Courgette and Duck Green Coconut Curry with Noodles, (plus green curry paste recipe)

While we were trying to conceive Poppy, I was working for a company based in Paris.  My team were based in Poland and the South Coast of England so most of my work was done over the phone from my home office.  Every couple of weeks I had to go to head office for a couple of days for 'management meetings'.  

Snore.

A couple of days a month working in Paris sounds rather glamorous, but really, work travel is work travel and tends to involve too much work and too much travel.

It interrupts your sleep patterns.  I had to get up at 5am to catch the Eurostar train which would get me into the office at midday and I didn't get home until after 8pm on the day I returned.

It interrupts your eating patterns.  Eating out for every meal becomes old very quickly - especially when you're trying to eat as nutrient rich foods as you can. 

There just are no good choices available in ready made foods and you don't know the quality of what will be in the meal you order in restaurants. Although I will say this much - ordering restaurant food in Paris was much less of a concern in this regard than ordering restaurant food in the other city I once regularly had to do work travel to - Dallas.  At least the French value fresh ingredients prepared fairly simply.

In any case, I'd occasionally pop out to the supermarket in the lunch hour and pick up a bottle or two of cheap French wine to bring back to London in my hand-luggage at a fraction of the price it would cost here.  

We took said wine to a dinner party and the host asked if I could pick up some confit duck for him sometime as it was half the price in Euros as you can find it for Pounds in London.  The next time I could fit it in I did, and squeezed another tin in my bag for posterity.

As part of eating the cupboard bare before our move, I finally opened that tin last week and Mr Duncan made us a lovely traditional confit duck leg meal with greens and potato.

We have two legs left and this is what I did with one of them.

Fertility Focus:

Coconut milk is a source of healthy saturated fat which aids in vitamin absorption and balancing hormones.
Courgette contains iron and vitamins A, Bs (including folate) and C and the skin is full of fibre.
Spinach is rich in iron, folate and vitamin K

Ingredients

• Fat from the confit duck
• Onion
• Green curry paste (see below)
• Coconut milk
• Courgette
• Shredded duck leg
• Egg noodles
• Spinach

Method

1.  Boil noodles until cooked.  

2.  Rinse, drain and set aside.  

3.  Heat duck fat in wok until melted and chop onion into wedges.  

4.  Stir fry onion until slightly soft

5.  Mix in green curry paste.  

6.  Cook for a further couple of minutes. 

7.  Add coconut milk and mix until paste dissolves.  

8.  Bring to a low simmer and allow to reduce/thicken for about 5 minutes.
9.  Add chopped courgette, duck and noodles.  

10.  Heat through for three minutes. 

11.  Remove from heat.  

12.  Stir through chopped spinach until wilted.  

Serve.

Green Curry Paste

This is a recipe from Smokin' Pot, a Thai/Cambodian restaurant and cookery school in Battambang where Mr Duncan and I once took a class in Khmer-style cooking.

• 1/4 tsp dried coriander seeds
• 1/4 tsp dried cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp black peppercorn
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
• 1/2 tsp kaffir lime peel, finely chopped (I used grated peel from a regular lime)
• 1 tbsp finely chopped shallots (I used onion)
• 1/2 tsp shrimp paste (or substitute 2x anchovies with 2 tbsp water)
• 1 1/2 tsp crushed lemongrass
• 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander root
• 1/2 tbsp crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/3 cup basil leaves
• About 10 small green chillies

1.  Toast cumin and coriander seeds over a low heat until brown.

2.  Place toasted seeds in mortar and grind to a powder with pestle.  

3.  Add remaining ingredients and pound to a paste.

This makes enough for about four meals for two.  

I store the extra in the fridge covered with olive oil until I need it.

Imam Bayildi - Turkish Aubergine (eggplant) and Tomato dip

Scoop it up and pile it onto Turkish bread

This was my favourite dish when I was waitressing at a restaurant in Istanbul.

I did not intend to waitress while I was living in Istanbul.  It just kind of came to me.  

I used to go to a particular restaurant around the corner from my room, in the evenings, to study my Turkish language texts and relax with a glass of wine.  It wasn't long before the owner asked if I had any CDs as they were bored with their selection.  So then I used to study and be in charge of the CD player behind the bar for the few hours a night I was at the restaurant.

One night after I'd been going there for about a month, the restaurant was super-busy and understaffed.  The sole waiter was covering both floors of the restaurant and the bar and I could see he was running out of clean glasses for drinks and the dishwasher was full.  

So I went behind the bar, emptied out the clean glassware and put it away, re-filled the dishwasher and turned it on again.  I cleared some tables and ran orders downstairs to the kitchen for about an hour, while the waiter focussed on taking and delivering orders, then I went back to my books.

The next day the owner offered me a job for $10.00 USD a night.

The restaurant was just around the corner from the Four Seasons hotel and got a lot of well heeled American tourists as clientele.  He needed an experienced worker who also spoke good English as there were often mixups with the communication with Turkish-only speaking staff.  I agreed to work for a few weeks until he found a local person with the English skills he was looking for.  

I ended up working there for about three months.

My own prowess in Turkish didn't stretch to the names for spices when the chefs explained to me how to make Imam Bayildi (lots of pointing and miming was involved) so I'm not sure if the recipe is exactly the same as theirs.  Goodness knows every Turkish recipe has a thousand different ways of making it!  But I'm always pretty happy with how this version turns out.

Fertility Focus:

Aubergine is full of antioxidants and also provides folate and vitamin K.
Dates are rich in minerals including calcium, magnesium and potassium as well as containing vitamin B6 which can help increase progesterone levels in your luteal phase.
Tomatoes are full of the antioxidant lycopene which boosts sperm health and also contain folate, B6, vitamin A and vitamin E.
Turmeric is good for stabilising blood sugar levels which helps with managing weight and hormone balance.

Ingredients

• Aubergine
• Coconut oil
• Onion
• Chilli powder
• Turmeric
• Cumin
• Tomatoes
• Sultanas

Method

1.  Dice 2 large aubergines.  

2.  Heat 2 spoonfuls of coconut oil in a large pan and fry the aubergine for about ten minutes over a medium high heat so it browns a little and gets soft.  

3.  When it is quite soft but not slushy, tip into a colander to drain.
4.  Dice the onion and add to the pan.  

5.  Saute until soft.

6.  Add half a teaspoon each of the spices and cook for a further minute.  

7.  Return the aubergine to the pan with two large diced tomatoes and a handful of sultanas.  I didn't have any sultanas so used a few chopped up dates instead which added the required touch of sweetness and nicely disappeared into the mix.
8.  Stir in a Jamie Oliver sized splash of olive oil and simmer uncovered, on a low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
9.  Serve warm or cold.  

We enjoyed this with toasted pita bread and a yoghurt and cucumber raita (known as cajic in Turkish).

Third time lucky?

My only belly shot - Pipkin and I at 14 weeks

So.

For once my two week wait symptoms were not actually PMS.  I got a positive result on my home pregnancy test today.

Identical symptoms to the past three cycles. Completely opposite results.

Bizarre.

Part of me feels - whew, I get another chance.

Part of me feels  - oh no, here we go again.

At least the age statistics are on my side for once.  Apparently at my age 50% of pregnancies end in loss.  Given my two losses in a row, statistically I'm due for a live one.

I do know its not that simple though and I won't be counting any chickens until they hatch.

Farmhouse vegetable soup with croutons

Last weekend the weather was crappy and we had nothing but a bunch of odds and ends left from our veggie box so I thought a good old fashioned farmhouse soup was in order.

I remember this as a Sunday evening staple in winter while I was growing up. 

It is filling, tasty and extremely versatile.  I had no appreciation of it as a child, but its also a pretty inexpensive way to feed a horde of hungry children.

I find it oddly comforting.

As part of eating nutrient rich foods to support my fertility, I've added bone broth to my diet, mostly in the form of chicken broth which I make after a roast chicken dinner.  I normally end up with about three litres and freeze it in 500 ml portions for use in other meals.  I don't really follow a recipe for that but here are some instructions at Natural Fertility and Wellness.

We've had lamb chops a few times this year and it seemed a waste to throw out the bones, but I never had enough to make a proper batch of stock with them. I've slowly been amassing lamb bones in the freezer two by two.

Normally I make my soups with chicken stock from the freezer but I'm all out out and there didn't seem to be much point in buying more lamb bones to make a proper batch of stock and therefore increase the stuff I need to use up from the freezer before we move.   So I kind of made the stock at the same time as I made the soup by starting with the frozen lamb bones (I had about eight chops).

You can pretty much add anything to this soup veggie-wise.

Ingredients

• Lamb bones and water or pre-made bone broth
• Garlic
• Onion
• Leek
• Carrot
• Bay leaf
• Peppercorns
• Potato
• Rice
• Barley
• Quinoa

Method

1.  Place the lamb bones in a large pot with a close fitting lid and cook the bones on a low heat, stirring occasionally so they get evenly coloured.  You could also roast in a hot oven for 20 or so minutes.

2.  Chop the veg into bite sized chunks. 

3.  When the fat is melted and the bones are browned add a splash of water to deglaze the pan and pick up all the browned bits of lamb/fat stuck to the bottom of the pot.
4.  Add the chopped veg and stir around until they get a bit soft and a bit coloured as well.  

5.  Tip in enough water to cover everything completely along with the bay leaf and peppercorns and simmer, covered, on a low heat for an hour.  

6.  Fish the bones out of the pot and set aside.  

7.  Into the pot, throw a handful each of rice, barley and quinoa (or pasta or lentils or whatever else you have on hand) to absorb some of the water and thicken things up.  

8.  When the meat bones are cool, pick off any remaining meat and add to the soup. 

It is ready when the grains/pulses you've added are cooked.  You may need to add more water as you go.

To make the croutons simply butter some bread on both sides, chop into little squares and fry in a frying pan over a medium heat.

Serve in bowls topped with croutons and garnished with grated cheese and parsley.

Chickpea and Spinach stuffed Gem Squash

Perfect for one

We got Gem Squash in our veg box this week. Its all very well being able to skip the potatoes or lettuce when I want to, but sometimes I end up with a replacement I have no idea about.

This was one of those times.

Now I like orange winter squash and they're very nutritious, but after a disaster soup situation with some spaghetti squash, I've been a bit more careful to find out what I'm dealing with when it comes to new veg.

So cute!

I love the size and shape of Gem Squash, they're the perfect serving for one, but most of the recipes I found on google suggested stuffing them with mince or some variation thereof which didn't appeal.  The South African way is to roast them with butter but that seemed too plain for anything but an accompaniment and I wanted to make a one dish meal (just for a change lol).

While I'm desperately trying not to symptom spot its impossible not to notice that I'm experiencing all the same annoying symptoms as last month, plus nausea, and legumes are supposed to help whether its PMS or morning sickness so chickpeas are also on the menu.  

I don't know exactly when I'm due this month as I didn't take the BBT Thermometer to Jersey and I haven't figured out my cycle properly since my last loss, but it must be by the end of the week.

We have loads of spices to throw out use up before we move to Australia so I thought I'd try to create a North African inspired recipe.

Gem squash is a lot harder to cut than I expected and I struggled somewhat to cut the tops off evenly.  You might need your super-strength for this.

 Fertility Focus

Winter Squash is rich in Vitamin A and zinc and selenium which is important for reproductive health
Turmeric is good for stabilising blood sugar levels which helps with managing weight and hormone balance
Chickpeas are a plant source of protein
Spinach is rich in iron, folic acid and vitamin K

Ingredients

Pre-prepped for a change

• Gem Squash
• Butter
• Cumin seeds
• Coconut oil
• Ground coriander, cinnamon, turmeric
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Onion
• Chickpeas
• Tomato
• Spinach

Method

1.  Set oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  

2.  Wash and dry the Gem Squash.  

3.  Cut the tops off and scoop out and discard the seeds. 

4.  Rub with butter, replace the tops and roast in the oven for approx 25 minutes.
5.  While the squash is cooking, toast some cumin seeds in a dry pan.  

6.  Once they're toasted add a teaspoon of coconut oil and the ground spices.  

7.  Cook for a few minutes then add half a finely chopped small onion, garlic and ginger.  

8.  Saute until soft.  

9.  Add a cup of pre-cooked (or canned and rinsed) chickpeas and stir until completely covered with spices and onion mix.  

10.  When the squash is nearly ready add chopped tomato and spinach.  

11.  Mix around so the spinach wilts.
12.  Remove the squash from the oven and scoop the cooked flesh out of the shell and lid. They are extremely hot to hold so use oven gloves or something to stop your hands from burning.  The flesh comes out all stringy. Pull it apart.

13.  Mix the squash into the pan with the chickpeas.

14.  Stuff the empty shell with the chickpea mix and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

I served this with quinoa and some harissa paste I found lurking in the back of the spice cupboard.

Ready to stuff the shells