… Mildly Spiced Noodle Squash Broth
For the first time in a little while this has been a meal that has been picked for me rather than chosen by me. Tonight I am cooking for Gavin’s work friend Leah and her husband Chris. Gavin took my book into his work for Leah to choose a meal. And this is what she chose and so this is what I cooked. I should mention that I was only responsible for the main part of the meal. Gavin made a starter and a pudding. Both were very nice.
I felt quite confident with this one. Confident mainly in the flavours because all the Greek style dishes I have done from this book have really been very good. But I was also pretty confident with the cooking time because it just looked like a good, simple meal. My confidence was tempered by the fact that I’m cooking chicken, and I always feel a bit nervous with this. It really isn’t very good to serve under cooked chicken to your guests, but I also hate serving overcooked chicken (is it wrong that I think I’d be more embarrassed with serving overcooked, dry, chicken than slightly undercooked pink(ish) chicken?).
Anyway the meal is cooked with relatively little incident (other than the missing tongs … Gavin …). It is a meal where you prepare and cook all the time, with no waiting around. It’s done in a little over the fifteen minutes. Now I will blame this on the size of my pan. When dealing with these recipes you are very often specified a size of pot or pan (such as a “large lidded pan” or a “medium frying pan”). I have found that I often can take a bit of an interpretation on this and very often (when cooking at home) I go for a pan size down than that specified. If I’m honest that often has a bit to do with aesthetics. My medium and smaller pots and pans just look cooler and so I prefer these. But tonight this was mistake. The recipe asks for a large pan. It means a large pan. But I use a medium one. I am concerned that neither the asparagus nor the noodles will cook properly. And so I spend a bit of time fretting about this. And I will blame that for making me twenty eight seconds late.
I enjoy all the stuff (the garlic, ginger, chilli, turmeric, spring onions, peanut butter, kaffir lime leaves, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce) that is whizzed in the food processor and added to the stocky, coconut noodles.
This is a very nice meal. Very tasty. Oh and by the way the chicken was neither over cooked, nor was it under cooked. So I guess that makes it … just right.
Tonight was mainly a night of cooking for people I’ve not met before and tonight was a night of manly having a lot of fun.
By the way Leah, last night (as in Monday night) I had one of the Cobra beers you left in the fridge … I saw Cobra … I saw beer … imagine my horror upon tasting it … thinking that tastes funny … reading the label … reading the words non-alcoholic … and so there are three Cobra “beers” left in the fridge for you next time you come for dinner.
Oh by the way I bought a new griddle pan today which solves my issue of the very, very worn out griddle pan.
Who with: Leah, Chris, Gavin
How long: Fifteen minutes and twenty eight seconds
