Herby Steamed Potatoes

When I asked Mark is he had any requests for dinner on Sunday night, he said that he would really like the same slow cooked lamb that we had the Sunday night before (he said that it seemed like a 'Sunday' meal). I loved that dish so was happy to grant the request.

I put the lamb in the oven, but became preoccupied with a few other things and forgot about roast potatoes. So I decided to cook steamed potatoes, but jazz them up with some herbs.

Traditionally, I have served steamed potatoes with butter, and often chives. But I am trying to cut back on butter, so used olive oil instead. As mint goes so well with lamb, I thought that chives and mint together would make these potatoes a delicious accompaniment to the lamb.

Have a go!

Just steam your potatoes (takes about 10-15 minutes once the steam is going - to test, poke with a knife). Finely chop some mint and chives (or whatever herbs you like) and combine the herbs, potatoes, a dash of olive oil and salt and pepper.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I think I came up with this dish to prove something to myself (and possibly Mark). We were in the car yesterday and heard an ad for Masterchef. It said that the contestant's challenge was to cook a Chinese inspired meal. Mark's comment was "Luce, don't know how you would go with that one".

No, he was not being nasty, he was reflecting on the fact that I generally do not eat, or cook, Asian food. It is just not what I prefer. Having said that, we once agreed that one of the best meals we ever had was at The Rocks Teppanyaki, and I love the flavours of kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass and ginger - when done properly (or perhaps not properly, just the way I like it), I really enjoy Asian flavours. So I decided then and there that I would experiment a bit more with Asian-style cooking.

And this soup had started things off very well. Mark said that he thinks the dish would impress the judges and we both really loved it. It was also really easy, which on a night where I came home, took a call from a client and then turned the computer on to do some more work, was absolutely necessary. It will definitely become a regular!

Unfortunately I sort of just threw things in, so please bear with me on the quantities.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1/2 tablespoon peanut oil

Dash of sesame oil

1 chicken breast skin removed and trimmed

2cm piece of ginger thinly slices

2 spring onions thinly sliced

2 sticks celery thinly sliced

500ml chicken stock (I used chicken consomme which I purchased from the supermarket)

175g fresh Singapore noodles

420g can sweet corn kernels drained

Soy sauce to taste

1/2 large red chilli (optional)

Method

Cook the chicken breast in a fry pan until cooked through. Shred and set aside. Heat the peanut and sesame oil in a medium saucepan. Add the ginger and spring onions (reserving about a quarter of the ginger and a handful of the green part of the spring onions to garnish) and celery, and cook until soft. Add the stock or consomme. Bring to the boil. Add the noodles, corn and chicken and heat through for a few minutes. Add soy sauce to taste. Garnish with reserved ginger, spring onion and chilli (if using).

Note: if you want more liquid, add some water and a bit of powdered chicken stock.