 

"Mmm. Noodle Soup"