Thai Red Curry Soup

Ever been to Wagamama's and had Chicken Itame? I have it every time when I go there, possibly because I don't know what most of the other things are! Wagamama's describe it as 'rice noodles in a spicy green coconut and lemongrass soup topped with stir-fried chicken, beansprouts, chillies, red and spring onions, bok choi, peppers and mushrooms. garnished with coriander and lime.'

This is my variation of it, with red curry paste.

One day last year I was sat in a lecture on a Friday afternoon, craving Chicken Itame, so I spent the last few minutes of the lecture (oops!) googling recipes but couldn't find exactly what I wanted. I found some similar recipes, so decided to start with them, and I made a shopping list. Since then, I have made it many times, and it is one of my favourite meals to cook, as its so easy, filling, healthy and tasty! I always make big portions, and can freeze the leftovers.

-Turkey/chicken breast (like the photo below)
-For a seafood version - prawns/mussels/calamari rings/crab sticks/seafood sticks (like the photo above)
-Mushrooms
-Aubergine
-Courgettes
-Onion
-Chilli
-Beansprouts
-Red/yellow/green peppers
- Red Thai Curry Paste (or lemongrass paste, ginger paste, chilli paste and garlic paste)
-Coconut milk (either a 400ml can or a carton, but a carton is not as rich)
-Noodles (egg noodles, rice noodles, wholewheat noodles...take your pick!)
-Spinach/Bok choi
-Lime (not necessary, but finishes it off perfectly)

1. I cut the meat into bite sized pieces, then cooked them in a little olive oil in a large frying pan/wok. If you are making the seafood version, don't add the seafood yet, as it only takes minutes to cook and will have a strange texture if you overcook them.

2. I chopped and added all of the vegetables (not the spinach/bok choi leaves) to the pan, and let that cook for a few minutes.

3. When everything looks cooked, add the Thai red curry paste. If you are making your own paste out of chilli, ginger, lemongrass and garlic, then mix them together in a small pot, you will want at least half a tablespoon of each. You can alter the taste of it to suit you. I love lemongrass, so I always add extra lemongrass! Cook this on a high heat for a few minutes, you don't want it to burn but you want the spices to release their flavour and fill the air with their aroma!

4. Add the coconut milk. You can either get rich coconut milk in a can, or thin coconut milk in a carton, which will be near the soya and almond milk at the supermarket. The carton milk is low in fat and a good alternative to dairy, so perfect if you are on a diet. I have used both, and they both taste good.

5. If you are using noodles, seafood or spinach/bok choi leaves, you should add them now. 

6. Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer until the noodles are cooked.

7. Take off the heat, serve the soup in a bowl and add a squeeze of lime juice.

To make it cheaply, I buy frozen seafood, spinach and peppers. You can even buy frozen diced onions. Bulking it out with veg makes it a lot healthier, more filling, and more portions.

I hope you enjoy this!

Zoe x

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

Happy New Year's Eve!

I don't normally like chocolate cake, and I rarely try to make chocolate cupcakes, because they are dry and flavourless. Luckily, this one is moist and actually tastes of chocolate! I also used it over Christmas to make Christmas tree cupcakes (pictured at the end).

These are dark chocolate cupcakes, stuffed with a Lindt Lindor chocolate truffle, covered in icing that tastes like a chocolate truffle, and topped with glitter.

This was supposed to make 12 cupcakes, but ended up making 16!

It is easier to make the icing first, as it needs to cool.

Icing:

-150g chocolate (I used a mix of dark and milk)

- 160g butter

- 3-4 tbsp cream

1. Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Mix together and leave in the fridge or freezer to cool. (Make your cupcakes while its cooling!)

2. When it has cooled and is almost set, remove it from the fridge or freezer.

3. Use an electric whisk and whip the chocolate mixture. It should turn lighter in seconds.

4. Add the cream, then whip again. When everything is incorporated, stop whipping it, and smother it over cupcakes!

I topped my cakes with gold shimmer crystals and edible glitter.

Cupcakes:

-200g sugar

-200g self-raising flour

-75g cocoa powder

-1/2tsp salt

-1 tsp vanilla extract/2 tsp vanilla essence

-1 egg

-50ml vegetable oil

-100ml milk

-200ml hot water

-6 or 12 Lindt truffles (I cut mine in half, so only used 6)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2.  Add everything but the Lindt truffles and the hot water to a mixing bowl.

3. When everything is mixed together, add the hot water. The mixture is quite runny.

4. Fill cupcake cases 2/3 to 3/4 full, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

5. When the cupcakes have cooled, push a Lindt truffle into the cake, then cover with icing!

This recipe was originally used for making Christmas tree cupcakes, they turned out pretty well!

I used butter icing on them, rather than chocolate icing.