Eggs benedict

This is one of my favourite meals. When eggs benedict is done right it is oh so good. Done bad, it’s bloody awful.

It takes a little while to make but it's well worth it. Nick was working this morning so I decided to treat myself and make a feast for breakfast, which I then gobbled with a hot cup of tea while sitting out in the early morning sunshine. Bliss.

Breakfast or brunch for one greedy person

Ingredients

For the hollandaise sauce

• 2 egg yolks
• 1tsp white wine vinegar
• 60gms butter melted
• Pinch of salt and black pepper

For the rest

• 2 eggs (I like Cotswold Legbar ones that come in a blue box from Sainsburys. They’re much tastiest that the normal ones and the yolks are such a dark orange they’re almost red)
• 1 English muffin split in half
• Butter to spread on the crumpet
• 4 slices good quality ham
• 2-3 chives to snip over the top

Method

1. Make the hollandaise first. Put the vinegar and egg yolks into a small heatproof bowl that will fit snugly on top of a saucepan with an inch of water in the bottom. The bottom of the bowl must not touch the water.
2. Bring the water to a gentle simmer, place the bowl on top and start whisking briskly. Keep doing this while very gradually adding the melted butter and whisk for 5 mins continuously or until the sauce is thick. Beware of overheating the sauce- if it looks like it’s going to split, remove the bowl from the pan and whisk hard off the heat for a minute.
3. Once thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, stir in the salt and pepper then take the sauce off of the heat and cover with a tea towel to keep warm.
4. Bring another large saucepan of water to a rolling boil, stir fast in a circle to create a whirlpool in the water then slip the two whole eggs in to poach. Keep an eye on the pan so that it doesn’t boil over. The eggs will take about 3 mins to cook with a runny yolk, 4 if you like them set.
5. Meanwhile, put the muffin halves into toast. Once done, butter lightly and pile two slices of ham on each side. Use a slotted spoon to remove the poached eggs from the water, drain well and place on top of the ham.
6. Pour over the hollandaise, snip over the chives and devour.

Watercress and pecorino pesto

This is easily the best pesto recipe I’ve come across, and once you’ve tasted it I guarantee you will never go back to shop bought. It works well with pasta or can be used to jazz up soups, vegetables (works really well with steamed green beans) or chicken dishes. The nice thing is you don’t need to be too exact on the ingredients, just taste as you go along and add more if necessary. And it only takes ten minutes to make- perfect for a week night supper.

Ingredients

• Small handful of pinenuts
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• Small bunch of basil (I use a small bag from the supermarket)
• ¾ of a bag of watercress- not to be confused with those little plastic tubs of salad cress (I use the bags that you get in the salad section of the supermarket)
• Large handful of grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Dried pasta for two people- don’t bother with penne or spaghetti, go for a really twisty style with lots of nooks and crannies to hold the sauce

Method

1. Put the pasta on to cook. Toast the pinenuts in a frying pan, tossing them frequently. This will only take a matter of minutes, keep a close eye on the nuts as they will burn very easily once they start to brown. Once browned remove to a bowl and allow to cool for a minute.
2. Use a hand blender (or a pestle and mortar if you don’t mind the extra work) to blend the garlic, basil, watercress (don’t bother removing the stems, it’s all going to get blitzed anyway), parmesan and pinenuts with a good glug of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. It’s up to you how much you blend- if you like chunky pesto just give it a rough blitz, if you like it smooth, go a bit longer. If the pesto looks a bit dry add a tablespoon of water to loosen it.
3. Drain the pasta and mix in the pesto stirring well so that the heat from the pasta melts the cheese. Serve with lots of black pepper and extra grated pecorino.

Stirfried pork with green beans and oyster sauce

I made this for dinner last night and it was good!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 100ml water
• 400g pork fillet, cut into thin slices
• 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 red birds eye chilli finely sliced (seeds left in)
• 1 red onion, cut into chunky pieces
• 140g green beans, halved
• Cooked rice to serve

Method

1. In a small bowl mix together the lime juice, oyster sauce, soy sauce and caster sugar. Set aside, and unless you don’t mind your smoke alarm going off, I’d open a window now- it’s going to get smoky in a minute!
2. Heat a large wok until it is screaming hot. Add the sesame oil and quickly stirfry the pork until it is lightly browned.
3. Add all of the vegetables and stirfry for about two minutes. Then add the sauce and the water. Keep stirfrying for another 2-3 minutes until the beans are just tender and the sauce has reduced slightly.
4. Serve with boiled or steamed rice- I put this on to cook before doing all the chopping and cooking for the stirfry, then they will be ready at about the same time.

Vietnamese chicken noodle salad

Taken from Bill Granger’s Everyday cookbook and presented in homage to spring which appears to have arrived in London.

Ingredients, serves 2

For the spicy chicken

• Two large chicken breasts, skinned and sliced into thin strips
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
• 2 large red chillies, finely chopped
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp sesame oil

For the salad

• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 200g fresh vermicelli rice noodles- these can be found in the refrigerated veg stir fry section in the supermarkets. They’re very fine, white and come in bags. You could use dried but they’re not as nice in this recipe.
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced into match sticks
• small handful or bag of fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
• 4 spring onions, sliced finely
• 2 tbsp cashews, crushed

Method

1. For the spicy chicken, whisk the fish sauce, pepper, garlic, chillies and sugar together in a small bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, pour half the marinade over the chicken pieces and mix well (you can leave this to rest for 20mins or so at this point if you like). Reserve the rest of the marinade.
3. Meanwhile, get a heavy bottomed frying pan heating up, boil the kettle and place your noodles into a sieve over the sink or a large bowl. Once the kettle has boiled, pour the hot water over the noodles to refresh them, then leave them to drain for 10 mins.
4. Now the frying pan is hot add the chicken. You want it to cook through and gain a nice honeyed glaze as the sugar caramelises. Keep an eye on it and turn the pieces occasionally. It will probably take about 10mins (I suggest you open the window- this can get smoky!) . Once cooked, remove the chicken from the pan and set aside to rest.
5. For the salad, make a dressing by adding the lime juice, soy and sugar to the reserved marinade, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
6. Mix the drained noodles in a large bowl with the cucumber, mint, spring onions, cashews and the dressing until well combined.
7. To serve, divide the salad among four plates, and top with the chicken.

Chilli with chorizo and dark chocolate

Sounds wrong but tastes so right! The cocoa solids in the chocolate lend a rich smoky edge to the sauce and, contrary to what most people think, it won’t make the chilli sweet. Good quality dark chocolate contains very little sugar, hence the reason it is so bitter. So, the darker the better, and for gods sake don’t use milk chocolate or it will taste awful.

Ingredients

• 500gms lean beef mince
• 1 packet chilli con carne seasoning mix (I used Schwartz)
• 1 can kidney beans in water, drained and rinsed
• ½ a chorizo sausage skinned and roughly chopped
• 1 family-sized jar (or two regular-sized ones) Lloyd Grossman tomato and basil pasta sauce
• Cold water
• 2 squares dark chocolate- must be 70% cocoa solids or higher
• Rice and grated cheddar cheese to serve

Method

1. Brown the mince in a deep casserole or saucepan, then add the chorizo, seasoning and tomato sauce.
2. Half fill the empty sauce jar with cold water and pour this in too.
3. Add the kidney beans and grate in the dark chocolate. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.
4. Put the lid on and leave to simmer while the rice cooks (about 20 mins but longer won't hurt). Serve with a big handful of grated cheese on top. 

Note: the quantities don't need to be too exact in this recipe and if there's anything else that you would like to add go ahead. For those who like it hot, try adding 1/2 tsp crushed chilli flakes