Eat – The Little Book of Fast Food

For 2–3. Big, generous bowls of noodles. Rich chicken broth. The sweetness of asparagus.

A few thoughts

I often make a chicken broth with the bones from the Sunday roast. The trick is to remember to add all the jelly and bits of savoury goodness that lie under the roasted bird. A 20-minute simmer with a small, halved onion, a few black peppercorns, a tomato and a few parsley stalks will produce a golden-brown broth with deep flavour. The other thing worth considering is the ready-made stocks in the chiller cabinet at the supermarket or butcher’s shop. Expensive but often very good indeed.

Chicken wing onion broth

Slice 2 large spring onions and cut lengthways through the bulbs (chop the green shoot). Brown them in a little oil in a wide pan. Add 12 small shallots, peeled but left whole, brown them gently, then remove the spring onions and shallots from the pan. Add 6 seasoned chicken wings and brown on all sides. Add a litre of chicken stock, return the spring onions and shallots to the pan and simmer for 5–10 minutes. Add 100g green noodles and simmer for a few minutes. Season thoughtfully with salt and pepper. Makes 2 deep bowls.

Grilled chicken miso broth

Mix together a teaspoon of fish sauce, a teaspoon of mirin and a tablespoon of hoisin sauce. Brush this over 2 chicken breasts, then cook under an overhead grill till the chicken is cooked through to the centre. Steam or boil 6 stalks of thin-stemmed broccoli, then refresh under cold running water to keep them green. Heat 750ml good chicken stock in a saucepan, then whisk in a tablespoon of white miso paste and a small lump of ginger, peeled and shredded. Slice each chicken breast into 6 and place in 2 large, shallow bowls. Add a little chopped mint and coriander and the cooked broccoli, then ladle the hot miso chicken broth over the top.

Carrot and Bulgur Porridge

carrots, bulgur wheat, vegetable stock, mustard, coriander, butter

Roughly chop 500g winter carrots and cook them in a litre of vegetable stock till tender. Blitz them, together with the stock, in a blender or food processor, then return to the pan over a moderate heat. Add 200g bulgur wheat and simmer, stirring, for 10–15 minutes, until the wheat is tender. Season with salt, pepper and a heaped tablespoon of grain mustard, then finish with a handful of coriander leaves and about 40g butter.

For 4. Somewhere between soup and pilau. Soothing, frugal food for a rainy night.

A sweet and cheering mash

Carrot mash makes a sweet and light accompaniment to any lamb dish but especially lamb cutlets that have been grilled with rosemary, steaks fried with thyme and garlic, and any lamb stew where there are savoury juices to work into the carrot mash with your fork.

Artichoke and Chicken Soup

Jerusalem artichokes, chicken, onions, butter

Lightly brown 6 bone-in chicken thighs in a little olive or groundnut oil and remove. Peel and roughly chop 700g Jerusalem artichokes and 2 onions. Put them both in the chicken pan with a little oil. Fry for 7–10 minutes till lightly golden, then return the chicken to the pan, add enough water to cover, and bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken, reserve 2 thighs for the risotto tomorrow, then slice the meat from the bones of the remaining thighs. Blitz the soup liquid in a food processor or blender. Check the seasoning, then add 25g butter, stir and pour into bowls. Add the chicken to the bowls.

For 2. Soothing soup for today, risotto for tomorrow.

Another idea from the soup

Butter, short rice, some of the soup opposite, a handful of parsley

Put the soup on to warm. Melt 35g butter in a pan. Add 200g arborio rice, then slowly stir in the hot soup, bit by bit, as if you were adding stock to a risotto, simmering and stirring for 20 minutes or so. Add extra vegetable stock if it appears to be getting too thick, but keep stirring regularly till the rice is al dente.

Remove the flesh from the 2 reserved cooked thighs, and add to the risotto. Stir in 3 heaped tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley.

Roast Chicken Pho

chicken thighs, rice noodles, dark soy sauce, honey, fish sauce, mirin, ginger, lime juice, star anise, chicken stock, chilli, greens

Mix a tablespoon of dark soy sauce with a tablespoon of honey,a tablespoon each of fish sauce and mirin and a chopped red chilli. Pour into a small roasting tin, add 4 chicken thighs and turn them over in the mixture till lightly coated. Roast in an oven set at 200ºC/Gas 6 for about 25–30 minutes, occasionally turning the thighs over in the honey and mirin. They should be very dark and sticky.

In a saucepan, heat 800ml chicken stock with 6 ‘coins’ of fresh ginger, 2 tablespoons of lime juice and 3 star anise. As it approaches the boil, add a small handful of shredded greens or chard, leaving them to cook for a minute or two only.

Put 100g wide rice noodles in a heatproof bowl and pour over a kettle of freshly boiled water. Leave them to soak for a couple of minutes until they are soft and silky.

Drain the noodles and divide between 2 deep bowls, slice the chicken from its bones and add to the noodles together with the greens, then ladle over the stock.

For 2. Healing broth. Sweet roasted chicken.

Spiced Fish Soup

mussels, pollock fillet, mustard seeds, chilli powder, turmeric, shallots, cherry tomatoes, coriander

Clean 1kg mussels, discarding any with cracked or broken shells and any open ones that refuse to close when tapped on the side of the kitchen sink. Tug off any wiry beards. Put the mussels in a large, deep pan with 500ml water and bring to the boil. When the shells open, remove the mussels, reserving the liquid, and take them out of their shells. Discard any that don’t open. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve.

Peel 2 large banana shallots and separate the layers, then cook them in a little oil in a shallow pan until softened. Add a tablespoon of mustard seeds, half a teaspoon of chilli powder and 2 teaspoons of turmeric and cook for 3–4 minutes. Halve 12 cherry tomatoes and add to the shallots and spices, letting them soften over a moderate heat for 5 minutes or so. Pour in the reserved mussel stock, bring to the boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cut 250g pollock fillet into 4 pieces, add to the pan and cook briefly until the fish is opaque. Add the mussels and a handful of chopped coriander.

Enough for 2 generous bowls. Sweet, earthy, spicy.

A few thoughts

Haddock, gurnard and cod are also suitable candidates for a spiced fish soup.

Rust-coloured, lightly spiced broth, firm white fish

Thickly slice 100g chorizo and cut the slices into thick strips. Cook them in a deep pan over a moderate heat till the oil starts to run and the pieces are sizzling gently. Add a crushed garlic clove and a finely chopped small onion and fry till soft. Stir in a teaspoon or so of chopped rosemary. Tip in 200ml tomato passata and 350ml vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Add 400g hake, haddock or cod, cut into large pieces, and cook for 4 or 5 minutes, till the fish is opaque. Add a handful of chopped parsley, correct the seasoning and serve.

Sour, hot, refreshing. A quick crayfish soup

Sizzle 2 tablespoons of green curry paste in a little oil, then pour in 800ml vegetable stock. Add 4 scrunched lime leaves, or 2 well-bashed stalks of lemongrass, and a couple of coins of sliced fresh ginger. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add 2 diced tomatoes, 300g prepared crayfish tails and a shot of lime juice. As the shellfish warms through, add a handful of torn coriander leaves and a splash of fish sauce.

Spiced Haddock Chowder

haddock, milk, onion, carrot, swede, potato, mustard seeds, turmeric, bay, parsley, plain flour, black peppercorns

Cut 2 haddock fillets in half and place them in a deep pan with 500ml milk, 2 bay leaves and 6 black peppercorns. Bring the milk to the boil and leave to infuse with the heat off and a lid on.

Roughly chop an onion and fry it over a low heat in a little butter. Finely dice a carrot, a medium-sized swede and a waxy, yellow-fleshed potato and add to the onion. Fry for 5–10 minutes, till lightly browned. Stir in a teaspoon of mustard seeds and a teaspoon of turmeric and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove the haddock from the milk, reserving the milk. Scatter 2 tablespoons of plain flour over the vegetables and cook for a couple of minutes. Pour the infused milk into the pan and cook, stirring continuously, until you have a thick sauce. Place the haddock briefly in the pan to warm through, then add a small handful of chopped parsley before serving.

For 2. Satisfying. A cold-weather dish.

A leek and clam chowder (an hour of your time but worth it)

Thinly slice 3 leeks, fry in butter till softened, then add 150g smoked bacon, chopped, making sure the leeks do not colour. Cook 1kg small clams with a glass of white vermouth or wine in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid for a few minutes, till the clams open. Pull the clams out of their shells; it doesn’t take long when you get into the swing of it. Add 400ml of the clam cooking liquor to the leeks and bacon with 200ml double cream, some black pepper and a little chopped parsley. Remove half of the mixture and blitz in a blender or food processor, then stir it back into the soup. Add the clams and serve with roughly torn crusty bread. For 4.

Sweetcorn and haddock. A cheat’s chowder

Fry 2 chopped spring onions in a little butter in a deep pan. Tip in a large can of sweetcorn, 250ml double cream and a handful of chopped parsley. Slide in a couple of pieces of skinned and boned smoked haddock (about 400g total weight). Simmer for about 8 minutes or until the fish will flake easily. For 2.