Old Family Favourites

On Sunday I used up the last of my Nice'n'Spicy Nasi Goreng spice mixes. You may recall the Denningvleis from July last year. I made the Nasi Goreng following the recipe on the pack. I used pork with carrots, celery, capsicum, the last of the broccoli from the garden and some beans. And I served it with my sister's peanut sauce recipe - a great favourite in our house.
Saute chopped onion, crushed garlic & chopped ginger until soft. (She doesn't say how much - I just used half an onion, 1 clove garlic & a knob of ginger). Add 1/2 tsp chilli powder & 2 tsp curry powder & cook one minute.
Add 1/2 cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar/ 1 tsp salt
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/3 c fruit chutney (we always use Tamarillo)
2/3 cup water (add more if too thick)
Bring to the boil & simmer until it thickens.
This sauce is lovely with spicy chicken on skewers and other Indonesian style dishes. Also very popular with children if you don't make it too spicy.
Apparently Phoebe's friends are very impressed with soup Monday as she reports on Tuesday the previous evening's delights. Monday is now her favourite day of the week because it includes both maths & soup - apparently a winning combination. Have any of you taken up the soup Monday concept, or even soup Tuesday? I recommend it. We've explored some great soups.
This week we went back to an old favourite, Pasta & Bean soup. I needed to use up some orzo I had bought a while back for something in particular & couldn't for the life of me recall what it was. I wanted to see the back of it & this soup seemed the ideal vehicle.
Heat a little olive oil in a large pot & soften a finely sliced onion & a finely chopped clove of garlic. Stir in a sprinkling of chilli flakes to taste with 2 bay leaves & 1/4 tsp dried thyme. Dried herbs are often good in a soup. Cook for a minute.
Add a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of kidney beans & one of mixed beans with 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock and bring to boil. Add 1 cup pasta. I usually use macaroni, but in this instance I used a mix of macaroni & orzo. You could use spirals or any short pasta you have in the cupboard. Boil gently until the pasta is cooked then season.
Serve topped with chopped parsley or try pesto & some grated or shaved Parmesan. This is something you can whip up in 20 minutes just from your store cupboard. Always a favourite with all our children.