Humble Beginnings

I have always had a fascination with food ever since I can remember.  Although brought up in Ireland, I had a very unconventional upbringing when it came to food. When people think of Irish cuisine, their minds travel down a path edged with such foods as potatoes, cabbage and the inevitably over-boiled shoulder of Bacon. However in my case it was different mostly due to the fact that my mother had lived in and traveled through several countries across Europe during her early twenties. This exposure to European cuisine and the fact that she was a prolific dinner host  from the 1970’s onwards, contributed to my passion for food.  I have many childhood memories of such dishes as Hungarian Goulash, Beef Stroganoff and Coq au Vin gracing our dinner table.

As I grew older I became more interested in what was going on behind the scenes in the kitchen and eventually I asked my mother to teach me how to create some of these wonderful dishes. She promised to teach me ‘her way of cooking’ as she put it. She always maintained that a recipe was merely a ‘guideline and not a religion’ when it came to creating a dish, and this is how I have cooked ever since.

I have been fortunate enough thus far to maintain my interest in all things food related. I cook on a regular basis and I love trying out new dishes. 

Asian Style Soup Recipe

Asian Style Soup

Recently I have become more interested in the use of eggs within main courses. I was looking through some of my 1960’s/70’s cookbooks the other day when I came across numerous dishes that featured the use of eggs. Personally I’m a big fan of eggs, they are so versatile, and a great substitute for meat, a source of protein, and are paramount when it comes to many dishes.  Speaking of the60’s/ 70’s , one of my cooking idols of that era, Fanny Cradock did amazingly creative things with eggs which ranged from her dying them bright colours to piping coloured potato into hard boiled eggs to decorate a dining table.

I created this recipe after becoming inspired by images of Asian ramen noodle soups and other Asian type soups that contained hard-boiled eggs and after playing around with this dish a few times I finally managed to perfect the recipe. This dish is inexpensive and very simple to make. Aesthetically it can look very impressive, depending on how you garnish it and in my opinion it’s the perfect meal to serve up when a friend drops in out of the blue or if you have very little time to prepare something more lavish.

I hope you enjoy!

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1x pack of egg noodles (hard or fresh)

1x bunch of spring onions

6-8 large eggs (Hard Boiled)

 A small piece of Fresh ginger (finely chopped)

2 large onions (red)

3 large peppers (assorted for colour)

1 large courgette

1 medium red chilli (finely chopped)

1-2 fresh limes

1 heaped tsp. of cumin

1 heaped tsp. of ground garlic

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

A bunch of fresh coriander

1 vegetable stock cube (added to a pint of boiling water)

Garnish ideas:

Chopped coriander, lime wedges, crushed peanuts, red chilli slices (optional)

Method:

Firstly boil the eggs in a saucepan of water over a medium to high heat. Make sure you leave the eggs for long enough as you want them to be hard-boiled. Meanwhile prepare the vegetables. Cut the peppers and onions into strips and the courgette into rings (or also strips if you fancy it). Next cut the spring onions into thin rings. Add all the vegetables to a large saucepan and drizzle on some olive oil. On a medium to high heat start to fry the vegetables, once they start becoming translucent, add the juice of the lime along with the heaped teaspoons of cumin, garlic, chopped chilli and chopped ginger. Fry further, making sure to mix the spices well with the vegetables and after about 5-8 minutes and turn off the heat.

Once the eggs have been hard boiled, drain the water and put the eggs into cold water. Once the eggs are cool enough, crack the shells with the back of a teaspoon and shell the eggs. Cut the eggs in half and leave to the side.

Next put the egg noodles into water and bring to the boil until they are soft. (If they are fresh noodles you will be able to add them directly to the soup). To the vegetables add the tin of chopped tomatoes and turn on the heat again. Prepare the pint of veg stock and add to the soup. Next add the noodles and eggs to the soup. Finely chop the coriander and add to the soup, mixing well. Simmer for a further 10 minutes to integrate all the flavours.

Once satisfied that all the flavours have mixed appropriately, serve and garnish with any of the suggested garnishes.

Bon Appetite!