Jamie's Griddled Kinda Nicoise

My infatuation with Jamie Oliver is escalating. What started as mild disinterest is now a full-on passion. I was very kindly given Comfort Food for Christmas and am gearing up to cook something from that soon (pregnancy makes everything very slow) but the other night I was cooking for my mother and husband both of whom are trying to be virtuous in January and I'm very aware that the bump isn't getting its 5 a day so I randomly picked this Salad Nicoise from 15 minute meals. No potatoes and no egg but supremely delicious and finished by three of us and pretty easy to cook (and no it didn't take me 15 minutes but I'm a pretty slack cooker). Will be cooking this again and again - nice tuna steaks aren't cheap but the rest of the ingredients are and you can use what veg you have in your fridge.

There were quite a few things I tinkered with on this recipe, for example I'm not a huge fan of green beans and couldn't get the mixed green and yellow from the recipe so I used half beans and half broccoli tips.Where I've made changes I hope I've made them clear - I think the thing with salads is they are endlessly adaptable depending on what you have and like. I also refuse to serve anything on a board so I did this on one big platter... as you can see from the picture.

Griddle Tuna Salad
Serves 4

350g mixed green and yellow beans (or half green and half broccoli tips)
½ a baguette (I used a small one from Sainsburys)
12 black olives (Jamie says stone in, I say stone out)
3 ripe mixed-colour tomatoes (or red ones)
1 romaine lettuce
20g feta cheese
1 lemon

Tuna and Dressing
1 big bunch of fresh basil
6 anchovy fillets
1 lemon
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 x 200g tuna steaks (about 2.4cm thick)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp runny honey

You will need a medium sized saucepan with a lid, a griddle pan and a liquidiser/magimix.

1. Line the beans up and cut off the stalks, put them into a pan of salted boiling water and put on a lid (I did my broccoli and beans for the same length of time).

2. Slice the baguette into 2cm chunks and, if you are following Jamie put onto the hot griddle pan. I think basting them in a tiny big of garlic oil pre-griddle would be lovely. Turn when golden.

3. Pick and reserve 10 baby sprigs of basil then rip off the rest of the leaves and blitz in the liquidiser with the anchovies, juice of 1 lemon, the extra virgin olive oil and a splash of water.

4. Pour about 40% of the dressing on to a nice serving platter (Jamie uses a separate one for the dressing and tuna and then places the whole lot on a board with the salad. I used one big platter and it worked very well).

5. Rub 10% of the dressing into the tun and season with salt and pepper. Pour the rest of the dressing into a big bowl with the vinegar, mustard and honey then mix together. Drain the cooked beans, remove the stones from the olives. roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the dressing and mix together.

6. Put the tuna on the griddle pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until blushing in the middle. How you cook your tuna is a matter of personal preference.

7. Chop the lettuce into 2cm chunks, tear the toasts into croutons and arrange over a large board (or on the platter) with the lettuce. I think it's nice to toss half the croutons in the bowl of tomatoes and dressing so they get a bit soggy.

8. Scatter the dressed beans, olives and tomatoes over the top. Tear each tuna steak in half or more and add to the dressing platter (or put on top of the dressing in the centre of the platter if you are not using a board).

9. Scatter over the reserved basil leaves, crumble over the feta and serve with lemon wedges (if you remember).

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.

Saganaki

I love feta cheese but I'm aware that not everyone shares my passion. My mother is one of these people yet it was she who suggested I try this recipe out on some friends who were coming to supper as she thought it looked like a delicious and unusual starter. Whilst babysitting for me one day a week she works her way through my cookery books copying recipes and making my tummy rumble by shouting out suggestions for what we should be eating even though she knows I'm on a diet.

So rather than going for my usual something-on-toast easy starter for supper the other night I decided to try out the suggested Saganaki from Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook and it was really tasty and, if you had a round table, probably quite fun to help yourself straight from the dish with warm flat bread.

Saganaki

for 6

600g (3 packs) feta cheese, broken into rough 2cm pieces
20 large or 30 small cherry tomatoes
20 capers
15 Kalamata olives, halved and stoned
2 tbsp olive oil 6 sprigs of thyme or marjoram

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. You can make this as individual parcels for cooking on an open fire - 100g feta, a few tomatoes, capers and olive pieces, herbs and oil on top, fold loosely and cook for 10-15mins but I did it in one big dish.

1. Crumble the cheese into a shallow, oven-proof dish, dot the tomatoes around sprinkle over the capers and olive pieces, drizzle with oil and sprinkle the thyme or marjoram over the top.

Saganaki - pre-oven

2. Bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and browning on top. Eat hot or warm. I served with mini pitta bread but think the flatter the bread the yummier probably.

Lemon and Lime Cream Tart

Another recipe that I copied from my mother's copy of The Naked Chef. There wasn't a picture (I don't think) and I was expecting something more like the cold, set lemon tarts I usually make. But it's not, it's cooked and browned on top and completely different. Like the Simple Chocolate Tart I bought the sweet shortcrust pastry base to see if it worked better for this - it went really well with the chocolate tart base - and it was fine but I think if I had more time I probably would hand-make the pastry for this. I'll put a recipe up for this asap. I served this with raspberries but it would work just as well with strawberries.

It was incredibly easy to make and, because I was using the shop-bought base, I had leftover filling which I froze and is apparently spectacular as a sort of ice cream. I didn't get to try any, my husband ate it all. I did use the lime zest as decoration so I zested them, squeezed them into a measuring jug and topped it up with lime juice from a bottle. The 4 limes makes about 100ml.

Lemon and Lime Cream Tart

1 sweet shortcrust pastry tart shell, baked blind.
340g caster sugar
8 large free range eggs
350ml double cream
200ml lime juice
100ml lemon juice
zest of 4 limes (optional)

Egg wash the tart base and pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

1. In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. When they are well mixed slowly stir in the cream and juices.

2. Put the tart shell onto a baking tray and pour in the filling.

3. Bake for around 40-45 minutes until the filling is set but still semi-wobbly in the middle.

4. Put on a cooling rack and after about an hour the filling will have firmed up.

5. Dust with a little icing sugar (I forgot), sprinkle with the lime zest and serve with raspberries or strawberries.

Fish Pie No. 3 - Joe

Chef's perks

Finally the third in the fish pie triumvirate and another that really shows up Jamie Oliver's I think. Joe usually makes this when we are staying in the cottage in Blakeney, North Norfolk where you can get lovely fresh fish and all the other ingredients just by walking into the village. We always majorly overeat in Norfolk and when the boys were making this I thought I'd never be able to fit any in... but of course I did. There were no leftovers. It's also amazing what wonders happen in the kitchen while we girls were gossipping... and how much local ale gets drunk. For once Joe's bladder was fuller than mine during the night.

I put Tom in charge of being blog photographer and he took loads of pictures so this may be a rather picture heavy post but the recipe itself isn't exactly that complicated so the photos will be something nice to look at! Joe and I are going back to Blakeney next weekend for a friends wedding - as there will be only two of us there will be no excuse for quite such excessive over-indulgence!

What makes this pie amazing is the creamy mash (no Jamie I don't agree that it should be lumpy and 'rustic') the good amount of parsley and the fish-infused white sauce.

Joe's Fish Pie

Serves 4

450g white and smoked fish, skin on
1kg potatoes
parsley
4 eggs, hard boiled
180g cheddar cheese, grated
50g flour
50g butter, plus extra for the mash
400ml milk, and a little extra for the mash
salt
pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

You can use prawns in this if you wish but Clare who was staying with us hates them (and calls them 'babies fingers') so we left them out. You can ask the fishmonger to remove the skin for you and package it up separately, you will need to flavour the sauce though. We were cooking this on an Aga so I've amended the heat and times to be for a normal oven. You will need a large ovenproof dish.

We chose smoked haddock, plaice and a tiny bit of cod

1. Peel and cut up the potatoes to roughly the same size. Put them on to boil. You can hard boil the eggs at the same time. I put them in cold water and bring to the boil, once they are boiling I count to 30 switch the heat off and leave for 12 minutes. Then drain and cover with cold water.

Potatoes and eggs boiling on the Aga

2. Chop up the fish and place in the bottom of the dish. Season well then chop and scatter the parsley over the top.

Seasoning the fish

3. When the eggs are ready slice them up and scatter them over the top of the fish and parsley.

Arty shot of parsley... thanks Tom

4. Make a roux with the butter and flour, then remove from the heat and add the milk, a little at a time, whisking continuously to avoid lumps.

Melting the butter for the white sauce

5. When the sauce is ready drop in the fish skins and leave on the heat stirring gently for 10 minutes or so for the flour taste to cook out and to let the fish infuse with the sauce.

White sauce with fish skins

6. Sieve the sauce directly over the fish, eggs and parsley and discard the fish skins.

7. When the potatoes are parboiled mash them adding milk and butter until it's smooth.

The dog is obsessed with fish... she may be part seal

 8. Push the mash over the top of the pie and then sprinkle the grated cheddar over the top.

Pre-oven pie

9. Cook in the oven for about 30-40 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden on top. In the Aga we do this for ten minutes in the top (hot) oven and then half an hour in the cooler oven at the bottom.

Clare and the pie (and me being fat on the sofa) there are peas in the fish pan...

Fish Pie No 2 - My Mumma

A couple of months ago I made Jamie Oliver's fish pie from his new book Jamie's Great Britain. And it was fine... but just fine. Not the amazing, soothing, delicious wonderment that I expect from my fish pie. I'm spoilt - not only is my mum's fish pie awesome but my husband's is also amazing and they are both different so I find it hard to choose which is my favourite.

Anyway when I found Jamie's pie to be a bit meh I thought maybe that's just a reflection of my fish pie taste and everyone's different - so I thought I'd put all three on here and you can see which you prefer. Now is the time for the second one - my mum's and it was even better than I remembered it (and she wasn't even happy with the selection of fish she'd got!)

We made it together last weekend and it's really easy and great to prepare ahead if you want - we made the sauce and the mash ahead and reheated when we needed them and had the cheese all grated and ready to go. My mother also pointed out that she thinks my photos on here are pretty crappy. I said you didn't mind - she assured me that you do so I'd like to issue a formal apology and vow to try harder in future... having said that the photos for this were taken on my phone and I am unashamedly using lots of them because it looks so delicious. So there.


My Mumma's Fish Pie

Serves 4

4 hard boiled eggs
350g mixed fish - white and smoked fish preferably. We don't like fresh salmon in our fish pie.
2 large leeks, finely sliced
400ml milk
50g butter
50g flour
2 handfuls of freshly chopped parsley
140g cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp bouillon powder
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. You will need a medium sized pie dish for this. You can buy pre-selected packs of fish pie fish nowadays which is what we used here - all very well except this one had salmon in it. It's ok but a bit tasteless - smoked salmon or trout would be better.

1. Melt the butter and add the leeks, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then soften in the butter, stirring occasionally.

2. While the leeks are softening butter your pie dish and gently heat the milk in a saucepan.

Buttered pie dish

3. Add the flour and bouillon powder to the softened leeks and butter and stir well.

4. Stir in the warmed milk and taste for seasoning.

5. Bring to the boil whilst stirring continuously. Once boiling cook and stir for five minutes, add the parsley as you turn off the heat. If you are making this ahead just leave this sauce to cool and reheat when you need it.

6. Roughly slice the eggs into the bottom of your buttered pie dish and add the fish.

Fish and eggs in pie dish

7. Cover with the leek sauce and then top with the grated cheese.

Leek sauce

Cheese topping

8. Cook uncovered in the oven for about 20 minutes.

9. Serve with mashed potato and peas.

Leftover Bolognese Pancake Bake

So, what to do when you've had yummy bolognese or tortilla wraps and you have left over mince? Well sometimes I make quesadilla's but not if we've had tortilla's already - if that's the case I make a sort of pancake bake crossed with cannelloni. In fact you really could use cannelloni tubes if you have some hanging about in the cupboard but for this one we defrosted some pancakes and so really, apart from doing a bit of whisking with the white sauce, this couldn't have been an easier supper. You can assemble before hand and then just heat up when you need it which is also handy.

Leftover Bolognese Pancake Bake

Serves 4

Approx. 200g leftover bolognese (see Tortilla Wraps with Beef Mince)
4-6 pancakes (we used ready made ones but you can make your own)
Cheddar, grated
Parmesan, grated

For the white sauce:
40g butter
25g plain flour
425ml cold milk
grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

I used a reasonably small, rectangular oven proof dish for this and preheated the oven to 200C/400F/ Gas Mark 6.

1. Layout each pancake and fill with a large spoonful of the bolognese/mince. The amount of Bologna's you have leftover will dictate how much you use for each pancake... obviously.

2. Roll the pancakes up and put them seam-side down in the dish.

3. Now you can make the white sauce how you would like but for this one I just put the butter, flour and cold milk in a saucepan and whisk over a medium heat until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Reduce the heat right down and cook for 5 minutes to get rid of any floury taste and then season with the nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour the white sauce over the pancakes and then sprinkle with the grated cheeses.

Grated Cheese

5. Bake for about 30 mins or until bubbling and golden. For a crispy top you can finish it under the grill quickly.

Finished pancake bake

Tortilla Wraps with Beef Mince

It seems a bit silly to be posting this as it seems pretty self explanatory BUT it is a really good recipe for this and it always goes down really well. You can prepare ahead, go to the pub and drink too much and then still have a yummy, fun supper when you get home. I like to do this on a Saturday night in the summer when I want to be outside drinking beer until the sun goes in. This is another of those hugely adaptable recipes but this is the way I do them.

TORTILLA WRAPS WITH BEEF MINCE
Makes 8 so serves 4-6 depending on appetites

8 tortilla wraps
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
olive oil
500g lean beef mince
1 jar Dolmio bolognaise sauce (I know shock horror I'm using something pre-prepared... deal with it)
Sugar
Salt and Pepper

For the peppers and onions:
1 red pepper
1 1/2 yellow onion
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper

To serve:
Grated cheddar
Cucumber, cut into cubes
Sour Cream
Guacamole

Heat the oven to the temperature indicated on the tortilla wrap packet. I cook chop the onions and peppers first, cook the mince and then get on with the grating and chopping of everything else while it's cooking. I suppose I owe a bit of an explanation for using Dolmio - firstly it actually tastes good, and secondly it is part of what makes this recipe so easy - you can have Dolmio in the store cupboard and the mince and tortilla wraps in the freezer.

1. Chop an onion in half and dice one half of it and slice the remaining onion and a half into half moons. Cut the red pepper into strips, removing the stalk and seeds. Set the pepper and onion half-moons aside.

2. Heat some olive oil on a medium heat in a large frying pan and fry the diced half onion until soft. Add the finely chopped garlic and cook for another minute or so.

3. Add the mince to the frying pan and cook for 5-10 minutes until brown, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the Dolmio and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

5. While the mince is cooking heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and peppers and herbs. Stir together and add salt and pepper.

Softening peppers and onions

6. Cook for five minutes or so until soft. Season to taste and set aside in a bowl keeping warm.

7. Dice the cucumber, grate the cheddar, decant the sour cream, guacamole and any other fillers you are using.

8. Heat the wraps as instructed (usually 200C for 8ish minutes wrapped in foil).

9. Add a dessertspoon of sugar to the mince and cook for a further five minutes. Put in a warm serving bowl.

Everything piled on

10. Pile it all on the table and let everyone help themselves!

Finished Wrap

Joe's Cottage Pie

I'm one of those people who really likes my mum's cooking best - but since she tried Joe's cottage pie she's stopped making it. She says there's no point - and I can see what she means - it is pretty good. I've been a bit useless since coming back to London and last night he returned home to whip up a pie for supper with his dad and then made me my favourite thing - capaletti from Sainsbury's with lots of butter, garlic salt, pepper and cheddar. There's nothing quite like it.

I was going to help make the pie... then somehow I found that sitting on the sofa staring into space was much more what I wanted to be doing so he shouted out what he was doing and took pictures for me. Hurrah for Joe in every way...

He'd also like to point out that this is a good recipe for people who don't like carrots in their cottage pie... it does use carrot, but only one and so it's hardly noticeable. I'd like to point out that I know that cottage pie shouldn't really have tinned tomatoes in it... but this one does and it works. This is great to make ahead... or to make loads of and have as yummy left overs... or to have in the freezer as a lazy treat.

JOE'S COTTAGE PIE
Serves 6

4 rashers of bacon (we use Oscar Meyer... how unpatriotic of us)
1 carrot, thinly sliced
2 onions, sliced
900g beef mince
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
A large handful of thyme
750g tinned tomatoes
Tomato puree
9ish King Edwards potatoes (or any that will make nice mash)
Butter
Nutmeg
Cheese for grating
Sugar
Salt and pepper


Joe cooks the majority of this in a wok...Pre-heat the oven to 180C/356F.

1. Soften the onion, garlic and carrot in a frying pan (or wok) on a medium heat and then move to a bowl. Turn the heat up and cook the mince in big chunks until brown. Once it is going brown, throw the onion, garlic and carrot back in. (Weird eh?)

2. Add the thyme, bacon and tomatoes to the mince with a cupful of water and a generous squirt of tomato puree, lots of salt and pepper and the sugar. Stir and reduce the heat and cook with the lid off for half and hour.

3. While the mince is cooking peel and parboil the potatoes then mash with butter, milk (and cream if you've got it) and nutmeg.

4. Tip the mince into your pie dish and top with the mash. Grate some cheese on top and cook in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes to half an hour.

Hipstamatic Pasta

Sadly we're all at home at my parents house as my daddy died last week. No one has felt much like cooking or eating (slight exaggeration... the husbands have felt like eating) but I decided that my Parma ham, pea and marjoram pasta would be something easy to eat and soothing (a word my mother has told me off for over using!). I was too blah to be bothered getting my camera so my brother-in-law took a photo using the hipstamatic setting on my sisters i-phone. It came out incredibly badly but it does mean that this is now known as Hipstamatic Pasta.

HIPSTAMATIC PASTA
Serves 5

600g fettuccine pasta
8 slices parma ham
5 sprigs marjoram
4 cloves garlic
olive oil
butter
salt and pepper

I use a normal saucepan for the pasta and then an oval le creuset for warming up the other ingredients and then tossing it all about.

1. Put the pasta water on to boil, salt the water well and add the pasta.

2. Put the olive oil on to warm up on a medium heat, I use enough oil to cover the bottom on the oval le creuset. Crush the garlic and add to the warming oil.

3. Roll up each slice of ham length ways so it's cigar shaped and then cut with a sharp knife into about 5 pieces.

4. When the garlic is cooking in the oil but not fizzling away too much add the parma ham to the oil. Keep an eye on the parma ham you don't want it crispy or depressingly over cooked, just a bit warmed through really. When it looks done, take the whole thing off the heat.

5. Strip the leaves from the marjoram and chop finely. Grate some Parmesan - how much you use really depends on how much you want. I have some on the table also for people to sprinkle on when they want it.

6. When the pasta is cooked drain it and add it to the oil, garlic and parma ham with a knob of butter and a good lot of salt and pepper. Toss and add the marjoram and Parmesan keeping back a bit of the herbs to sprinkle on top.

7. Sprinkle the rest of the herbs on top and serve.

Baked Mediterranean Pasta

I don't know why but I was inclined not to like Rachel Allen but I LOVE her book Bake. I didn't realise how rare it was to find a book where you want to cook absolutely everything in it but I honestly dribble when reading these recipes. Anyway, I'd wanted to cook the Mediterranean pasta for ages and finally we cooked it at my mother's house last weekend and it was just as yummy as it sounded and made me realise what a versatile dish this is to have in your arsenal as you can basically use whatever you want within reason.

The only thing with this recipe is cut everything up before hand. I got everything in front of me and then got so excited about the outcome I had to do frantic chopping as things came up which wasn't ideal. It didn't seem to affect it... it was still yummy. The recipe is below - with a few tiny amendments in brackets.

BAKED MEDITERRANEAN PASTA
Serves 6

100g chorizo, finely sliced or cubed
1-2tbsp olive oil
500g penne pasta
2 x 400g tinned tomatoes, chopped
175ml boiling water (we added an extra cup)
175ml double cream (we added an extra 15ml)
50g chopped spring onion
2tbsp chopped basil
50g capers
100g olives, pitted and chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tsp caster sugar
75g soft goats cheese, crumbled
150g Gruyere cheese, grated
75g Cheddar cheese, grated

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. The recipe says you need a 30 x 23 cm ovenproof dish but I don't know how big any of my dishes are so I'd say use a big lasagna dish. And I know I said it before but I'll say it again chop everything before you start! Just do it... or don't and wish you had.

Too busy taking photos to actually chop anything

 1. In a frying pan over a high heat cook the chorizo with the olive oil for 2 minutes and drain on some kitchen paper.

Chorizo in a frying pan

2. In a large bowl mix together the dried pasta with the tomatoes, the boiling water and cream. Add the chorizo, spring onion, basil, capers, olives and garlic.

Taste now!!!

4. Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Taste it. I know it sounds weird but taste it as now is the time to check the seasoning.

5. Place all the mixture in the ovenproof dish and scatter the cheeses on the top making sure the pasta is completely covered. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until the pasta is cooked and the sauce golden and bubbling.

Cheese is my favourite bit

6. Cover with foil after 30 mins if this begins to dry out. Serve with salad.

I'm pretty sure this would be AMAZING cold the day after... like mac and cheese. But there wasn't any left.

Mary Berry's Piquant Chicken with Basil

I am just in love with this recipe... and in fact I'm in love with the whole of Mary Berry's book Cook Now, Eat Later. It is just perfect for WOW dinner parties that mean you don't spend the whole evening slaving in the kitchen. It is just yummy and wonderful and doable and just great in every way. My mum will cook something from it and then I will slavishly copy out the recipe (I don't own the book... I'm waiting until I deserve a treat/am not teetering on the brink of bankruptcy). This is the first one I used and it's my favourite and I think Joe must be getting pretty sick of it because if there is an excuse to cook it I will. Cook it NOW - it's much more amazing than it sounds in the recipe.

I serve it with lots of buttery, garlicky fettucinie but would be nearly as good with rice (rice can never beat pasta... can it?)

PIQUANT CHICKEN WITH BASIL
Serves 6

2 tbsp sunflower oil
a good knob of butter
6 chicken thigh fillets, skin removed (Mary uses breast but thighs are MUCH better), cut into mouth-sized bits
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 fat cloves of garlic
2 tbsp cider or wine vinegar
1tbsp dry mustard powder
3tbsp light muscavado sugar
3-4 tbsp ketchup
3tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp tomato puree
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
6 sprigs fresh basil

Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. You will need an oven-proof dish for this. My mum uses one of those lovely round le creuset ones with a lid on which I am determined to buy in all sizes next time there is a whopper sale. At the moment I use an oval dish and I cover it with tin foil. The recipe doesn't mention covering but I have tried it both ways and it makes a big difference.

Double quantity chicken thigh fillets

1. Measure the oil and butter into a large non-stick frying pan and brown the chicken in two batches for 4-5 minutes on each side. Put in a shallow oven-proof dish and season.

Double quantity browned chicken

2. Lower the heat (and let the oil./butter cool down for five mins) and add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cover and cook over a gentle heat until the onion is tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 mins.

3. Add the remaining ingredients, except the basil, to the pan, season and pour over the chicken.

4. Cook (covered ideally!) in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until the chicken is tender.

5. Scatter with fresh basil and serve.

If you are cooking ahead you can either cool quickly and freeze after stage 4 or cool and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Defrost for 6 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge and then re-heat at 190C for 30-40 mins or until piping hot.

I cooked it the afternoon of the dinner party when I got back from work and left it covered on the kitchen work top and then re-heated for 30 mins. By the time everyone arrived the smell of the chicken browning had disappeared and was replaced with lovely cooking smells.