Chicken chilli ramen

I made a batch of chicken stock yesterday from Sunday's roast chicken and The Woo requested a Wagamama style chicken chilli ramen for supper.  I've never made one before so based tonight's offering on a Tom Yum Ghai recipe I made a few times years ago; with a bit of a chilli and vegetable twist to keep my Woo happy.

I reheated the stock to a gentle simmer and placed four skinless chicken breasts to gently poach.  There were only two of us eating but this would make a decent amount for lunch and leftovers tomorrow.  I also added a scattering of dried shiitake mushrooms to allow them to rehydrate in the stock and take on some of the chicken flavour.

Whilst the chicken was poaching I added a couple of finely sliced stalks of lemongrass, three birdseye chillis and five finely sliced cloves of garlic.  I wanted a really fresh spicy garlic kick to the ramen.  Half a finely sliced (large - so a whole small one would do just as well!) red onion also hit the stock right about now!

Once the chicken was cooked and still moist - around 20 minutes or so - I removed it from the stock and set it to one side to cool.  I carried on gently simmering the stock to cook out the onion and garlic etc.  Once cool enough to handle I pulled the chicken into fairly large chunks and returned it to the stock.

In went some udon style noodles, a few sugar snap peas and mangetouts and a minutes or so later a handful of chopped spring onions and a good couple of handfuls of chopped coriander.


It certainly had a kick to it and I reckon was about as authentic as I could make it!  The Woo certainly approved and there was very little leftovers so sadly a spartan lunch for us tomorrow!

Chicken stock

I hate waste - especially food - as virtually anything in the fridge can be used up with just a little imagination.  Our freezer is packed with tubs of soup, stew, stock and other bits and pieces made from leftover fridge stuff rather than throw it away.

The carcass from yesterday's roast chicken was taken apart and made into a stock with the addition of just an onion, a stick of celery, a couple of carrots, a leftover leek, two bay leaves, a couple of sprigs of thyme and a sprinkle of sea salt and a few black peppercorns.  Brought to the boil and simmered for about an hour to extract all the chicken flavour from the bones then left to cool before sieving and taking the fat off ready for tomorrow's soup.

The shredded bits of skin and gristle, the de-boned stock vegetables and the scooped off fat made a welcome addition to the dogs' supper.  They loved it!

A Knight's Tail

A bit of a take on cottage pie.  This is labour intensive but tastes absolutely delicious and can be prepared the day before and refrigerated overnight.

I watched an episode of  'Come Dine With Me' where someone had made a version of Cottage Pie with oxtail and decided to do my own version.  The Woo's Dad hates oxtail as he had it virtually every day of the week when he was growing up but he loves Shepherd's/Cottage Pie so the challenge was to sneak one by him and see if he enjoyed it.

I did a combination of oxtail and chuck steak for the filling.  I browned both of the meats in a pan and then slowly braised them in a bottle of red wine with a chunky mirepoix (onion, carrots and celery).  Also in there was a little garlic, a couple of bay leaves and some seasoning.  This was slowly cooked in a low oven for a good three and a half hours.

Once cooked and cool enough to handle I shredded the oxtail off the bone and pulled apart the very tender pieces of steak.  These were mixed together in a bowl and reserved.

I softened another mirepoix; this time finely diced in a little oil, in a pan and added some chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and a little stock.  This was cooked out and reduced a little and then in went the reserved meat.  All cooked together with a little seasoning and then scooped out into individual serving bowls and topped with cheesy, mustardy mash.  Into  hot oven for about 30 minutes until the top went golden brown.  I served mine with a braised red cabbage which was mixed with the leftover juices from the meat mixture.  It was the most unctuous Cottage Pie ever and Arthur loved it...RESULT!

Guinea fowl soup

The Woo went to Tonbridge Farmers' Market on Sunday while I was doing a bit of overtime at work and picked up a couple of lovely guinea fowl.  She concocted an amazing roast with all the trimmings whilst I was watching the rugby with an IPA or three and we feasted with local band Ross and the Wrongens in the early evening.  Safe to say it was a big hit!

They all disappeared off (after doing the washing up - good lads!) to put the covers on their new EP 'Rat Race'.  This band is well worth looking out for and their music is top notch - the EP's a great listen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TKMxHssKrc) but they're even better live!  You can follow them on twitter as well - @thewrongens - and that way you'll be up-to-date with all their local gigs, merchandise etc.

Rumour has it they'll be busking outside Waterstone's in TW on Friday while David Attenborough signs copies of his new book.  They aim to raise money to buy the book and anything left over will be donated to The Hospice in the Weald.  So spread the word and if you see them - give generously!

So back to the guinea fowl.

Yesterday I made a stock from the bones.  Into a pan went about two litres cold water and the two stripped carcasses.  To this was added a roughly chopped leek, carrot and stick of celery.  In went a couple of chopped onions, a bay leaf and some seasoning.  Brought to the boil, covered and left to simmer for about an hour.  When cool I strained off the veg and refrigerated overnight.

Little goes to waste in this house - the stock veg was used to top up the dogs' meals this evening!

For the soup I cooked up three large potatoes, a carrot and a leek; all diced/chopped to roughly the same size.  When the vegetables were soft I blitzed the soup and then in went three diced sweet potatoes, another chopped leek, some leftover curly kale from the fridge and a handful of 'topped and tailed' chantenay carrots.  Once all cooked through I bunged in all he leftover guinea fowl which had been stripped off the carcasses prior to the stock being made and let it warm through.  A touch of seasoning to taste and then served.

Sam and I had ours sprinkled with mature cheddar and chunks of artisan bread on the side whilst The Woo knocked up a couple of slices of her magical cheese on toast to go with hers.

An absolute winter warmer that went down a treat!