gift to self

I don't think I've told you about my gorgeous gift to self...a little Christmas bonus from Blueberry Pie to me....Donna Hay magazine now comes through the door every couple of months which is a really nice treat. Only problem is that it's still steaming hot summer time in Australia, so this issue was packed with happy sun kissed people enjoying BBQ's and ice creams while lolling around the pool, how annoying! Oh well, at least I can dream.

the current issue

Recently here in Friendly Cottage we have been eating lots of noodles with chop sticks (think we're still on an Asian buzz from mart's trip to Japan). So staying on that theme, here's a recipe from the mag you might like to try...

GINGER POACHED CHICKEN NOODLES

Serves 4

1L chicken stock
60g ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 x 200g chicken breast fillets, trimmed
1 bunch broccolini, trimmed and sliced*
440g udon noodles**
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup coriander leaves
1 cup mint leaves
2 spring onions, sliced
2 small red chillies, sliced

Place the chicken stock and ginger in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the chicken. Gently poach for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan, reserving the stock, and shred. Add the broccolini to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes or until tender. Remove and add the noodles. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until seperated. Drain, discarding the stock, and return the noodes to the pan with the chicken, broccolini, soy sauce, corainder, mint, spring onion and chilli and toss to combine.

*broccolini, which is a cross between broccoli as we know it and a Chinese broccoli, isn't available in Ireland (as far as I'm aware) but it's very similar to our tender stem broccoli. You could always use choi sum, available in asian supermarkets, either.
** I love udon noodles but they aren't easily available in supermarkets here in Ireland. I buy mine from the asian store when I go in to stock up on foreign goodies!

P.S. I'm off to Cork in the morning with work AGAIN, so as I'll be back in the Ballymaloe Triangle of limited internet access I won't be blogging until I get back at the weekend...so have a good week & catch up with you then...