Thai Noodle Soup

This soup is soooo simple to make and has really nice clean flavours.

You Will Need:

600ml chicken stock
1 Pak Choi sliced
2 chopped spring onions
Shitake mushrooms sliced
a good dash of soy sauce
a good dash of oyster sauce
Sesame oil
Chopped baby corn or sliced water chesnuts
150 - 200g raw peeled prawns (cooked will do but raw will give greater flavour and be more tender)
Thai rice noodles (1 bundle should be enough)
Dried chilli flakes (optional)
1 tbs white sugar
Salt and white pepper

Pour the stock into a pot and bring it the boil then reduce to as gentle simmer. Skim off any foam that may form on the top. Add the water chesnuts if you are using them, if not add the baby corn. Now add the mushrooms and the prawns. Add a good dash of soy and oyster sauce and the white sugar. Season with the salt and pepper to your own taste. Now add a sprinkle of chilli flakes and the sliced pak choi followed by a bundle of dried rice noodles. Don't allow the soup to boil but simmer gently for no more than 5 minutes (more if the prawns aren't cooked through.) Serve in bowls and add the spring onion as a garnish and a smal drizzle of sesame oil. Then simply enjoy!

Asparaus & Salmon Pasta

I made this the other day with leftovers I had in the fridge. It was so quick, simple and really delicious!

You Will Need:

Cooked Salmon Fillet (poached is best)
Bacon lardons / chopped smoked bacon rashers
Asparagus
150g (about half a tub) creme freche
30-40g parmesan cheese
200g cooked penne pasta
salt and pepper to taste

Serves 2

First put your pasta on to boil following the instructions on the packet. Then clean your asparagus and steam them for about 3-4 mins. You're going to pan fry them in a minute so you don't want to steam them for too long, just enough to soften them a little, but still with plenty of bite. Overcooked asparagus is horrible!

Next pan fry the bacon lardons in a little butter on a medium to high heat until they are golden brown in colour. This should ony take a few minutes. Chop up your steamed aspargus and add to the bacon lardons in the pan. Then flake your cooked salmon fillet into bite size cunks and throw that in the pan too. Add a little pepper or all purpose seasoning if you want at this point but I don't like to add salt until I serve because bacon and the cheese have a lot of salt in them so you don't want to over season. After tossing the ingredients together in the pan for a minute or so, turn off the heat and put the pan to one side.

Drain your pasta well and return to the pot. Add your creme freche and the grated parmesan and stir well. The heat from the pasta will warm through the creme freche and melt the cheese. Add your asparagus, bacon and salmon and stir through. Taste and and season with a litle salt if required. I added a little Tony's Creole Seasoning instead of salt which was nice but you can only get this in the States.

Serve in a bowl with some garlic bread and enjoy! Simple as that - Takes no more than 10-15 mins from start to finish.

Extra Tip:

You could also use parma ham instead of bacon, you won't need to fry this for long, simply warm through with the salmon and the asparagus for a min or two.