Quick chicken and veg soup

This is my quick chicken and vegetable soup, you can make it in about an hour, from first chop to finish.  Keep some chicken in the fridge already cut up to make things really easy.  You can vary the vegetable ingredients to suite your family.  I have included some suggestions/alternatives for you.  Cut all the vegetable into similar size pieces.  

To make a chicken and noodle soup, simply add noodles about 1/2 way through cooking.
To make chicken and sweet corn soup, omit about 1/2 the vegetbles,and all the cabbage, and cut the corn from 3 corn ears, including them instead.
To make a ministrone style of soup, include some red kidney beans, add small pasta 1/2 way through, use Kale or spinach instead of cabbage, and when it is cooked, add some Parmesan cheese cut into very small cubes right at the end.  Also, ramp up the tomatoe ketchup, or add a can of tomatoes.
For a very old fashion style of soup, add some dried soup mix (about a cup) and some additional water.

Kofta Meatballs

An old recipie, and sounds a little complicated, but it isn't really.  Give it a go.    Originally, this type of recipie comes from Hyderabad area of India

Do not fry the onions on a high heat, they need to brown slowly.  You can make this for a crowd quite easily, making everything the day before and just cooking the last step (curry) on the day.  You can ommit the chilli and it will still taste wonderful.  It can also be made with beef, but lamb is better.

 

Thia Beef Salad for a crowd

This recipie is what I make when I need to feed a lot of people, its easy and quick to do and tastes great.  The secret is in the roasted rice, and the dressing. The amount of steak you use depends upon how many people you are feeding, but the salad ingredients make enough for about 6 people.

Always taste the dressing to see that it is balanced, it should taste a little salty and sour, but not too much.

 

Luke Nguyen makes Vietnamese cooking simple, and this is one of his recipies.  I first saw it on his TV show, and it was so simple I just had to try it, especially as they take just minutes on the BBQ.

You can use beef (fillet steak) instead of pork, and pop it into the freezer for about an hour so that it is easy to slice really thinly.  Make sure the BBQ is red hot and ready to go, but make sure you soak your skewers so that they do not burn. This dish is marinated for at least 2 hours, but overnight is best. 

I serve the skewers with a simple salad with peanuts on top, and a bowl of vermicelli noodles that have a few drops of sesame oil in them, along with some home made sweet chili sauce.  You can sprinkle the skewers with sesame seeds or coriander.

Little morsels of tender chicken.

Thanks to Madue Jaffrey for this wonderful recipie from many years ago.  It is so simple and you can make it in the oven.  But you MUST get the oven to the highest temperature possible, so preheating is the first step.  The chicken needs to be marinated overnight.  Don't be worried too much about the quantity of chicken, it is a forgiving recipie.  I was served Tandoori Chicken with coriander leaves sprinkled on the top at a wedding (the bride was from a traditional Indian family) and it tastes wonderful.

 

Pate for a dinner party

I found this recipie many years ago, and have made it for lots dinner parties as an entree back in the 1970's.  I make it in little pots, one for each person, and serve it with little triangles of toast.  It is a very simple, old school recipie, and I think it came from a french cook book I had.

You can sprinkle each pot with thyme and seal with clarified butter for a very professional look.  You can also serve this with toasted french bread and onion jam.

Rev up a Rissole

These are variations on the basic 500g of lean beef mince rissoles.  Cook rissoles on a char grill or in a non stick fry-pan.  Just change the rissole to suit the mood by adding in these ingredients.