“special” fried rice

the other day at work we were discussing what we do with the odds and sods that accumulate in one’s fridge over the week.

it turns out we all have at least one (or more) recipes to ensure we ‘waste not’.

for what it’s worth, my dad (a war baby) never threw anything out… and that included food.

when we were growing up, every sunday he’d drag out all the scraps and leftovers from the fridge. dad is chinese, so the leftovers always included rice.

then he’d get out the wok, and fry the lot, and for sunday us kids would get “special fried rice”.

these days if i end up with leftover rice, i’ll do the same.

what
essential ingredients:
rice
soy sauce

plus any of the following (diced):
floppy celery
floppy carrots
any other wrinkly or floppy vegetable
any odds and ends of frozen vegetables that aren’t enough for a full dinner serve
old eggs
leftover meat (ham, lamb chops, the end of the pork roast, you get the idea)

how
- if using eggs, scramble first with salt to taste, fry and set aside
- fry the diced items with a dash of soy sauce until cooked
- add the rice (warm it in the microwave) and toss
- add soy sauce to taste, toss some more (add the scrambled eggs now too)
- serve.

it’s always different, and always yummy.

there will be other bottom-of-the-crisper recipes to come, too. what’s your bottom-of-the-crisper food?

sweet potato & pork curry

ingredients for sweet potato & pork red curry

dear Miss J, I hope your curry night goes well this weekend. since you are taking a curry to a dinner party, it needs to be one that will travel well, so we might give the green chicken curry a miss. this one is dead simple (if you use a store-bought paste), tasty and a bit different than your average curry. you can eat it for days afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

500g belly pork strips / pork spare ribs with minimum bone – just make sure the meat has some fat on it. you can make it with lean pork but the result is pretty grim.

1-2 red sweet potatoes – there should be more potato than pork

1 onion

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 pkt red curry paste (mild/medium)
1 tin coconut milk
fish sauce
palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1 lime
1 bunch of basil
optional veg: a handful of green beans, or a small zuccinni
basmarti rice

 

thai basil

all ingredients available at your average supermarket.

slice the onion into thin strips, and chop the pork into bite-sized pieces. peel the sweet potato and cut into chunks.

in a saucepan, fry onion and pork in a little oil until browned. add 4-6 heaped teaspoons of red curry paste (to taste) and fry gently. add chicken stock, bring to the boil then simmer for 30 mins. add sweet potato chunks, and a little water – enough to just barely cover the food. cover and simmer for another 20 mins. pork should be tender and sweet potato soft.

remove the lid and allow the liquid to reduce a bit, then add in the coconut milk, and stir through. add the chunks of beans or zuccini. allow to heat and just simmer very gently for a further 10 minutes – the sweet potato should be starting to disintegrate and thicken the sauce. during this time add about half a tsp each of fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar to the curry and stir through – taste and adjust as necessary (if too sour, add sugar; if too sweet, add lime; if too bland add a dash of fish sauce.) depending on the curry paste you’ve chosen, you may not need to add some or all of these three condiments – so the taste test is important.

roughly tear the basil leaves and stir a handful through the curry. remove from heat, and serve with basmarti rice (or grab the saucepan and head off to your curry night).

chili con carne

I’ve never been to the Americas and so freely admit this may not resemble the real thing. It is, however, a good and easy comfort dish that sticks to the ribs. It can be made by the least kitchen-savvy and freezes well.

 

chili con carne will never win any beauty prizes - but it will please the stomach and warm the heart. Close your eyes, and eat up.

Miss K, you rang me from the supermarket last night because you’ve lost track of the version we wrote down once a few years ago. I thought I’d have to make it again to accurately recall the specifics – until I remembered the recipe was borrowed by the Inverell Community Health staff for their Winter Warmers Cookbook. And I just happen to have a copy. How odd is that?

 

 

500 grams lean beef mince

1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 large zuccini, grated
1 – 1 1/2 cups beefstock
2-3 cloved garlic
salt and chilli to taste (suggest 3 dried chillis)
1-3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 heaped teaspoons each of cumin and garam masala
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 x 375g tins kidney beans

brown rice for 4 people
optional for serving: grated cheese and/or sour cream

heat a generous amount of oil in a large saucepan

when the oil is warm, add spices and fry for 30 seconds. add the onions and garlic, then the mince. fry until mince is brown.

stir through the tomato paste, then add beef stock and grated vegetables. bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cover.

simmer for about 45 minutes. in the meantime, cook the rice.

drain the kidney beans and add; bring back to a medium simmer and cover. simmer for 10-15 minutes.

serve chili on a bed of rice. feeling fancy? add a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with grated cheese.