Sonia's Soups and Starters

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Sonia's Soups and Starters

Thai Fish Cakes with Dipping Sauce

My year of posting our suppers is drawing to a close and thanks to all those who have viewed (37,552 on google plus and 9k on blogger), I'm blown away.  I'm indulging myself for this last post and sharing a starter, as it's too good to leave out. These classic spicy fish cakes are great as a starter, snack or a hot nibble to have with drinks. They can be lovely alternative to meat at a BBQ too.
Oh! A new blog starts soon. 

Ingredients

500g white fish fillets, pollack, cod or haddock

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons cornflour

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 teaspoons red curry paste

1 teaspoon chopped red chilli

2 tablespoons roughly chopped coriander leaves

1 kaffir lime leaf, very finely chopped

10 green beans, trimmed and cut into rings

2 spring onions, chopped

Salt

Vegetable or sunflower oil, for pan-frying

For the dipping sauce:

1 tablespoon sugar, palm sugar if you have it

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 small cucumber, diced

1 small carrot, very finely sliced

2 long red chillies, finely sliced

1 teaspoon finely chopped coriander leaves

Or 

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp clear honey

½ lime, juice only

1 tbsp Thai fish sauce

100g cucumber, skinned, cored and diced

50g carrot, finely diced

1 shallot, finely diced

2 birds’-eye chillies, seeds removed, sliced thinly

Method

Chop the fish into 2cm pieces, place in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the egg, cornflour, fish sauce, curry paste, chilli and coriander and process until combined.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the beans and spring onion. Mix well and season with a little salt. Form the mixture into small fish cakes using a spoon or wet hands. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and flatten slightly. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the dipping sauce, dissolve the sugar in two tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, soy, diced cucumber, carrot, chilli and coriander.

Pour the oil into a large frying pan to a depth of about 5mm and place over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the fish cakes for about two to three minutes each side or until golden brown, turning once. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the dipping sauce.

Adapted from, The Really Useful Cookbook by David Herbert.

Aromatic Fried Chicken

Ooo, the kitchen is going to smell heavenly tonight as I'm cooking one of my favourite Ken Hom dishes.  If you like cooking oriental food then a lot of these ingredients will already be in your cupboard, which makes life simpler.  If you don't, then just pan fry the thighs, sprinkle with a few chilli flakes and splash with dark soy, some vinegar and a drizzle of honey at the end, it will still taste great, especially if you have some chopped spring onions to garnish.

Ingredients
900g chicken thighs, with bone in
3 tbsp peanut  or sunflower oil
For the marinade
2 teasp salt
1 teasp ground black pepper
6 garlic cloves
75ml fish sauce
75ml Shaoxing rice wine vinegar or use cider vinegar
2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp chopped shallots
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Shoaxing rice wine or dry sherry
Plain flour, for dusting.

Method
Dry the chicken.  In a blender blitz the salt, pepper, garlic, fish sauce, vinegar, chillies, sugar, lime shallots, soy sauce and rice wine. Rub this mixture all over the chicken and allow to marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.  Drain off any excess marinade. Dust the chicken with flour and shake off any excess. Heat a wok or large frying pan over a high heat until it is very hot. Add the oil and when it is very hot turn the heat down to low. Add the chicken skin side down and slowly brown over a moderate heat for 10 minutes on each side r until cooked through. Remove from the wok, drain on kitchen paper, then transfer to a serving dish and tuck in. I like to serve it with steamed rice and bok choy.

Chunky Vegetable Soup with Chorizo and Manchego Cheese

I've taken my favourite minestrone recipe and tweaked it to give it a Spanish feel, using chorizo and rice rather than pancetta and pasta.  I think it is really tasty and full of vibrant colours.

Ingredients

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1.2 litres of vegetable stock

1 teasp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1x 680g jar of passata, (I use La Fiammante)

1 bay leaf

1 piece of manchego cheese rind

1 jar of fabada or butter beans, drained and rinsed

1 mug of cooked rice

150g peas

1 courgette, diced

1 small red pepper, diced

1 small yellow pepper, diced

A good grating of nutmeg

250g cooked chorizo, sliced and briefly fried in a dry pan

Freshly grated manchego cheese, to garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat.  Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and fry gently until softened, about 5 minutes.  Next add the rosemary and cook for a minute.

In with the stock next, with the tomato, bay leaf, and the manchego rind and cook for about another 5 minutes.  Season to taste, add the beans and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes.

Add the remaining vegetables and cook until just tender. For the last minute of cooking add the cooked rice. Last but not least, add a good grating of nutmeg, stir it into the soup and then check seasonings again.  Serve garnished with the chopped celery leaves and a generous sprinkling of cheese.  Vegetarians look away, as I will add the crispy chorizo pieces and any of their oil at the end.  Serve with chunks of artisan bread.  

Miso Steak

A trip to Japan is on my bucket list, but I'll have to wait a while and be content with eating Japanese style food whenever I can.  I found this recipe in the BBC Good Food magazine a few years ago and it makes a pleasant change from a traditional grilled steak. 

Ingredients

2 tbsp brown miso paste (try Sainsbury's)

1 tbsp dry sherry or sake

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 crushed garlic cloves

300g lean steak,

1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced, optional

Baby spinach, sliced cucumber, celery, radish and toasted sesame seeds, to serve as a salad.

Method

Tip the miso paste, Sherry or Sake, sugar and garlic into a sealable food bag. Season with a generous grinding of black pepper, then squash it all together until completely mixed. Add the steak, and chilli, gently massage the marinade into the steak until completely coated, then seal the bag. Pop the bag into the fridge and leave for at least 1 hour, but up to 2 days is even better.

To cook, heat a heavy-based frying pan, griddle pan or barbecue until very hot. Wipe the excess marinade off the steak, then sear for 3 mins on each side for medium-rare. Set aside and cover for 5 minutes to rest. Carve the beef into thick slices and serve with a crunchy salad made with the spinach, cucumber, celery, radish and sesame seeds.

My Mum's Irish Stew

We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day last night at the Hop Pole Inn, which was great fun.  This meant I had to put off cooking my version of my Mum’s rustic Irish stew until today.  I will keep it in the fridge overnight, as it always tastes better the next day.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil

500g lamb shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2.5cm chunks

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 celery sticks, trimmed and roughly chopped

2 large carrots, roughly chopped

750ml good-quality lamb stock, hot

450g potatoes, cut into 1cm slices

A couple of shakes of Lea and Perrins

A knob of butter

Finely chopped fresh parsley and crusty bread to serve (optional).

Method

Put a large, lidded flameproof casserole over a high heat. Add 1 tbsp of the oil and, when hot, brown the lamb, in batches if necessary. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium-high, add the remaining oil and fry the onion, celery and carrots for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Return the meat to the pot, pour over the stock, Lea and Perrins, then season with salt and black pepper and bring to the boil.

Remove from the heat, and then add the sliced potatoes, pushing them down into the stock to moisten them. Dot the top with a little butter, then give a final seasoning of salt and ground black pepper. Cover the casserole, then transfer to the oven to cook for about 1½ hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Remove the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes until the tops of the potatoes are crisp and golden.

Serve hot from the cooking pot, sprinkle over the chopped parsley.  I think it's best served in a bowl with crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

Devilled Calf's Liver with Grilled Tomatoes

I think this makes a really feisty supper, perhaps not for the fainthearted though? 

Ingredients for 2 persons

2 teasp redcurrant jelly

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp English mustard
A few good shakes of Worcester sauce

A few shakes of Tabasco sauce

A little rapeseed or sunflower oil

300g very fresh calf's liver, cut into thick slices

1 tbsp double cream or crème fraiche

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large vine tomatoes, halved and grilled.

Method

In a small bowl, whisk together the redcurrant jelly, cider vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce. Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a good-sized frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the liver and cook, turning a couple of times, for about 3 minutes, until it starts to get a good colour on the outside. Add the redcurrant jelly mixture and stir well. Let the mixture simmer for another 2-3 minutes, until the sauce has reduced to a rich, syrupy glaze. Stir in the cream then season to taste. Serve straight away, on hot thick slices of toast, with grilled tomatoes on the side.