Thai green curry paste

Ingredients for Thai green curry paste

Thai green curry paste

Another gem from the Wagamama cookbook. I made this today for curry-in-a-hurry tomorrow. Simply put all the above ingredients (in the quantities listed below) into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Purists would say you have to pound it in a pestle and mortar to release the oils properly, but I'll leave that decision to you. Once made, it can be kept in a jar in the fridge or frozen (in ice cube trays).

6 green chillies, roughly chopped
1 lemongrass stalk, outer leaves removed, sliced finely
3 kaffir lime leaves, sliced
1cm piece ginger root, peeled and grated
bunch of coriander stems
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted in a hot, dry frying pan
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

To make a chicken curry: Heat a couple of tablespoons of paste in a large frying pan with a teaspoon of palm (or brown) sugar. Pour in some coconut milk and when it comes to the boil add some finely chopped chicken and mini aubergine, followed by some halved baby corn. Cook until the chicken and aubergine are done. Finish with a generous squeeze of lime. Garnish with coriander and/or basil leaves.

Thai green curry paste

Nouvelle cuisine

Past experiences of introducing new meals into the household have not been entirely positive, but my children are both fans of Wagamama so I thought I'd try something from their cookbook. Child 1 came home from school with a stomach ache unable to eat, child 2 pushed it around her plate a bit, and my husband ate it all but didn't make any comment. I loved it, and urge you to try it!

Marinated chicken with orange, soy sauce and ginger 

(Serves 3-4)

For the marinade:

3cm piece root ginger, peeled and grated

1 garlic clove, crushed

zest and juice of 1 orange

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Put everything in a saucepan on a medium heat for a couple of minutes and stir until the sugar dissolves.

200g chicken meat, roughly chopped

150g medium noodles

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

a handful of mange tout or sugar snap peas, sliced

80g baby corn, halved lengthways

100ml chicken stock

1 tablespoon cornflour

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, briefly toasted in a hot, dry frying pan

1 lime, quartered

Marinate the chicken for between 1-24 hours. Cook the noodles, then drain and rinse with cold water. Heat the oil and cook the chicken (not the marinade) for a few minutes until golden. Add vegetables, remaining marinade and stock, and stir fry for another couple of minutes. Dissolve the cornflour in a little water and add to the pan, simmering for another minute or so until thickened. Add the noodles and sesame oil and stir well. Taste, and add more soy sauce if needed. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and serve with a wedge of lime. 

I didn't brown the chicken enough - but it was still delicious
(I also didn't have any sesame seeds or lime)

Tuna Tuesday

Somehow Tuesdays have become known as Tuna Tuesdays in this house.  Not that we're obsessed with food or anything! Owing to logistics, child 1 will be having a meal on the move today.  It will include her favourite, a tuna sandwich - half a can of tuna in spring water drained and mashed with salad cream.  No butter, crusts off.

The rest of us will be having pasta with last week's tomato and red pepper sauce.  I will stir in a generous lump of Quark to make it a creamy-but-still-low-fat sauce, and smother it with Grana Padano cheese.  I might stir the remains of the tin of tuna in - lovely if you like cat food!

Pudding will be an unashamedly easy 'Apple Fluff' (like apple fool, but easier).  Stew some apples, puree them in a blender.  Mix together one third apple and two thirds Ambrosia custard.

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This (above) is the beginning of our apple harvest. There will be a lot more about apples, including a recipe for apple jam as soon as I have tested it.

You can get through quite a lot of apples if you have a juicer. We have a basic model that cost about £40, but it works pretty well. Add a bit of peeled root ginger and/or some carrots. My children think it's a real treat - as good as the fresh juices in Wagamama. Praise indeed.

Going back to salad cream in sandwiches, I have to commend and recommend M&S' egg, salad cream and tomato sandwich. Simply delicious.