Parsnip and Chestnut puree

Staying with a Christmassy theme, here's another recipe that has gone down very well and is a great alternative to mash.  Beware though, although parsnips have less carb than potato, they're not much less so if you're watching the carbs small portions are in order.  Also, as there's both butter and cream in this too, it's only for special occasions!

Ingredients
4 good size parsnips
100g chestnuts
20g butter
Double cream to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Peel and cut the parsnips into 1-2cm square by 4cm strips (it doesn't really matter as you're just boiling them) then put them into a pan of boiling slightly salted water and cook until nice and soft.

Drain and add them to the food processor with all of the chestnuts and the butter.  Blend until you have a nice puree adding some double cream to get the right consistency.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then leave aside.  Just before serving, heat through in the microwave for a couple of minutes on full to bring it back to piping hot.

Brussles tops with chestnut

Here's a nice seasonal dish, I've cooked this several times now and everyone loves it.  It's easy to do and most greengrocers will do Brussels tops.  Supermarkets will probably do them, I've no idea.

Ingredients
3 good sized Brussels tops
6 chestnuts shelled and peeled
A good knob of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Take the leaves off all the Brussels tops and cut out the hard centre stalk.  when you get to the middle you'll come across what looks like a large loose leaved sprout, set this aside for later.  When you've cut out the stalks, bundle the leaves together and then slice across into 2-3mm strips.  Do the same with the large sprout, cutting cross the top to about half way down.  Put the shreds into a colander and wash well, then leave to drain.

Chop the chestnuts into small dice (use the vacuum packed ones that are already cooked, otherwise you'll need to bake or boil them for 5 mins or so until softened through).  Add a generous knob of butter to a frying pan (not too much or it gets too oily) and once this has melted, throw all the ingredients into the plan and stir fry for about 30 seconds to a minute depending on taste.

Serve as a side dish with anything you fancy, it's  great way to get the greens up and boost your iron levels.

Linguine with bacon, mushroom and truffle

I saw a recipe for something similar and promptly forgot where it was, so I made this up, not sure if it's close to the original or not.  However, it turned out better than I expected and so here's the recipe, hope you enjoy it...

Ingredients
2 rashers smoked back bacon
1 onion
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
4 or 5 dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 300ml boiling water for 30 mins
125g white button mushrooms
125g chestnut mushrooms
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
Salt and pepper to tasteA dash of double cream to taste
Enough Linguine for 2 people
1-2 teaspoons of sliced preserved truffle plus their oil (optional)
3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

Method
First, chop the bacon into roughly 5mm cubes, add this to a non stick pan and saute over a medium to low heat to release the oil and brown the bacon. 

While this is cooking, peel and finely slice the onion, then add the olive oil and onion to the pan, stir well and saute.  Peel and finely slice the garlic, add to the pan, cover and saute/steam over a low heat. 

While the onion and garlic is cooking, wash and dry the mushrooms, trim the stems and slice.  Once the mushrooms are prepared, add them to the pan with a little of the porcini mushroom soaking juice and cook uncovered over a high heat until the mushrooms have lost their moisture (about 5 mins). 

Put the linguine on to boil (I boil mine for 12 mins). Add the rest of the porcini soaking water, chop the re hydrated porcini mushrooms and add them to the pan with the mustard.  Stir well and reduce to a thick sauce.

Taste and adjust the seasoning to suite.  Add a dash of double cream (not too much, 1-2 tablespoons should be fine), recheck the seasoning.  Add the chopped parsley and stir.

To serve, place a layer of linguine in a large bowl and put the mushroom sauce on top.  Finish with a few slices of truffle if you're using it.

Mashed butter beans

Got this recipe from the Hairy Bikers and although I have changed it slightly it's a delicious low card version of mashed potato and dead east too, highly recommended!

Ingredients
A dash of olive oil
1 small red onion2 medium garlic cloves

1 400g can butter beans
5 large sage leaves chopped

A dash of double cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Heat the oil in a frying pan that will hold the onions and butter beans comfortably.  Peel and chop the red onion and crush the garlic while the oil heats, then add them to the pan and fry over a medium heat until softened and starting to brown slightly.  Drain and add the butter beans, add the sage leaves and the double cream and stir well to heat through.  Mash them lightly with a potato masher, adjust the seasoning to taste and serve.

Dolce de leche

Over the summer we went to the Benington Lordship chilli festival and while I was buying chillies, Suzanne was offered a "salted caramel with chilli".  Well, it went down a storm and looking at the recipe it was effectively dolce de leche, a south American sweet caramel made by evaporating milk until it becomes thick and gooey.  I've looked on line and the only recipes I've found use either whole milk or evaporated milk.  The first time I tried it I used whole milk, and while it was good, it was a little grainy from having to reduce it too much and it lacked the buttery flavour of the chill version.  So, second time around I've made it using double cream and butter - not very healthy but at least you don't have much of it!

Here's my recipe if you dare try it!  I don't tend to eat it (except occasionally when I have a low blood glucose) but it's had Suzanne's taste test and she reckons "it's delicious", so I'm happy.  This recipe should make about half of a full size Kilner jar so you may wish to adjust the ingredients!

Ingredients
600ml double cream
250ml caster sugar (yes, that's ml, not g)
a pinch of bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
125g butter


Method
Put all the ingredients except the butter into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.  When it's close to boiling, reduce the heat to low to medium and keep it boiling at a high simmer.  Be really careful for the first 30 mins or so as the boiling mixture will tend to go over the top of the pan very easily if you don't stir it or heat it too high.  You'll need to stir this very frequently at this stage and don't take your eyes off the pan or you'll need to clean your cooker!

Keeping the heat on low, reduce the mix until the colour is slightly lighter than milk chocolate and the mixture has thickened.  Now turn the heat off and add the butter, stirring until it has melted and is incorporated into the caramel.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a sterilised Kilner jar, cover and leave to cool before refrigerating it.  It will last almost indefinitely and you can use it on ice cream, cakes and puddings as a sauce, or just help yourself out of the jar if you wish.

Apple and Cinnamon cake

Yet another way of using up all those apples from the harvest.  We've still used less than a big bowlful after 2 dishes and that only scratches the surface of the crop.  Ah well, this cake is nicked from a Mary Berry recipe and altered to suit my taste by using larger quantities, large chunks of apple and replacing her almond essence with cinnamon and it's going down extremely well - and quickly!

Ingredients
750g self raising flour
750g golden caster sugar
375g butter, melted
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
5 eggs
800g apples
Flaked almonds to top it off

Method
Pre heat the oven to 160C.  Lightly butter a 9inch (22.5cm) springform baking tin.  Add all the ingredients except the apples and the flaked almonds to a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until well combined.

Peels the apples and cut them into large slices leaving the cores behind.  Next, take half of the cake mixture and add it to the springform tin.  Next, layer the apples evenly across the tin, leaving a small space at the side.  Add the rest of the cake mixture over the top of the apples and make sure all the apples are covered.  Smooth the top of the cake as much as you can then scatter the almonds over.

Bake in the middle of the oven for around 2 hours until a skewer placed in the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Serve warm or cold, with or without tea or coffee, it's delicious whichever way you like.

Tarte tatin

It's September and we have plenty of apples on our tree.  What better way to use these than to make the classic French Tarte tatin?  This worked really well, in Suzanne's words "Seriously good tarte tatin. Looks like I'll have to get the step-ladder out!"

Ingredients
7 medium apples - I used ours, they're closest to Coxes Orange Pippin
200g white caster sugar
50g butter
pinch of salt
1 packet of ready-made, ready-rolled puff pastry

Method
Peel, halve and core the apples, then cut them into largish slices (I got 6 slices per apple). 

Put the sugar into a 20cm deep sided non stick baking pan (ours is the double skinned variety, this probably helps with the caramelization) with 50ml water and stir to wet the sugar evenly, then cook over a high to medium heat until golden.  This takes some time and you have to be careful not to burn the caramel.  I adjusted the heat quite a bit and also moved fro one burner to another to make sure there was an even caremelization.  Also, take it off the heat slightly before it's done and stir it as it will continue to cook.

Stir in the butter, and a pinch of salt and combine well, then carefully arrange the apples pieces in the pan, round-side down to fill as much of the pan as possible.  Remember, the caramel will be seriously hot so be careful.

Put the apples and caramel back back on the heat and cook for 5 more minutes, then take off the heat and allow to cool to warm..

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Cut out a circle slightly larger than your pan, then put the pastry on top of the pan and tuck in the edges around the fruit. Bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden, then remove from the oven.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then place a plate, slightly larger than the pan, on top and then, very carefully, using oven gloves, invert the tart on to the plate.  This is best done quickly, trust me!

Best served with crème fraîche.

Red pepper and tomato pasta sauce

Here's one I made for Naomi as she loves her peppers.  This is a rich, summery sauce and is a great with most types of pasta.

Ingredients
3 red peppers
1 medium white onion
2 sticks celery
1 carrot
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 400g tin chopped plum tomatoes
A pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C and put a foil lined baking tray moistened with a little olive oil in the oven.  Remove the seeds and the white veins from the peppers and slice them into 1cm strips.  Place them on the baking tray and roast for about 20-30 mins until the peppers are starting to brown.  Remove and chop them into 1cm squares  Alternatively, if you're pushed for time, you can chop them into squares firts then fry them in a saucepan for 5-10 mins until they are nice and soft.

Peel the onion, celery and carrots, chop them finely.  Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a high heat, add the vegetables, reduce the heat to medium and fry in the olive oil until softened, it should take between 5 and 10 minutes.  You can also do these as you go along, start with the carrot as this takes longest, then the celery and finally the onion.  Finally, once these are all cooking, peel and crush the garlic and slice finely, adding this to the pan.

Add the peppers you cooked earlier, the chilli if using and the tinned tomatoes.  Heat through, season to taste and then cook over a low to medium heat to reduce the sauce.  It can be eaten now, but if you can reduce the sauce for longer you can intensify and sweeten the flavours.

While the sauce is reducing, cook the pasta of your choice and serve the pasta with the sauce poured over the top.

Patatas Bravas

We love these as a tapas with lots of other dishes.  This is my recipe, not so different from others but this is simple and we like it.  I hope you do too.

Ingredients
6 cloves garlic
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
a pinch of sugar
4-5 tbsp olive oil
3-4 medium old potatoes
1 large onion
1 large red pepper

Method
Heat the oven to 200C. 

Prepare the potatoes by peeling and chopping into 1cm cubes.  Now boil them in salted water for 4 minutes then drain well leaving them in the pan. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and shake them in the pan to coat thoroughly.
While the potatoes are boiling, line a roasting tin with foil.  The tin should be big enough to take the potato cubes plus chopped pepper in one layer.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the tin and place it in the oven.  De seed the pepper and cut off the white veins, slice into 1cm wide strips, then cut into 2cm long pieces.  Finely slice 2 cloves garlic.  Add these to the pan in the oven and give them a shake to make sure they're coated with the hot oil.  If the potatoes are ready, add them too, if not, put the pepper in the oven and add the potatoes when they're cooked.

Make the tomato sauce while the potatoes and peppers are roasting. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small saucepan.  While the oil is heating, chop the onion and add it to the pan over a medium to high heat.  Now, peel 2 cloves of garlic and slice finely, then add this to the pan.  Fry the onion and garlic until they are lightly browned, then add the tinned tomatoes, a pinch of sugar and the oregano.  Mix well together and cook over a medium to high heat to reduce to a thick sauce.

The potatoes and peppers are cooked once the potatoes are nice and golden.  When this happens, take them out of the oven and tip them into the tomato sauce, then mix well and serve.  They're best served hot, but almost as good cold.

Summer bean and courgette salad

I wanted a nice light salad for the summer weather.  Well, the weather is hardly summery, yes we have beautiful sunshine but the temperature hasn't really got above 20°C today, still, we're having this anyway as it turned out so well!

Ingredients
175g podded broad beans
140g frozen peas
400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 courgette
1 tbsp chopped thyme
1 pack feta cheese, crumbled

For the dressing
3-4 dessert spoons extra virgin olive oil
1 dessert spoon white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp sugar


Method
First, prepare the courgette by topping and tailing it, then slice thinly using a potato peeler.  Add a little salt to the strips and gently mix them together making sure you don't damage the strips.  Cover and leave until you cook them.

Cook the broad beans in boiling, unsalted water for 2-3 minutes or until tender, drain them and leave to cool.  While they're cooling cook the peas in the same way.  While the peas are cooking, make a start on podding the broad beans - it's easy to do, just use a thumb nail to pop the grey outer skin, then pop the bean out and throw the skin away.

This takes some time, so you can also cook the courgette while peeling beans.  To cook the courgette, place a little olive oil on a griddle, heat it and add the strips in batches, cooking them on one side only until they start to brown, then fish them out and put them aside, doing this until all are cooked.

Now crumble the feta into roughly ½ cm cubes.  When the peas are cooked, the broad beans peeled and cooked and the courgette fried mix them all together in a bowl with the butter beans and thyme and mix well together.

Make the dressing by adding all the ingredients to a bowl and whisking together.  Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve with some nice, crusty bread, I use some Corn Bread from Tesco that's lovely. 

Stir-fry the courgettes in 2 tbsp of the olive oil for five minutes, tip into the bean mixture and season well with salt and pepper. Add the thyme leaves. Whisk the remaining olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and sugar together, and season with salt and pepper. Mix into the bean salad along with the crumbled feta cheese. Pile into a serving bowl and chill until required.

Layered houmous, tabbouleh & feta salad

This is a fabulous summer dish and can be taken on picnics too really well.  Serve with some flat breads or crusty bread if you prefer.

Ingredients
2 x 200g tubs hummus
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
200g pack feta cheese, broken into chunks
handful pitted black olives
1 crisp Romaine heart
flat breads, to serve

For the tabbouleh
85g bulgur wheat
80g bunch mint, leaves finely chopped
80g bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped
2 large ripe tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
zest and juice 1 lemon
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Method
First, make the tabbouleh. Tip the bulgur wheat into a saucepan, cover with water, season with salt, then bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins until tender. Drain in a sieve, rinse under cold running water, then leave to drain over the pan. Mix the mint and parsley with the tomatoes, onion and drained bulgur. Whisk the lemon zest and juice and oil together with seasoning, then toss with the bulgur.

Spoon the hummus into the bottom of a portable picnic bowl or large Tupperware (or use a large plastic mixing bowl, as you can cover it tightly with cling film later). Scatter with the chickpeas, then sprinkle with seasoning and drizzle with a little oil. Spoon the tabbouleh on top. Now top with the feta and olives, then tear over the lettuce leaves.

Cover the bowl tightly with its lid or some cling film. Put a little more olive oil in a sealed container to take with you, then chill the salad for up to 24 hrs.

To eat, drizzle the olive oil over the leaves, then scoop the salad onto serving plates, making sure everyone gets a bit of each layer. Serve with the flat breads for everyone to tear and share.

Thai style fish patties with lightly pickled salad, sweet chilli sauce and boiled rice

Had this today as it's a really hot day and Thai food works so well in the heat.  Naomi chose the original but she had chosen food all week and we wer going to have chicken 6 days in a row, so I decided to change things around!  So, this is Haddock instead of chicken and it worked really well.  I got the salad from a Thai cookbook I have and it works brilliantly on a hot day as it's fresh and crunchy.

Ingredients
400g haddock, from a sustainable source if possible
175g raw king prawns
3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste - less if you don't like it hot
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 whole egg
75g breadcrumbs
180g frozen sweetcorn
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
4 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablspoons cooking oil

Chilli sauce
4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 dessert spoon Thai fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
juice of 1 lime

Lightly pickled salad
125ml rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 red chilli
1 carrot
3 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
5cm piece cucumber

Method
Put the fish, prawns, red curry paste, egg and garlic in the food processor and whizz it until it's a smooth paste.  Put this into a large bowl with half a teaspoon of salt then add the rest of the ingredients except the cooking oil and mix well together.  Wet your hands and then shape the mixture into 12-16 patties, putting them on a large piece of cling film so you can cover them and leave them while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Now make the chilli sauce by putting all the ingredients in a small bowl and mixing them together.  If it's too bitter with the lime juice, adjust it by adding more caster sugar.

Finally make the pickles.  Put the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and heat gently to dissolve the sugar,  then boil rapidly for 7 minutes to form the dressing.  Put this in a bowl to cool and prepare the vegetables.  Finely slice the chilli including the seeds.  Cut the cucumber into 4 pieces lengthways then slice finely.  Cut the carrot in half lengthways then slice finely.  When the dressing is cool, add the vegetables and mix to coat them all.

Finally, start the rice and while that's cooking, heat the oil in the pan and fry the fish patties for about two minutes each side until they're nicely golden on each side.

Serve the fish patties and rice with the pickle and chilli sauce on the side.

Caramelized banana bread and butter pudding

This is another recipe that I've slightly modified from the Gilbert Scott cookbook.  So far, everything has been divine and this is no exception.  As the cookbook says, a combination of brioche, custard and banana is irresistable.  It must be, because I don't like bananas, but this is really good!  When you choose the bananas, the riper they are the better they taste, but I found left over black ones taste good but were nigh on impossible to slice.  Also, don't bother making the brioche, it isn't worth it.  I use Tesco finest, it's too big at 400g so if you can get smaller 2-300g that will do but 400g seems to be the "standard" size.  Slice it and freeze the rest for breakfast, or make two at a time :)

Ingredients
120g golden syrup plus extra for drizzling
60ml brandy
3 ripe bananas
unsalted butter for greasing
400g brioche loafcut into 1cm slices
clotted cream to serve

Custard
4 free-range eggs
300ml double cream
300ml whole fat milk
60ml brandy

Method
Make the custard first by beating the eggs until they are smooth, then add the cream, milk and brandy.  Pass the whole lot through a fine sieve and set aside for later.

Preheat the oven to 150°C, then using one of the silicone liners that are widely available, grease the inside generously with butter and then line a 900g loaf tin with it.  Place two of the slices of brioche in the bottom of the tin so that they are tight with no gaps, then pour in enough custard to cover them slightly.  You may need to add more if the bread soaks all the custard up, that's fine.

Next, heat the golden syrup in a large frying pan until it boils well, then add the brandy and stir well and reduce the heat slightly to medium/hot.  Peel and slice the bananas lengthways then place them in the hot caramel.  Check after a few minutes to see if they are well browned - this does take some time so be patient.  Once one side is well browned, turn them over and do the other side in the same way.  Turn the heat off and put the pan on a cold part of the hob while you prepare the rest of the pudding.

Place a single layer of the bananas on top of the brioche you've already prepared covering as much of the layer as possible.  Now add another layer of brioche and follow that with more custard, again covering the bread.  Once that's been absorbed, place the rest of the bananas on the brioche and repeat the process until you've reached the top of the pan.  I find this takes 3 layers of bread and two of bananas, but make sure you finish with a layer of brioche.

Once the last lot of custard has soaked in (you may have a little left over), place it in the oven nad bake for 30-35 minutes until the pudding is just set.

To serve, slice it across and plate it, drizzle with golden syrup and put it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes to heat through and serve with a dollop of clotted cream.  Yum :)

Mediterranean Potato Salad

As the weather is getting sunny and (almost) warm my thoughts turn towards more Mediterranean food.  We had a lovely, light evening meal tonight, a lamb steak sautéed in olive oil with garlic and a little salt and pepper along with a potato salad made with new potatoes, onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes and plenty of chopped basil.  Delicious.  Here's my recipe for the potato salad, enjoy!

Ingredients
500g new season potatoes
1 small to medium onion
2 cloves garlic
15 small, ripe cherry tomatoes
A good bunch of basil
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus a little for drizzling
salt and freshly ground pepper
A squeeze of lemon juice

Method
Wash the potatoes and remove any imperfections leaving most of the skins on, then chop into 1cm cubes.  Boil them in salted water for 6 minutes and drain and leave to cool slightly.  While the potatoes are boiling, skin and chop the onion then crush, skin and slice thinly the garlic cloves.

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a sauté pan then add the onion, garlic and potato cubes and sauté until they are nicely browned.  Don't move them around the pan too much as this dissipates the heat, much better to turn them every 1-2 minutes and let them develop the colour.

Once the onions, garlic and potato mix re golden brown, drain them in a sieve and leave to cool until warm or even cold.  While these are cooling, prepare the tomatoes and and the basil by slicing the tomatoes in half, then separating the leaves from the stalks of the basil, then chopping the leaves  finely.

To finish, mix the tomatoes and basil with the potatoes, garlic and onion, add a splash of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Pork Pie

I've been keen to make my own pork pie for some time and have seen a number of recipes, sadly the first time I tried it I minced the pork too finely and they turned out more like sausage rolls.  I've finally managed to perfect it and this has got the seal of approval from Suzanne and Rowena, the two top pork pie aficionados in the house.  I hope you all like it too - why not try it with some home made chutney from this recipe :)

Ingredients

For the filling
600g diced pork cut into small, bite sized dice.
2 sausages of your choice (I use Cumberland), skin removed.
4 rashers smoked back bacon, chopped finely
3/4 tsp ground mace
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 dessert spoon fresh chopped sage
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground white pepper

For the pastry
290g plain flour
100g goose fat
110ml water

To finish
1 egg, beaten
2 gelatine leaves
200ml stock, I used reduced stock from boiled ham hock, but good chicken stock is fine.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients for the filling.

2. Make the pastry by putting the flour in a large bowl, then put the goose fat and water into a small pan and heat gently until the fat melts. Now stir into the flour using a wooden spoon. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, (almost immediately, it should still feel very warm) knead well until smooth.

3. Cut off 1/4 of the dough and reserve for the lid. Roll out the remaining dough to a rough circle and then place in the base of 3 well buttered 10cm ramekins. Working quickly while the dough is warm and pliable, press the dough evenly over the base and up the sides of the tin, making sure there are no holes. Fill with the meat mixture and pack down well.

4. Roll the dough out for 3 lids then Place one on top of each pie. Use the handle of a knife or fork to pinch around the edge to seal the pie. Make a couple of holes in the centre of the lide for steam to escape while cooking.

5. Cook in the oven for 30 mins then reduce the heat to 160C and cook for a further 60 minutes. Brush the top of each pie with beaten egg and return to the oven for a further 20 mins.

6. While the pies are cooling, soak the gelatine in cold water for about 5 mins, then remove and squeeze out the excess water. Heat the stock until lightly steaming then remove from the heat and stir in the gelatine.

7.When the pies have cooled (don't do this too quickly or the gelatine and stock soaks into the pastry) use a teaspoon to pour the stock and gelatine into the pie through the hole in the top (you may need to enlarge them) allowing the stock to soak into the pie. Place in the fridge to set overnight.

Chicken and mushroom risotto

We love a risotto, especially on a work evening as it's quick, easy to make and filling.  This is one I put together last week and it was one of those scratch meals that just worked beautifully, so it has to go on here.

Ingredients
8 dried Porcini mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
2 rashers of smoked back bacon
2 medium onions
4 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced thinly
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup of rice per person
½ teaspoon of dried oregano
12 chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and sliced1 glass dry white wine
1 litre chicken stock, dissolved in 500ml water initially.
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese a tablespoon of chopped basil to serve

Method
First, prepare the Porcini mushroom.  Place them in a small bowl, cover them in boiling water and leave them to steep for 30 minutes while you prep the rest of the veg.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan big enough to hold all of the risotto. Season the chicken pieces to taste, then add them to the pan and fry until nicely browned.  Remove them from the pan keeping the cooking juices in the plan, cover the chicken with foil and keep it warm. 

Add the bacon and onions to the pan and fry until softened but not browned, then add the garlic and sauté over a high heat for 1 minute or until the garlic is cooked and the bacon is nicely browned.

Add the oregano and butter, melt it then add the rice, stir and  cook for 2 minutes, making sure the rice is well coated with cooking juices, oil and butter.

Drain the Porcini mushrooms, keeping the juice and add them to the pan with the fresh mushrooms and the white wine and season with a pinch of salt and ground black pepper.  Stir everything well, bring to a boil and cook over a medium heat until the wine has been adsorbed.

Put the chicken stock in another pan and keep it just off the boil. Add the mushroom water to the stock and make the liquid up to 1 litre.  Once the wine has been adsorbed, add the stock to the rice 2 ladlefuls at a time, waiting between each addition until the stock has been adsorbed.

Once the rice is just under cooked - it should still be slightly hard in the middle - add the chicken pieces and warm through.  Add the grated Parmesan and stir well to coat all the rice grains. Adjust the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and serve.

Quick onion chutney

Many of the chutney recipes take a long time to cook (and have ruined one of our best pans into the bargain) but this one takes about 30 minutes.  I had some lovely cheddar cheese (Montgomery cheddar - if you see it, buy it, a wonderful artisan cheddar totally unlike supermarket cheddar) and I wanted a cheese sandwich for lunch but had no chutney, so how to make my own?  I looked at the ingredients list on the chutney jar to get some idea of how much vinegar to use and came up with this.  It works for me, hope it does for you too.

Ingredients
½ tablespoon of olive oil
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
4 cherry tomatoes chopped
3 mushrooms, washed and chopped
3 teaspoons Worcester sauce
3 tablespoons malt vinegar
100ml tomato juice
½ teaspoon cumina pinch of dried thyme
a pinch of chilli flakes
1 dessert spoon of raisins

Method
Add the oil to a plan and heat over a low to medium flame.  Add the onions and fry until they are softened and maybe lightly browned - don't overcook them, you're looking for caramelized onions rather than fried, a lower heat for longer is much better than high here. 

When the onions are cooked, add the tomatoes and mushrooms and continue cooking over a low heat until everything is well cooked and nicely softened. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat up to medium until the liquid is almost dry.  Turn the chutney into a suitable jar or container, leave to cool and then you can start eating it.  It's very good with cheese and cold meat, or try it with some pork or game pie.

Roasted, spice pineapple with Earl Grey ice cream

I had this when we went to Benares last year and it was truly stunning.  I wanted to recreate it and this is pretty close, not quite there, but close.  According to Naomi and Suzanne it still tastes delicious though so that's good enough for me.

Ingredients
For the ice cream
300ml full cream milk
300ml double cream
60ml liquid glucose
5 egg yolks
80g white caster sugar
13g Earl Grey leaf tea - best quality you can get

For the roasted, spice pineapple
1 large Pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into bite size chunks
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1.2 teaspoon ground mango
1 bay leaf crumbled into small pieces
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 tablespoons runny honey

MethodHeat the oven to 200°C
First, make the ice cream by putting the milk, cream and glucose syrup in a pan and bringing to the boil.  Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and caster sugar in a large heatproof bowl and combine until pale yellow and creamy.  Once the milks, cream and glucose comes to the boil, add to the egg and caster sugar mixing well with a balloon whisk to make the custard.  Add the Earl Grey leaves to this and leave to marinate for 45-60 minutes.  After the leaves have marinated, strain through a fine sieve and leave the mixture to cool in the 'fridge, then add to the ice cream maker and churn until frozen. Keep in the freezer as you would normal ice cream.

Now make the spiced pineapple.  Mix together the spices and the crushed bay leaf with the honey in a bowl, then add the pineapple chunks and coat well.  Put the whole lot in a roasting tray and roast on the top of the oven, turning 3 or 4 times until the pineapple is starting to char at the edges.  Rmove and leave to cool.

To serve, put a few pieces of pineapple on a plate with a couple of scoops of ice cream.

Paella

This is a cross between the traditional chicken and rabbit paella and the seafood paella yu can get on the southern Spanish beaches.  I'm sure there are as many different versions of this as there are cooks, so this is mine :)

Ingredients
1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 boned chicken thighs chopped into 2cm cubes
8-12 good thick slices of Chorizo sausage
6 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
2 shallots, chopped
500ml stock, I used home made beef stock, but chicken works just as well
1 400g can butter beans
8 dessert spoons paella rice
1 pack king prawns
1 pack mixed seafood
1 pack boil in the bag mussels
a good sized bunch of flat leaf parsley

Method
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and add the pepper slices.  Cook over  medium heat until softened and starting to take on some colour.  Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, drain and keep until ready to serve.

Add the chicken and Chorizo to the pan and cook on a high heat until the chicken is well browned all over, then add the garlic and fry for an extra couple of minutes until the garlic takes on a touch of colour.

Drain the butter beans and add to the pan with the stock and the rice, cover and cook at a simmer until the rice has absorbed the liquid.  When the rice is cooked, add the prawns, seafood and mussels and warm through.

Chop the parsley and add it to he dish just before serving along with the red pepper, you need nothing else except a glass of good, crisp white wine and a nice sunny day (optional!)

Beetroot Soup

We had a surfeit of beetroot this year, so I made soup from them rather than waste and froze it. I find beetroot on it's own can be a little too earthy, so I added some tomato and good beef stock to this recipe to bring down the beetroot flavour a little, it's worked out very well, however it is shockingly red so be warned!

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
8 beetroots, trimmed and peeled
5 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
500ml beef stock

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion.  Sweat this off until soft but not coloured.  Add the chopped garlic and fry for a further minute or so while you make the stock (I use a cube, it's easier and just as good as buying the ready-made stock in this recipe).  Cube the beetroot into 2cm dice and add them to the pan with the stock and the chopped tomatoes.

Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 3 minutes until the beetroot is soft, take it off the heat for a couple of minutes and blend until smooth with a stick blender.

Serve piping hot with some nice crusty white bread and stir in a little soured cream.

Mulligatwany soup

This is a cracking soup, of all you've ever had is the soup out of a tin, do try this, it's completely different and delicious!   My recipe is based on one i saw on "The Hairy Bikers" TV show, but I've added my own variations as ever.

Ingredients

25g unsalted butter
1 tbsp Rape seed oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3 medium carrots
4 celery sticks, peeled and chopped
1 fennel trimmed and chopped (optional)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
3 eating apples (I use cox or gala) peeled, quatered and cut into cubes
1 tbsp medium to hot curry powder
2 tspn ground coriander
2 tspn ground cumin
1 ltr chicken stock (home made if possible, otherwise whatever you have)
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp mango chutney

100g basmati rice
50g leftover roast chicken (optional)
1 tbsp chopped coriander

Method

Melt the butter with the oil in a pan then add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery sticks, fennel and sweet potato.  Cook over a medium heat until all the veg are softened or taking on some colour.  Stir in the apples, curry powder, ground coriander and ground cumin and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

Make the stock up if using a cube, or add the 1 ltr home made stock to the vegetables along with the tomato purée and mango chutney.  Bring the whole to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until the veg are nice and soft.

Meanwhile, cook the rice.  Cover the rice with boiling water leaving about an inch of water above the rice, boil it for 10 minutes until soft then drain.

When the soup is cooked, leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then blend with a hand blender until it's nice and smooth.  Add extra water to the soup to reach the consistency you prefer, I prefer a goo, thick soup.

To serve, put a spoonful or two of rice in the bottom of a bowl, add the hot soup and then put the shredded chicken on the top with the chopped coriander.