Grilled Pork and Noodle Soup

Otherwise known as pork chop soup. This started around the time that Wagamama started in London. I really liked their noodle soups - the way they somehow got a whole meal into a large bowl that firstly was visually arresting when it was served while giving off an intriguing aroma and then was full of contrasting flavours and textures so that each mouthful was different from first to last. Initially I just ate at Wagamama a lot. Then I started tinkering at home to make my own versions and discovered that not only is this soup easy to make, there are endless variations around the basics of stock, noodles, greens and a poached egg.

The recipe below is last nights version.

Grilled Pork & Noodle Soup

2 pork chops
800ml/1 1/4 pts stock
250g/ 1/2lb chinese greens like bok choy
1/4 savoy cabbage, shredded
1 tbspn olive or peanut oil
1 tspn sesame oil
200g/ 6oz dried egg noodles
2 eggs
small bunch coriander, chopped

Season the pork chops and put under a medium grill, turning occasionally till cooked. At the same time, heat half the oil in a large saucepan, wash the bok choy and add it, with any water clinging to the leaves, to the hot oil. Cover with a lid and cook till just wilted. Drain in a colander and set aside. Heat the other half of the oil, wash the shredded cabbage and add it to the hot oil and cover and cook till just wilted. Add it to the colander with the bok choy then toss with a little sesame oil. Cover with the lid from the pan and set aside.

Heat the stock to simmering. Add the dried noodles and cook gently for a few minutes. By this time the pork chops should be done - take them out from under the grill and slice. Take the noodles from the stock with a pasta spoon and make a little nest in the base of two large bowls. Turn the heat up under the stock to full. Break an egg into the middle of each nest then ladle boiling stock over them to poach them - they should cook immediately. Arrange the sliced pork and the shredded veg around the egg then top with more stock. Sprinkle generously with coriander and serve.

This makes for a quick supper - it is all done in the time it takes to grill the pork chops. You can use steak or chicken or tofu, grilled prawns would be nice, add chillies and spring onions and fried shallots or garlic slivers or bean sprouts or all of the above, if your bowls are big enough.

Blanquette de Veau

Veal is a by product of the dairy industry. For dairy cows to continue to produce milk they need to calve each year. Female calves are introduced into the dairy herd to allow the herd to grow and thrive but male calves are extraneous. Slaughtered young they provide a delicate meat that is widely used in French and Italian cooking in particular. They have often been, and in some countries still are, raised during their short lives in extremely cruel conditions crated into small wooden boxes and force fed milk substitute, denied both exercise and natural light as well as social interaction with other calves. If you don't know the provenance of the veal don't buy it.

Unsurpisingly studies have found carcasses of group-housed calves were heavier than those of crated calves and with higher average daily gain and feed conversion there is better carcass conformation and carcass tenderness, and better flavor than crated calves. The meat is not as pale but in fact consumers are not looking for 'white' veal - just meat that is high quality and delicately flavoured. It is well worth searching out the best - as with all your food - and you shall be well rewarded.

Blanquette de veau is a rustic french veal dish that has been around so long that it can rightly be considered a classic. It takes simple ingredients and methods and transforms them into something luscious and elegant and one of my favourite dishes of all time. There are many versions throuhgout France. This recipe comes from 'Goose Fat & Garlic' by Jeanne Strang, a book I bought after I'd spent some time in south west France and had gone in search of local recipes. Having used it to learn how to make perfect grilled magret and a rich daube this book has become one of my favourites.

Blanquette de Veau du Carcassès

800g/(1 3/4 lb) stewing veal

1 tbspn goose fat

150ml/1/4 pt) dry white wine

400ml (3/4 pt) water

1 onion stuck with 2 cloves

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

1 leek, cleaned and white part sliced

bouquet garni of thyme, bay, parsley and rosemary

salt, pepper, nutmeg

10-12 little onions or 3 medium sized ones

250g (1/2 lb) mushrooms, preferably girolles if you can afford them, or else something tasty

60g (2oz) butter

45g (1 1/2oz) butter plus 2 tbspns plain flour (for the roux)

2 egg yolks

2 tbspns double cream

juice of 1 lemon

Trim and cube the meat. Blanch it for a few seconds in boiling water, then drain it and plunge into cold water and then drain again.

Melt the goose fat in a casserole, add the blanched veal and stir to seal. Add the wine and water, onion with cloves, carrot, leek, bouquet garni and seasoning. Quarter the onions or, if you are using little pickling ones, blanch them whole, then add them to the meat. Bring the casserole to the boil slowly then gently simmer for an hour or so, until the meat is tender.

This is a perfect point to turn it off then cover, allow to cool and refrigerate overnight. The flavour will develop beautifully.

Reheat the stew, then cook the mushrooms briefly in a little butter. Make a roux in a separate pan by melting the butter till just turning golden, stir in the flour and cook until it is biscuity in colour and aroma. Moisten it with about half a cup of veal stock from the casserole, stirring to make a smooth sauce. Bring the sauce to the boil then simmer very gently for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile beat up the egg yolks, cream and lemon juice in a bowl. When the sauce is ready stir a ladleful into the egg/cream/lemon mix and then tip the lot back into the sauce. Mix thoroughly and add to the casserole. Add the mushrooms and their juice and stir to incorporate. Check the seasoning then serve.

We had it on Sunday with plain steamed white rice and brussel sprouts and it was wonderful.

I Bought

Saturday was an absolutely glorious winter day - clear blue skies, bright sun and properly cold - just fabulous. Arriving early we found Borough Market was fairly quiet so shopping was an unadulterated pleasure.

At Ginger Pig we bought diced veal, sausages, pork chops and eggs for £23

We had a friendly chat with the nice man at Mrs Kings Pork Pie stand and admired the shiny silver cups they won last week, coming first in two categories at the annual Melton Mowbray show, so we bought a lovely golden pie to take home - £4.50

Quick chat with Garry from Total Organics as he set out his cheeses in the xmas market - seems Railtrack have finally got the go ahead to expand London Bridge station and so they will wipe out a swathe of Borough

Bought apples from Chegworth Valley - £1.30

Carrots from the main Total Organics - £1.20

Horse mushrooms, fat shiny brussel sprouts, onions, garlic, mixed salad leaves from Booths £3.40

Buffalo mozzerella and parma ham from the little stall near the front - £7.50

Apple strudel from a new cake stall that had a lovely - and irresistable - display £2

Milk, bread, yoghurt and cream from Neals Yard - £10.50

A small tub of green olives with tarrragon and garlic from Borough Olives - £2

Cornish double cream from Wild Beef - £1.50

My sweetheart, feeling virtuous for not indulging last week, insisted on a chocolate brownie this week - £1.50

A very reasonable £58.40

This Week

Posting blog 100! Time to spread the word a little more.

But to the topic at hand. This week was not entirely smooth - some things worked better than others and some things fell by the wayside.

Saturday we had bread and jam and coffee after the market then set off to the private view of the latest work by the Boyle Family and it is fascinating. A study of the growth of a random sweeping of seeds during the summer, it is a projection of images taken for 1 second every 10 minutes 24/7 for months. It's extraordinary how much changes between frames and how easy it is to get caught up watching the movement of light. Brilliant. Then we tottered off to Taj Stores because it was nearby for some bits and pieces and then home to a quick snack first of sausage roll then chinesey roasted spare ribs, green peppers stir fried with black beans and rice later. Good.

Sunday we started with porridge and the papers and coffee. I started off a huge pot of chicken stock with bits and pieces of chicken I have frozen lately and the carcasses I bought plus lots of vegetables. By the time it was gently simmering the sun was shining in a clear blue sky so we wandered over to the Tate for a little culture then home later for scotch egg and housework. Dinner was the first attempt at Bali food at home - dry spiced beef and bali salad with rice. It took a little longer than I was expecting - forgot to factor in that when we'd made them at the cooking school there was a dozen of us plus a back up professional kitchen (!) but, when we got there, it was a triumph.

Monday it was coffee and cereals and yoghurt for breakfast and the same, as usual, for the week, lunch was leftover spiced beef and rice for a little filip in the middle of the day, same Tuesday and dinner was smoked salmon, beetroot salad, rocket and crusty bread - perfect.

Tuesday dinner was less successful - I kept one of the slices of topside I bought for the spiced beef to make a stir fry with fresh coriander and it turned out okay but not brilliant partly because I only had a tiny bit of peanut oil so didn't deep fry the marinated meat. I made sea spice aubergine to go with it which is one of my favourite dishes and it too was a disaster. The oven is playing up - it turns itself off for no reason, then the electronic spark clicks loudly and it eventually reignites and I think the heat must have dropped significantly so the aubergine were under cooked and it all went bad from there. At least the rice was nice.

Wednesday my lovely boyfriend had the last of the spiced beef with fresh rice from the night before with cucumber, sugar snaps and discs of carrots for lunch and I made a salad box with rice for me and a boiled egg which I forgot to take. So we regrouped Wednesday night and went to see the highly praised 'London to Brighton' - which is most of all like a very good episode of 'The Sweeney' so interesting rather than brilliant, then had dinner at 'Upstairs' on Acre Lane which, too, was interesting rather than brilliant.

Thursday I bought a wild boar chorizo roll from Denhays stall in the second food market on Whitecross Street and some rye bread to go with bacon and barley soup from the freezer when I got home from the last of my French classes for the year which was lovely when I got in out of the lashing gales

Friday I made a vegemite sandwich on rye for my love with an apple for his lunch and I shall find a treat at Whitecross Street again then we shall probably have spicy corn fritters and a repeat of the Bali salad for dinner using the rest of the cabbage and beans and coconut

So I didn't use the chicken I had bought for lunches - that went into the freezer and can come out again for next week, there is also some celery and potatoes that may well be used this week and otherwise we ate pretty much everything. Though last week's butternut is still sitting happily untouched in the vegetable rack

Spiced Beef and Bali Salad

Decided to abandon cold weather food and go instead for the hot clean spiciness of Asia for a few days. My sweet pea is susceptible to the winter blues. He blossomed into cheerfulness in the tropical paradise that is Bali but we are both a bit flat now that we're back in London so, in addition to lovely hot porridge for Sunday breakfast which is guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face, I thought I'd try some of the newly learned Bali dishes. Maybe get a little sparkle back.

The spiced beef wasn't something I'd had before but we ate the salad both at Bumbu and Desak made it for us a couple of times at the villa and every time it was wonderful. It is hot with chilli and sweet with grated coconut and sour with bean sprouts and cabbage and generally amazing and utterly unlike anything I've made before.

Attending the cooking class meant that I knew where I was headed before I started - such knowledge is valuable. The most direct thing I could apply for this meal was the correct way to use shrimp paste. It is a common Asian condiment and is known as terasi (also spelled trassi, terasie) in Indonesian, kapi (กะปิ) in Thai, belacan (also spelled belachan, blachang, balachong) in Malay, mam tom in Vietnamese and bagoong alamang/aramang in Filipino.If you've never used it you will be astounded by the smell - it is very very pungent. Imagine the smell of prawns that have gone off - then imagine the smell if, instead of immediately getting rid of them you left them in the sun for a few more weeks to rot beyond recognition. That is like the smell that greets you when you unwrap the little brick of shrimp paste from its many layers of paper and plastic. For the Malay version, rather than rot them in the sun, they pound them with salt and bury them for a couple of months, then dig them up again and make them into bricks to sell. Mmmm.

Anyway, the proper way to treat shrimp paste before adding it to a dish is to put it into a hot dry pan and break it up with a wooden spoon and then continue cooking it till it is smoking - and smelling even stronger! This process takes about ten minutes - it becomes crumbly and then it is ready to be used. It adds a deep savouriness to the dish without being identifiable - amazing given its aroma.

BE SAMPI MESITSIT(Dry Spiced Beef)

Don’t be misled by the rather uninteresting appearance and name of this beef dish. It is wonderfully flavored and generally so popular that it’s worth making a large amount. Cook as directed below, then if you have leftovers after a meal, deep fry the beef until very crisp. Drain thoroughly and store in an airtight container. This crisp beef is excellent as a finger food with cocktails, and also makes a tasty accompaniment to rice-based meals.

INGREDIENTS :
1 kg beef topside, cut in 4 steaks 250g each
8 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 tbsp chopped palm sugar
2 large red chilies, seeded
2 tbsp laos peeled and sliced
2 tsp dried shrimp paste
2 cloves ground
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp freshly squeezed limejuice

PREPARATIONS :Bring 5 liters (20 cups) of lightly salted water to the boil in stockpot. Add beef and simmer for approximately 1 hour, until very tender. Remove from stock. Meat must be so tender that its fibers separate very easily. Pound meat until flat and shred by hand into fine fibers. Do not be tempted to use a food processor to shred the meat - you will end up with paste.

Place garlic, coriander, palm sugar, red chilies, Laos, dried shrimp paste, cloves, salt and peppercorns in food processor and puree coarsely, or grind in a stone mortar. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan and sauté the marinade for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add shredded beef, mix well and sauté until dry. Season with limejuice.Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Serve at room temperature.

Bali Salad - Jukut Urab

INGREDIENTS:
100 gr (3 ½ oz) blanched cabbage
100 gr (3 ½ oz) spinach, blanched
100 gr (3 ½ oz) long beans cut in 32,5 cm (line) pieces, blanched
100 gr (3 ½ oz) bean sprouts, blanched
1 large red chili, sliced
1 tbsp grated coconut
2 tbsp fried shallots

DRESSINGS:
2 tbsp fried shallots
2 tbsp sliced garlic clove
1 large red chili, seeded and sliced
2 tsp fried chili (Sambal Sereh Tabia)
3 fragrant lime leaves, very finely sliced
4 cm (1½ in) kencur, peeled & chopped
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper
½ teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon oil

PREPARATION:
Cut cabbage into pieces about 2,5 cm by 1 cm (1 in by ½ in). Combine all vegetables, chili, grated coconut and fried shallots in salad bowl and mix well.

For the dressing: Crush the garlic and fry very briefly in the oil. Combine all ingredients and mix well in separate bowl. Mix the dressing thoroughly with the vegetables; season to taste with salt, pepper and limejuice. Serve at room temperature.

Easy peasy and the result is a little bit of Bali bliss.

I Bought

Quietish at Borough Market this week early on and vaguely sunny to welcome the opening of the extra Christmas Market with it's giant snow flakes dangling from the ceiling and festive tunes from the Salvation Army Band in full voice and full regalia. Lots of people queueing to place their yuletide orders.

The promise of special things makes everyone seem cheerful.

I bought a chicken at Wyndhams and two carcasses for stock - £6

I bought some topside at Ginger Pig and a lovely meaty rack of pork ribs and some eggs - £16.80

Apples from Chegworth Valley from their new stand in the xmas hall but they have no scales so pricing is approximate - £1.20

Chick peas and carrots from Total Organics £2.85

Potatoes, spinach, cabbage, onions, garlic, sugar snaps - and a fresh hairy coconut - from Booths - £6.50

On the way back to Ginger Pig was delighted to see the Irish smoked salmon people at their stall - they've missed a few weeks because bad weather made the ferry crossing impossible - so I bought a tub of their finest salmon for a treat - £3.50

Then to Ginger Pig again for a hot sausage roll and a scotch egg - £6

Bought 3 green peppers, 2 aubergine and a cucumber from Tony (but not a partridge in a pear tree) - £3.40

Bread, milk and yoghurt from Neals Yard - £6.80

No chocolate brownie for my lovely one this week - he's worried about the volume of sweet treats he consumes all of a sudden - and there was still a few biscuits left in the Duchy of Cornwall box in the fridge in case of emergencies

A bargain week - £53.05

This Week

A mixed week. Still very mild in London but nasty wet at times too with great drifts of leaves piling up against fences. Saturday was a grazing kind of day. We had bread and home made marmalade - made by the lovely boyfriend's very talented mother - mid morning then slices of giant sausage roll after that. Mid afternoon snack was slices of scotch egg and then chunks of Pecorino and chinks of the softish truffle cheese. Later still we had prawns and crab and thick slabs of crusty bread and butter with a fine white wine - all in all a very pleasurable kind of day.

Sunday there were hailstones after heavy rain. We had porridge for breakfast - hot and comforting. My sweetheart eats his with cream and dark brown sugar and I like mine with butter and light brown sugar. Some people say we have nothing in common but it's not true - we both like porridge. Fortified, we decided to tackle the cupboard under the stairs which was bursting with all manner of stuff. Three hours later we rewarded ourselves with lunch at the Wheatsheaf. Roast pork with roasted winter vegetables and sprouts made for a very good dinner.

Monday coffee and cereals for breakfast and the same for the week, lunch was cold roast pork and the melange of veg and again on Tuesday, and we went to see the new Caryl Churchill play 'Drunk Enough to Say I Love You' which was extraordinary. Very short - 50 minutes and edited to the absolute essence - it was a two hander between Jack - as in Union - and Sam - as in Uncle. The core conceit was that Jack, in thrall, leaves his wife and family to be with Sam and it traced the arc of their relationship through their examination of the best way to be at war from Vietnam to now. It was let down slightly by the directing which lacked the courage of the writing but it was fascinating. We went home for a bowl of hot cauliflower and stilton soup.

Tuesday we had pasta for dinner with goats curd and rocket and chilli which was nice but would definitely be improved with more rocket. Next time.

Wednesday we had leftover pasta for lunch and then the utterly amazing chicken with cinnamon and lemon for dinner.

Thursday we had cold chicken and rice for lunch, again utterly enjoyable, and then scrambled eggs and crusty bread and cheese for a speedy supper after French

Friday I shall buy lunch from the Mario and Carol who have a stall selling hot Italian food in Whitecross Street. They used to run the Alba food store selling a range of homemade Italian food and high quality groceries but were driven out by the arrival of Waitrose across the street. A cheerful couple, they have decided the upside is that now they have the afternoons free. Tonight we'll have carbonara as I may be needing soft food after seeing the dentist this afternoon.

Not much left over at all this week - some potatoes which will probably be used over the weekend and some sprouts which may be ok or may be headed for the bin. And the butternut squash but it will last until another day.