Crab and sweetcorn soup..

...its been one of those weeks again. the kind of week where all you want to do it collapse in a heap when you get home.

today is my last day of work before a weeks holiday and i decided it was time to take action and have something warm and comforting as well as tasty and delicious.

luckily Ching He Huang took the effort out of it and posted a yummy recipe which was really quick and really tasty.

you will need:

1 litre of simmering water
2 tomatos
2 fresh corn kernels (or if tired like me, a can)
1 table spoon of vegetable bouillon
250g fresh crab meat (or canned..)
2 table spoons of light soy sauce
a pinch of ground white pepper
2 eggs
toasted sesame oil
1 table spoon of cornflour + 2 table spoons of cold water

firstly bring the water to simmering point, to me this seemed like a really alien way of starting a soup but trust me its awesome!

whilst the water is heating up cut each tomato in to 6 pieces.

once the water is simmering away, add the tomato...

if you have had a long week forget the fresh kernels of corn and go for a can! crack it open and drain the liquid..

add the corn and allow it to simmer away for 3 minutes to allow everything to soften up.

in the mean time prepare the spring onion, chopping them into small rounds. this will be used as a garnish.

after 3 minutes add the vegetable bouillon and give everything a good stir...

again if feeling lazy crack open the cans of crab meat and give them a quick fork, i found that the meat was very compact in the can so it needed to be broken up slightly...

add the crab to the soup and give it a good stir, from this point onwards everything moves quite quickly as the crab is already cooked so its just a case of heating through...

add the white pepper and light soy sauce and stir once again..

to thicken the soup you need to create a cornflour paste, mix one table spoon of cornflour with 2 tablespoons of COLD water.

whilst mixing the soup pour this mixture in, you should notice that the soup thickens almost immediately...

crack the eggs into a jug and whisk until combined...

with a fork stir the soup and gently pour in the egg mixture. you will notice that as the egg hits the soup mixture it begins to cook, forming a web like structure.

finally add the spring onions and a splash of sesame oil, grab a bowl and enjoy!

the soup takes minutes to prepare and it so delicious. once served you could even sprinkle on some toasted sesame seeds if you liked.

i would recommend this to anyone feeling a little under the weather or in need of a food hug.

give it ago, you will love it!

a little update..

...so as you may have noticed things have been pretty quiet on The Broke Boy recently.

i can't honestly give a reason why this is, its just been one of those months where the days seem to have merged and nothing is getting done.

i thought i would do a little update of some of the little things i have been doing with my spare time (or lack of it).

recently i have became a bit more adventurous in the kitchen, moving away from purely baking and trying my hand at roast pork. i have to say it was ruddy lovely, the crackling was amazing and the squash, carrot and leeks were cooked to perfection!

i ventured to Bath once again with Fran last thursday and we paid Jamie Oliver's italian a visit. i signed up for a gold membership card on my last visit to london so got £10 off the bill. 2 courses each for the grand sum of £28! lovely food, lovely view, lovely company, shame about the weather!

Ringo has been a very tired boy recently. i think he might have found himself a girlfriend. he is out all night and in bed all day. i found him like this in my parents bed..how cute?!

if you are walking down the road or sat on a train and see someone getting furious with their phone, its probably me! i've become so addicted to minion rush that its my go to thing at lunch time now...over food!

speaking of food, a customer at work came in with a pot of home made blackberry jelly for me the other day. now i know what you are thinking but no, it's doesn't contain any illegal substances that could knock me out...

but my god it makes a nice cake! i spread some between 2 layers of sponge and topped with some whipped double cream. beautiful!

i saw this online today and hovered my mouse over the buy button for quite some time before chickening out. the colour goes completely with my kitchen (i have the orange K mix toaster and kettle) and its a Kitchen aid..what more need be said!?! 

its just a lot of money to put out on a mixer at the moment.

on the Australia front i am still undecided as what to do. the more time i spend thinking about it the more and more i get into baking and cooking. what i really need to do is either book a plane ticket or find some way of getting some experience in a professional patisserie/kitchen.

i have been putting some feelers out with regards to work experience but no where seems to be offering kitchen experience, it all seems to be front of house. if you are reading this and can offer any kind of work experience in a kitchen please, get in touch!

and finally...

i haven't signed off a post with my savings for a little while but its about time i did...its grown a bit...

hopefully normal service will resume soon! i have some exciting recipes i want to try!

£900

+£400

Total Saving

£1,300

START THE BUS...

...but don't leave without me!

so last weekend was the bristol harbour festival. i had never been before so me and the lovely Emma (aka Boom Boom) decided we would venture up to bristol.

we got on the train with a lunch target in mind!

start the bus is an awesome little dinner tucked away by the bristol hippodrome. we have been talking about going for ages but only just got around to it.

i was extremely excited, mainly because of the chicken that Boom Boom had been going on about for months! 

the menu has lots of different options from burgers to sliders, fried chicken to macaroni cheese. with lots of sides, toppings and extras! check it out here.

 we both went for the hot and kickin' chicken. my god! it was amazing! 3 massive bits of chicken served with fluffy fries and a pot of glorious hot sauce. 
chicken is mine and Boom Booms down fall, if there is chicken on the menu we are going to order it! its a shame really as i would of liked to have tried the burgers and stuff but hey! theres always next time!

the chicken fell off the bone and was juicy and oh so tasty. the little pot of hot sauce was thrown over and it was a awesome!

i love spice but i don't like when it burns the mouth and leaves you gasping for water, i like it when you can taste the heat but the second it leaves your mouth you feel ready for more! this ticked all those boxes.

if you are in the bristol area i would recommend a trip! 

after we sucked the bones dry we headed over to queens square, grabbed a drink and watched the crowds dance around the stage. the heavens opened but if anything it made it even better!

such a wonderful atmosphere and a brilliant day with the bestie.

cannot wait for next year!

a foodies dream...

something is seriously wrong with this weather...i mean its been constantly hot for over a week...is the world ending?

anyway! this lovely weather was just what was required for a beautiful day full of food and fun!

as i mentioned a week or so ago, i was given some tickets to go to the Bristol Foodies festival! the parents and i along with my friend Fran descended upon the harbour shortly after it started!

as we entered we were greeted by a massive queue for the demonstration tickets, luckily though the people giving out the tickets were incredibly organised and we didn't have to wait long at all. we managed to get tickets to see Manisha Parmar from the great british bake off and Larkin Cen from master chef. this made me VERY excited!

the food adventure was then ours to be had! we started by wandering the entire festival to get an idea of size and what kind of stalls were about. we were greeted by glorious cakes and slices by The Ginger Bakers,  delicious smoked cheese, flavoursome fudges and some vibrant macaroons which made me very jealous! (by Dimkins)

we then ventured down the steps and were greeted by pots of glorious food just waiting for us to give in to our lunch time urges, there was so much of it i don't really know where to begin.

chinese, japanese, mexican..the choices were endless! 

we decided to have a refreshing glass of pimms before deciding what to eat, as it was literally to hot to think! 

i love almost everything about pimms, i love the cooling first sip, the juicy fruit swimming around the straw and the feast that happens when you finish drinking.
the only thing i am not usually keen on is the mint. i love mint with most things but it seems wrong with pimms...it seems to over power the drink.

HOWEVER! the girls that whipped this little beauty up for me must have magical powers! the mint ramped all up the flavours and made the drink incredibly refreshing. 

note to self - smash all the fruit together with the ice before adding the booze!

i have to laugh at this sign! when we arrived the festival had only just opened so it wasn't that busy (outside of the ticket line). maybe the pimms went to our heads...but Fran and i both posed by the sign at the same time doing an erotic pose... childish...NAH!

as the day went on we caught more and more people posing next to it clutching their junk... haha!

there were literally hundreds of flavour combinations on this fudge stall. Fran just couldn't resist.

had it not of been so hot i think i would of spent more time shopping for ingredients. vast amounts of salami stacked up high tempted my taste buds but the heat stopped me.

it was then time for the first demo of the day with Manisha and special guest Ryan Chong.
i don't think he expected to be called up on stage as he was stood at the back to begin with! 

they whipped up some quick scones and we all got to have a taste.
(i think Ryan was feeling the heat a little...)

after the first demo we decided we couldn't fight our urges any longer and popped down the steps once again for lunch.
we decided to go to The Quack Shack. serving up delicious duck dishes with a twist, our mouths were watering firstly from the smell and secondly from the amazing menu.

we started with some quackling, crispy duck skins...need i say any more than that? 
actually yes...it was INSANELY GOOD! i could of gone back and ordered 5 more bags, perfectly crunchy and salty...food porn!

we both then went for the shack burger. i have to say this wasn't the best burger i have ever had, but it was great to see something different!
the burger itself had an amazing flavor, the orange really complimented the burger. topped with the onion jam which gave an added sweetness to the stack and at the bottom...well... the beetroot slaw! that was something to behold! may have to give making that a go!

 

after the salty quackling we naturally needed a drink.. so we decided to get a pitcher of the good stuff...it didn't last long!

time flies when you are having fun! next up in the demo tent was Larkin Cen, finalist on master chef 2013. i was particularly excited about this as i've grown a bit of an addiction to asian inspired cooking.

i hadn't watched much of master chef so didn't really know who he was but quickly came to realise just why he was in the final. he was a genuinely nice guy with a wicked sense of humour and a real talent in the kitchen.

he prepared two dishes in the 45 minute demo.

first of all he started with seabass topped with wontons, served in a mushroom and lemongrass consommé. the smell was divine! i wanted to face plant the dish and scoff the whole thing!

secondly he prepared lamb shoulder with a home made BBQ glaze. i had never considered mixing those 2 flavours but after seeing this i cant believe i haven't seen it before!

the glaze was quick and easy to make, light soy, ketchup, worcestershire sauce and a little bit of brown sugar. when i got home i quickly whipped up a batch and smothered it on some chicken! YUM!

after the demo he let everyone go to the front and take pictures of the food and get a picture with him. i opted to stay out of the picture (i'm not photogenic on the best of days, let alone when i'm sweating like a...well....you get the idea!)

bravery came over me and i gave him one of my newly printed business cards! after that i threw them out left right and centre...if i can give one to him i can give them to anyone!

i never thought i would complain about finally getting some form of summer, but the heat really did make the day short lived. it was just to hot to stay much longer so we decided to quickly whip round the stalls and gather up some tasty treats for later.

i popped to the Dig in market stall and grabbed some peaches and plums. they were perfectly ripened and left me with a juicy face.

then it was on to the Ginger bakers. i decided to go for a delicious brownie and a scrumptious pecan and caramel shortbread!

these are the kinds of bakes i love! they have that fresh out of the oven home made feel about them yet pack a real punch in the flavour department.

if you ever see them selling there goods, don't keep walking...STOP and stuff your face..seriously you won't regret it!

i gave them a business card and asked them to let me know if they ever had any work experience available. worth an ask!

final stop was the Dimkin's Patisserie stall for some macaroons. the range of colours and flavours was insane, everyone that walked past this stall stopped and took in their beauty.

don't they look amazing?

sadly though i felt a little bit let down by them.

i went for 2 passionfruit, 1 raspberry, 1 champagne and 1 bubblegum flavour. the flavours didn't seem all that strong, there was a subtle hint but i was expecting an explosion. the texture of them was quite hard as well but this could of been because of the heat outside.

all in all it was a beautiful day and i was so pleased we managed to get there.

thanks again to the Foodies Festival organisers for the free tickets. 

if you are a foodie addict try and get to one of the events around the country. you will love it!