Leftovers #65 ~ Noodle Soup with Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

 

When there is leftover roasted chicken we usually go with the our favourite standbys when creating a meal however this time, noodle soups we craved. Full of vegetables, chunks of cooked chicken, a voluminous mound of noodles and brimming with a savoury broth is exceptionally easy to make and devour. Use whatever package noodle soup or ramen noodle soup you like, low sodium preferred, and cook according to package directions however while the noodles are simmering add chopped carrots, slices of red pepper, pieces of leftover cooked chicken, a handful of frozen peas, slices of green onion and a dash of soya sauce. When done transfer to a bowl and add a sliced hard boiled egg and sprinkle with Tajin seasoning or crushed chilies over top. A deliciously spicy full meal in minutes that uses leftover meat and vegetables perfectly.  

Food Photo of the Day ~ Ham Fried Rice

 

Leftover rice always means fried rice in our house. Pulling together ingredients and using spices on hand to create a satisfying meal using leftovers is always a winner. I have a very loose recipe, you can call it that, because every time I make this dish the flavour slightly changes, not only from the ingredients and spices I use and have in my pantry but just how heavy... or light handed I may be... how much of those ingredients get added, more or less soy sauce and sesame oil, more or less sherry or rice wine vinegar. Perhaps a little bit of this spice or a bit of that spice. So every fried-rice dish I make is unique in a sense that the common ingredients are there just the amounts change or get tweaked slightly. Regardless of what transpires in the kitchen and on the stove, it's flavourful and in the essence of the moment, creating that dish.   

Food Photo of the Day ~ Mashed Yam and Egg

 

Leftover roasted yams are a wonderful diversion for a foraged lunchtime meal. I simply just scooped the baked yam from their skins and placed in a bowl to mash up and added some seasonings for flavour. As the mashed yam was warming up, in the microwave, an egg was being fried. As simple and humble as this lunch is, with a dash of pepper, I found it substantial. Together, a pleasant pairing and a lovely way to use up those leftovers.

Seems like the snow has made a return. Have a nice weekend everyone! - JD   

Food Photo of the Day ~ Fried Egg Sandwich

When I want something that has substance however modest; I keep it simple with an easy no frills fried egg sandwich. A handful of mixed greens and sprouts nestle the egg and a heavy scattering of back pepper with a light touch of no salt margarine keeps this sandwich focused. I know I made a compromise with the white bread, sometimes it is a must, although brown or seeded breads are my preference. Regardless, this sandwich hits the spot and keeps me going until dinner. 

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! - JD       

Food Photo of the Day ~ ELT (Egg, Lettuce and Tomato)

Instead of a BLT, bacon lettuce and tomato, why not an egg, lettuce and tomato. What makes this ELT more complete is the addition of grilled halloumi cheese. This is the best sandwich one can make and devour!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. - JD 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Beans on Toast with a Fried Egg

Sometimes it is hard to decide what to eat for dinner let alone lunch. I try to keep things simple and nourishing at lunch; something that can sustain me throughout the better part of the day. The usual beans on toast is a good stand by however add a fried egg and or some sautéd greens and it all seems more nourishing. With a dash of black pepper and hot sauce for a spicy flavour kick. 

Hope everyone is having a good week. - JD 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Noodle Soup

One of my favourite lunches vegetable noodle soup a fried egg on top. This is an easy way to boost your protein and is very satisfying on a cold day. 

Hope everyone a a lovely weekend. - JD 

A Spurtle, Egg Topper, and a Salt Spoon

While I was in Scotland I did not hesitate to look at kitchenwares focusing my eye on oddities. First, was the spurtle, a Scottish spoon for stirring porridge. I do not know what makes stirring oatmeal with a spurtle better than a wooden spoon, however I was intrigued. I imagine that it will not bash around the oats as much. This fall and winter I will experience my porridge in a new way. Thanks to the mighty spurtle.  

Second, is the egg topper. Usually I use a knife to slice and crack open my boiled eggs. Looking like an oddly shaped pair of scissors I thought this could simplify things and be a bit fun at the breakfast table.  

Just place the egg topper over the top of the cooked egg. Pinch or squeeze the handles together so the sharp metal teeth grab hold of the shell. Twist to the left then twist to the right and voila the egg has been topped. As simple as it is it does take some getting used to. This gadget may be great for kids who are not so skilled with a knife.  

Third, a salt spoon. This spoon is wee but deep and comes with much debate. Whether or not it is proper to use a metal spoon or a wooden spoon when dealing with salt. I will let you decide what works best for you. I erred on the side of the salt gods and went with a wooden one. For £1.99 I think dishing out salt for my favourite recipes won't be so bad after all. 

Hope everyone is having a good week so far. - JW 

My Week In Food

Grilled cheese sandwich. Need I say more. Nothing can be more comforting than melted cheese. 

Herbed Pasta with Sausage and Asiago cheese. Bitterly cold temperatures mean carbohydrates are more welcome on ones dinner plate. Pasta smothered in olive oil, crushed garlic, dashes of cumin and chilli flakes, slices of sausage and tossed with a generous amount of grated asiago feed the masses. 

Super Noodles. One of my guilty food pleasures especially since it is estimated at 15% sodium. That is great for noodle soups. Usually they have around 40-80% sodium content. This one, I found at the local British shop and the mild curry flavour is very appealing. 

Egg Drop Noodle Soup. It was easy! Crack an egg open and drop it into the boiling water just before adding the noodles. After adding some mixed chilli spice and freshly grated lime rind, lunch was served. Sometimes I discard the seasoning packet and replace that with 1/2 cup of vegetable or chicken stock and 1 1/2 cups water. This noodle soup one is from Sobey's and it is their Our Compliments brand Spicy Chicken. It is not bad salt wise, only 23%. I like to add different veggies and meat to them. This way it becomes much more of a well rounded meal. 

King George Rich Christmas Cake. Not even a crumble was left behind. The box is empty  and now lies in the recycling bin. However King George remains in our culinary memory until next Christmas. 

  
Perogies, sausage, and salad. This made for a simple however relaxing dinner.  

Have a good weekend everyone! - JW 

Twin Sun Toast

This is my version of the Twin Sun Toast from the Star Wars cookbook. The original has you cutting out two round circles in the bread, using a small cookie cutter. The smallest cookie cutter I had and the shape of the bread enabled me to make the two twin suns. Instead I made one sun, the egg, in each piece of bread. All was good and one might say that the two cut out pieces of bread could pose as the twin suns.

Essentially you use a small cookie cutter to cut out two or as in my case one, circles in each slice of bread. Place the cut out pieces aside. They may be served buttered or dry on the plate. Add a good amount of butter in the bottom of a pan. Let is melt completely and move the pan around to coat the bottom of the pan evenly. Then place the bread inside the pan. Break the an egg each of the holes that you cut out using the cookie cutter. Let the egg set a bit, become white. Then this is the real tricky part you have to flip the bread with the egg over. Be careful. The egg yolks may break but never mind. I don't think your stomach will complain. You want the egg to set a bit more or to your liking. Then remove from pan and serve. 

Now my eggs stuck a bit and I added sufficient butter. The yolks were a bit runny. So  I toasted the round cut out pieces of bread and served them so you could dunk them in the yolks. This makes for a great weekend breakfast. 

Leftovers #1 - Veggie Egg Fried Rice

Yesterday for lunch I made some egg fried rice. Trying to shake this cold you would think I would want a simple bowl of soup. Knowing that I had some left overs just fueled me even more to clear out the refrigerator and make something hot and tasty in about 15 to 20 minutes. It's important for this dish to use left over rice or day old rice... the older the better. Freshly cooked rice will become mushy. I made that mistake many years ago at my first attempts making this dish. Anytime I am cooking rice for a meal I always cook more for with the intention that I will be making fried rice further on in the week. For this dish you will need the following: 

Fresh Chopped Veggies - carrots, celery, broccoli, green onions, onions, bok choy, mushrooms, water chestnuts, peas, corn... essentially whatever you have on hand or whatever you prefer. *Reserve some of the green onions in a small bowl for later. 

Left over pre-cooked rice - about 2 cups (more depending on how many you are serving)

2 eggs

Sesame oil

Canola oil

Low sodium soy sauce

Dry sherry - Harveys Bristol Cream will do nicely!    

Step 1: Heat your pan or wok  over medium high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of canola oil. When the oil is heated add the veggies. This time I used 2 carrots peeled and chopped, 3 cups chopped bok choy, 2 chopped mushrooms, 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli and a handful of green onions. Sautée until veggies are cooked. When the veggies change colour slightly. They have gone darker, brighter or slightly transparent. You don't want to over cook your veggies for this dish. It's important to have some crunch. 

Step 2: Once the veggies are done, make a well in the centre of the pan with the  veggies all around the sides. Now this is when you are going to have to move fast... Crack open two eggs and scrabble the eggs mixing in the veggies. Making sure not to let the eggs stick to the bottom of the pan. You should get a sort of scrabbled egg veggie mixture. It should look like what is pictured here, above.    

Step 3: Add the pre-cooked day old rice. Drizzle some sesame oil and stir to coat the rice with the veggies and oil. Stir frequently. Letting everything heat through and making sure that it is not sticking too much to the bottom of the pan. Also at this point you may add whatever pre-cooked meat you may have on hand, like chicken or ham. Adding the meat at this point is good because you want the meat to be separate from the eggy veggie mixture. You don't want the eggs to stick to your meat.  

**The sauce. Now in a separate small bowl add about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of dry sherry and 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce and gently whisk everything together. You will have to adjust these amounts depending on how much fried rice you are making. You want ample flavour regardless.     

Step 4: Take the oil, sherry and soy sauce mixture (see Step 3) and pour it over the rice mixture in the pan. Making sure that the rice and eggy veggies are coated well with the sauce. Stir again to make sure nothing is sticking too much. Let everything heat for a few seconds longer, then remove from heat. 

Step 5: Once removed from heat add some freshly chopped green onions and serve. Or transfer into a serving dish and add the fresh green onions on top. Yum! 

This is a very quick and easy dish. The main thing is that the rice is pre-cooked. How many days in advance is up to you. The older the better. Chopping the veggies should not take long... you can even chopped them ahead of time. Which means cutting down on your prep time. Which makes this dish even quicker. About 10-15 minutes from star to finish. This by far is one of my go to dishes. Everything you ever want is in this dish and every time I make it, it changes slightly. - JW