Pho-inspired chicken noodle soup

Ingredients:

For the broth:
4 chicken drumsticks, skin on
3 star anise
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbs coriander seeds
1 tbs cumin seeds
4 dried hot chillis
1 tsp coarse salt
peelings of a good chunk of ginger (flesh reserved)
5-6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 tbs oil
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
5 shallots, roughly chopped
4 sprigs coriander (stalks and roots, leaves reserved)
2 litres chicken stock

For the soup:
4 potatoes, cut into little cubes
5 carrots, cut into little cubes
1/4 celeriac root, cut into little cubes
(and any other vegetables you might want in the soup - pak choy would work really well, or spinach leaves, added right at the end)
2-3 handfuls of alphabet pasta (or Asian noodles)
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
ginger (see above) cut into thin strips
1-2 chillis (not too hot), cut into thin strips
coriander leaves (see above)
2 spring onions, finely sliced

How to make the broth:
Place the whole dried spices and salt in a pestle and mortar and bruise to release their oils - there is no need to pound until smooth as they will be strained out of the final soup. Add the ginger peelings and garlic and bruise a little bit more. Heat the oil in a high-sided, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the spices from the pestle and mortar and fry for 3-4 minutes until they become aromatic. Add the chopped vegetables and coriander stalks and roots. Continue to cook for a few more minutes, then push to the side of the pan as best as possible and add the chicken drumsticks. Brown from all sides, then add the (hot) chicken broth. Cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes. Take out the chicken, put on a plate or board and leave to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, strain the soup and pour back in the pot. It might be too spicy now because of the dried chillis but will become less so after straining. Take the chicken meat of the bones, discard the bones and tear the meat into manageable strips. Set aside.

How to make the soup:
Bring the clear broth back to a simmer and add the cubes of carrot, potatoes and celeriac. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are almost done. Add the noodles and chicken strips and leave for a further couple of minutes. Turn off the heat, add the coriander, strips of ginger and chilli, spring onions, fish & soy sauce, lime juice, check the seasoning and serve. Yum! AND a perfect cold remedy.

Indian-style roast salmon with fried potatoes and cucumber & coriander raita

Ingredients (for 2 people)

For the salmon
2 salmon fillets, skin on and scored
A dash of teriyaki sauce
A dash of soy sauce
A few different curry blends, or some ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala
Few drops of sesame oil
Some fish sauce
Some tabasco sauce
Salt
Pepper
2 tsp honey

For the curry paste
Olive oil
1-2 chillies, finely sliced
3 cm of fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs of curry leaves
1 tsp of curry powder
Some salt, pepper, sugar
1 tbs of mustard seeds
1 tbs of sesame seeds
1 tin of creamed coconut milk

For the vegetable base
All different kinds of finely sliced vegetables, enough to fill the bottom of an oven dish, e.g.:
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
A quarter red cabbage/savoy cabbage
A handful of mangetout
2 leeks
1 unwaxed lemon or lime
Some salt and pepper

For the raita:
500 ml plain yoghurt
1 bunch of coriander, chopped with stalks and all
1 cucumber, grated
Some mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of icing sugar
Some raita seasoning (mustard seeds, dried herbs)

For the potatoes:
6-8 waxy potatoes
1 tbs of turmeric
Salt, pepper

How to marinate the salmon:
Marinate the salmon a few hours before cooking. Score the skin a couple of times, put the fillets into a sealable bag, add all the marinating sauces and spices except for the honey (be quite generous) and put the bag in the fridge.

How to make the raita:
Mix all the ingredients together. You can do this a few hours before dinner, so everything blends. Take out of the fridge half an hour before serving and adjust the seasoning.

How to make the curry paste:
Add olive oil to a frying pan. Add all the ingredients except the coconut milk and fry lightly for 3-4 minutes. Add the coconut milk and reduce by about half, stiring occasionally.

How to make the potatoes:
Peel the potatoes, half them lengthways and boil for 10-15 mins until almost cooked, drain and cut them into chunks. Heat up some oil in a frying pan and add the potatoes. Leave them for a few minutes to catch, add the spices, then fry until brown and crispy. They will turn a nice yellow from the turmeric.

How to roast the vegetables and salmon:
Heat up the fan oven to 180 degrees.

Place the vegetables in the oven dish. It's important to slice them as thinly as possible to allow them to cook as there is only a little amount of liquid in the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Sit the salmon fillets on top, skin side up. Drizzle the honey over the salmon and vegetables. Cut the lemon/lime into 6 chunks, squeeze the juice over everything and distribute the chunks over the vegetables. Drizzle the curry paste over the vegetables, it's ok if some ends up on the salmon. If the paste seems quite dry, add some extra white wine, or sake, to the pan. Now cover the dish with foil and put in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, check that there is some liquid with the vegetables (add some more if necessary), add some salt to the salmon skins and put back in the oven for another 15 mins until the salmon is cooked to your liking.

To serve:
Lift out the salmon with some of the vegetables and put on a plate. Add some of the potatoes and raita. Voila!