Hello to one and all!

It’s here. The penultimate. The second last. The one before the last one. The one that is before the one that is the answer to life, the universe and everything else. Vol.41!! And it’s a good one. Some of this year’s favourite frozen dishes are making their swansong appearance (don’t worry, they’ll be back in the new year). We’ve got a wonderfully ka-pow 👊 soup for these rainy evenings…and since mangoes are in season, I decided to put a mango and aubergine noodle salad on the menu too – by Ottolenghi of course. If anything, this has been the year of Ottolenghi for me. I hope you’re still keen on his cuisine because I don’t see that leaving anytime soon either.

(There’s only one slot left for the frozen meals – next week is Traditional Lasagna and Stuffed Conchiglione. You tell me what the last one should be.)

So here she is…the lovely Vol.41 (which is a prime number! Yay!!):

Quick, quick recap of the frozen options. These are all your favourites so I’m sure you’re well versed in their deliciousness.

Thai chicken curry with jasmine rice – Last seen on Vol.33, this gem of a dish is seriously one of the best things to have tucked in the freezer. It’s just so yummy. You’ll remember that a Thai curry is more like a soup than a thick curry. What reaches you is a concentrated portion of curry. Please follow the cooking instructions or you might end up eating a bowl of fire. The process starts by reducing coconut milk down until really thick. Then in goes the red Thai curry paste – it keeps being fried until you see the oil of the milk and paste separate – it’s really quite beautiful. Then we add the remaining milk, the tender pieces of chicken thigh meat and kaffir lime leaves and simmer. Final touch is thinly sliced red pepper and bamboo shoots. When you cook the dish at home feel free to add any green veg you happen to have laying around – green beans, broccoli, baby spinach. Simmer until cooked but still crunchy and then dive into a bowl of tangy, zingy, spicy deliciousness. If you feel like trying to make it yourself the link to Pailin Chongchitnant’s recipe here

‘Ndunderi in tomato sauce – Do you want to feel happy? If the answer is yes, then get yourse;f one of these. Quick re-fresher – ‘ndunderi are little dumplings made of ricotta, egg and a little flour. They’re light and soft and pretty much melt in your mouth. For this dish they literally swim in a rich tomato sauce dotted throughout with little chunks of molten smoked mozzarella. A little parmesan on top that goes golden and just a little crunchy once baked and you’ve got yourself a little slice of heaven – well a little pot of heaven? Bowl of heaven? Dish of heaven? Basically, it’s heavenly. 👼

Cheese, courgette and honey kataifi pie – This dish has got it all. Strong, sharp cheese, sweet honey, crunchy kataifi pastry and all the smells that make an evening wonderful. This is one you’re all familiar with by now. Another truly special veggie revelation. Three types of cheese – ricotta, halloumi and kaseri are combined with courgettes and kataifi pastry in a pie dish. Last time I decided to add another type of Greek/Cypriot sheep/goat’s milk cheese – Kefalotyri and it was fantastic. The smell as it baked was so good. So, I’m definitely going to add it again. The combination of the strong cheese, some crunchy walnuts, the sweet honey and a sprinkle of thyme really makes this one of my favourites. It’s just a wonderful blend of flavours, textures and smells. Couldn’t recommend it more.

And on to the fresh! The mushroom Tom Yum is on the menu as a special request (maybe I’ll even claim it as a pre-wedding present. Wink, wink 😉 – you know who you are)

Mushroom Tom yum with sticky Thai rice – This dish is a flavour relevation! Here’s the original description. Tom Yum is a flavourful broth. And I’ve put two types on the menu. The first is the vegetarian one. A vegetable broth is made using daikon radish (yay! I get to use another exotic vegetable), onion, garlic and coriander stems. This broth is then used as the base for the soup. The soup gets all the best aromatics – grilled shallots, chilli flakes, lemongrass, galangal (something that looks like ginger but has a totally different flavour – citrusy and herby instead of sharp) and kaffir lime leaves. It’s finished with soy sauce, lime juice, cherry tomatoes, a bit of sugar and fresh coriander. And then of course, the mushrooms. They only take about a minute to cook so I think I’m going to give them to you uncooked for you to pop in when you’re heating up the soup. And get ready for more exotic mushrooms – oyster, shimeji, shiitake and I’m going to add some cloud ear ones as well. Those are by far the weirdest ones – I came across them in Japan and they do really look like a crinkly ear – they have a slightly different texture and are well worth trying out. I’ll be adding the Thai sticky rice like I did last time. Can’t wait to use my steamer again 😄

Soba noodles with aubergine and mango – I decided to sneak a few more new dishes in before the end of the year. And mangoes are in season! And they are rather delicious. And really fun to slice. Fun to eat and fun to cut! Fun, fun, fun! Oh, and a fun colour! Wow, I’m in for a great Monday! This dish is pretty much what it says on the label. Soba noodles dressed in rice vinegar and sugar – with the dressing then spiked with chilli and lime. The aubergine is fried until golden. And the final step is to bring it all together, soba noodles, fresh mango, fried aubergine, some red onion, the zingy dressing and plenty of basil and coriander. Yums!!

I settled on another “stone-fruit topped cake” for dessert this week. I seriously enjoyed the last one. I made that one with peaches. Plums seem to be available again so I’m going with this classic Austrian creation – Zwetschkenfleck! (Literal translation “Plum-spot”) This cake base is leavened with yeast – which makes it extra light and fluffy. I’m going to have a go at doing some fancy, thinly sliced plums on top so that’s another thing to look forward to. Damn, this menu is shaping up to be a real hoot! Party on!

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful Friday! Marillenknödel weekend for me. It truly is 🎶 the most wonderful time, of the year! 🎶