For me, Chicken and Sweetcorn soup from the Chinese takeaway is an ultimate "must-have" for me. I always order it and always add extra soy sauce (because I'm a salt fiend!). Its also a huge hangover cure for me too. I've been known to ask my husband to go and get me some "soup soup" from the Chinese when I am immobilised by a horrific hangover.  Yesterday was the Chinese Lunar new year, a festival celebrated by not only those from Chinese heritage but millions of other cultures including the Viets and Thais. Chinese food is unparalleled and has some fantastic complexity but yet is super simple in so many ways. I was keen to try to recreate this dish at home for the Year of the Ox celebrations.  The best thing about this soup, in my opinion, is that it can be made super quickly (faster than ordering a takeaway) especially if you use pre-cooked leftover roast chicken and you could even cheat using those tubes of garlic/ginger paste too!  This recipe will make

This dish has probably been the most requested recipe from any of my friends or family who has tasted it. I can't explain how delicious this is! Whilst it has quite a few processes involved, I promise you it is worth the washing up!  Chicken Katsu Curry with Sticky sushi rice is one of the all-time favourite Japanese dishes here in the UK. What's not to love? Crispy fried chicken, Spicy but sweet curry sauce and sticky rice? YUM! Traditionally the chicken would be coated in Panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried, delicious but calorie-dense and not so great for the old arteries. This version is much healthier saving a lot of calories and better for your ticker too.  I will split this recipe up into 2 components making it a bit easier to follow- Serves 2 I haven't added the rice here, because of it being complete preference as to how you want to serve this. I often serve with a microwave bag of Thai Jasmine rice or Basmati just for ease. However, if you do want to cook rice, make

 I don't know about you, but I BLOODY love a Doner Kebab!  I don't mean those disgusting regurgitated meat things that you get at 3am after leaving "da club"...No no no no! I mean the delicious Turkish national dish!!  A Doner Kebab is a thing of wonder! It should be flavoursome, rich and fresh all at the same time.  I learnt how to make this dish a few years ago when I had just returned from a holiday to Cyprus to see my parents. If you're not aware, the northern part of Cyprus is Turkish occupied and for a while, you couldn't cross into Northern Cyprus from the south. However, when they opened the boarders it was like stepping into a completely different world from the rest of Cyprus. Anywho... we had one of these amazing kebabs from a street market and it BLEW MY MIND.  Traditionally served with shredded cabbage and pickled chillis, Turkish Cucumber yoghurt sauce (Cacik), which is very similar to the Greek Tzatziki, and a chilli sauce.  My version is a riff

Pork Souvlaki, flatbreads and Tzatziki Greek food holds a very special place in my heart. I was very lucky to have a holiday home on the stunning island of Cyprus growing up but Chris and I chose this amazing island as our wedding destination (we even had a 30-course Cypriot meze as our wedding meal!). Cyprus, in particular, has a wonderful culture with influences from the middle east, Greece and even the UK. I decided to cook this recipe when it was a particularly sunny day in Lancashire during our lockdown and longing for a holiday to Greece or anywhere other than my back garden!  This recipe is stupidly easy and requires very little effort but does need some forward planning. The flatbreads are really versatile and could be used to accompany a curry or just as an alternative to have with dips as a snack!  The combination of the flavoursome and tender pork with the creamy tzatziki and crunchy flatbreads is one of my dreams. I always have mine with a salad of lettuce, tomato

In the previous post, I detailed how to make fresh Pappardelle pasta - I served this with the slow-cooked Beef Ragu. Consider this a posh spag bol! Honestly, this is my fave! Serves 4 You'll need: 2 tbsp of good quality olive oil 500g of good quality beef steak mince (or for a vegetarian option use 250g of diced chestnut mushrooms and 200g of Puy Lentils) 1 glass of red wine or glass of port. 4 cloves of garlic - minced 1 medium carrot - finely diced 1 medium brown onion- finely diced 2 stalks of celery - finely diced 2 Tsp Dried Oregano 500g of passata 1 tbsp of tomato puree 1 stalk of rosemary & a couple of bay leaves. Salt & Pepper Fresh Basil Large Saucepan with a lid Patience  How I did it!: Once you have very finely diced your onion, carrots and celery, heat your pan and pour in a glug of good quality olive oil and slowly sweat down your veg mix. Don't be tempted to whack the heat up on this stage, the slower you sweat down the ve

With the UK going nuts for bog roll and baking ingredients - I imagine it is easier to get class A drugs than a bag of strong white flour at the moment! With that in mind, I'd normally recommend 00 flour for pasta, however, whatever you have will do as long as it's not self-raising!  Like a lot of people, I went through a range of emotions when social distancing measures where imposed- especially when they closed schools and nurseries! I had positive days where I did home workouts and yoga in the garden listening to the bird song. I also had days where I cried and felt intense guilt for having to go to the supermarket to get milk and a relentless sense of impending doom.  I think this dish was the catalyst that reignited my love of cooking (I didn't realise that it had gone until I made this) and actually gave me something to focus my mind.  The best thing about this dish is that you don't need to own a pasta machine that will just sit in a cupboard gatheri