Hoisin Chicken Noodles

There are many different kinds of noodle available and all of them are pretty much suitable for this dish.

I like to buy fresh noodles but you have to use them more or less straight away, although you can buy dried noodles which last for ages the next best thing to fresh in my opinion is “straight to wok” noodles which come packed with a good few months expiry date.

Hoisin Chicken Noodles

Serves 2             Time 40 minutes plus prep.

You will need

150 Gm - Fresh or “straight to wok” Noodles

2 - 3 Chicken Thighs (skinned, Boned and chopped)

2 tablespoons – Hoisin Sauce

A little Olive Oil

½ teaspoon – Soft Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon – Chinese Rice Wine

1 tablespoon – Light Soy Sauce

1 bunch - Spring Onions (shredded)

1 – Large Carrot (shredded or Very thinly sliced)

Mix the Hoisin, soft brown sugar, soy sauce and wine in a bowl.

Then add the chicken, mix well and leave for about 20 minutes.

Heat a little oil in a wok or large pan and add the chicken with a slotted spoon leaving most of the marinade in the bowl.

Cook the chicken for about 10 minutes.

When the chicken is cooked put it back into the bowl with the marinade.

Now put the carrot, spring onions (saving some for garnish) and mushrooms into the wok and stir fry for 3 – 5 minutes.

Add the noodles while the vegetables are frying.

Now add the chicken and marinade. 

Cook for a further 5 minutes then serve garnished with a few shredded spring onions.

Roasted Pepper & Prawn Spaghetti

In this particular dish I have prepared the spaghetti in my favourite way with butter and freshly ground black pepper.

I have also used my Free Flow Frozen Basil but if you are using fresh just put it in nearer the end of the process.

Roasted Pepper & Prawn Spaghetti

You will need

150 Gm - Spaghetti

180 Gm – Raw King Prawns

100 Gm - Butter

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

2 – Medium Red Peppers

1 – Medium Green Pepper

 2 cloves - Garlic (finely chopped)

1 - 400Gm Can Chopped Tomatoes

1 tablespoon - Basil

1 – Thumb size piece Ginger (finely chopped)

The Spaghetti

Cook the spaghetti to your preference.

Then pour it into a sieve and rinse with boiling water.

Now put about 50 Gm of butter and a few good turns of black pepper on top.

Toss the spaghetti as the butter melts to give it a good coating.

Cook the prawns in the rest of the butter for a few minutes on both sides until they are pink then set them aside.

Cut each pepper into 4, put them in a baking tray and drizzle with a little olive oil then roast them in a 180°c oven for 20 minutes.

Cook the garlic, ginger and basil for a couple of minutes in a little olive oil.

Add the tomatoes, mix well and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until cooked down.

When the peppers are ready let them cool a little then roughly chop them save a couple to slice for garnish.

Add the peppers and prawns to the tomatoes and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Now mix well with spaghetti and serve.

Make the most of your Chicken

4 dinners, 4 – 5 lunches and some chicken stock.

That’s what I can get out of just one chicken, you could too all you need is a chicken and a few of your favourite vegetables.

I’m not going to tell you what to use that’s up to you, so there will be no ingredients list.

Make the most of your Chicken

First of all roast your chicken as you normally would, I like to do mine low and slow.

For instance:- with a chicken that would normally be roasted at 180°c for 1 ½ hours I would roast for 2 ½ hours at about 110°c turning up the heat uncovered for the last 30 minutes, I find this method makes for more succulent tender meat.

Now once I have roasted my chicken and it has cooled I cut the four pieces off that I need for my 4 dinners, 2 legs and 2 breasts.

I am now left with the carcass complete with wings.

This goes into a pan and covered with water and brought to the boil.

While that’s happening onions and celery go in.

Once it is boiling turn the heat down and simmer on a low heat for about 1 ½ hours.

Now gather up a selection of your favourite vegetables and chop them to a suitable size.

Take the chicken complete with bones out of the stock and place into a separate bowl.

Pour the stock into another pan then melt some butter and add some herbs then simmer for a couple of minutes.

Now add the vegetables and sweat them off for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes add a little of the stock.

Then simmer for another 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the stock and bring to the boil.

While that’s coming to the boil the carcass should be cool enough to separate the chicken from the bones, discard the carcass a drop the chicken into the stock and don't forget to season in fact at this point I normally drop in a couple of veg stock cubes

 Simmer for about an hour and then with a slotted spoon divide the vegetables and chicken into cartons for the freezer.

Now cover with stock.

You should have some stock left over so strain it through a sieve into cartons for the freezer.

The stew has no thickener in it so therefore is in a very versatile state, I normally thaw it out a carton at a time and have it for lunch with some crusty bread but you could also add some corn flour to thicken, make some herby dumplings and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.