Green Curry (Chicken)

Cooking blogs are full of inspired, passionate cooks who are often very particular about cooking from scratch. This recipe is for those of us who are unorganised, bungling, half-assed cooks who still like to eat something nice.

I had planned to make a green chicken curry and had two chicken breasts thawed and waiting. I consulted my recipe book and placed my pestle & mortar on the bench. Oh dear.. Lots of ingredients missing... Being lazy I didn't want to go shoppping (again) so I dug a jar of Valcom paste from the nether regions of the fridge. It smelt ok so I thought 'why not'. Sorry Charmaine Solomon.

The back of the jar said to gently fry 3 tablespoons of it in a pan for a few minutes. I then raised the heat and added my sliced chicken.

Next add 400 ml coconut milk
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sugar

What, no coconut milk? I threw in a half a cup cream and about a cup of water and a teaspoon of coconut essence. Will this curdle?????

Add 200g cubed eggplant or other vegetables. Instead I added some market fresh mushrooms, capsicum, celery, snow peas, shallots - all sliced fairly finely (the way we like). I wanted to add a little garlic but mine had completely disappeared (I later found it in the fruit tray) so I completely sold out and added some from a jar (I swear I didn't buy it).

Then, having no integrity left whatsoever, I tossed in a tablespoon or two of Kikkoman Sesame Ginger and Soy Sauce. Again, from the door of the fridge.

I was expecting this to be a very ordinary meal indeed but, on tasting, it was actually one of the nicest things I've tasted in a while. I can only put it down to the very fresh vegies and the cream. We gobbled it all for lunch.

Home Made Pasta With Harry and Tom

Harry, Tom and I made some home made pasta yesterday. We sampled it tonight and it was absolutely delicious.

Take: 2 boys (best mates, no fighting allowed) and 1 nanny
3 bowls, 3 cups plain flour (ordinary), 3 eggs, 1-2 teas oil, 3 teas water (just to adjust consistency)

Make into playdoughish consistency. Knead, make dinosaurs, shapes, squish through pasta maker into monster's hair, throw into the air and try to catch a few times (what the heck, we'll be boiling it), roll back up into 3 balls, fight over whose ball is the biggest and put into the fridge for an hour or two. Go to park.

Return from park and help nanny feed it through the pasta machine, taking turns nicely. One boy helps feed pasta through the machine while the other one is in charge of keeping the dough nicely floured throughout the process.

Turn feral once mummy arrives and, in the mayhem, forget to take the pasta home.

Nanny, not sure how long it will keep or what it will be like, decides to use and replace.

Chicken breast fillet sliced small
3 slices bacon diced
1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 chilli diced finely
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 handful sliced mushrooms
1 large tablespoon tomato paste
2 large tablespoons ricotta
fresh oregano, parsley

Fry chicken in batches in a little oil. Add mushrooms, bacon, onion, garlic, chilli and fry up. Add the tomato past, herbs, fry a little longer. Add fresh herbs and ricotta.

Throw the pasta into boiling, salted water for about 1 minute (longer if using dried pasta).

Toss the pasta into the sauce (or serve separately if you prefer). Toss lightly, add lots of pepper and serve with extra parsley and maybe some grated parmesan (optional).