FLOWER POT KITCHEN: HOT FIERY DAN DAN NOODLES

22 Mar 2015

HOT FIERY DAN DAN NOODLES

This will put a yin in your yang for sure, a great va va voom for your body and mind! If your feeling under the weather this is a dish for you, the bordering insanely hot chilli oil is almost unbearable but just not quite and you will find yourself not wanting to stop taking another mouthful, this is the beauty of the Sezchuan pepper it slightly numbs your tongue and lips therefore hiding the burning effects of the chilli heat the more you eat! A great boost to your mind, an antioxidant detox boost to your body and a good cure towards colds or blocked sinus.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

300g dried egg noodles

500ml fresh homemade chicken stock

1 tbsp coconut oil

250g ground beef or skirt finely chopped

2 tbs honey

1 tbsp shaoxing wine

2 tbsp soy sauce

4 handfuls of torn kale

4 handfuls torn spinach

8 spears of asparagus diced

2 handfuls broccoli florets

1 bok choi sliced

4 cloves garlic grated

4 spring onions sliced

4 hot red chillies sliced

2 tsp ground Szechuan pepper

5 tbsp hot chilli oil

1 lime quartered

To make your own chilli oil take 15-20 hot dried red chillies, place in a hot dry frying pan and warm through, add to a blender along with 350ml liquid coconut or ground nut oil and blitz, pour into a sterilised air tight glass bottle this will keep for around a year deepening in intensity over time.

In a wok add a little coconut oil, fry off the beef on a high heat quickly,more move from the heat and stir in the honey, leave the beef in the wok and keep to one side.

Bring the stock to a boil, then take off the heat, add the noodles and leave to cook according to the instructions, generally instructions are to leave the noodles for a few minutes in boiling water/stock then remove. A couple of minutes before the noodles need to be removed add the broccoli, asparagus, bok choi and kale. Drain reserving around half the stock and add all to the wok, put the wok back on a medium heat add the chilli oil, garlic, soy sauce and Sezchuan pepper and toss well together.

Pile high in your serving bowls and finish off with a scattering of spring onions and a squeeze of lime, and for the not faint of heart a extra drizzle of chilli oil.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.