Jamie Oliver's Chicken and Squash Cacciatore

Having a conversation on Twitter the other day I realised I had no shame in admitting I love Jamie Oliver, yes sometimes my hand twitches with the urge to give hi a little slap but I can say that about most people and they don't consistently make cookery books that I love.

I went to Bree's house and she had the new Jamie Oliver, Everyday Super Food. I had added it to my Amazon wishlist but one look at hers and I bought it (half price in Waterstones) on the way home. Not that it is full to bursting with things I want to cook (I look to Jamie's 15-Minute Meals for that) but because I am trying to lose weight, I need a healthier diet, I live with a man who needs man food, but of the slimming variety and Everyday Super Food seems to have that all covered.

The Chicken and Squash Cacciatore with mushrooms, tomatoes, olives and bread is a good example of this. It's just not really my sort of thing, in fact I hate squash so, as suggested by Jamie, I substituted it for the mildly more bearable sweet potato. But it was delicious, filled us up and Joe cooked it. Successfully but not taking hours. So here it is. I didn't take a photo, I left out the olives and resisted the urge to have it with pasta and had one slice of bread as per the recipe.

I sometimes think Jamie's portion sizes are a little on the small side. This did both of us and a huge leftovers lunch for Joe the next day so it would do 4 but make sure you have bread and pudding. In fact, if you are so inclined this is a great one to cook with a view to having the leftovers for lunch the next day, it is filling and reheats well.

Chicken and Squash Cacciatore

Serves 4

1 onion
1 leek
4 cloves of garlic
2 rashers of smoked pancetta
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
olive oil
2 fresh bay leaves
½ a butternut squash or 600g sweet potatoes
100g chestnut mushrooms
2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
250ml Chianti or other good red wine
4 chicken thighs, bone in
8 black olives (stone in)
200g seeded wholemeal bread

Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. The recipe says it takes 1 hour 20 minutes and I'd agree with that, an hour of it is cooking time.

1.  Peel the onion and cut into eighths, trim, wash and slice the leek, peel and slice the garlic.

2. Place a large ovenproof casserole pan on a medium heat. Finely slice the pancetta, pick and finely chop the rosemary leaves, then place both in the pan with 1 tbsp of oil and the bay leaves.

3. Stir regularly for 2 minutes, then add the garlic, followed by the onion and leek. Cook for 10 mins, stirring regularly.

4. Meanwhile, chop the squash or the sweet potato (wash first) into bite sized chunks, leaving the skin on and discarding any squash seeds. Jamie chops the stalks off the mushrooms and adds all to the pan with the squash/sweet potato.

5. Remove and discard the chicken skin (we didn't) and add the chicken to the pan. Pour in the wine and let it reduce slightly, then add the tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon. Half fill each tin with water, swirl about and pour into the pan and mix it all together.

6. Destone the olives (we left them out completely), then poke them into the stew. Bring to a gentle simmer, the transfer to the oven to cook for an hour or until the sauce is thick and the chicken falls off the bone. Season as you wish and serve with bread to mop up the sauce.

Jamie Oliver's Incredibly Delicious Chicken Salad

As you may know my latest love is Jamie's 15-Minute Meals and anyone who's been coming to our house has been getting fed from it. I could do each recipe as I try them but as I've yet to try a dud this would be a bit of a one theme blog and I would be in trouble with the publishers. So I thought I would go for this one because so far it has been the one that Joe made the most excitable noises over and it's the one I thought he'd like least because it has 'salad' in the title and he's a boy.

It didn't take me 15 mins but not far off and it was really filling. We finished it between three of us but we're quite gluttonous - it would do four (as the recipe suggests) for lunch or if you had a pudding. I left out the lemons though because I hate them and THIS IS MY HOUSE JAMIE. And the cress. I just can't be doing with cress.

Incredibly Delicious Chicken Salad

Serves 4

for the salad:
1 head of broccoli
4 x 120g skinless chicken breasts
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
olive oil
1 mug (300g) Bulgar wheat
2 preserved lemons
1 bunch radishes
2 spring onions
½ a bunch fresh mint
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 punnet of cress

to serve:
4 tbsp fat-free natural yoghurt
2 tsp harissa
1 lemon

1. Fill up a medium pan with a lid, with boiling, salted water. Trim the end off the broccoli and cut the head to florets and add to the pan., cover and boil for 4 minutes.

2. On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with the salt, pepper and ground coriander, then fold the paper over and bash with a rolling pin til it's about 1.5cm thick. Put into a large frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a high heat turning after 3 or 4 minutes until golden and cooked through.

3. With tongs, remove and drain the broccoli (leaving the water in the pan on the heat) and put on a hot griddle until nicely charred.

4. Cook the Bulgar wheat according to the instructions on the packet in the broccoli water with the preserved lemons if you are using them.

5. Halve or crush the radishes, trim and finely slice the spring onions and the top leafy half of the mint then toss it all in a bowl with the extra virgin olive oil and vinegar and season to taste.

6. Drain the Bulgar wheat and tip into a large serving bowl, then mash and mix in the preserved lemons and arrange the broccoli on top.

7. Toss the sunflower seeds in the chicken pan, then slice the chicken and add to the salad scattering over the seeds and snipping over the cress.

8. Serve dolloped with the yoghurt and drizzles of harissa and with lemon wedges on the side.

Chicken Zorba

This recipe has been in my family for years. So long that I have it written in my first ever recipe book (when I was about 14) and we still eat it now. My favourite way to eat this is with warm flat tortillas, salad, strips of cucumber and tomatoes. A great thing to have prepped ahead of time (marinade the chicken anywhere from 30 mins to overnight) for a spring/summer lunch and it's what we had as our first lunch in the garden in our new flat.

Chicken Zorba

serves 4 (light lunch)

4 chicken breasts
1 tbsp vegetable oil
juice of 2 limes
1 level tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tumeric
handful of mint, chopped
pinch of salt
150g Greek yoghurt
170g houmous

1. Mix the lime juice, spices and salt together in a bowl or bag big enough to marinade the chicken.

2. Cut the chicken into thin strips, mix with the lime juice and spices and marinade for at least 30 minutes.

3. When you are ready to eat mix the yoghurt and homous together and put into a serving bowl.

4. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken for 8-10 minutes or until it is cooked through.

5. Sprinkle with mint and serve with the houmous/yoghurt mix, tortilla wraps, and salad.

Chicken Noodle Soup

My sister-in-law came to supper last week. I had chicken thighs that needed using and I've only every seen her eat soup - so soup it was. You probably don't need a recipe for this but sometimes I find a recipe a reassuring starting point so here's my incredibly easy recipe for chicken noodle soup - adapt at will.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4

1 litre good chicken stock
450ml stock cube stock
6 chicken thigh fillets roasted (or leftover roast chicken equivalent), torn into pieces
Oyster or shitake mushrooms
Straight-to-wok Udon noodles
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
star anise
coriander
3 baby pak choi, torn into strips and washed

1. Pour the good chicken stock into a large saucepan and gently heat through for about 15 minutes adding the star anise, ginger, soy sauce and sugar.

2. While the stock is heating up, tea the mushrooms into strips, melt some butter in a small frying pan and gently fry the mushroom until golden. Then remove from the heat and put to one side.

3. When the stock is hot add the strips of  chicken, mushroom and pak choi and the noodles.

4. Add stock cube stock to taste (I ususally use most of it) and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

5. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with coriander.

There are sugarsnap peas in this soup.... I wouldn't bother next time

Jamie's Stuffed Cypriot Chicken with Pan Fried Asparagus and Cabbage Salad

by guest blogger Joe Harrod

Say what you like about Jamie Oliver. I know people find him smug, laddish, jammy and generally irritating. But he's also really watchable - a genuinely nice bloke and who cooks appealing food and happily laughs at himself. For me, the biggest problem with his shows and books is ingredients. He's always bunging in a bit of arrowroot, or something equally unavailable at Tesco.

30-Minute Meals is the epitome of Jamie, and probably outsold the Bible last Christmas. (That's another irritating thing about him - successful bastard!) It's also, for a mainstream cookbook, pretty scary. Each double page spread presents you with a 3 course feast which you must prepare in a race against time, incorporating a barrage of flavours and cooking techniques. I've never, ever brought in one of these badboys at under 40 minutes and I've burned myself trying.

I have to say though, I love the book. It's packed with great recipes and makes after work cooking more of an assault course and less of a chore. And it builds up your repertoire of gourmet, fast-cook meals. I would add a couple of suggestions of my own: Firstly, don't be afraid to dawdle or mix up the order of the cooking. Jamie has you firing up the hobs before you start chopping and juggling four pans at all times, which is too much like hard work. Secondly, if you don't want to make the starter, side dish or the pudding - don't bother.

It was in this spirit that I approached Jamie's "Stuffed Cypriot Chicken, Pan-Fried Asparagus and Vine Tomatoes, Cabbage Salad, Flatbreads, St. Clement's Drink, and Vanilla Ice Cream Float." In other words, sod the St Clements and the Ice Cream Float. I served booze and frozen yoghurt instead. And, instead of stuffing the chicken and chopping the cabbage and prepping the asparagus and flatbreads against the clock,  I did all that before my guests arrived then just did the heating once they arrived. This made me look suave and collected like Michael Caine doing the omelette in The Ipcress File.

The results were impressive. Light but striking flavours, amazing textures... bloody delicious basically. The chicken comes out really zingy and asparagus steamed in tomato juice is a crunchy, flavour-packed revelation. This is a great summer set piece.

So here it is in two stages. I've upped the ingredients because I was doing for six. Preparation takes about 25 minutes and cooking only 20, whereas if you try and do it all together you'll end up sweating and cursing an hour later, and muttering all kinds of things about poor Jamie.

Ingredients:

Garlic, lots of
Olive oil, plenty
Salt and pepper
Lemons (Jamie loves his lemons mmmate)
Thyme
Rosemary
Loads of parsley
Loads of basil
Bay leaves

+

Pitta Bread x 6

Chicken breasts, skin on x 6
Feta 200g
Sundried tomatoes

400g asparagus
2 packs vine tomatoes
Black olives

1/2 a white cabbage
1 onion
Red chilli

Preparation:

Flatbreads. (I used pittas.) Rub with garlic. Put a tablespoon of olive oil, loads of salt and pepper and a bunch of thyme on a chopping board and flop the garlicky pittas into them, rub them together and generally get them all sexy, then stack them up on a plate.

Cypriot Chicken. Put a good bunch of parsley, another of basil and a couple of rosemary sprigs, 8 sundried tomatoes and a block of feta on a board. (I didn't have sundried and used normal. Worked fine.) Chop it up nice and fine. Grate over zest of a lemon and crush on three cloves of garlic, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and chop through again. Slit the chicken, stuff it and then rub salt and pepper into the skin liberally. Stand to one side - they'll be going in a super hot pan later.

 

Asparagus. Lug some olive oil into a deep pan, add thyme sprigs, rosemary sprigs, three bay leaves and vine tomatoes to a pan, and chuck salt over. Lop the bottom off the asparagus and leave to one side along with a good handful of black olives.

Cabbage salad. Use a Magimix salad blade to slice up cabbage and put that in a bowl. Now use the regular blade to dice the hell out of an onion, a red chilli (seeds out) and a good fistful of basil. add these to the cabbage, plus the juice of two lemons. Toss this salad and take to the table.

Cooking

When you're ready to eat turn on a high flame under a pan with nothing but oil in it, and under the tomatoes, with the lid on. Whack the oven onto full blast with the pittas in it.

After 2 minutes, put the chicken in skin down with the very hot oil. Put some crinkled greaseproof over the top, and a lid. Turn down the tomatoes to medium.

After another 5 minutes, add the asparagus to the tomatoes and replace the lid. Flip the chicken (remove the paper) and turn down to medium. You'll let these guys and the pittas cook for another 12 minutes.

Ta-dah!

Chicken and Greens Salad

My wonderful friend Joy has a reputation for leading me astray. 'I'll be back on the last tube... it's just kitchen supper' I say breezily to my husband as I leave. 'I got carried away' I say croakily as I return in a taxi we can't afford at 5am. So I think we were both a little concerned about what would happen to me if I turned up there pregnant. However, Joy has her own offspring, is trainer, councillor and all round healthy eater so I was in safe hands and she made this most fantastic salad for my supper that contained a billion things that I'm supposed to eat but don't get round to and gave me some for my lunch the next day.

She very kindly gave me the recipe as my cooking has been a bit lax recently... unless you count eating pepperami dipped in cream cheese cooking.

Joy's Chicken and Greens Salad

Serves 3-4

1 bag baby red potatoes
1 packet broccoli stems
1 packet dwarf green beans
1 packet wild rocket
1 packet of mini chicken breast fillets
2 good sized tomatoes, sliced
1 packet fresh basil
1 packet fresh chives
1 packet feta cheese
1 handful toasted pine nuts
1 fresh lemons
ground pepper
Worcestershire sauce

For the dressing:
olive oil
pinch of salt
ground pepper
juice of 1 lemon

1. Boil 2/3rds of the baby red potatoes, drain and let them cool.

2. Steam the broccoli and green beans until still slightly crunchy and then cut in half. Set aside to cool.

3. Stir-fry the chicken in olive oil until cooked through. In a dish squeezing over the juice of 1 lemon, a grind of pepper and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Toss together and leave to cool.

4. Cube the feta cheese.

5. Finely chop most of the basil and chives - how much you use is up to use. Most of each packet is good.

6. When the chicken is cool, chop roughly and add to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. 

7. Whisk together the dressing ingredients, add to the salad and let it sit for half an hour.

Jamie Oliver's Chicken Kebabs with Avocado Dip

Every time I do a big shop, which I do online because it actually saves us money, I get Joe to look at my list of recipe's (I say list... it's a spreadsheet, I'm a geek) I want to cook and choose a couple that he wants to try out and I get the ingredients... or not depending on how Sainsburys are feeling. He chose this recipe from the Jamie Does... book and not only did I love it at the time, but I made the full amount for four people and we had the leftovers for lunch today and they were even more amazing. This is one of the first recipes I've cooked from this book even though I've had it for a while and it's definitely inspired me to use it more. I can see this recipe being a regular feature in the Harrod household.

One thing... these are billed as kebabs and Jamie raves in the recipe blurb about how great skewers are but I followed this recipe slavishly (because I have horrible lurgy) and you don't get told when to put the chicken on skewers. No big deal because I didn't really want to faff with those but I've added in when to do it... if you want to.

Chicken Kebabs with Avocado Dip

Serves 4

4 boneless chicken breasts, (approx. 125g each), cut into bite size chunks
4 Arab style breads or flatbreads
1 lemon cut into wedges to serve

For the marinade:
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tbsp hot paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
3 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the avocado dip:
2 ripe avocados
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
1 fresh green or red chili, de-seeded or finely chopped
a small bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon

You need a griddle pan ideally but a frying pan would work just as well. You can use metal skewers if you want too and have them but they aren't essential. I used pitta breads because they are easy and you can freeze them and that's what I love about this recipe, the majority of things you can have in the freezer sot it's really pretty easy to make in some form or another.You can also make the dip the day before and marinade the chicken overnight so good for a yummy lunch with minimum preparation.

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the chicken chunks in the marinade until evenly coated, then cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Marinading chicken

2. Meanwhile, make the dip. Halve the avocados, remove the stone and spoon the flesh into a bowl. Add the other dip ingredients and mash together with a fork making it as smooth or chunky as you like. Taste and adjust the seasoning - I find avocado's often need quite a lot of salt.

Avocado dip

3. When you are ready to cook get a griddle pan on a medium heat and put the chicken on skewers if you are using them. Once it's really hot add the chicken and cook for 5 to 7 minutes turning occasionally - if you are not using skewers then it may take a bit longer, you need to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through.

4. While this is happening warm the bread through - I wrap my pittas in foil and put them in a warm oven for ten minutes.

5. Tear your bread in half or make a pocket, dollop on the avocado dip and top with the chicken. Serve with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing over.

The proportion is weird... it wasn't a huge as this picture implies

Coq au Riesling

The thing about occasionally feeling miserable is it's hard to motivate yourself to plan what to cook for a dinner party. I was so bad on Sunday night that Joe resorted to scouring through our cookery books to see if anything was easy and appealing and came across this fantastic recipe in Nigella Express. The most strenuous part of this recipe is the chopping of the chicken and it's incredibly tasty and really soothing actually which is just what I needed. I served it with garlicky, buttered tagliatelle.

Nigella suggests that this would be at it's best if you let this get cold and then reheat it the next day which is what I would have done if I was more organised and hadn't spent my time lying around on the sofa being morbid.

Coq au Riesling

Serves 6

2 tbsp garlic oil
150g pancetta
1 leek, finely sliced
12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 bay leaves
300g oyster mushrooms, torn into strips
1 x 75cl bottle Riesling
double cream
salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

Loads of chicken - chopped by Joe

I made this is a large oval le creuset casserole which was great as it could go straight on the table when it was ready - but you basically just need a big pot with a lid. As I wanted to do minimal shopping I used what chicken I had in the freezer which was 8 boneless chicken thighs and 4 chicken breasts and it was fine. We also couldn't find oyster mushrooms so we just used normal ones quite thinly sliced. This is great for a dinner party because once it's cooked you can either keep it on a really low heat keeping warm.

1. Heat the oil in your pot and fry the pancetta until crisp.

2. Add the sliced leek and soften it with the pancetta for a minute or so.

3. Cut the chicken into pieces (2 or 3 for the thighs, a few more for breasts), tip into the pan, add the bay leaves, mushrooms and wine.

Pre-Simmering

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and simmer gently for 30-40 minutes, stirring in the double cream for the last couple of minutes.

Post-Simmering

5. Sprinkle with dill and serve.

Nearly ate it all before I remembered to take a photo

Hot American Chicken Salad

I've taken this recipe from Some Food for Thoughts - a cookery book sold in aid of Le Court Cheshire Home, Hampshire and other charities. This is a great amalgamation of recipes from residents in the care home, their friends and families - ranging from Chiang Mai Noodle Soup to Roast Monkfish and Pancetta with Herbs and loads inbetween. I'm not sure if it's available on the Internet but do get in touch with me if you'd like to know of any other recipes or details or how to order one.

This salad is so incredibly simple but wonderfully mayonnaisey and decadent and lets face it if the sun's out you don't want to be slaving over a hot stove or doing anything with chickpeas... do you really? We poached the chicken in stock the night before so it was all ready to go the next day.

HOT AMERICAN CHICKEN SALAD
Serves 4 

Ok so it's just cheese but I LOVE CHEESE

340g (12oz) cooked chicken, chopped quite small
4 sticks celery, finely sliced
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1/2 pint mayonnaise
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
113g (4oz) cheddar cheese, grated

For the topping:
1/2 packet kettle potato chips, crumbled
a little bit of paprika

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F. You will need an ovenproof dish for this - we used a medium sized rectangular one - you need to be careful not to overcook this or the sauce will separate!

1. Put all the ingredients into a bowl with 85g of the cheddar cheese, season and mix together. The cheese will be quite salty so taste it before adding too much salt.

2. Turn into a shallow ovenproof dish, top with the remaining cheese, crisps and dash of paprika. We added some tobasco do this - just a few drizzles over the top should do.

3. Bake at 200C for 10-15 mins.

Finished Chicken Salad

Nigella's Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes

As part of my Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home frenzy I cooked this the other night (actually to go with the Banoffee Cheesecake pudding) and it was yummy delicious in every way and highly recommended because it's incredibly easy, if slightly expensive which is fine really because it tastes amazing enough to be great for dinner parties but is just so simple to make that you can actually have a drink with your guests when they arrive rather than slaving in the kitchen (shock horror!). This makes a lot of food too so you get yummy leftovers for lunches the next day so really you are getting a couple of meals for your money.

What was so fantastic about making this with the cheesecake was that the pudding was made the night before and only had to be unleashed from its springform tin and drizzled with toffee sauce half an hour before we wanted it and the chicken and chorizo can be wedged in its tins covered with clingfilm and ready to go in the fridge so you only need to drizzle with olive and put in the pre-heated oven.

SPANISH CHICKEN WITH CHORIZO & POTATOES
Serves 6

2tbsp olive oil
12 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
750g chorizo sausages, ideally the baby cooking ones
1kg new potatoes, halved
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
grated zest of 1 orange ( I do not include this - I'm sure it's yummy but no...)

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 7. You will need two shallow roasting trays.

1. Put the oil in the bottom of the two roasting tins, 1 tbsp in each. Rub the skin of the chicken in the oil, then turn them skin side up, 6 in each tin.

2. Divide the chorizo sausages and new potatoes between the two tins. Sprinkle the onion and oregano over and, if you are using it, grate over the orange zest. As I don't use the orange juice I just gave a little extra drizzle of olive oil over it before I put it in the o

OK so raw chicken is never going to look that appealing

3. Cook for 1 hour, swapping the trays round and basting after 30 minutes.

This is minimum input maximum output and the left overs are to die for - I followed Nigella's instructions and made quesadilla's which were just fantastic. Dice up the leftovers, add some grated cheese (I use cheddar), cover half a tortilla with the mixture, fold in half and then griddle or fry. This is fantastic for a hangover.

I meant to take a picture of it daintily cut in half - but I ate it too fast

Chicken and Bacon Tart

This is great for leftover chicken and in fact you can make it with anything you have hanging about in the fridge as long as you use the egg/sour cream filler anything can go in. The important thing about tarts is to season them enough - I know people are scared of salt but you can have a little taste of the filling before you pour it in and see. It's really too sad to have an under-seasoned tart. If you don't have chicken then a cheddar cheese and bacon version of this is great and you can always stick a leek in instead of onion.


CHICKEN & BACON TART
Serves 4

For the pastry:
220g plain flour
110g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
pinch of salt
1-2 tbsp chilled water

For the filling:

Chicken and bacon (on a small plate)

2 cooked chicken breasts or left over roast chicken
4 rashers of bacon
1 onion - or whatever you have. I like using large shallots and a bunch of 6 or so spring onions
2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
A handful of tarragon, chopped finely
300ml creme fraiche or sour cream
salt and pepper
A tiny pinch of garlic salt if you want

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. You will need a fluted tart tin - I'm not entirely confident of the size of mine but I think probably about 23cm. This is also good if you want to make the pastry up before hand. The pasty does have to rest quite a bit and then you bake the base blind so it's not the speediest recipe in the world.

1. Make the pastry by sifting the flour and the salt into a large mixing bowl, adding the cubed butter and rubbing it into the flour like you are making some sort of strange double handed sign for money. You want the mixture to resemble breadcrumbs when you finished and you want as much air in it as possible so lift the mixture up in your hands as you rub the butter into the flour.

2. Wrap the pastry in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least half an hour. Roll it out so it is larger than you tin and then line the tin with it using a rolling pin rolled over the top of the tart tin to give you neat edges. Then put in the fridge for a further 20 mins to rest.

Neat pastry case

3. Prick the bottom of the pastry case with a from, line with baking paper, fill with baking balls and then bake blind for 12-15 mins. When it's done leave it to cool and make the filling.

Baking balls!

4. Heat the oil in the pan and cook the onions over a medium heat until they are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and add the shredded chicken and bacon and tip into the prepared pastry case.

Chicken and bacon in pastry case

5. Whisk together the eggs, creme fraiche, tarragon, salt or garlic salt, and pepper and pour over the tart.

6. Cook in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden on top. Serve with salad and onion marmalade or chutney.

Finished Tart

Nigella's Hot and Sour Soup

This was incredibly easy to make and yummy and the fruits of me trying to be organised and actually go through my cookery books and pick new recipes to try out which makes me feel smug. I love making chicken laksa but wanted a bit of a change and this is a great soup to have in your arsenal and the prawns make a nice change from chicken. It comes from Nigella Bites- an oldy but a goody.

HOT & SOUR SOUP
Serves 4-6

1.5 litres chicken stock
1 heaped tbsp tom yum paste
1 stick lemon grass, inner part only, roughly chopped
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
juice of 1 lime
4 tbsp fish sauce
3 small fresh red chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
150g straw or button mushrooms. halved or quartered
500g peeled raw prawns, thawed if frozen
5 small spring onions, cut into short lengths and then into strips
small bunch coriander, chopped

I didn't have the kaffir lime leaves so I left them out and it was fine. I used button mushrooms which were yummy and defrosted my prawns in the fridge during the day so they were ready to go in when I cooked in the evening.

1. Heat the stock and tom yum in a decent sized saucepan with the lime leaves, lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, chillies and sugar.

2. Bring to the boil, add the mushrooms and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the prawns and spring onions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until the prawns are cooked but still tender.

Does not look as yummy as it was

3. Sprinkle with a little coriander and put more on the table for people to add if they want.

Ina Garten's Mexican Chicken Soup

Now I'm not going to lie - this didn't really set my world on fire but I'm not really into Mexican food. However, Joe loved it so much I thought he was going to explode before he stopped eating it. It's pretty fun to eat too and filling for a soup although once you see what goes into it that's not surprising.This is from her book Barefoot Contessa at Home.

You need a big pot for this. Big.

MEXICAN CHICKEN SOUP
Serves 6

2 chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
2.84 litres chicken stock (2 1/2 quarts)
800g chopped tomatoes in puree
2-4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
6 fresh white tortillas

To Serve:
sliced avocado
sour cream
Cheddar cheese, grated
Tortilla chips

Pre-heat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

1. Place chicken breasts, skin side up on a baking sheet. Rub with olive oil, sprinkles with salt and pepper and roast for 35-40 mins until cooked. When the chicken is cool enough to be handled, remove the skin and bones and shred the meat. Cover and set aside.

Chicken breasts - mine didn't have bones

2. Heat 3 tbsps of olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until the onions start to brown.

Husband chopping onions to prevent weeping (note bowl of bribary peanuts)

3. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

4. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with their puree, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tsp pepper. Cut the tortilla's in half then cut them cross-ways into 1/2 inch strips and add to the soup. Bring the soup to the boil. then lower the heat and simmer for 25 mins.

Tortilla strips

5. Add the shredded chicken and season to taste.

Shredding chicken into soup

6. Serve the soup hot, topped with sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, grated cheddar and some tortilla chips.

Ready to eat