Udon Noodles and a Watermelon Haiku

~  Menu  ~

Udon Noodles with Chicken & Cashews

White Wine Spritzer

Slice of Watermelon

It's lovely weather just now and at last.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – when people say “flaming June” are they just being polite?  It was yuk.  

Now we’ve got some sun my darling and I (and his Dad) have managed to partake of a few beers and ciders in some of the lovely local pubs.  The other day, for instance, we went to the village of St. Mawgan (which had been recommended to me by an ex husband) which in addition to a great pub, The Falcon, has an old convent, a Japanese garden, lovely church, pretty cottages and a great Olde English feel.

I've been quite busy over the past few days.  We are in the process of moving out of our caravan into our house and it is amazing how much stuff one can shove away and forget in a small van over the years.  I seem to have bags and bags of clothes (which seem strangely tight!), boxes of papers that I suppose all need looking at just in case there are one or two that matter, obscure (and interesting) ingredients at the bottom of my Storecupboard, etc. etc.  Sorting all this out is my excuse for not having blogged for a little longer than usual.

One of the things I found in the cupboard was a pack of udon noodles.  To be honest I wasn’t too surprised at these as I only put them in there a few weeks ago – a gift from a dear though, it must be said, rather short friend.  I had a little leftover roast chicken in the fridge so assembled some other bits and pieces and made lunch – a kind of quasi stir fry. 

Chicken and Cashew Stir Fry with Udon Noodles

All I did was …

~   Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet which said to do them in boiling water for 12 minutes (it didn’t say to add salt but I did), just like pasta, and then drain.  I cooked these whilst preparing the rest of the ingredients.

~   Chop up a little spring onion, some fine threads of fresh ginger and a tad of garlic and fry them for a few minutes in a tablespoon of olive oil.

~   Add slivers of carrot, one or two asparagus tips, some tiny florets of broccoli and a thinly sliced French bean and stir  them around a bit with the spring onions.

~   I then added a couple of tbsp of chicken stock (yep I had that too) and covered just to steam the veggies to al dente as we say.

~   After a couple of minutes I added a handful of chicken breast, a generous outpouring from a bag of salted cashews and the cooked noodles.

~   I tossed all this together till hot, added soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce from my storecupboad and scarfed down the lot.

~   Thought … uh oh, forgot to take a picture.

Damn fine udons - slippery, chewy and tasty. 

For “afters” I had some watermelon because I really felt the onus was on me to do so, we simply have too much fruit about the place.  

We bought a huge watermelon a few days ago for, I don’t know – less than a pound - and are trying to get through it.  Luckily the weather is good so we need refreshment.   We also have a large and excellent pineapple, a punnet of plums and 4 nectarines all of which just cost pennies.


  


Tonight we shall have Sugar Plum Crumble which is, of course, normal plum crumble with a fancy name!