THIS week I have two comforting and hearty recipes that work great for either lunch or dinner. The homemade baked beans recipe is full of flavour and is a great alternative to shop-bought beans that are packed full of artificial additives. Trust me, these are well worth the wait.
The second dish is a warming Asian soup. The days may be getting brighter but there’s still a chill in the air and this soup is the perfect dish on a cold and blustery day. Enjoy.
ASIAN CHICKEN SOUP
(Serves 4)
1 litre chicken stock, for which you will need:
juices and bones from one cooked chicken
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 bunch of parsley
Salt and pepper
1.5 litres of water
Place ingredients into a large pot and bring to the boil, then cook on a medium heat for four hours. Sieve the ingredients into a suitable container; when cooled the stock can be kept in the fridge for a few days in an airtight container such as a Kilner jar.
For the soup:
Cooked meat from your roast chicken (Visit James St Facebook page for the perfect roast chicken recipe).
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 chillis, deseeded and chopped
20g fresh ginger, grated
150g sweetcorn
2 pak choi, chopped
75ml soy sauce
100g fresh egg noodles
Chicken stock (see above)
Method:
Place all the ingredients except the noodles into a large pot and and heat through on a medium heat. Add the noodles once the pak choi is al dente. Ladle into soup bowls and serve with chilli on the side.
HOMEMADE BAKED BEANS
(Serves 4)
400g cannellini beans
400g butter beans
400g chopped tomatoes
1 tsp smoked paprika
200g brown sugar
160ml red wine vinegar
240ml dark ale
Oil for grease
Sourdough to serve
Method:
Preheat the oven to 120C and grease a baking dish. Place all the ingredients into the baking dish and mix well. Cover with tinfoil and place in oven; this is a slow cooking dish so if it becomes dry add a little more ale.
After three hours remove from the oven and serve on toasted sourdough. Serve with dried chilli.
