Kelp Noodles – Singaporean Style

A while back I came up with an idea which I thought was my own and called it Courgetti Bolognese. Turns out, it’s something many people already make so it’s not exactly unique! I have however, heard of kelp noodles and although it sounded a little strange, the fact that it was a raw food, healthy and neutral in taste convinced me to give them a try. I have made three ‘recipes’ using them. The first was Lemony Prawn Kelp noodles using my Lemony Prawn recipe which I simply made and added to noodles. Then I made Kelphetti bolognese (I just made that up…) and the final genius idea was Singaporean Noodles.

I was inspired by a local restaurant that I used to purchase these wonderful noodles from made using vemicelli noodles. It contained a range of different meats including duck, chicken, beef, prawns, and I think squid. I did attempt to buy some squid for this recipe but unfortunately I wasn’t able to find some.

Ingredients:

Kelp noodles
Sliced Chicken breast/boneless thighs
Thinly sliced beef/lamb
Prawns/Shrimps
Pak Choi
Bean Sprouts
1 medium onion, sliced
Spring onion
(Hot) Curry powder
Finely chopped chilli (optional)
Crushed chilli flakes (optional)
Pinch of salt
Cooking fat of choice

Method:

In a small wok, add a little bit of fat and quickly cook the beef and chicken slices with a pinch of salt and some curry powder. Remove from pan.
Add onions and other veg to wok in the order of how long it takes to cook them just enough. Veg that need more cooking should be added first. Season and add spices.
Add back the meats and throw in the kelp noodles just to warm them through and mix well. Taste and add more spice if desired or any other spices you think it needs. It really does depend on what you like. I tend to add more heat.

Plate up and eat! It’s such a quick and easy dish and you can alter it whichever way you like, add as many meats and veg as you like and really experiment with different spices. Some toasted sesame oil may be nice too but I didn’t have any and don’t really cook with it anymore but I suppose as a small treat it’s okay…

I apologise for the lack in images for this recipe. I have loads of images stored on my phone of recipes I’m supposed to be blogging but due to time constraints and a busy schedule I was unable to post any. Since then I now have a new phone and my pictures are… somewhere…. once I figure out where everything’s gone I’ll edit this recipe and possible future ones if needed and add the pictures inshaaAllaah.

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Baked Almond Crusted Prawns

Inspired by local Essex boy, Jamie Oliver. He has some good ideas, particularly if you like rustic food and can’t be bothered with fussing over presentation. Rustic food needs to be phographed well but as always, I can’t be bothered. If you try this recipe out, do send in some pictures inshaaAllaah.

Ingredients
Ground almonds/almond flour
Salt
Crushed red chillies
Roasted garlic and herb mix seasoning
Chopped flat parsley (optional)
Pinch of cayenne (optional)
Pinch of Paprika
Lemon zest
Prawns
Egg

Method
In a small bowl mix all the ingredients together but NOT the prawns and egg. In another small bowl, lightly whisk the egg. Dip the prawns into the egg and then place them into the ground almond mix. Remember to use one egg for adding the prawns to the eggs and then putting the eggy prawns into the ground almond mix. Then use the other hand to cover the eggy prawns with the dry mix. Use separate hands to avoid eggy-almond hands.

Place them on a non-stick tray and very lightly spray this with oil. Pop the prawns in the oven for approximately 12-15 minutes mak on gas mark 4 and you should turn them half way through to give them a nice even ‘tan’.

Serve with veg and a nice wedge of lemon. Squeezing fresh lemon juice on top of these prawns is just delicious!

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Washed prawns, whisked egg and ground almond mix… and a bit of the oven tray

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Close up of ground almond mix

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Ready to go in the oven

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Just out the oven with a tan

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Dished up ready to eat! Remember to add loads of lemon – yum!

Stuffed Omelette Calzone

I mentioned yesterday how I was going for a blood test, I had this gluten sensitivity/coeliac disease blood test form from Sept 2012 when I was told to consume gluten for 10 days straight in order to be tested. I decided against it and later discovered that gluten can lurk about for up to 6 months or something so figured I could have a blood test now. Plus with all these negative remarks about a paleo diet (because I eat fat and I’m not afraid of it!) I figured it was time for me to personally bust a few myths like “you’re cholesterol will be high” and so on. I want to prove paleo is a diet that everyone should adopt. Mostly because of the health benefits but also because it is a part of our Deen, Islaam (See previous post and download the audio inshaaAllaah).

If you follow me on Facebook you’ll also see that I’m expecting a raw milk delivery tomorrow inshaaAllaah… so excited! I’ll post more about this in the coming days, that is, the benefits of raw milk and what has been mentioned about it in the Sunnah. Yes, dairy is not a paleo food, however I can see why – when we’re talking about supermarket dairy and similar! Raw milk on the other hand is full of goodness, I doubt anyone can deny it having done some research. So I’m going to revive this Sunnah and take care of myself properly inshaaAllaah.

So anyway, I was hungry last night after a very early and very light dinner. Fasting for this blood test did not help and after that I went food shopping. Hungry old me bought an array of fruit, veg and meat and then I was stumped about what to have for breakfast. I eventually decided on a beefy omelette type thing after reading the Barefoot Coconut’s Facebook post whilst I was sat in the waiting room of the blood test centre. I came up with a new concoction: a stuffed omelette calzone. Aptly named because it contains a stuffing, the outer bit is made using an omelette and the shape or concept of it resembles a calzone. You know, the semi-circle stuffed pizza thing.

I apologise in advance for my lack of measurements. As usual I eyeball everything and today’s mixture should make 3 small omelette-calzones or 2 normalish sized ones. It depends on the size of your frying pan – I use a smaller than normal one!

Ingredients
Stuffing:
Minced beef (or other mince, finely dices meat, etc)
Half a small onion, chopped
Mixed herbs – dried or fresh, whatever you have handy really
Salt and pepper

Fresh garlic or it you’re rushed for time, garlic granules
Crushed red chilli flakes
Light spray of oil just so it doesn’t stick/burn

Omelette:
3 eggs
Spring onions, sliced (I used leeks, bit of the top and bottom)
Fresh Corriander
Dried, crushed corriander seeds and cumin seeds
Crushed red chilli flakes – fresh green chillies finely chopped are best
Salt and pepper
Chopped tomatoes
Sliced Mushrooms (I forgot to add the latter two ingredients, oops)

Prep
Mince beef: pop it all into a saucepan, mix until cooked, shouldn;t take long as you’re not making a ton
Omelette, whish all ingredients in a small bowl. It’s not rocket science really. See images below and captions for further instructions.

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Pour some of the omelette mix into a frying pan, make it kinda thin and make sure you have a good mix of everything in the omelette

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As the omelette cooks through, add soem mince beef mix to one half. Leave a ‘border’ so when you fold the other half of the omelette over it seals the stuffing in. The omelette needs to be wet still otherwise it won’t stick and seal when you fold it.

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The omelette should be sealed once you’ve folded it. If the stuffing’s spilling out you’ve probably added too much. Helps to turn the gas off at this stage if you’re a little slow with it.

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Dish up and serve with tomatoes which you forgot to add to the omelette mix *blush*

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Serve the omelette-calzone cut in half to better your presentation skills #yeahright

Mediterranean Vegetables

I’m pretty sure this ‘recipe’ is long over-due. Ok so, really simple dish, can be served as a side, part of a main meal, put into lasagnas, bolognese, on pizzas or eaten as a snack and it’s oh so healthy!

Ingredients
Courgettes
Red onion
Green/red/orange/yellow peppers – make it colourful!
Carrots (optional, slice them thin if you add them, I don’t)
Aubergine (optional but I would advise cooking these separately. I think they need their own post)
Italian herbs and spices – you know, you’re typical blends or random mixtures of anything. Oregano is a must I think.
About a teason of butter/ghee/coconut oil
Pinch of salt and pepper

Method
Chop the veg chunkily (awesome word!) and toss into a frying pan with the fat of choice and season/herb up. Put it on a meadium to high heat and just give the pan a shake until the veg are a little tanned.
Don’t kill (overcook) the veg please, we want them to be full of goodness still and they should be a little crunchy still. If they’re mushy, you’ve gone too far. Simple, yummy and kids will LOVE them!

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Num num, yum yum!