Meeeeeeso Miso

I have a strange child. He likes odd food. Other parents look at him with a bemused air when he visits for tea. He doesn't like what other children like: fishfingers, peas, spag bol etc. But he does like miso soup, so as a returning to school treat today we had it for dinner.

The veggies vary depending on what we fancy. Tonight was bottom of the fridge miso soup but it tasted good!

Ingredients:
2 bundles noodles (any kind, but soba or ramen are the nicest)
1.5 litres boiling water
1 onion, roughly sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 chilli, sliced
1 large lump ginger, grated
2 tbsp miso paste (any type, we like the pale one at the moment)
2 carrots, sliced
bok choi, roughly chopped
baby sweetcorn, roughly chopped into bite sized chunks
tofu, cubed
soya sauce to taste
toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
chopped corriander, to garnish

Start by sauteeing the onion in a little oil for a few mins. Add all the other veggies aside from the bok choi and then add the noodles and boiling water. Bring to the boil and cook the noodles for 2-3 mins. Add the miso paste and reduce the heat (don't boil after the miso is added or you'll kill the enzymes). Season to taste with soya sauce. Add the tofu for the last minute or so to heat through.

Serve in shallow bowls topped with more soya sauce and the sesame seeds and corriander. Feel virtuous for an hour or so afterwards before you gorge on sugar to fill yourself up again!

Butter Masala Paneer

Ever since eating this at a local vegetarian place in the centre of Bradford (Tulsi for those of you local!) I have become addicted to the buttery yumminess of this dish. I wanted to create it at the weekend but after doing some serious googling decided I couldn't be bothered with the whole faff of blanching and pureeing onions or frying off paneer etc. So I cheated. DH called this a heart attack in a pan, you are warned!

Mumtaz (another curry palace local to Bradford) have a great range of cooking sauces, which unlike some of the others on the market, only contain normal ingredients and no fillers. So I experimented with a jar of tikka masala sauce and created something pretty yummy.

I used:
1 jar Mumtaz tikka masala sauce
2/3 jar water
a big fat lump of butter (probably about 100g, eek)
1 fresh tomato, skinned and finely chopped
75g ground almonds
200g cubed paneer.
Fresh chopped corriander to garnish/serve

Dump the sauce into a pan and add the butter and water. Let the butter melt gently into the sauce, stirring to make sure it doesn't catch. When the butter has melted add the ground almonds, tomato and paneer. Cook for about 15 mins or so until the sauce has reduced a little. I needed to add some sugar too as the sauce was a little bitter. Serve with roti and lots of fresh corriander.

Rice Pudding

Ahhh a childhood staple. I adore rice pudding. Sometimes only a can or carton will do when I am in a trashy junk food mood. But other times I crave rich, luscious, creamy home made rice pudding. My mum taught me the trick of using a can of evaporated milk in with the normal milk to give an instant richness and creaminess to it. Recently I've also started to add cardamon and other spices to liven it up a bit. The recipe below is my all time favourite.


What you need
2.5oz of pudding rice or risotto/paella rice
2 tbsp sugar (I use vanilla)
1 pint milk - use one large can of evaporated milk and top up with semi-skimmed to the pint
3 cracked cardamon pods
grating fresh nutmeg
few strands of saffron

Mix all of the ingredients together and then place in a lidded casserole dish into a pre-heated 150 degree oven. Stir after the first 30 mins and then leave to slowly cook for 90 mins or so until the rice is cooked. I think it's better fridge cold the next day after the rice has plumped up a bit and the flavours have mingled, but DH thinks it's best eaten hot straight from the oven. Either way it makes a luscious pudding or breakfast.

Meal Planning

I aspire to plan my meals weekly. Every week I gasp in horror at the total at the supermarket and vow, yet again, to remember to plan my meals in advance and only buy what I need. You see my cupboards are full to bursting. I pride myself on being able to make whatever I fancy at the drop of a hat. Need some groats? No problem. What about some avocado oil? It's in the 2nd cupboard from the left.

However the downside to this is that we throw away more food than I'd like. And there's never any bloody space to put anything away once I have been shopping. Again. I am secretly addicted to supermarket shopping. I feel it's allowed for me to spend money on food. Much moreso than coming home having blown £150 on clothes every week...

So, given that school goes back this week, and that there is a definite chill in the air I have once again vowed to meal plan. So here is the line up for next week in no particular order:

Mains:
Jacket spuds with beans and cheese
Butter masala paneer with dhal and rice
Kedgeree with eggs and lentils
Thai green curry
Miso soup with tofu and noodles
Lentil stew with mash and veggies
Cheese and onion pie with sausages
Chickpea and sweet potato curry

Puds:
Rice pudding
Lemon suprise pudding
Brownies with ice cream
Pear cake and custard

Hopefully we can use up all the leftovers, have something already in the fridge for lunch and not spend a fortune this week. So far the shopping bill total is £51 which is pretty good for me...