Baked Chicken Thighs

Dinners that can be bunged in the oven are always a god send - freeing up your time to do something more useful. So these were a bit of a revelation, spurred on by a mooch around Wellcome for something for dinner when I happened across some free-range chicken thighs.

Chicken thighs are cheap and very flavoursome - two big ticks in my book and makes a change from bland breast. Also, I was inspired by the kind of family cooking my Mum used make which involved a one dish in the oven, hearty type affairs. I rarely bake main meals during the week (firing up my oven used to be a bit of an issue) and the gas hob is great for fast meals, so it has been a long neglected cooking method that I am about to revive.

Give your chicken thighs a rinse under the tap and pat dry with some kitchen paper.
Cut a large peeled onion (red or white) into wedges.
Put the chicken and onion into a ceramic oven dish and add a few tablespoons of soy, and inch of finely chopped fresh ginger, a few cloves of mashed garlic, a crumbled star anise, 1/2 a heaped tablespoon of honey.
Mix with your hands, getting the mixture into all the creases of the chicken bits.
Bake at 190 for 20 mins until the thin edges are brown and a bit crispy.
When they are done, remove to a separate bowl and de-glaze the dish to make a little bit of shiny runny sauce to drizzle over the rice and chicken.

I serve these with brown rice and steamed greens such as broccoli or pak choi. A little chopped spring onion either stirred into the rice or sprinkled onto the chicken when serving adds to the presentation.

A note on brown rice: I use a brown long grain and wild rice mix (which you can buy quite easily) for a bit of texture and cook it in bouillon for a little flavour - it makes it less of a hardship.

Tomato Soup

Monday nights tend to be soup nights - or as is often the case - surprise soup nights.

The top favourite chez moi is tomato (though this has a lot to do with E's obsession with tomatoes and intense dislike of anything " mushy" which rules out most other soups). Anyway, I always make an extra big batch and freeze it for the nights where cooking is either too much of a hassle or it's just for one.

However, a small oversight (read: laziness) on my part leads us to a bit of a soup lottery, you see, I often don't label what goes into the freezer and has all frozen food tends to look the same, we often have to guess what's what.

Currently we have a choice of frozen red (easy - tomato) or brown (turkey? vegetable? or if you're unlucky, stock?).

So, I'm opting for tomato, and this is how I make it - so quick, easy and low in fat (hence the stock - you need to use it for a little depth). For the tomatoes you can use either 3 good quality tins of whole plum tomatoes (chop them yourself before hand) or you can use lots of (1kg) fresh tomatoes (cherry, vine, plum, whatever) if you have a glut of ripe ones and don't worry about peeling and de-seeding - just chop them to small ish bits, or you can use a combination of both which is the most likely scenario.

Finely chop an onion and 4-5 fat cloves of fresh garlic
Add a teaspoon of olive oil to a heavy-bottomed pan (like a le cruset)
Saute your onion and garlic until the onions clarify
Add in your chopped tomatoes of choice
Mix well and bring to a simmer
Add a pint of stock (personal favourite is chicken, but for the veggies amongst us good quality vegetable or bouillon will do).
Bring to the boil then turn to a low heat, season with S+P - taste it - it it's a little bitter, add a small amount of sugar.
At this point you can either take it off the heat and freeze/eat it - this will give you a fresher flavour.
If you want a more intense hit, continue to cook over a low heat for 30 -45 minutes.

This is quite a vague recipe, but that's all part of the deliciousness of it - fresh or tinned, chunky or smooth - you can make it a million different ways to suits all demands. If I have them, I throw in tinned pomodorini for cute bites of flavour, or sometimes I puree it for a smooth and silky dinner party type soup, or chop up the tomatoes even more roughly for a more rustic charm.

To serve, ladle into soup plates and stir in a swirl of cream or creme fraiche and top with beautifully fragrant torn-up basil leaves.

Update: If your not doing the low fat thing, sautee your onions in a tablespoon of olive oil. Also, to serve, make a little basil oil (blend a few tablespoons of olive oil with a big handful of basil leaves either in a blender or with a pestle and mortar) and stir in on serving, for a more intense and aromatic flavour. Yum!

Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

These are quite summery, but I think the whole ritual of making them yourself adds to the whole eating experience - you would hardly realise they were low fat. Also, in emergencies I have used dried mint, Thai basil, lime leaves and lemon grass and, if I have some in, I sometime throw in a bit of chopped ginger and a big squeeze of lime juice. As you can see, most of the ingredients need to be finely chopped so don't be afraid of throwing then into the food prcessor for a quick whizz.

Although you don't always need it, you can serve with a dipping sauce such as sweet chilli sauce or a touch of soy/nam pla/sugar/lime mix

Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

200g minced lean pork
big spring of Thai basil, finely chopped
2-3 kaffir limes leaves, finely chopped
1.2-1 lemon grass stalk, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
big sprig of mint, finely chopped
a few spring onions, sliced
3 tablespoon nam pla
2 tablespoons light soy

Mix all of the above together and leave to marinade if possible.

1/2 iceberg lettuce
8-10 rice paper wraps

Take your pork mix and fry it it a medium hot pan until cooked and crumbly - you can add a bit of sesame oil if you desire. If it looks at all dry, add a little extra soy. Remove to a bowl and cover with foil.

Half your lettuce and pull out the leaves without breaking them so you have lots of lettuce cups. Wash and drain them.

Take your rice paper sheets and plunge them into a bowl of hot water (or bouillon stock if you fancy it). When soft (20 seconds) remove them and blot dry on kitchen roll. Lay a wrap into each lettuce cup.

Arrange your wrap-lined lettuce cups on a plate and serve with the bowl of pork on the side. The trick is to spoon a small amount of the pork into the lettuce cup roll it up and eat it.

When I can't be bothered with the wraps I use rice noodles - cook as per the instructions (normally a few minutes of boiling) drain and blanch in cold water. Pop into a bowl and attack briefly with a pair of scissors, dress in a few splashes of nam pla and soy and let people make up thier own wraps using the noodles and pork.

Chili Beef Ramenish

Having been back and forwards to the UK recently (hence the terrible lack of updates) all I feel like I've eaten is fried food and certainly not enough vegetables. So, first night back and we're having some yummy chilli soupy noodles. Just what I fancy.

It's surprisingly cold here as well, so this type of wintry food is perfect for a blustery evening,

Chili Beef Ramenish

150g bean sprouts

250g rice noodles

200g beef - a steak cut is best


a few drops of sesame oil

a little teriyaki sauce (optional)


1litre of no fat chicken stock

chilli sauce mix - 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce, 1.5 tablespoons nam pla

4 spring onions trimmed and sliced

1 red chilli, trimmed, deseeded and sliced finely

1/2 red onion peeled and very thinly sliced

6 sprigs coriander

a pinch in dried chilli flakes for extra heat (optional)

Make up a quick chilli sauce by mixing 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce, 1.5 tablespoons nam pla.

Blanch bean sprouts in boiling water for 10 seconds. Drain and reserve liquid. Cook noodles in reserved water until tender.

Put a few drops of sesame oil in a frying pan. Finely slice the beef and flash fry with the sliced chilli until medium rare. Remove and brush with teriyaki sauce if you fancy it and keep warm.

Divide noodles between 2 bowls. Heat stock, stir in the chili sauce and ladle over noodles. Top with beef, bean sprouts, spring onions, red onion, and chilli flakes and coriander.

I'm serving it with a side of steamed pak choi for the crunchy greeny goodness. And if I'm feeling flash, a wedge of lime to squeeze over the noodles.

Mini Spiced Lamb cakes with Chunky Tomato Sauce

Quick and easy and healthy - definitely a part of the plan

Blitz a white onion and 4 fat cloves of garlic in the food processor, then remove about half of this to a hot thick bottomed pan to brown. Whilst that's busy, throw a handful of fresh coriander and mint, a teaspoon each of cumin, ground coriander seeds, and turmeric, three heaped teaspoons of harrissa and a large pinch on salt into the processor and whizz with the remaining onion and garlic. Scrape out the resultant blend and stir into about 220g of good quality minced lamb.

Open up a tin of plum toms and slice them roughly, putting them into the hot pan with the browned onions, cook on a medium heat to drive off the fluid (you might need 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to take the edge off).

Leave to tomato sauce to cool while you heat a non-stick frying pan to medium hot. Shape the lamb mince mixture with your hands into small balls and add to the hot pan, pressing them down with a spatula to form small patties. Cook them all and remove to a serving plate when slightly charred on the outside.

Serve with a simple lemon juice dressed green leaves and bread wraps.

Marinated Beef with Brown rice and Bok Choi

Quick and easy this one, and as per most of my weekday cooking, it's healthy, which is good, as I plan to go to either Beo (new organic restaurant with a badly thought-out name) or Zest this weekend.

Take about 200-220g of minute steak (enough for two), and put in a glad bag with a teaspoon of sesame oil and a few tablespoon of good soy or multipurpose seasoning, a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes and leave to marinate in the fridge if possible.

Cook enough brown long grain rice for two in some bouillon/vegetable stock as per the packet instructions.

In a hot frying pan, break an egg and whisk until loosely cooked, add the cooked rice and a splash of light soy and stir, throw in a cup of frozen peas (the ubiquitous freezer staple) and remove from the heat.

Steam the bok choi (cut them in half length ways if they are big) until still crunchy, but the leaves have wilted. As soon as your bok choi is the steamer, flash fry the steak in a very hot dry frying pan, set aside and slice into strips with a sharp knife.

Serve in large bowls with the beef on top of the rice and the bok choi on the side.

You've probably worked out by now that lots of my recipes requires a bit of a marinade - don't panic if you don't have time, just as soon as you get started, chuck the marinade and meat together in a bowl and let sit whilst you prepare the rest of the meal (chopping, laying the table etc). 5 mins is better than none at all. I know in the past brown rice has been truly yucky - reserved for bad 70's hippy type fare only, but try something like this one, the mix has a great flavour and cooking it in stock really helps.

Weather: for the first time in about 6 weeks, it's not rained today yet....

Charred garlic and rosemary lamb, with roasted vegetable cous-cous

A very quick and easy one for a horrid rainy day (with awful PMT to boot).

Into a Glad bag place:

• two small (not more than about 100-120g per person) lamb loins
• a teaspoon of good olive oil
• a few fat cloves of garlic, crushed
• a few sprigs of rosemary and/or mint
• a large red onion, cut into medium chunks
• a red pepper into medium chunks

Season with S+P and put the bag in the fridge and leave until you want to cook it.

To cook - heat a griddle pan on the stove until very hot. Once hot, take the lamb out of the bag and put in the pan, pour the veggies and garlic all around them making sure you get all of the juices from the bag in there.
Using a spatula press down on the lamb loins to ensure that you get the nice char-grilled lines and even cooking (this will also help them come away cleanly when you need to turn them over). Cook on each side for about 3 minutes, remembering to press on them occasionally with your spatula. Move the veggies around the pan to soak up the flavours and char the edges.

Once the lamb is done, remove to a chopping board and cover to let rest. Leave the veggies in the pan if you like then nice and charred, but remember to move them about, and take them out them when you are happy with the colour.

To make the cous-cous, place your desired quantity in a bowl and cover with boiling hot stock (no need to be flash - a few teaspoons of powdered bouillon stired into kettle water will suffice). Cover the bowl with cling or foil or a small plate to keep the heat in and leave for a few minutes.

Whilst the cous-cous soaks, slice your lamb into thin slices and finely chop a spring onion. Then remove the cover from the cous-cous, and stir in the spring onion to fluff up the grains (and if you are not being low fat, a good slug of olive oil goes in very well here).

To serve, put your cous-cous in a large dish and make a well in the middle. Place the charred vegetables into the well and top with the sliced lamb.

Serve with natural yogurt on the side and a few squeezes of fresh lemon.
If you want to add a little juice, mix some harrisa, a teaspoon of oil, and some water (deglaze the pan?) and pour over your dish. A glug of good balsamic also works well.

Rainy day food.

Weather - Awful. Still.

Zesty Chicken Wraps

And tonight Matthew I will be......

recycling freezer food.

Much as I love having a freezer - who'd have thought I coped for 7 years in London without one - I do get very bored of the stuff that's in it. Every time you open it you feel like you've eaten: soup, half a ham, peas (always), filo pastry etc - and consequently never use them up as you are SO BORED OF THEM ALREADY. So, as I have to make room for summer ice lollies and ice cubes, I am trying to use it all up.

Therefore, defrosted organic chicken it is again (plus alot of stuff from last nights meal dressed up differently) - this time marinaded in a zesty spicy, almost BBQ-y juice and served with salad and oat wraps. Oat wraps may sound gross, but they are a lovely Aussie food that is like a very thin flat bread and is low in fat (none!) sugar (none!) and GI (errr low!) plus they keep in the fridge for ages, which is great for week nights.

A simple marinade done a hundred ways, an assorted mix of: Finely chopped garlic, soy sauce, lime juice with the bits, a few dashes of pepper sauce or a spoon of wholegrain mustard - Plus a teaspoon of sesame oil and heaped teaspoon of brown sugar or a squirt of honey. All shoved in a glad bag with the sliced chicken and left to soak.

When you cook the chicken (in a hot dry frying pan) throw in a chopped red onion as well for part of your 5 a day.

Serve the chicken in a bowl with the wraps and a salad (i'd normally use rocket but as I am clearing out we have cos, grated carrot, and a sad looking pepper) on the side and let poeple assemble their own. Also sprinkle of spring onions also goes a longway on the presentation front.

Yum. and Healthy. And Quick.

Weather: Hot and Clear - can see the islands miles away and for the first time in ages the dehumidifiers are off and the doors are open - yey!

Garlic and chilli chicken with noodle salad, peanut drizzle and steamed bok choi

Well, here we go.

In our ongoing attempt to be healthy and to make up for the huge consumption of booze and food at weekends, I thought I'd try something new last night. These often have mixed results (E still hasn't forgiven me for making him soup that "tasted of feet") but last night was a success.

The Chicken

• One large organic chicken breast (this should feed two easily - you don't need more than about 100-120g of protein per person)
• 2 red chillies (deseeded) and 4 fat cloves of garlic - all chopped very finely together

Slice the chicken into fine long strips and stick in a glad bag with the chopped chilli, garlic and a teaspoon of sesame oil. Mix it about and return to the fridge. This is best done in the morning so every time you open the door, give the bag a bit of a squish to help meld it all together. Tip: make sure when marinating you get all the air out of the bag when you seal it.

To cook, heat a frying pan (no fat/oil) until very hot, throw in the chicken and stir until cooked - make sure you scrape off all the yummy burnt garlic and chilli bits to serve with.

The Noodles

• 1/4 of a white cabbage and a fat carrot
• Rice Stick Noodles

Finely slice the white cabbage and carrot into 6in long and very thin strips and pop and set aside.

Boil up a section and a bit of noodles (they come on hanks all bundled together - normally 3 to a pack). Take care not to over cook, drain immediately and cool under running cold water and drain again.

When required throw the veggies into the noodles and toss

The Peanut Drizzle

In a mug, pop:

• a heaped teaspoon of smooth peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 2 tablespoons of soy
• the juice of half a lime

Bung in the microwave for 30 secs, stir and repeat.

To serve: Split the noodle salad between to large bowls and douse with a tablespoon of soy, top with half the chicken each and drizzle with the peanut sauce. This is best served with some steamed Chinese greens of some sort - bok choi, pak choi, choi sum etc etc.

Enjoy.

Weather: cloudy and drizzly - not much change on the LAST THREE WEEKS.