Quick Make Chunky Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Homemade chicken and vegetable soup

Soup has to be one of the world's most popular lunches but most often it will either be prepared in advance and reheated, or taken from a carton or a can. While many soups are complex and time consuming to make from scratch, this soup can not only be made from scratch in less than an hour and a half, most of that time is hands-off cooking, leaving you free to attend to other things while your tasty lunch simmers away on the stove.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Ready in: 1 hour 15 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients
 

Carrot and potatoes for chicken soup

2 large chicken thighs
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Salt
1 large carrot
4 medium baby new potatoes
1 cup frozen peas

Instructions

Poaching chicken thighs

Put the chicken thighs in to a medium sized pot along with the bay leaves and peppercorns. Season with salt and pour in enough cold water to ensure the thighs are comfortably covered. Put the pot on to a high heat and bring to a gentle to moderate simmer for 30 minutes.

Strained chicken stock

Lift the chicken thighs from the water with a slotted spoon to a holding plate. Cover and leave to cool enough that they can be comfortably handled.

Suspend a kitchen paper lined sieve over a large bowl and carefully ladle the hot stock in to it to strain. You may need to change the kitchen paper once or twice as it becomes clogged with fatty molecules.
 

Simmering soup vegetables

Return the stock to the pot and wash the carrot and potatoes. Peel to one inch chunks and add to the stock, bringing it back to a simmer for 20 minutes. Add the peas and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes.

Chicken thigh meat plucked from bones

Peel the skin from the chicken thighs and pluck the meat from the bones in small bite sized chunks. Return the meat to the soup, simmer for a final couple of minutes to reheat the chicken, taste and adjust the seasoning as required and ladle in to two serving dishes.

Chicken thigh meat is returned to soup to heat through

Bacon and Vegetables Mini Spanish Tortilla

Bacon and vegetables mini Spanish Tortilla

It has been a number of years since a variety of circumstances caused me to stop posting to this blog. It has actually taken the horrors of coronavirus and the resultant Covid-19 to make me realise that more people than ever at this terrible time in history will be looking for ideas as to what they can have for lunch while stuck at home in the face of an uncertain future. Today, therefore, I provide the first suggestion for a while of what will hopefully be many on an ongoing, regular basis, for what you may wish to consider having for lunch.

A Spanish tortilla is normally a thick, almost cake like affair, made principally with eggs, potato and onion. This is a smaller version designed to serve only one person but could easily be beefed up to serve two or more in the form of wedges, just as with a pizza.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ready in: 15 minutes
Serves: 1 person (or 2 with accompaniments)

Ingredients

2 British style back bacon rashers (or 4 strips American/streaky bacon)
Vegetable or sunflower oil
1 small courgette/zucchini
1 small white onion
1/2 teaspoon pimenton/smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
3 large eggs

Back bacon rashers

Instructions

Roughly chop the bacon. Pour two or three tablespoons of oil in to a medium to large non-stick frying pan and bring it up to a medium to high heat. Add the chopped bacon and saute until just cooked. Remove briefly to a small bowl or plate.

Frying chopped bacon

Wash, top, tail and dice the courgette/zucchini to around half inch chunks. Peel, half and slice the onion. Add to the still hot pan with the pimenton/smoked paprika and some salt and pepper. Saute for a few minutes until the onion strands are just softened.

Sauteing seasoned and spiced vegetables

Return the bacon to the pan and saute again briefly to ensure it is re-heated all the way through. Use your spatula to ensure the contents of the pan are evenly dispersed across the surface.

Bacon is returned to pan with vegetables

Put your kitchen grill/broiler on to preheat to its highest setting. Beat the eggs in a small bowl until just combined before pouring evenly over the bacon and vegetables. Reduce the heat under the pan slightly and cook for two or three minutes until you can see the egg is set almost but not quite all the way to the top.

Egg is poured over arranged bacon and vegetables

Place the pan under your grill/broiler for a minute or two until the eggs are completely set. Slide the tortilla carefully on to a plate and serve immediately.

Bacon and vegetables tortilla is ready to serve

Wee Willie Winkie's Sausages Omelette with Baked Beans

Cocktail sausage omelette and baked beans in tomato sauce

This idea is definitely one that has to be included in the, "What can I do with those leftovers in the fridge?" recipe file. I had been working on a project devising cocktail sausage recipes for serving in the form of hors d'oeuvres at parties. Somehow, I miscalculated and bought one pack of the quaintly named Wee Willie Winkie's sausages too many. There were twenty in the pack so I used eight the first day to make sandwiches for lunch and on the second day I got just a little bit more creative with the result being what's featured in this post.

Wee Willie Winkie's sausages and eggs are only omelette ingredients

Ingredients (Serves one)

12 mini (skinless) cocktail sausages
1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
2 medium or large eggs
Salt and pepper
Small can of baked beans in tomato sauce
4 or 5 shredded basil leaves to garnish

Cocktail sausages must be fried on a very low heat

Directions

When you are frying mini skinless sausages, it is imperative you do so slowly, on as low a heat as possible. Begin by adding the vegetable oil to a small omelette pan followed by the sausages. Place on to your lowest heat and cook for twelve to fifteen minutes, shaking the pan gently every couple of minutes to prevent the sausages from sticking.

Baked beans in tomato sauce ready for heating

When the sausages are almost ready, put the baked beans in to a saucepan and on to a low heat. Break the eggs in to a bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Put your overhead grill/broiler on to preheat to maximum.

Beaten eggs are carefully poured in to the pan with the cooked cocktail sausages

Pour the eggs carefully over the sausages. You will see the eggs don't come anywhere close to covering the sausages but that was deliberate as this was a lunch dish for one person. If you wish to add four or even five eggs instead for a more robust meal or to serve two, you can easily do so. Turn the heat up to medium and cook for just a couple of minutes until you can see the eggs are almost but not quite set. Place the pan under the grill/broiler for a further couple of minutes until the eggs have completely set and puffed up slightly.
 

Cocktail sausage omelette is halved and plated

Carefully half the omelette with the edge of a plastic spatula and slide the halves on to a serving plate as shown. Spoon the beans in to the gap and garnish with the basil.

Baked beans are spooned on to the plate beside the sausage omelette

Duck Breast and Piri Piri Sauce Salad Sub Sandwich

Duck breast slices and peashoots sub with piri piri sauce

This duck breast salad sandwich came about simply because I could only buy a packet with two duck breasts in it when I only needed one. I used the one I required for dinner on the first night and refrigerated the second to eat for lunch the following day. It's amazing how often my lunch is determined by supermarkets selling products only in quantities greater than are required to serve only one person. If you're in this position, you may want to think along similar lines as a way of getting round what can often be a really irritating problem.

Duck breast fillet is scored and seasoned for cooking

Ingredients

1 duck breast fillet (skin on)
Salt and pepper
1 sub roll
Handful of peashoots
1 tbsp piri piri sauce



Directions

If at all possible, remove the duck breast from the fridge about an hour before you intend cooking it and leave it (covered) to come up to room temperature. Put your oven on to preheat to 375F/190C.  Lay the fillet flesh side down and score the skin with a sharp knife. Season with salt and black pepper.

Starting to fry duck breast fillet

Lay the duck breast skin side down in a cold, dry, ovenproof frying pan. Season the flesh side. Put the pan on to a very low heat until you can see the fat starting to melt and spread around the pan. Increase the heat for a couple of minutes until the duck skin is starting to crisp and turn golden. Turn the fillet over and quickly colour and seal the flesh side. Put the frying pan in to the oven for about twelve minutes.

Sub roll is halved

When the duck is cooked, remember to use oven gloves and lift the frying pan from the oven. Transfer the duck breast to a chopping board and leave to rest for five minutes.

Cut the sub in half and arrange the peashoots (or salad leaves of choice) on the bottom half.

Peashoots are spread on bottom of sub roll

Normally, I would slice a duck breast across the way - against the grain - but in this instance, I sliced it lengthwise, purely for presentation purposes. Slice it as you choose to a thickness of about a quarter inch.

Slicing rested duck breast

Lay the duck breast slices on the peashoots, drizzle with the piri piri sauce and place the top of the sub on last of all. Press down lightly, slice and serve.

Duck breast slices are arranged on top of the peashoots

Refried Chicken Breast with Oyster Sauce and Chinese Noodles

Refried chicken breast and onion in oyster sauce on a bed of Chinese noodles

One night recently I had a family member visiting and I made and portioned a whole roast chicken. It was a fairly large chicken, so the next day, there were substantial leftovers, including this chicken breast fillet. This recipe was devised quickly, using only other ingredients I had available in the house, and proved really delicious. It was also really quick to prepare.

Principal ingredients for chicken and onion in oyster sauce on noodles

Ingredients

1 leftover chicken breast, sliced in to 4 or 5 pieces (skin on or off as per preference)
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
1 nest of dried Chinese egg noodles
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Black pepper
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 or 3 basil leaves, rolled together and finely sliced

Dried noodles are added to boiling water

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the noodles and cook on a simmer for five minutes, or for the time period prescribed on the packet if different.

Chicken and onion are chopped for frying

Put the oil in to a frying pan (or wok, if you prefer) and bring it up to a high heat. Add the onion quarters and stir fry for about a minute before adding the chicken. Season with black pepper and stir fry until the chicken is starting to crisp and turn golden. This should take two to three minutes.

Chicken and onion are fried in sunflower oil

Spoon the oyster sauce in to the frying pan and stir fry just long enough to evenly coat the chicken and onion.

Oyster sauce is added to chicken and onion

Drain the noodles through a colander and twist them around a fork. Carefully slide them off the fork in to the centre of a serving plate.

Noodles are laid as a bed on the plate

A slotted spoon is ideal for transferring the chicken and onion on to the bed of noodles before the shredded basil leaves are added as a final garnish.

Fried chicken and onion is spooned on to bed of noodles

Duck Confit and Duck Liver and Orange Pate on Toast with Watercress and Orange Salad

Toast is spread with duck liver pate, topped with duck confit and served with an orange and watercress salad

A few nights ago, I made a very simple duck confit for dinner and deliberately prepared extra that I would have leftovers for lunch the next day. This is the dish I thereafter prepared - quick, easy and delicious.  This recipe is perfect for lunch when time is short but you are looking for something a little bit different and possibly hoping to impress family or guests with an interesting and tasty dish.

Duck confit

Ingredients per Person

1 confit duck leg
1 slice of wheat, spelt and rye bread (or bread of choice)
2oz duck liver and orange pate
Handful of fresh watercress
Skinned segments of half an orange
Teaspoon of pine nuts
Salt and black pepper
Chopped parsley to garnish

Slice of wheat, spelt and rye bread for toasting

Directions

Cut the slice of wheat, spelt and rye bread and put it on to to toast. Pick the flesh from the confit of duck leg in large clumps.

Confit duck meat removed from bones

Sit the toasted bread on a chopping board.

Wheat, spelt and rye toast

Spread the hot toast with the duck liver and orange pate.

Duck liver and orange pate is spread on toast

Toss the watercress, orange segments and pine nuts together with some seasoning. Lay on one side of a serving plate.

Watercress, orange and pine nuts salad

Sit the toast and pate beside the salad. Lay the pieces of duck confit in an even layer over the pate. Garnish with the chopped parsley.

Duck confit and pate on toast is plated with watercress and orange salad

Sausages, Bacon and Black Pudding with a Fried Duck Egg and Baked Beans

A classic fried breakfast slightly adapted makes a wonderful lunch

The plate pictured above may be one you would expect to see on a breakfast table rather than a lunch table. The truth is, however, that the full English breakfast or full Scottish breakfast can be enjoyed every bit as much at any other time of day and above all makes the perfect brunch. A little tweak here and there - like using a duck egg in this instance rather than a chicken egg - can really freshen it up. Even taking a little time to vary the presentation and use a dish for the beans can make it seem like a completely different meal.

Pork sausages, black pudding and Ayrshire middle bacon

Ingredients per Person

2 pork sausages
1 slice of black pudding
2 slices of Ayrshire middle bacon (or 3 or 4 of ordinary bacon)
1 medium tomato
1 large closed cup mushroom
Vegetable oil for frying
1 duck egg
2 tbsp baked beans in tomato sauce
Freshly sliced basil leaves to garnish
HP Sauce (optional)

Any rind should be removed from the black pudding before it is fried

Directions

You will need two frying pans to prepare this recipe. Add a little oil to the larger pan and begin frying the sausages over a low to medium heat, turning them frequently. They will take about twenty minutes in total. After ten minutes, remove any remaining rind and add the black pudding to fry for five minutes each side, as well as the halved tomato and the mushroom.

Frying sausages, black pudding, tomato and mushroom

Very lightly wipe some oil over the surface of a small, non-stick frying pan and bring up to a medium heat while you transfer the sausages, black pudding, tomato and mushroom to a heated plate. Cover them with foil to keep them warm.

Break the duck egg in to a small bowl and gently pour it in to the pan. Leave it to fry for four to five minutes.

Frying the duck egg in a separate frying pan

Add the bacon to the pan the sausage was taken from to fry on a fairly high heat for a couple of minutes each side. The beans should be gently heated in a small saucepan.

Frying Ayrshire middle bacon

Plate the sausages, bacon and black pudding. Pour the beans in to a small round dish and lay on the same plate.

Sausages, bacon, black pudding and beans are plated first

Lay the tomato and mushroom on the bacon and carefully sit the fried duck egg on the beans. Garnish the egg with the basil and add HP Sauce if required.

Fried breakfast/lunch is ready for final garnish and sauce