Photos!

Apologies that I haven't got my act together with photos yet! I know its much nicer when you can see a dish. Will do my best to get some up soon

Chicken wrapped in proscuitto with pesto sauce

I issue this recipe to you at the request of one Miss Alexis Goodkind- she asked me for it ages ago and I’d completely forgotten about it until now!

The recipe came to me from my mum. I think she may have pulled it from a magazine or newspaper about ten years ago with the intention of using it for a dinner party. It is my Dads very favourite meal which we wheel out on every special occasion- Fathers day last week being one of them, which was what got me thinking about it!

It’s very easy to make and can be left to putter away on the stove while you get the veggies etc ready. I would suggest serving it with new potatoes and green beans, or a green salad, although for those of you who like your dinners plain and simple (Leck I’m referring to you!) some rice would also do nicely.

It can also be put in the oven to bake at 175 degrees C once the chicken and pesto has been added, instead of cooking it on the stove top if you need to go off and do other things. This is particularly useful if you're in friends-over-for-dinner-mode, just transfer the onion/ pesto mix to a snug sized baking tray, put the chicken on top, stick it in the oven before they arrive and 30-40 mins later- hey presto! Its one of those dishes which tastes like you’ve put a lot more effort in to it than you really have (and we all like those don’t we?!)

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 8 strips of prosciutto (the ordinary kind you get in packets from the supermarket as its going to be cooked)
• Two small onions sliced in half moons (doesn’t need to be too fine)
• 1 jar red pesto
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ball mozzarella

Method

1. Start by chopping the onions as directed then warm the olive oil in a big frying pan. Add the onions and cook on a low heat to soften, but not brown them, for ten minutes.
2. Trim any skin off the chicken and on a chopping board, lay out two slices of the prosciutto side by side. Place the chicken on top and roll it up in the prosciutto to make a little parcel. This doesn’t need to be too neat as you are going to cover it in sauce later anyway!
3. Repeat with the other three breasts and place them all in the pan with the onions, give them a good wiggle around so that the chicken touches the pan.
4. Keep the heat on low and cook the chicken for five minutes on each side to seal and brown it (I find a set of tongs are very useful when cooking this dish.)
5. Next pour the pesto on top and give it a good stir in with the onions around the chicken to make a sauce.
6. The chicken pieces will now need to be cooked approximately 15 minutes on each side, maybe twenty if theyre big ones. This is the point at which the whole thing could be transferred into a baking pan and put in the oven if you wish. Give it a stir every ten mins or so to make sure it doesn’t stick or burn, if it does turn the heat down lower. The onions will caramelise somewhat but don’t worry this just adds to the flavour.
7. When the chicken is ready (test with a skewer or knife- if the juices run clear you’re good to go) heat up your grill and place the chicken breasts in a little pan. Slice the mozzarella and place a big piece on top of each breast. Place in the pan under the grill for three- five mins until the cheese starts to melt.
8. Remove from the pan and serve each piece of chicken with some of the onion/pesto sauce and vegetables as above.

p.s. if you make too many of these or cant finish all your dinner the breasts make a very fine sandwich filling if left to cool and slice them the next day. (don’t put the pesto in though!)

Chicken and preserved lemon tagine

Made this scrummy tagine at the weekend which comes courtesy of Jamie Oliver’s new tv series: Jamies does… I think this is from the Moroccan episode, i found it on the Times Online website. It sounds like a bit of a faff when you look at the ingredients list but it was well worth it.

I don’t have a traditional tagine dish to make this in (although id like one!) so I used a big casserole pan with a lid. I cooked it for longer than the recommended time because I was out and about- Jamie says 1 ½ hrs on the hob at a low heat, I put mine in the oven at 100oC for more like 4hrs, and it worked perfectly. Actually, this would be really handy for a dinner party as all you would need to do at the last minute is the couscous!

I also omitted the olives because Nick doesn’t like them! But if you want to add them in its 100gms black and green olives, make sure they’re stoned, and put them in at the same time as the lemons.

Jamie says this serves four to six people and if you only like small portions it would probably do, but in reality it served one mildy hungry girl and a boy that eats enough for two!

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg) jointed into four pieces
• Olive oil
• 1 large bulb of fennel
• 2 small onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• A small bunch of fresh coriander
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• 2-3 small preserved lemons, deseeded and chopped
• A good pinch of saffron
• 500ml hot chicken stock

For the spice rub

• 1 heaped teaspoon coriander seeds, bashed up
• level teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method:

1. 1.Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a bowl with the chicken and olive oil. Massage well and leave to marinate for a couple of hours or over night.
2. When you’re ready to cook, heat some olive oil in a tagine or casserole dish on the hob and fry the chicken pieces over a medium to high heat, skin side down first, for about 5 to 10 minutes until golden brown.
3. While the chicken fries, chop each fennel bulb into 8 wedges, and add these to the pan along with the onions, coriander stalks and garlic. Stir well and fry for a couple more minutes, then mix in the preserved lemons and saffron.
4. Pour in the hot stock, give everything a good stir, then cover with a lid or foil and simmer on a low heat for 1½ hours on the hob, or 4hrs in the oven at 100oC, until the meat starts to fall away from the bone.
5. Halfway through, have a check and give it a stir. Add a splash of water if it looks dry.
6. Stir in the chopped coriander leaves and serve the tagine with some couscous cooked according to the instructions on the packet (should only take 5 mins).

Pasta with pancetta and parmesan

A quick, tasty week night supper which can be made in ten minutes and easily multiplied to feed extra people.

Ingredients:

• handful of spaghetti or enough pasta for two people
• small packet of lardons or pancetta approx 200gms- can be substitued with 6 slices of unsmoked bacon finely chopped if you cant find pancetta
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• good glug olive oil
• big handful grated parmesan

Method:

1. Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, salt generously and once it has reached a rolling boil add the spaghetti to cook.
2. In a frying pan warm the olive oil and add the pancetta/ bacon and the garlic. cook for 2-3 mins until the pancetta is brown and crispy but be careful not to let garlic burn.
3. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and return to the pan. Tip in the garlicky pancetta with oil and mix well to coat.
4. Season well with fresh ground black pepper and sprinkle over the parmesan before serving.