Chicken & Leek Pasties...

I was looking for something different to make for lunch and came across a Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall recipe for these pasties. I didn't follow the recipe as such, but went along with the idea of it and was pleased with the results.

Pastry:
• Blend the flour and butter until they resemble breadcrumbs and bind together with cold water to form a dough.
• Roll the dough out to 5mm thick, fold back into a square, re-roll and repeat for or 5 times. This gives you a slightly flaky pastry.
• Chill the dough for an hour or so and meanwhile make the filling.

Filling:
• Chop the leek and onion and fry gently in some oil.
• Meanwhile, trim and chop the chicken into fairly small pieces that will cook relatively qucikly (1cm cubes); add to the frying pan and cook until beginning to brown.
• Whilst this is going on dice the potatoes and boil separately, until quite soft.
• When both are ready combine in the pan and mix together quite roughly to break up the potatoes and combine all the flavours. Season with salt & pepper.
• Set aside to cool.

Assembly:
• Rollout the pastry to 3-4mm thick and cut out 20-22cm diameter rounds
• Place a heap of the filling on one half of each. Brush some milk or egg around the edge of the circle then fold over and crimp together with your fingers.
• Place on a baking tray, brush with beaten egg and cook at 190°C for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Notes:
• Add some chopped smoked bacon to improve flavours.

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Gratin Dauphinoise...

You don't need to say much regarding this dish, it's simplicity and flavour speak for themselves. Thinly sliced potato, baked in cream with onions and garlic... it's probably my favourite way for potatoes.

• Finely slice the onion and crush the garlic.
• Slowly sweat down in a pan with a little butter/oil. Do not burn.
• Meanwhile, finely slice the potatoes and begin to arrange in a dish.
• Every so often add some of the onion/garlic mixture and seasoning before continuing to layer potatoes.
• Thin the creme fraiche with some milk to a consistency like double cream and combine with the double cream.
• Pour the creams over the potatoes and cover with foil.
• Bake in a preheated oven (170°C) for around 2 hours.
• The last 20 minutes should be uncovered to crisp the top up.

Notes:
• You can top with grated cheese (Gruyere/Cheddar) for a lovely cheesy top (see picture).
• My recipe roughly follows that of Leith's Cookery Bible.

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Tomato, Olive & Feta Salad...

This is incredibly simple to put together, but makes a lovely side salad with meats, especially BBQ but great with a buffet too. The basics come together tastily enough, but you can also add basil, finely chopped onion, chopped pepper etc, also leave out the olives if you don't like them.

Ingredients:
These are the rough proportions...
• 500g small/cherry tomatoes
• 100g feta
• 100g olives

if you want to add them...
• about 1 tablespoon of finely chopped onion
• half a red pepper, finely chopped

Chop all the ingredients, crumble the feta into rough cubes, place in a large bowl and mix together gently with a litle olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper.
(quantities above will serve 4-6 as a side portion)

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Red Pepper & Olive Muffins...

I came accross this recipe which in turn comes from here. I then gave it a go, and developed it to vary the ingredients. First of all I didn't feel the squash added much to it, so not worth the extra effort, but I thought there'd be some value in the charred sweetness of roasted red pepper. So, the ingredients picture below is in fact the Spinach & Feta, but the finished article is the Red Pepper & Olive. You need to substitute the spinach for olives and use one red pepper.

Anyway, these are deceptively simple to throw together and cook in no time so you have to give them a try.

• Preheat oven to 200°C and grease a muffin tin.
• Chop the pepper and roast for 10-15 minutes until softened and slightly charred.
• Leave to cool slightly, then place in a mixing bowl with a handful of chopped parsley, a handful of chopped olives, 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan, cubed feta, salt & pepper, seeds and a teaspoon of mustard. Mix lightly.
• Mix the eggs and milk together, then add to the bowl.
• Sift the flour into the bowl and bring together quickly. Don't overmix.
• Place large spoonfuls in the muffin tin and bake for 10-15 minutes.
(Makes 12)

Notes:
• You can set aside a little feta and seeds to sprinkle on top before baking

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Meatballs & Spaghetti...

I’ve been making this for a while now. I can’t quite remember where the idea came from at first, I think I was just looking for something new to do with minced beef.
Anyway, this is what came about. It’s a bit time consuming, but all that time simmering leads to fantastic flavour. I couldn’t believe I’d been living without these in my repertoire for so long.

• Mix the beef, bread (make into breadcrumbs first), herbs, salt & pepper together in a bowl until well combined.
• Fry each one gently to brown the outside.
• Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and garlic, place in a large saucepan and sweat over a low heat in a little oil. Set aside.
• When the onion has softened, add the chopped tomatoes to the pan, bring to the boil, season with fresh herbs, salt and pepper then simmer to reduce the liquid slightly.
• When the mixture has thickened, place the meatballs in the mixture, cover and continue to simmer for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the meatballs.
• Serve hot spooned over spaghetti with a sprinkling of cheese.

Notes:
• Don’t be tempted to over mix the meat or use a food processor. Smooth textured meatballs are not pleasant.
• You can also add an egg to the meatball mixture, I didn't on this occasion but it can help it bind together.
• This forms the basic recipe, nothing stopping you experimenting with other additions… chilli, pepper, mushrooms etc.
• You can simplify the process by not frying the meatballs first, they’ll still cook through, just without a smoother, paler outside.

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Roasted lamb Chops with Mint & Potatoes...

This is one of those incredibly simple throw it all in one tray kind of dinners. I kept the flavours fairly simple in this instance and seasoned the meat well.

Prepare the meat a little in advance...
• Place the chops in a bag/bowl with a couple of crushed garlic cloves, chopped mint, salt, pepper and a dash of olive oil.
• Shake it up a little and leave for at least an hour

Later...
• Heat the oven to 200-220°C.
• Chop the potatoes and an onion into roughly inch-sized chunks, coat in oil in a roasting tin and pop in the oven for about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, brown the lamb chops on both sides in a little oil in a frying pan.
• Add to the roasting dish, arranging the potates and onions around the chops. Include any juices/seasoning and the garlic from the bag.
• Roast for around 20 minutes or until the lamb is crisping up on the edges.
• Serve with fresh vegetables.

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Cabbage Soup...

We rarely buy soup, it seems there’s always some vegetables that have passed their best to create one from for a tasty Saturday lunch. I came up with this purely to use up a very limp cabbage and was pleasantly surprised at its tastiness! I also threw in the green top of a leek which was lying around, and attribute this to lifting the cabbage’s flavour.

Like most soup, there’s not really a definitive way of making it, it’s a bit of an art and you style it to your own tastes/preferences. What is essential is that you serve it with some crusty fresh bread’n’butter.

Ingredients:
Half a Savoy cabbage
Green end of a leek
1 clove of garlic
1 onion
Veg stock cube
Salt & pepper

• Slice the onion and garlic then sweat in butter/olive oil until softened, not browned, in a large saucepan.
• Add chopped leek and cabbage and briefly fry for a couple of minutes.
• Dissolve a stock cube in about 1-1½ litres of water and add to pan.
• Bring to the boil and leave to simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Not too long though, or the cabbage will not be tasty; the liquid should have slightly reduced.
• Lightly blitz with hand blender to break up cabbage, but leave plenty of chunky bits for the bottom of the bowl.
• Season to taste before serving.

Notes:
• Makes 2-3 portions. Just increase quantities for a larger amount.

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Pearl Barley with Roasted Vegetables...

This is really simple and very tasty, I'm sure there are loads of possibilities of what you could add to this. I just approached it as you would cous cous to make a warm salad or accompaniment to meat and was pretty pleased with the results.

• Wash the barley and boil for 30-40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop and roast slices of the pepper, courgette and onion until soft and slightly charred. Finely chop once roasted.
• Drain the barley and mix with the copped vegetable, finely chopped chilli, garlic then season.

Notes:
• Great with barbecued meats, along with some green salad.

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Simple Salsa...

This is so simple to make, but perfect with a BBQ or Nachos.
The key to success is the freshest, ripest ingredients you can get.

• Chop the tomatoes, onion, garlic and coriander. Depends how coarse you want your salsa, but I usually chop as fine as possible. You could always use a hand blender if you want a smoother texture.
• Add a small splash of olive oil and season to taste.
• Ideally rest for an hour before serving to allow the flavours to mingle.

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Cheese & Onion Twists

Knocked these up as a quick snack when we had guests coming over.

• Roll out the pastry
• Sprinkle over grated cheese, fold into 4 and re-roll
• Sprinkle over other fillings (onion, seasoning etc), fold again and re-roll to around 3-5mm thick
• Cut into ribbons (approx 2cm x 15cm)
• Twist each ribbon and place on a greased/papered baking sheet
• Brush a little milk or egg wash over the surface and top with some freshly ground salt & pepper
• Bake at around 200-220°C for about 10 minutes (or until golden brown)
• Cool on a rack, or eat warm
(makes about 25)

Notes:
• I happened to have a pack of ready-made pastry available, but would be just as good with a homemade pastry (puff or shortcrust) I’m sure.
• They’re great for using up leftover bits and bobs in the fridge too as you can add all sorts of things. Also made some with a couple of slices of left over chorizo thrown in which tasted great.

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