Pasta piccante con pollo e finocchio

Spicy, Lush recomended goes well with a crisp white

Ingredients/method

1 Onion fry until soft and going brown.

add the chicken breast in small cubes bown off a bit

1 Pepper diced chuck that in.

Add in your  favourite plain garlic tomato sauce 400ml or so

Then throw in:
Garlic 1 biggish clove diced
1 fresh Chilli diced
1tsp Pesto
1 tsp Fennel seed
Chicken breast, say 3 of them
Tomatoes a smallish handful
Chilli powder to taste
let it bubble for 20mins
slop in some tomato puree for richness

Rosemary salt and pepper croutons

cubes of pread fry in oil add chopped rosemary salt and pepper skatter these on top

Put some spaghetti in a bowl, sauce on top sprinkle a few croutons on top

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Spinach Mushroom Curry

From the Times Of India recipe here

 I used milk instead of cream and a little corn flour if it is too thin.

Ingredients

250 gm button mushroom
1/2 tomato
1 inch ginger
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
4 tablespoon refined oil
500 gm spinach
1 cloves garlic
1 green chilli
1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon powdered turmeric
1 tablespoon fresh cream
salt as required

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Keralan Runner Bean and potato Curry

This is Anna Jones's Recipe from the Guardian you can find it here:

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/aug/17/anna-jones-runner-bean-recipes

Used under open license

I did it pretty much as is but with slightly more chilli heat and a little less coconut milk.

Prep 30 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 4

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 green chillies
1 small thumb ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Coconut or vegetable oil
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
3 tsp coriander seeds, bashed in a mortar
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
50g unsweetened desiccated coconut, soaked in cold water for a minimum of 20 minutes
400g potatoes, chopped into bite-size pieces
400g runner beans, destringed and sliced at an angle into 2cm lengths
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 handful curry leaves (optional)
1 lemon

To serve
1 green chilli, chopped
1 small bunch coriander, chopped
Cooked brown or white rice
4 roti or chapatis
Salted dairy-free yoghurt
Pickles and chutney

First put the onion, chilli, ginger and garlic in a blender with two tablespoons of water and blitz to a paste. If you don’t have a blender, just finely chop everything.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a deep pan, add the onion mixture and cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat, until you have a thick, fragrant paste, adding a little more water if it’s beginning to stick before it’s cooked.

Next, add the turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook for two minutes until they give off a toasted aroma, then add the coconut milk, desiccated coconut and potatoes. Fill the coconut milk tin with water and add this too, along with a good pinch of salt. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked.

Next add the runner beans and cook for a further six minutes, until the runners are cooked and have taken on the flavour of the sauce.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a small frying pan on a medium heat, add themustard seeds, curry leaves, if using, and a good grind of black pepper, and cook until the curry leaves are crisp and the mustard seeds pop. Take off the heat and drain on kitchen paper.

Back to the curry: once the beans are cooked, taste, add salt and lemon juice to taste (I usually go for a whole lemon but you may prefer less), then finish with the chopped green chilli and coriander. Serve with rice and rotis, salted yoghurt, pickles and chutneys.

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Fish tomatoes and potatoes with cabbage and apple on the side

Greek inspired chicken Dish 

This worked really well, the fish came out dry and meaty, the spuds were lovely and the lemon cut though the olive oil rather well. Cabbage, apple and thyme was a winner who knew?

Ingredients

For the fish

4 fish fillets Haddock or some such meaty white fish
1 Onion - slice with a mandolin
Garlic 2 cloves rough chop
Oregano 1/2 tsp
2 Tablespoon olive oil
4  biggish potatoes in roasting size chunks
1/2 a lemon in small chunks
6- 8 small tomatoes in halves

Put the oven on at 200C

Mix the potatoes, sliced onion, olive oil, garlic and oregano in a roasting tray and season well. In the oven for 15 mins then turn it all over and leave for 15 mins more.

Add the tomatoes and lemon and cook for 10 mins.

Turn the oven up to 210C

Add the fish fillets on top and cook for max 10 mins more depending on how thick the fillets are.

For the cabbage

1/3 of  a white cabbage sliced with a mandolin
1 Onion - slice with a mandolin
1 Apple - peel and slice with a mandolin
1 tsp red wine
1 tsp thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix it all together, season well and in the oven at 210 for 50 mins, uncover for a further five mins at the end.

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Sausage casserole

Nothing too strange or complex going on here, a one pot staple.  Use decent sausage and fresh herbs drink with decent red.

Serves 4

Ingredients

12 chipolata sausages
1 onion chop
1 stick of celery chopped
2 chopped peppers one green one yellow
1 sprig of fresh rosemary,chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
1 bay leaf
1 fresh red chilli
Worcestershire sauce
Dark Soy sauce
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tin berlotti beans
juice of 1/4 of a lemon
1 tsp brown sugar
6 large potatoes for the mash

Method
Fry off the sausages until they are coloured all over, set them aside. Soften an onion in a thick bottomed pan in a little olive oil for 5 mins. Add the celery and the chopped peppers and sauté for 5 mins. Lower the heat add the garlic, chopped rosemary and bay leaf and stir for 2 mins. Add a good splash of Worcestershire sauce, a chicken stock cube, a splash of dark soy sauce along with half a chopped fresh chilli. Poor in a tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin of berlotti beans, if the beans are salted add no extra salt, if not half a teaspoon should do it. Let the whole lot bubble away uncovered on a low heat for 10 mins. Just before you serve it add the juice from a 1/4 lemon and a tsp of brown sugar.

Serve with mash potato

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Chorizo Fish and Peppers

This is a quick stew that is lovely for dipping crusty bread in. Any white fish will work, I use haddock.

Serves 2

Ingredients 

1/2 a chorizo ring thinly sliced
3 red peppers chopped
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
10 cherry tomatoes chopped up small
A big handful of sugar snaps or a cup of frozen peas
1/2 a glass f white wine
2 haddock fillets

Method

Fry the chorizo in a sauté  pan on  high heat with a teaspoon of olive oil for two minutes but don't let it burn Turn the heat down to medium and add the chopped peppers, let them cook for 5 minutes, keep stirring.

Add the chopped garlic, tomatoes and sugar snaps or peas and simmer for another 2 minutes. Add 1/2 a glass of white wine and place the haddock fillets in the centre of the pan. Put the lid on turn the heat down to the low side of medium and let it cook for 6 minutes. Break the fish into smaller pieces with a fork and eat out of the pan with  lumps of crusty bread.

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Paprika Chicken, Patatas Bravas, Pepper Pea & Fennel Rice

This is mainly comfort food but very comfortable it is indeed. Works well with dry white wine, all is good. You can substitute chicken thighs for a whole roast chicken if you are pushed for time, they take more like an hour.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the chicken

A medium chicken
a lemon
4 cloves of garlic
2tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper

For the Patatas Bravas

5 large waxy potatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium onion chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
garlic clove
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp sugar
Olive oil
salt and pepper

For the rice

A mug of basmati rice
2 mugs of water
a red pepper
1 tsp fennel seeds
a big handful of frozen peas
pinch of salt

Method

Put the oven on at 180C. Open the chicken's cavity and insert a lemon, smear  the bird's skin with olive oil, then sprinkle with smoked paprika and season well. Peel the garlic cloves and hide in the birds limb creases. Put the bird into a roasting tray covered with foil for and 1hr 40 mins. Uncover for a further 20 mins at the end.

While the chicken cooks, put the potato cubes into a roasting tray and slosh some olive oil over them so they are well covered. Roast in the oven with the chicken for 45 minutes until they are a dark golden colour.

15 minutes before the potato cubes come out of the oven, start the Bravas sauce.

In a frying pan fry the onion in a tbsp of olive oil until it is soft and golden brown, don't burn it. Add the tomato puree, the cayenne,  a chopped clove of garlic and the sugar. If the sauce is very dry add a little water. Cook for 5 minutes or so. Season to taste.

Add the potato cubes to the Bravas sauce and keep it warm.

For the rice. Wash the rice twice. Add twice the quantity of water and a pinch of salt to the rice in a pan, cover and bring to the boil. Turn the rice down to low, cook for 8 minutes adding the peas with 2 minutes to go (don't leave the lid off for long you will lose water). Turn off the heat and leave the lid on for another 10mins. Chop the pepper and fry in a small frying pan with a little olive oil with the fennel seeds for 5 mins. 

Pull  the chicken apart into breasts,  thighs, legs and wings.

When the rice is done mix the onion and fennel mix though as you fluff the rice.

Serve with the Bravas

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Baba Ganoush

This is like Humus but I prefer it. Make it the night before you want to eat it and keep it in the fridge it is better that way. Eat with toasted Pittas and veg sticks as a snack or a light meal.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients 

2 aubergines
3 tbsp tahini
2-3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp Olive oil
good pinch salt and pepper
juice of a small lemon
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds toasted in a pan for a minute or so
A sprig of parsley

Method

Burn the aubergines on a gas ring for much longer than you think is possible. They need to look shrivelled and they will steam as the char. Keep turning them so you get them charred all over, shut the kitchen door or your smoke arm will go off.

Quarter them on a chopping board and let them cool. Meanwhile add all the other ingredients to a food processor.

Pick the skins off the aubergines this is messy and fiddly, put up with it. Add the aubergine flesh to the food processor. Wizz up for a minute or so. Pour some olive oil over the top to stop it discolouring before you eat it.

When you serve it, sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top if that is your thing.

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Chicken Saag and Chapati

This is my favourite curry I could eat it everyday. My recipe was stolen and modified from an Indian housewife's bulletin board.

Serves a hungry two or four with a side dish.

For the saag

Ingredients

• 4 Chicken Thighs
• 1 big onion finely chopped
• 1" piece of fresh ginger skin on  grated
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1tsp ground coriander
• 1 1/2 birds eye chilli finely chopped or 1 bigger one (we are after some heat but not in-edible)
• 2 cardamoms crack them open
• 1 clove
• 1/2 a bag of fresh spinach or spinach beet, enough to fill a medium pan
• A big glug of milk, maybe 100ml
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp garam masala

Method

Brown the chicken thighs in veg oil for five minutes until the skin is golden brown. Reserve them and take the skin off if you prefer. I often leave it on, you can now bone it too if you want.

In the oil and chicken fat add the onion and fry it for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic and ginger and fry for 2 minutes more, then add the chopped tomatoes coriander, turmeric, chilli, clove, cardamom and that big glug of milk Add a good pinch of salt.

Simmer on a low heat for 35 minutes with no lid making sure it doesn't get too hot and stick. Meanwhile put the spinach in a pan add 75ml of water, cover and heat until the spinach wilts down, this takes only 2-3 minutes. Take off from the heat and liquidise a hand blender works best. Add a little more water if you need to.

When the Saag has had it's 35 minutes stir in the Spinach mush and add a teaspoon of garam masala and simmer on low for 15 minutes more until it is done. Check the seasoning adjust if needed.

Chapati

Ingredients

400g Extra strong bread flour 

1tbsp oil 

pinch of salt

1 glass of water (150ml)

method

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl adding the water last. Turn out and knead for a 5 minutes until you have a smooth elastic dough that is neither soggy nor too stiff. Roll into a long log and slice off 1/2" thick slices with a knife, you should get 10 to twelve slices from the log.

Pinch the slices around the edges with thumb and forefinger  until the slices are 100mm or so in diameter. Roll them out to 1or 2mm thick on a floured surface with floured hands making sure they don't stick.

Use a tawa or large flat bottomed pan which is as hot as you can get it. Toast the chapati on both sides. The first side takes a little longer, when you can see bubbling all over, turn it. Side two will only take 20 seconds or so. Finally with tongs put the chapati onto a naked gas flame. It should blow up like a pillow, don't burn it too much, but a few charred bits are fine.

Keep the chapati warm in a wet tea towel in an oven on minimum until the Saag is ready.

The chapati can be made prior to the saag, just wrap them in tinfoil and reheat in a warm oven for 10-15 minutes.

Eat wth your fingers, tear up the chapati and scoop the sauce, along with a decent lager.

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Escaldums (Majorcan Chicken Stew)

I ate something like this in the Lluc monastery in the mountains of Majorca. We were in the monks refrectory after the tourist coaches had gone home, It tasted lovely and the atmosphere was pretty special. It probably actually tasted nothing like this recipe, but this is pretty good nevertheless.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• A medium  chicken jointed into small pieces
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped into discs
• 1/2 pint chicken stock
• 5 big tomatoes chopped
• A small handful of pine nuts
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs of parsley, chopped
• 1 big handful of frozen peas
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 glass white wine
• 5 medium potatoes cut into half inch cubes

Method

For the Stew

Brown off the chicken in 50ml of olive oil in a thick bottomed pot, until the skin is crisp. Peel off as much skin as possible and discard. Reserve the chicken pieces. Cook the onion on a medium heat for 10 minutes until it's golden.Reduce the heat add the chopped garlic let it sauté for 1minute. Put all the other ingredients into the pot adding the cornflour last, heat until you have a simmer and then reduce to a low heat for 1 hour. 

For the Fried Potato  Cubes

Par boil the potato cubes for six minutes, drain and let them steam dry. Heat 750ml of vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan. Fry the cubes for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon onto kitchen roll. Sprinkle with salt.

To Serve

Spoon some of the stew into a bowl, sprinkle with a handful of the fried potato cubes whilst they are still hot. Finally sprinkle a handful of chopped parsley onto the top.

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