Yuk Sung

You may recall that following my search for wheat-free Oyster Sauce, at the end of April I splashed out on a few bits and pices from an online Chinese superstore. One of the ideas I had in mind when making said purchases, was for Yuk Sung, a popular chinese appetiser of minced pork and vegetables wrapped in lettuce leaves. After a bit of poking around on the internet to look for adaptable recipes, I came up with the following recipe. We had it for dinner last week and this amount was enoughf or us both as a main course, so would comfortably serve 4 as a starter. Remember to spread a little Hoi Sin sauce on the lettuce leaves before wrapping for the ultimate in yumminess! It's one of those recipes that looks terrible ('like worms'), but tastes really, really good!

Yuk Sung

400g Minced Pork
1 Small Tin Bamboo Shoots (chopped finely)
1/2 Small Tin Water Chestnuts (chopped finely) - optional
3 Dried Chinese Mushrooms (softened in boiling water and chopped finely. Alternatively use Shi-take)
1 Piece Chinese Black Fungus (softened in boiling water and chopped finely) - optional
2 Cloves Garlic (chopped finely)
Approx 1" Fresh Root Ginger (chopped finely)
1 tbsp Oil
5 tbsp Soy Sauce
4 tbsp Oyster Sauce
2 tbsp Shaosing Wine
2 tsp Corn Flour
1 tsp Sugar
Salt & Pepper

1) Put the minced pork in a parge bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand until the meat is cooked, drain and set to one side.

2) Fry the ginger and garlic in the oil for a minute before adding the minced pork.

3) Mix well and stir through all the finely chopped vegetables.

4) Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaosing, sugar, salt and pepper; stir well

5) Mix the cornflour in a little water and add to the meat, stiring well.


To Serve:
Approx 100g Thin Rice Noodles (uncooked)
- Heat approx 1cm depth oil in a large pan. When hot, add small bunches of the rice noodles - they will swell up and go white, puffy and very crispy - this is really fun to do! :-)

1 Iceberg Lettuce (leaves separated)
Hoi Sin sauce

- Break up the rice noodles into small 1cm pieces (they'll break apart easily in your hands). Place on a plate and top with the meat mixture.

- Spread a small amount of Hoi Sin sauce on a lettuce leaf, top with a spoonful of the rice noodles and meat, wrap up and enjoy!

Missy's Ma's Watercress Soup

Spring time = Watercress = SOUP!
Hannah and I have been on a bit of a soup binge at work recently, and with the warm, sunny weather we've been having recently, I just had to show her my mother's amazing watercress soup.

Ma's watercress soup is infamous. Sworn vegetable 'haters' love it. Soup 'haters' love it. It's wonderful both hot and cold and is great as a starter or a main course. Personally I prefer it cool with crackers and slices of crumbly, white Cheshire cheese on the side for lunch. Also, it's incredibly simple to make! There's just 5 (with an optional 2 more) ingredients and it takes just 30 minutes from start to finish.

Watercress contains significant amounts of iron, calcium and folic acid, as well as high levels of vitamins A and C. It's also just in season now, and will be through until October.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter break!


500g Watercress (with thickest stems removed)
2 Medium Potatoes (peeled and chopped into 1" cubes)
1 Medium Onion (chopped)
Approx 500ml Chicken Stock
1 tbsp Oil
Salt & Pepper
Wholegrain Mustard (optional)
Cream (optional)

1) Sweat the onions in a large pan until transparent.

2) Add the potatoes and enough chicken stock to cover them. Simmer for 15 minutes.

3) Add the watercress and mustard (optional) and continue to simmer until the potatoes are tender and the watercress is fully wilted (approximately 5 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4) Remove from the heat and blend in a food processor or with a hand blender.

5) Return to the pan and reheat if serving hot, or allow to cool. Stir through 2 tbsps cream (optional) and garnish with a little more to serve..

Purple Sprouting Broccoli With Anchovy, Garlic and Butter Sauce

Now's the season for purple sprouting broccoli - one of my all-time favourite vegetables!
Like other cruciferous vegetables, broccoli contains the phytonutrients sulforaphane and the indoles, which have significant anti-cancer effects. It is also incredibly high in vitamins C, K and A, dietary fibre and folate, as well many other minerals and B vitamins.

This is based on a recipe I saw in Country Living this month, and makes a really nice vegetarian lunch or starter. If serving as a starter, make sure it comes before a robust main course, because it is VERY strong-flavoured! I did mine for lunch with buttered, boiled potatoes.

Anchovy, Garlic and Butter Sauce:
3 Cloves Garlic
100ml Milk
6 Anchovy Fillets in Olive Oil
Softened Butter (cut into small cubes)

1) Heat the milk in a small pan with the garlic cloves until the garlic is tender

2) Carefully blend the milk, garlic and anchovy fillets in a food processor (I use the Herb attachment on my funky Braun hand blender set)

3) Add the butter and blend again until the sauce is smooth. Set aside and warm just before serving.


Plus:
A Good Serving of Purple Sprouting Broccoli
- Try to get broccoli with stems no wider than 1cm but it this isn't possible, split the stems lengthways up towards the floret head to ensure even cooking.

1) Bring approximately 200ml water to the boil in a large saucepan and add broccoli stems. Put the pan lid on and boil for 5 minutes before turning off the heat and allowing to continue cooking in the steam until tender.

2) Drain and toss in a little olive oil.

3) Serve with a small ramekin of the sauce or pour a little over the broccoli prior to serving.

Cream of Celeriac Soup with Crispy Bacon

This week I had the most enormous celeriac in my organic delivery box! Because the potatoes I've been getting have been perfect on their own as 'mashers', I didn't fancy making a celeriac mash so I thought I'd make a soup of it! :-D
All amounts in this recipe are guesstimates because it was a real case of 'a little bit of this and a bit of that', so play around with it until you get the right consistency.

1 Large Celeriac (chopped into 1" pieces)
1 Medium Onion (diced)
1 Medium Carrot (chopped into 1" chunks)
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 tsp Thyme
500ml Chicken Stock
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Olive Oil
100ml Milk
3 tbsp Cream
Salt & Pepper
2 Rashers Bacon (cut into thin strips)

1) Fry the garlic and onion in a little of the oil until softened.

2) Add the carrot, celeriac, bay leaf, thyme, chicken stock and lemon juice; cover and simmer for approximately 30 minutes until the celeriac is tender.

3) Transfer to a bowl and blend in small batches, transfering the smooth soup back to the saucepan.

4) Stir in the milk and cream, seasoning, and reheat gently until hot (but not boiling).

5) Quickly fry the bacon in a little of the oil until crispy and pile on top of the soup.

Baked Mushrooms with Mozzarella and Bacon

I *really* fancied a cooked breakfast this morning but really couldn't be bothered with all the washing up they entail. I've made a similar recipe as a vegetable dish using goats' cheese and garlic but I figured that mozzarella would be much nicer for breakfast and make the dish more 'creamy'. If you play around a bit, this would probably make a great vegetarian starter if you melt cheese over some spinach, or you could make it into a 'bigger' breakfast with a slice of black pudding or tomato under the cheese. The best thing about this recipe - only one dish to wash up (except for the scrambled eggs pan!).

2 Large Portabello Mushrooms (the big flat ones)
2 Slices of Firm Mozzarella (Buffalo mozzarella would work as well)
2 Rashers of Back Bacon
Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 180 Celcius

1) If the mushrooms have large stalks, slice them down so the mushroom has a 'flat' inside.

2) Place a slice of mozzarella on the inside of each mushroom and wrap the whole thing with a rasher of bacon - tuck the ends underneath and place in an ovenproof dish.

3) Grind some fresh pepper over the top and place in the centre of the oven to bake for 25 minutes.

4) Serve with scrambled eggs and the mushroom 'juice' spooned over the top.