Healthy udon noodles with homemade chicken dumplings

The question of dinner

Is a difficult one. However, I do like a good challenge and, seeing as I don't have a microwave, ready-made meals are a huge no no in my household. Instead, I consult one of my cookbooks, Rachel Khoo's The Little Paris Kitchen to be more precise. This time, it was chicken dumplings I was after. Not the usual ones you get in Chinese restaurants (although they taste really good too) but quenelles, the French version. Although in this case, it was important to opt for a light chicken soup rather than a creamy one. With this slight twist from Khoo (2012: 60-1), these homemade chicken dumplings make a healthy but filling option that takes ever so little time to make. The secret? Bread (white preferably). No kidding. Rather than wrapping them in floured bases, these little dumplings gain their shape with crustless bread that's mixed, in a food processor, with chicken breast, 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, 100ml single cream and a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg (Khoo, 2012: 61). And that my dear friends is what gives them their lovely puffy shape that's ever so springy and scrumptious when you bite into them. Add some udon noodles, chicken soup and veg and voila! Dinner is served.

But what exactly did you do with the leftover crust I hear you all ask?

You'll just have to wait for my next foodie post ;)

x

Khoo, R. (2012) "Bouillon de poulet avec des quenelles de volailles: Chicken dumpling soup" In The Little Paris Kitchen. London: Michael Joseph. p.60-61. 

Home-made potato crumpets

An indulgent breakfast/ special treat

I think the key to ANY meal, be it for a boyfriend, parent or even yourself, is to be proactive. Good food comes with time and preparation, so it’s vital that you plan ahead. This time it was breakfast that I was preparing in advance for. After reminding myself that it would be best not to wake my significant other up early so that I could start cooking, I decided to make a part of the dish just the night before.

Home-made potato crumpets it was then.

The recipe was yet again from the genius chef, Rachel Khoo (2014). Only this time it came from her latest TV series, Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook, which was about her latest cooking adventures that were inspired by her hometown, London. I just thought well, if it only takes around an hour to make something THAT special for breakfast, then it’s definitely worth a shot. The only issue was getting the potato flour. I’d never bought it before so I guess it was really lucky that my local health food shop stocked it!

If you have a circular ring for cooking, be sure to use it or else you won’t get the nice crumpet shape that I guess any keen cook (or perfectionist) would be aiming to achieve. Following Khoo’s instructions, I topped my crumpets with a circular, sunny-side up egg, yet again using the circular mold. And adding some freshly roasted sliced red and yellow capsicum (or pepper) and fried mushrooms will definitely help you earn a couple of extra smiles (or kisses) from those you’re cooking for.

My ending point to this blog post is that although it was great that I made the crumpets the night before, thus meaning I was well-ahead of my schedule, it really is best to eat it straight away so that you essentially bite into a hot and fluffy cloud rather than a slightly hard fried good that we did. Still, I was happy that I’d planned it out (otherwise we would have had boring old toast for breakfast).

Ultimately though, it was delectable.

Khoo, R (2014) “Potato Crumpets with Maple Gammon, Tomatoes and Egg” Recipes. [online] Available at: <http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/659162> [Accessed 29 July 2014]