Wow, it feels like weeks since I’ve written here. I’ve written in other blogs but because I’ve been doing some very long hours, it’s not been easy to plan and cook and write.
Corned beef and red cabbage
Red cabbage
Tonight I went with another almost ‘prepper‘ type meal but it was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend. Conversation with a friend you question? Aren’t we all meant to be social distancing? Well, as I’ve written elsewhere, I prefer the term “physical distancing” so I can remain socially active.
Saturday dinner. Slow cooker shin with Brussels sprouts, pumpkin and sweet potato.
Yummy Lummy slow cooker shin
Winter is here in the Southern Hemisphere. Winter for Yummy Lummy means bringing the slow cooker out from the Shelf of Shame (or off the floor).
Would you believe I rarely look up recipes? I like to just bung things together and see how they turn out. This is what I did today. When I went grocery shopping I saw a packet of Osso Bucco and thought the meat would be good for slow cooking and the shin (tibia) bone marrow would add to the flavour.
I figured rather than stock I’d use a cheap packet of French onion soup plus some red wine and hope for the best.
I cooked the meat with some sweet potato and pumpkin along with some Brussels sprouts because friends have been commenting that I’m not eating enough vegetable matter.
The thought process behind the Salmon ramen noodle curry
I started back at work today (Tuesday 03 January 2017) after some time off over the CNY break. I had some fresh salmon in the refrigerator and at about lunch time I began the usual process of wondering what I might cook for dinner. A ramen noodle dish began to emerge.
I knew in the “shelf of shame” there was some coconut milk as well as some 3-minute noodles. In the refrigerator I had some asparagus and broccoli stalks for greens. To add some spice I had some pickled red and green chillies that I’d prepared on the weekend.
What could be easier than dicing the salmon with a sharp knife and making a simple meal for one.
The cooking process
I cooked the 3-minute ramen noodles by opening a packet into a bowl, emptying the flavour sachet and adding boiling water from a kettle. I stirred that around with a pair of chopsticks for a few minutes and then drained the ramen noodles.
I added the drained ramen noodles into an oiled (I use relatively cheap Coles brand olive oil) frying pan and turned up the heat constantly stirring so the noodles wouldn’t stick. After the noodles began to dry out a little and take on some colour, I added a small tin of coconut milk and kept stirring. My preferred stirring tool is a pair of chopsticks. They are perfect for stirring. I heard Matt Preston criticise wooden spoons recently in favour of silicon spatulas on the basis of hygiene. I hope he’s not critical of wooden chopsticks.
To the ramen noodles and coconut milk, I added the greens and the chillies and brought the liquid to a gentle simmer. Don’t bring it to a rolling (aka roiling) boil, you don’t want to split the coconut milk.
Once the liquid is simmering gently, added the diced salmon. Stir everything gently and keep simmering for about 5 minutes. By then the fish will be mostly cooked.
If you are carbohydrate loading, you could serve this on some red quinoa and brown rice but I think I carbohydrate peaked over the CNY break.
If you want, you can garnish with anything suitable. I used some spring onion I had in the refrigerator.
Salmon and ramen noodles curry with broccoli stalks and asparagus
Social media
I regularly post food photographs to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you have friends stuck for ideas on cooking meals for one, please let them know about Yummy Lummy, that’s me!
And now for something completely different!
If you’re sitting on the toilet and want something of short duration to listen to, why not check out Medical Fun Facts. You can find it in the iTunes podcast store. MFF is also on Stitcher so if you have an Android device, download the Stitcher app from the Google Play store and enjoy the show. I drop a show every Monday and Thursday evening at about 7 pm Canberra time (UTC+11 during DLS and UTC+10 from the first Sunday of April until the first Sunday of October).
How to make crab with udon noodles? Indeed, by the time this is published I’ll be interstate attending a meeting for work. In anticipation I didn’t purchase any meat on Saturday and I needed to empty my refrigerator. I just threw together some stuff I had. Fortunately the shelf of shame had a tin of crab meat and some udon noodles. With a little pouring cream and Coon cheese a creamy cheesy dinner was guaranteed. In many ways this crab with udon noodles is a great comfort food dish.
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