Chilli con Carne

This is one of my favourite one-pan recipes; excellent with rice or wrapped in tortillas with grated cheese and sour-cream.

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
Up to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper*
240g drained red kidney beans
1-3 chillies*, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped

500g beef mince
1/2 glass port

400g tinned tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano or 1/2 handful fresh
1 bay leaf

1 beef stock cube or pot

* The level of chilli should be varied according to taste. A single chilli will make a mellow dish; three plus cayenne will have some serious kick (if it doesn't, check your chilli supplies). If you like it volcanic, you can go higher, but that's as much as I'd want to do.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat.

Add the spices and mix into the oil, then turn the heat up for about 30 seconds to get the oil really hot without giving the spice time to burn.

Add the beans, onions, garlic and chillies to the pan and stir well. Reduce the heat again, cover and cook until the onions start to soften.

Add the mince, stirring and cutting with the spoon until it breaks up and browns. Make sure that the spice mix is well mixed in with the ingredients.

Add the wine, then the tomatoes, stirring well. Finally, stir in the herbs and stock cube until the latter is melted/dissolved and stirred thoughout the pan.

Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes. If the heat isn't too high it won't suffer from being cooked longer, especially if you add some water to keep it from getting dry.

Dim Sum Buns

This is a dim sum recipe which Hannah turned up and has made a few times. They're actually pretty healthy, being full of veg as well as nommy starchy goodness.

300g plain, white flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 carrots, coarsely grated
1 tbsp grated ginger
Large handful of chopped parsley or coriander
150ml coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime

The recipe also involves crushed cashews and a pinch of salt, but we tend to skip that.

Mix the flour and baking powder.

Make a well in the centre and pour in the coconut milk and lime juice, folding the liquid into the flour to make a soft, sticky dough.

Roll into a long, sausage of dough and cut into balls. Place the balls into cupcake cases.

Cook in a steamer for 10-15 minutes.

-

We use gluten free flour and it works, although rolling out the dough isn't happening, so instead we spoon the dough into cupcake cases.

We've also used beetroot instead of or as well as carrot, which works but makes for a very red dim sum.

A filling can be put inside the buns before steaming, say, slow-cooked pulled pork mixed with barbecue sauce; nom.

Leftover fritter

This was something I made to use up some leftover mash and sliced ham in the fridge.

Four slices cooked ham
I large spoon mash*
1/2 cup frozen vegetables
1/2 red onion
3 spring onions
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 or 2 eggs**

Shred the ham and add to a bowl with the mash and the frozen veg. Stir together as best you can, although at this stage it will tend not to mix well.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan. Saute the onions until soft.

Add the onions - and oil - to the bowl and mix well.

Break the egg into the bowl and mix again.

Transfer the ingredients from the bowl into the pan, form into a fritter and fry for a few minutes, turning occasionally.

* The mash I had was made with 2:1 potato and sweet potato, with butter, milk and black pepper. I don't usually use milk in my mash, but I think the extra smoothness helped here.

** I used one egg, and the result was very edible, but kind of crumbly. a second egg might have bound it better.

If making this again, I might add a clove of garlic, or some frozen mushrooms. If you didn't have any ham, it would be grand as a veggie option.

Chicken and Lentil Curry

Curry
1/2 tbsp oil
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 chilli
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
3 cracked cardamom pods2-3 chicken thigh fillets
100g lentils
1 tin chopped tomatoes
250ml chicken stock

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then add the spices and fry briefly.

Fry the onions, garlic and chilli until soft.

Add the chicken and seal, stirring well.

Stir in the lentils, then the tomatoes and the chicken stock. Simmer until the stock is reduced and the lentils are soft.

Pilau Rice
1/2 tbsp oil
1/2 cup rice
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
3 cracked cardamom pods

Heat the oil and fry the spices briefly, then stir through the rice.

Add 1 1/2 cups of boiled water and simmer until the water is absorbed, adding more water as needed to bring the rice to a good consistency.

Sort of Ratatouille

This was a dish I knocked together for one of my 5:2 fast days.

Ingredients
1 carrot, sliced
1 courgette, sliced
1/2 pepper, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tbsp olive oil

Heat the oil in a large saucepan.

Add the carrots, stir, cover and saute for about 5 minutes.

Add the onion and garlic, stir, recover and saute for about 2 minutes.

Add the pepper and courgette, stir well, then stir in the tomatoes and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

I actually forgot to add any herbs or spices and it was still delicious. Adding some black pepper, basil and oregano wouldn't hurt, I suspect.

Pork chops with sweet apple sauce and black pudding mash

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

2 pork chops

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 small apples, chopped

1 tbsp light muscavado sugar

Black pepper

1 red pepper, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1 bottle dry cider

2 large potatoes, cubed

2 slices black pudding

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a high heat. Sear the chops well on both sides and put aside, then turn the heat down to medium.

At this point, I prefer to trim the fat from the chops.

Add another 1/2 tbsp of oil. Add the onions, garlic and apples, then stir in the sugar and add black pepper to taste.

Add the peppers, fry lightly, then return the chops to the pan and pour over the cider. Reduce the heat to a simmer and reduce the cider to a thick sauce.

Boil a saucepan of water. Add the potatoes and reduce to a simmer.

Heat 1/2 tbsp of oil and fry the black pudding on both sides.

Drain the potatoes and add the extra virgin olive oil to the saucepan - off the heat - along with the pudding. return the potatoes to the pan, stir and then mash well, mixing the pudding in with the potato.

Chicken Rendang Tandoori

This was a first attempt at using my new tandoori pot, which I got for Christmas.

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion (I used 2 small)
1 clove garlic
3 chicken thighs
1 pot rendang paste (came with the pot, I'll look up the spice mix later)
1 green chilli
1 dried, red chilli (ground up with my new pestle and mortar)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 courgette, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
2 tbsp basmati rice
2 tbsp water

Heat the oven to c. 180C.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and soften, then add the paste and heat through.

Add the chicken thighs, sealing on both sides in the spices.

Pour the tomatoes into the tandoori pot. Add the courgette, peppers, water and rice, and stir.

Layer the chicken mix over the top of the pot and cover.

Place in the oven for about 50 minutes.