Spicy teriyaki chicken with noodles and stir fried vegetables

I love this recipe because not only is it delicious but it's pretty healthy and affordable.

Ingredients (serves 2):
4 skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
 1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, peeled and grated
A good glug of soy sauce plus a bit more (use reduced salt variety if you prefer)
A splash of white wine
1 heaped teaspoon of brown sugar
150g straight to wok noodles (or if using dried noodles, boil first)
1 packet ready to use vegetables for stir frying
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
6 spring onions, 3 finely chopped, and 3 cut into thin strips

In a bowl combine the chicken, half the diced red chilli, garlic and ginger. Pour over soy sauce until the chicken is well coated. Add a splash of white wine (around two tablespoons or so) and the brown sugar. Stir to combine and set aside for about ten minutes.

Heat a shallow frying pan on a high heat and add a small amount of oil just to lightly coat the pan. Take the pieces of chicken out of the marinade (draining any excess liquid from the chicken) and add to the pan. You want to give the chicken a chance to cook off a little before adding the marinade, otherwise the chicken will poach. Once the chicken has brown off, add the marinating liquid and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. The teriyaki sauce will begin to thicken as the chicken cooks through.

Heat a wok on a high heat and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add remaining red chilli and finely chopped spring onions to the oil and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry for two minutes. Add the noodles to the wok and add a splash of soy sauce. Stir fry for another minute and put on two plates.

Once the teriyaki sauce has thickened add a little dark soy sauce to the pan, stir and then serve on top of the vegetables. Add the shredded spring onion to garnish.

Chicken with Boursin, and pancetta and herb breadcrumb topping

This was an off-the-cuff experiment, but I must say when served it elicited table-wide approval. It is so simple and stress-free to make, but really is a crowd pleaser. From a cooking perspective, there was something wonderfully liberating about having chicken with breadcrumbs that didn't involve "breadcrumbing", with flour, egg, breadcrumbs and then the inevitable frying. It was simplicity itself.

Ingredients (serves 2):
2 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless, and trimmed of any fat
1.5 cups dry breadcrumbs (like panko)
1 tablespoon or thereabouts of olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
6 thin slices of pancetta
Salt and pepper
1/2 pack of garlic Boursin cheese, or any soft cheese like le roule

Method:
Take the Boursin or whatever soft cheese you are using out of the fridge about 20 minutes before you plan to use it. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees centigrade. In a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the olive oil, fresh parsley and salt and pepper. Take a frying pan and place on a high heat. Cut the pancetta slices into about 1cm strips and throw into a hot pan. You want the fat to render down and to become nice and crispy. After a few minutes remove from the pan and mix into the breadcrumb mixture. Take a rolling pin or meat tenderiser and bash the chicken out to about 1cm uniform thickness. Grease a baking tray and place the chicken breasts on the tray. Using a palette knife spread the soft cheese onto the tops of the chicken breasts. You want a layer about 1/2cm thick, but of course it's up to you. On top of this, add the breadcrumbs, either with a dessert spoon or your hands. You want to press the breadcrumbs down so that they stick a little better (the soft cheese acts as a wonderful glue for the breadcrumbs). Again you want about 1/2cm thick layer of breadcrumbs, or until they are nicely coated. The cheese and breadcrumb topping should completely cover the top side of the chicken. Place in a baking tray and bake for around 20 minutes, but keep checking it. Flattened chicken breast can easily overcook, so keep a beady eye on it. You also want to ensure the parsley in the breadcrumbs doesn't brown up or burn.

I served mine with french fries and a simple green salad. Unfortunately I couldn't face taking a picture because I just wanted to eat it as soon as possible! When I post a picture is when I've made it again and managed to contain myself long enough to click a button!

Quick and Easy Potato Salad

I went to a party recently where everyone had to bring something for the meal. I opted for potato salad because who doesn't love potato salad? I looked online and couldn't find a recipe I really liked or thought was simple enough. So I devised my own. I used 1.75kg of new potatoes to service 10 people, so that is the quantity I'll give here. Halve it for a side dish for a small family dinner and you might get leftovers (although don't count on it!)

Ingredients (serves 10):
1.75kg new potatoes (baby pots, salad pots, any you like)
1/2 cup each of the following:
Finely chopped parsley
Finely chopped chives
Roughly chopped radish
Finely chopped spring onions
A few tablespoons of good quality mayonnaise (I use Sainsburys Taste the Difference mayo)
A pinch of salt and a good grinding of fresh cracked black pepper

Wash the new potatoes and boil them until they are tender. When cooked, drain and leave for around 10 minutes to dry off a bit more and to cool slightly. Place in a large mixing bowl and add the other ingredients. Stir well. You may wish to the mayo a spoonful at a time and mix and repeat, until you reach your desired level of mayo-ey-ness. Let sit for 10 minutes then refrigerate. If covered it will keep in the fridge for several days and in fact it will taste even better the next day!

Huevos Rancheros

I'm becoming increasingly enamoured with the concept of eating chillies at breakfast time. Both their vibrant hue and warm kick of flavour serve to wake me up in the morning and make me feel generally happy. Huevos rancheros is one of my favourite breakfasts, not only because it incorporates a good amount of chilli, but because it is sunny, warm and happy, and it tastes amazing.

This recipe is based on the one from Valentine Warner's The Good Table. I love looking at the recipes in this bright and appealing book, and this is the first recipe I tried. Valentine blended his tomato sauce, but I liked the idea of keeping it a bit chunky, mainly for texture (but also because blending things in the morning gives me a headache). His recipe includes refried beans and mine doesn't, just because I thought it didn't particularly need them.

Ingredients (serves 2):
2 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil, plus a bit more
1 small red onion, finely chopped
A good handful of fresh coriander stalks
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (I used cumin seeds which I roughly bashed)
Can of chopped tomatoes
100ml water
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and pepper
4 corn tortillas
4 free range eggs
Handful of grated Lancashire cheese
A pinch of chopped fresh coriander leaves

Method:
1) Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan and on a medium heat add the onion, coriander stalks and cumin, and stir.
2) When the onions are softened and translucent, add the tomatoes, water, chilli, and salt and pepper to taste.
3) Bring to the boil and simmer for about 12 minutes until the sauce is no longer watery. Add the lime juice.
4) Heat a dash of oil in a large frying pan and put in all four of the tortillas. They should go quite floppy in the heat, then once they're at that stage, keep turning them so they all directly touch the pan and begin to crisp up. Use your judgement as to how crisp you'd like your tortillas.
5. Once crisp, remove the tortillas from the pan and set aside. Heat up a tablespoon of oil in the same pan and fry the eggs. I like mine "sunny side up" with a nice soft yoke.
6. When your eggs are done, place them on the tortillas. Spoon over the tomato sauce and add cheese and coriander.

I can't tell you how amazing this breakfast is, especially with a Mexican lager. I know it sounds awful to drink beer with breakfast, but one nice cold beer won't hurt on the weekend once every now and then. And besides, posh people have champagne breakfasts, don't they?!

Thai Red Curry - the cheat's way

Now, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you this is the best Thai red curry in the world ever. Of course it isn't! But I will tell you that it makes a delicious and very quick week night meal, and as well as being delicious it is also nutritious! I find this really addictive and usually have two big bowls in one sitting (and I won't feel guilty about that!) Of course you can make your own curry paste but this recipe is about making a Thai curry quickly and with minimal ingredients and effort. It's also a lower fat curry because it uses low fat coconut milk, which I found works very well in place of it's full fat counterpart. The trick is to find a really good Thai red curry paste, and the only way to do that is to try different ones until you find one that suits you.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 tablespoon oil (I used toasted sesame oil)
300g skinless and boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 jar of Thai red curry paste (my favourite is from Marks and Spencer)
400g can of reduced fat coconut milk
1 small pack of mange tout
1 small pack of baby corn
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 bunch of spring onions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
2 red chillies, sliced thinly on the diagonal
Handful of coriander, chopped
Juice of 1 lime

Method:
1) Use a large frying pan to heat the oil. On a high heat quickly stir fry the chicken for two minutes.
2) Add the curry paste and about half a cup of water and bring to the boil.
3) Reduce the heat to medium and allow the sauce to simmer for two minutes.
4) Add the coconut milk and continue to simmer. Allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes.
5) After 7 minutes of this time, add the baby corn and stir into the sauce.
6) After 3 more minutes add the mange tout and red bell pepper.
7) When the sauce has been simmering for 15 minutes in total, stir in the spring onions, chillies, a sprinkle of coriander and finally the lime juice.
8) Remove from the heat and serve with steamed jasmine rice and more coriander.

Single stack club sandwich

This is my way of making, and eating, club sandwiches. Rather than using a layer of bread in the middle of the sandwich, I make it with a chicken breast which has been coated in dry Panko breadcrumbs and then shallow fried until golden brown.
This sandwich is really delicious especially with a nice, cold beer.
Ingredients (makes one club sandwich):
2 slices of thick bread (I use white)
2 rashers of good quality smoked bacon
1 free range chicken breast, skinless and boneless
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder (optional)
1 cup of plain flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup of Panko breacrumbs, or other brand of dry, course breadcrumbs
3 cups of vegetable oil
2 slices of tomato
Small handful of shredded iceburg lettuce
A slice of cheese (I used gouda)
Mayonnaise
Ketchup (optional)

Method:

1) Put the chicken breast in a zip lock plastic bag and use a rolling pin to bash the chicken breast until it is approximately 1cm thick.
2) Pour a cup of flour into the bag with the chicken, and the salt, pepper and garlic powder (if using) and shake the bag so that the flour coats the chicken.
3) Remove the chicken from the bag, and shake off any excess flour.
4) Put your beaten egg into a shallow dish and dip the chicken breast into the egg, coating well.
5) Put the breadcrumbs into shallow dish or plastic bag and put in the chicken. It is important that the breadcrumbs stick really well to the chicken, so take some time to really make sure the breadcrumbs adhere.
6) I make this in advance for ease so at this point I put it in the fridge.
7) When you're ready to make your sandwich, heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan or pot and turn the heat on to high. You can test whether the oil is hot by adding in some breadcrumbs. If they sizzle, the oil is ready. Use tongs to carefully place the chicken in the hot oil.
8) Fry on one side for about 5 minutes. Use the tongs to gently turn the chicken in the oil, ensuring the breadcrumbs brown evenly. Turn the chicken and cook in the same way on the other side. When fully cooked, remove from the oil and place on paper towels to drain.
9) Meanwhile, take a frying pan and fry the bacon rashers on a high heat. I like my bacon nice and crispy. When cooked, place on paper towels.
10) Lightly toasted the slices of bread. After this, you're ready to assemble your sandwich. I do it in this order:

- Take a slice of bread and spread it with mayonnaise
- Add the lettuce and tomato
- Add the chicken breast
- Then the cheese
- Then the bacon
- Then a dollop of ketchup
- Then the other slice of bread on top

Shortbread

I love shortbread, perhaps a little too much, and part of its charm is how easy it is to make at home.

Ingredients:
150g butter, at room temperature and cut into small cubes
100g caster sugar (plus a little extra for serving)
360g plain flour

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade and line a baking tray with grease proof paper
2) Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and completely combined
3) Add the flour bit by bit, combining as you go. The mixture will become more and more solid until it becomes firm and doughy.
4) Once you have added all the flour, work your dough into a ball and place it on the lined baking tray. Push the dough down either with your hands or a rolling pin, until it is about 1cm thick and reaches to the edges of the baking tray.
5) Use a knife to score the dough into rectangles so that you will have "fingers" of shortbread. Prick each rectangle with a fork a couple of times and place the oven. Bake for around 15 minutes or until the shortbread is a light golden brown.
6) Remove the shortbread from the oven. Use your knife to retrace the cuts you made in the shortbread earlier so that when it is cool you won't have to break apart the shortbread to form the "fingers". Sprinkle with sugar and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to fully cool.