Paprika Pork

So, this marks the beginning of the last week of college before I start my first school placement. It’s rather scary but by the sounds of it I will be in a decent comprehensive with a goo behavioural record… and did I mention it was all girls? Also that it’s a faith school? Oh me, oh my.

Remember a while ago when I made goulash? It was a long time ago so I excuse you for not remembering but this is essentially a far simpler goulash without the root vegetables and other gubbins. If you want to make this feel really Eastern European you could try to serve this with some spatzle… otherwise egg noodles or tagliatelle is fine.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 onions, finely sliced
• 400g pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cubed
• 250g chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1½ tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 200ml chicken stock
• 100ml soured cream

Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan and cook the onions for 10 minutes until they have softened. Add the mushrooms and the cubed pork to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until the meat has browned.

Scatter the smoked paprika over the pork then stir in followed by the tomato purée and the stock. Simmer this for about 8 minutes before mixing in the soured cream. Serve this with some tagliatelle (if you have some).

Adapted from here

Verdict: Make sure you remove as much fat from the pork as possible since it will remain pretty much intact after the cooking process… just an advance warning based on experience.

With the pasta this became a filling meal which was somehow not very dominated by the onion and smoked paprika and the cooking method ended up with very tender pork. I would dry this with rice next time and maybe add something like pickled limes to experiment… if only I knew where to find them.

Also, I apologise about the lack of photos… my camera has been out of commission lately.

Calorie Count: 257 per serving

Tofu Stif-Fry with Peanut Sauce and Mixed Vegetables

I have been cooking for years and I have yet to find a proper method to cook tofu. Like how many people have a mental block with boiling an egg I have a very similar thing with frying tofu so that it ends up as firm, nicely browned cubes instead of a half-assed mess. That is the reason that I have been staying away from a stir-fry recipe with tofu since I have a tendency to mess it up. That is until this recipe.

Here’s the thing. I looked at myself in the mirror and I realised that months and months of being at home depressed and unemployed really took its toll on my waistline so I am seriously moderating my snacking behaviours and caloric count. The Thin Cooking ethos is still to not refuse myself something but to just be sensible in terms of when and how much I eat.

Anyway, this is a long-winded explanation that I made this stir-fry because I really fancied Chinese takeaway and could not justify it… even writing about this I really fancy some dim sum… rats.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 400g firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tsps rapeseed oil
• 350g mangetout
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
• 1/2 cup spring onions, sliced
• 2 tsps ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 150g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsps tamari
• 2 tbsps smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon cornflour
• 2 teaspoons chilli sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Firstly sandwich the tofu between sheets of kitchen towel and leave it to absorb the excess water for 5 minutes.

Whilst this happens make the sauce from the tamari, peanut butter, cornflour, chilli sauce, salt and ½ cup water.

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan on a medium heat and cook the tofu for 7-8 minutes so that it has browned on all sides and is warmed through. Stick the tofu in the oven at the lowest heat so it remains warm.

Add ¼ cup of water to the pan with the mangetout, spring onions, ginger, garlic and red pepper. Stif-fry this for 3 minutes and then add in the mushrooms. Stir-fry for a further 2 minutes then add the tofu and peanut sauce. Stir this in for a minute so it heats through and thickens before serving over steamed rice.

Adapted from here

Verdict: I finally cooked tofu properly! The key realty appears to use a proper non-stick pan and to drain the tofu as much as possible. In terms of the recipe the sauce was lovely and, as I said I really enjoyed the tofu… but there needs to be more sauce. There was enough for the stir-fry but not for the rice so next time I will be making more sauce.

Also, I used less mushrooms than the original because there was only one pa ck left, so next time there will be double the mushroomy goodness. Also I think that next time it would be better to half the amount of mangetout and substitute in either babycorn or broccoli. Then again, that’s just me.

Calorie Count: 218 per serving

Day 289: Chicken & Peanut Chow Mein

Once again I have managed to sneak a little bit of chicken into the weekly dinner schedule. After over a month without it I have managed to sneak it in twice in two weeks. What’s the secret? I cut it up into bite-size chunks and make sure there are other dominating flavours to conceal it. As much as I love the flavour of chicken (and wish to try some of the recipes I have stored up in my bookmarks) I do feel that everyone in the Thin Cooking household should have equal chance to enjoy their meal… since kale is my boyfriend’s favourite vegetable it is time for my favourite meat.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1 cup carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1  cup mangetout
• 12oz dried egg noodles
• 1  tbsp sesame oil
• 8oz chicken breast, cut into strips
• 3 tbsps soy sauce
• 3/4 cup low-salt chicken stock
• 2 tbsps oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tsps ground ginger
• 1/2 cup spring onions, finely chopped
• 2  tablespoons  dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Add the carrots, mangetout and noodles to boiling water and cook for 3 minutes then drain.

Heat the oil in a wok and add the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce. Stir-fry this for 3 minutes then remove from the pan and set aside. Combine the remaining soy sauce with the stock, oyster sauce and sugar then set aside.

Add the mushrooms and ginger to the wok and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the sauce mixture and cook for 1 minute. Then add the noodles, vegetables and chicken and combine in the wok. Serve with the spring onions and peanuts on top.

Adapted from here

Verdict: I am not too proud to admit that my share of the dinner disappeared down my gullet faster than it took to put it in the bowl. As far as food is concerned I am well into my element when there are stir-fried noodles. I loved the mixture of vegetables and, most of all, the peanuts on top. It takes a while to chop up all the ingredients but it was worth the effort.

Calorie Count: 471 per serving

Day 286: Chorizo and Mushroom Fideuà

It has been a good while since I tried to make a paella so I felt it was time to make one. This appears to be a common theme in this blog but I guess it makes sense seeing how I have made plenty of different delectables meaning that whenever I have the fancy to revisist one it is bound to be a long time… now where was I?

Ah yes. I did a little research into alternatives to paella and I came across a page detailing fideuà. This is a dish, fairly recent in the history of Spanish cuisine, from the east-coast of Spain where they decided to use angel-hair noodles in the place of rice. I was unable to find this anywhere so I assumed that vermicelli would make for a more than adequate substitution.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 12 oz onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2lb pound mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tsps paprika
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, diced
• 3 cups low-salt chicken stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 5 oz chorizo, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 12 oz vermicelli

Pre-heat oven to 210°C.

Heat the oil in a deep oven-safe saucepan. Add the onions and garlic and cook these for 8 minutes, constantly keeping them moving so that they do not burn. Add in the mushrooms and sauté them for 4 minutes before adding in the paprika and cayenne pepper. Make sure the mushrooms are well coated in the spice then add in the pepper and tomato, sautéing them for 2 minutes. Add in the chicken stock, chorizo and wine then bring to the simmer. Add the vermicelli and cook for 8 minutes before putting the pan in the oven to bake for 25 minutes so that the top of the fideua is crispy.

Adapted from here

Verdict: First thing, to get it out of the way, I really wish I had used red or yellow pepper in the place of green… I can not abide green pepper and can not for the life of me understand why I did not decide to do the substitution. Despite of this I have to admit that I am now a bit of a fideuà fan and wish that it would be more readily available in Britain. Then again, for something that was so delicious and filling it was not at all hard to make. In fact, I can see myself making a different type of fideuà at some point.

Calorie Count: 451 per serving

Day 274: Minced Beef Cobbler

When you first think of ‘cobbler’ then the image of something not unlike apple crumble is probably the first thing to come to mind. It is referenced regularly in American television shows, usually with the word ‘peach’ in front of it.

However, it is also a savoury dish (yes I was surprised as well) where a minced meat base is covered with something not too unlike dumplings. I guess the only way they differ from dumplings is the lack of suet or potato. This is a quick meal to make and looks rather cool when it comes out of the oven.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 500g extra-lean beef mince
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 140g chestnut mushrooms, diced
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 500ml beef stock
• 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 140g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 4 tbsp low-fat natural yogurt
• 140g frozen peas

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Fry the mince and onion in a large non-stick frying pan over a high flame so that it browns. As you stir it break up the mince with a spatula. Add the mushrooms, stock, Worcestershire sauce and plain flour. Then bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

To make the cobbles, mix the self-raising flour, thyme and yoghurt together in a bowl. Gradually add in cold water a bit at a time until it makes a scone-like dough. Roll this out on a lightly floured surface so it’s a about 1.5cm thick. Divide this into 12 pieces.

Add the mince mixture to a baking dish and stir in the peas. Lay the cobbles on top and then bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Adapted from Good Food Magazine – November 2010

Verdict: Since I was basically expecting something with dumplings I was slightly dissapointed… but when I got over the fact that cobbles are basically the culinary love child of scones and dumplings I did enjoy it a lot more. In a way I guess this is a lot like a cottage pie without mashed potatoes so that is more than fine by me (since I really do dislike mashed potato).

Calorie Count: 349 per serving

Day 227: Beef Stroganoff

Call me stupid but I never realised that stroganoff came from Russia. I mean the clue to its origins are even in its name (especially when you find out that the other spelling for it is stroganov) so when I looked that it up on Wikipedia and saw Russia show up I was surprised at how oblivious I had been to not make the connection. It would not have helped that I have never cooked or eaten stroganoff. Nor do I believe I have ever been in the same room as someone who has ordered it or even talked about it.

I really wanted to use my slow cooker again so this appeared like a good thing to make. One thing that I had not factored in is the sheer amount of mushrooms involved. As someone who is not a big fan of mushrooms as a dominant flavour this is a really big risk for me. Not as much of a risk for mum and the boyfriend as this recipe is right up their alley. I mean yesterday’s pea soup was a bit of a risk but today is a big one for me.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 500g beef shin meat, trimmed of fat and cut across the grain into chunks
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsps Dijon mustard
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 225g mushrooms, sliced
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1 cup beef stock
• 300g low-fat sour cream
• 120g dry egg noodles, cooked

If needed, pre-heat your slow cooker. Add the beef, onion, parsley, mustard, salt, pepper, tarragon, mushrooms and garlic to the slow cooker and combine. In a small bowl add the flour and beef stock, whisk them together until completely combined and then mix with the rest of the ingredients. Stick the lid on the slow cooker and set on high for 1 hour, after this put it on low for 8-9 hours.

Take the lid off and rest of 10 minutes before stirring in the sour cream and serving over the noodles.

Adapted from here

Verdict: I’m going to be completely honest here but I really did not like this. Like I said before I am not exactly a fan of mushrooms so this was not for me. Of course my mum really liked it and so would like me to make this again (ugh). The boyfriend ate it and later told me that he loved it, especially how creamy it tasted… so if you are a fan of mushrooms this is apparently an essential.

Calorie Count: 404 per serving

Day 218: Singapore Noodles

Happy Valentine’s Day people! To celebrate this I may have bled quite a bit when making this. I cut the tip of my left index finger whist chopping up the peppers for this recipe so I am going to be writing the rest when my cut has healed a bit… since it’s really hard to type without bending that finger.

When I think about the food that I have blogged about there are three topics that tend to come up a lot: my favourite chefs, takeaways and chinese food. Of course my forces of habit strike again with today’s recipe for Singapore noodles by Ching-He Huang. I gush about her and her recipes because she was of such a huge inspiration to me and got me into cooking. Whilst the recipe for beef in oyster sauce that I previously blogged about is one of hers it was this one that I made first, the reason being that this was my nan’s favourite dish when we ordered takeaway (although she always asked for it less spicy).

In order to make this I made a few changes to bring it below the 500 calorie per serving mark. I reduced the overall portion size by about 20% and replaced regular smoked bacon with smoked turkey bacon. Due to availability I split the amount of noodles between egg and rice, replaced beansprouts with extra carrots and shiitake mushrooms with regular white ones. There was also the use of cooked pork in the place of cooked chicken for the sheer reason that we had a pork chop left over from Sunday lunch.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 2 tbsp groundnut oil
• 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 5 white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp ground turmeric
• 240g prawns, defrosted
• 150 g smoked turkey bacon, diced
• 1 red pepper, seeds removed and sliced
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 150 g cooked pork, diced
• 125g dried vermicelli noodles, soaked in hot water for 10 minute
• 90g dried egg noodles,
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 dash of sesame oil
• 3 spring onions, sliced lengthways

Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the ginger, chilli, mushrooms and turmeric for a few seconds. Then add the prawns and the bacon and fry them for about a minute. To this pour in the red pepper, carrot and the cooked pork and stir fry for a further minute.

Tip the noodles into the wok, stir fry for 2 minutes and then stir in the chilli flakes, soy sauce, oyster sauce and vinegar. Add the beaten egg and stir gently until the egg is cooked through. Add the dash of sesame oil stir the serve with the spring onions sprinkled on top.

Adapted from Chinese Food Made Easy

Verdict: The best thing about Singapore noodles is the afterburn. The large amounts of turmeric doesn’t just give it a rather pleasing colour without the use of additives (although it is one of the dishes great appeals) but it also gives the dish an earthy taste which allows the piquancy of the chilli to be felt a lot later than usual. The time that it takes to make this is slightly less than what it would from the local takeaway and since it tastes about the same (if not slightly better) and is a lot healthier I declare this a success.

Calorie Count: 450 per serving

Day 204: Szechuan Braised Meatballs

Truth be told… there has been a long time between originally making this recipe and this write-up. I kind of reached a breaking point with my journalism course that I no longer had time to cook dinner when I got home, even my weekends would be filled with ether my tears because I was so stressed or with revision… so then I gave it up and here we are.

Today I was actually on a work experience placement at The Observer. I have had nothing to do all week (well for 2 and a half days) and this got me to thinking. Journalism training and writing had completely sapped any positive feelings that I had towards writing. I was ready to give this blog up because the idea of coming home to do more writing just exhausted me. The sad fact that I was spending 3-4 hours every night after I got home at 1830-1900 making notes meant it was also not possible. So… the hope is that by the time this gets published I will have a general idea of future employment (if not an interview or two).

Back on cookery… this recipe originally called for Szechuan sauce… but I could not find that anywhere. Therefore, I used a mixture of hoisin sauce, tabasco and tamari. I have also omitted the water chestnuts for the sheer reason that I hate them. Really. They’re revolting.

Sorry. Accidentally deleted the photo of this meal

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 450g lean beef mince
• 2 tsps and 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 cup beef stock
• 4 tsps groundnut oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1 dash tabasco sauce
• 4 cups napa cabbage, shredded
• 400g button mushrooms, sliced

Mix the beef, five-spice, and 2 tsps of cornflour together in a bowl. Make 12 meatballs from this mixture. In a seperate bowl mix the beef stock in with the remaining cornflour.

Heat 2 tbsp of the groundnut oil in a wok or a large frying pan. Add the meatballs to this and cook so that they are well browned on the outside, turning once. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Remove the meatballs from the pan/wok.

Now add the remaining oil and fry the garlic with the chilli flakes for 30 seconds. Now add the beef stock, hoisin sauce, tamari, tabasco, mushrooms and cabbage and stir these all together for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat, add the meatballs and then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Make sure the meatballs are cooked through before serving.

Adapted from here

Verdict: The meatballs themselves were a tad bland (and a bit too big) so I would suggest adding a spice like ground coriander or maybe some spring onions. The sauce, however, was absolutley delicious. I think that I would probably add more tabasco to it next time, I sure have become addicted to spice.

Since these are meatballs I would suggest serving these with noodles like I did. I do love a good bowl of meatballs and noodles.

Calorie Count: 295 per serving

Day 173: Oyster Mushroom and Tofu Laksa

As of writing this I was on work experience at Supply Management magazine (some months ago now). This meant that I had a deal with the parental that since she had to wait in this afternoon for an electrican to fix the shower (how I miss thee) she would be making dinner. So I chose  a recipe with many ingredients to even the score a little bit… tee hee.

However, I wasn’t able to just sit to the site practicing my shorthand. Oh no. I had to help her work out substitutions. I didn’t mind really… anything to procrastinate from doing shorthand. Therefore, substitutions that we made are: tinned tomatoes instead of fresh ones, jarred lemongrass instead of a lemongrass stalk and some rice noodles to make up for the fact that we only had half of the amount of egg noodles than th recipe required. Ah well.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 2 red chillies
• 30g ginger, peeled
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp lemongrass paste
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander stalks, chopped
• 1 tbsp tamarind sauce
• 50ml groundnut oil
• 250g tinned plum tomatoes, chopped
• 500ml groundnut stock
• 400ml low fat coconut milk
• 125g tofu, cut into big chunks
• 250g oyster mushrooms, shredded
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 100g egg noodles, cooked according to packet instructions
• 100g rice vermicelli, cooked according to packet instructions
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 lime, quartered

Blend the chilli, ginger, garlic, coriander seeds, coriander stalks, tamarind and oil into a paste using a food processor.

Heat a wok over a high heat and fry the paste for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes then add the coconut milk and stock and bring to a boil. Then add the tofu, mushrooms, noodles and soy sauce and cook for 8 minutes. Serve with a wedge of lime and a sprinkling of spring onion.

Adapted from here

Verdict: They say that the best food is the food that is cooked for you, which is no slight to this recipe since it was lovely. I enjoyed not having to cook (well I helped a bit but still…) so I could just settle down with an episode of The Big Bang Theory and slurp the noodles.

We only used rice vermicelli since we had run out of the egg noodles but I would never make laksa with any other noodles now. The mix really helped out. The pity is that 90 calories per serving derives from the oil in the paste but it is a sad fact of life that fat and oil add taste… blast.

Calorie Count: 438 per serving

Day 144: Pizza with The Works: Thin Cooking Style

When I first resolved to make pizza suitable for Thin Cooking it didn’t take long to decide what to put on it: anything and everything. There had to be a bit of mental reorganisation before I actually went out to get ingredients since I was beginning to wonder whether almonds would make a decent topping… something to try later when I have actually got the hang of making pizza methinks.

So in making this we (since this was a dual effort between me and the boyfriend) opted to go for tried and true ingredients rather than obscure ones that would threaten to jellify or spontaneously combust. They needed to be a mix of meat and vegetables with the obligatory topping of cheese, that much we were sure of. Since this was going to be a Thin Cooking pizza certain things were immediately discounted such as salami, chorizo, full fat mozzarella and pepperoni. I didn’t mourn the loss of the latter since it’s always my least favourite element of a meat pizza. Also I had to put my foot down when it came to onion or sweetcorn on a pizza as I think both are revolting when raw let alone semi-cooked on a pizza. I think the ingredients we chose were a nice cross-section of what we know works… minus pineapple as it really would not have set well next to anchovies at the best of times.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1 batch of pizza dough and sauce
• 50g ricotta
• 2 button mushrooms, destalked and thinly sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 12 green olives, destoned and quartered
• 8-10 anchovies
• 50g proscuitto, cut up
• 120g light mozzarella, shredded

Prepare 1 batch of pizza dough and sauce as found on my previous page then preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius. Transfer the rolled out pizza dough to a baking sheet and then add a layer of sauce to the base. Then add the rest of the ingredients in this order: ricotta, pepper, mushroom, olives, ham, anchovies and then the mozzarella. If you want to add a light sprinkling of parmesan over the whole thing I wouldn’t blame you at all.

Add the pizza to the oven and then cook for 15-20 minutes. Cut it up and serve with some salad.

Verdict: There are no words to describe how intoxicating gorgeous the smell of the pizza cooking in the oven was. I will admit that I opened the oven periodically to give the pizza a big whiff. I know it sounds a little bit sad (and by a little bit I mean so sad that I am slightly ashamed to admit it on here) but there we are.

There is an old adage that less is more and for cooking I tend to agree with it. With this pizza the saying is thrown out of the window since it was delicious. The anchovies, olives and ham were very dominant flavours but there was a nice undercurrent of the bell peppers, cheese and tomato sauce. All together there was not a weak link in the chain. In fact this will spur me on to make even more types of pizza.

Calorie Count: 393 per serving