Issue 024

April 2007

Stir fries originated hundreds of years ago; they were cooked on a fire made of bamboo, as they didn’t have gas in those days. To preserve the bamboo they decided they had to cook quickly, this is why all of their ingredients are cut finely so they require minimum cooking time, hence saving trees.


Chicken stir fry

Ingredients

1 each chicken breast (or tofu / turkey equivalent)

1 each bag of mixed stir fry vegetable

40gm light soy sauce (plenty of shaking the bottle to taste)

20gm sweet chilli sauce (a little shaking the bottle, to taste)

20gm tomato ketchup (a little shaking the bottle to taste)

1 clove fresh chopped garlic

10gm fresh chopped ginger (small knob)

Pinch dried chilli flakes

15 ml x 2 vegetable oil

Method

For this simple stir fry make sure you have everything ready to start with, because once you start cooking it hardly takes any time at all.

  • Peel and chop both the ginger and garlic as fine as possible.
  • Dice or slice the chicken into evenly sized strips. Heat a little oil in a pan and add the chicken (place it away from you to avoid burning yourself). Make sure it all has space in the pan to cook and keep it moving. This will take about two minutes if your pan is hot.
  • Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. The chicken only takes a little time to cook due to the residual heat it contains, so don’t worry about cooking it lightly to start with. By the time it has sat in the bowl and rested, then been tossed back into the pan, it will be cooked through.
  • Put the pan back on the heat, add a dash more oil and heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stir these around; don’t let them burn or darken.
  • As soon as the aroma hits you (maybe 30 seconds or so) add the vegetables and let these cook, toss these around continuously using a spoon so the pan stays on the heat. 
  • After 2 minutes, add the chicken back in along with all of your sauces, mix and warm through for a minute or so. If necessary, add a dash more chilli and/or soy sauce to taste. 

Storage

If you have some left this is fine to save for the next day, or for after training.

Serving instruction

To top this off, you can throw some nuts and sesame seeds on top. This is a great and simple dish and requires minimum effort, the chilli will boost your metabolism, it’s packed full of nutrients with the vegetables and the ginger is a great antioxidant. After you have made it the first time you can change the recipe yourself, it you like it hotter or with more of a garlic taste to it, be adventurous.  



Mushroom soup

Ingredients

800gm field mushrooms

200gm Spanish onion

100gm fresh thyme (tied with string)

30ml olive oil

Salt and pepper

750ml-1ltr skimmed milk or chicken stock

15gm Dijon mustard (optional)

This is a great meal and very healthy, you can use the ratio of 3 vegetables to 1 part onion with most soups and the same principles i.e. of minimum cooking time and hot liquids. You don’t need fresh stock for the soup as we are not all chefs, so take a stock cube and make this up with boiling water from the kettle, it will add more flavour to the soup as opposed to water.  

This recipe makes around 6 portions. You will fine it very filling, so it’s perfect to freeze in portions and then defrost when necessary.  

Method

  • Peel and finely slice the onion, set aside. Finely slice the mushrooms and set these to one side. 
  • In a pan heat the stock / milk to make the soup, do not boil. When hot, take it off the heat.
  • In a separate pan, add a little olive oil and heat this until it coats the bottom of the pan. Add the onions and allow these to sweat (meaning sauté without colouring) gently. Keep stirring to prevent caramelising. Once the onions are translucent remove and set aside in a dish.
  • Add a little more oil to the pan and heat. Add the mushrooms & thyme and caramelise, season with salt and pepper.  
  • Add the onions and stock back to the pan, bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Pour into a larger container to stop any further cooking and remove the thyme. 
  • Add a little of the soup to the blender and blend until smooth. Once all of the soup is blended you can taste it and correct the seasoning.

If you prefer the soup a little thinner you can add more liquid and stir this in. When you blend this up it is great with some Dijon mustard thrown into the blend.  

 


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