Pork, Apricot and Ginger Casserole

A light, fresh-tasting dish, with some warmth about it... and really easy to put together!

To feed four, you will need:

600g or thereabouts diced pork
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 tsp brown sugar
1-2 cloves garlic
Fresh root ginger, about 2cm, finely grated
1-2 tbsp flour
Chicken stock, about 3/4 pint
A large handful dried apricots
Single cream or creme fraiche
Parsley or lemon thyme

Start by browning the meat in a little oil in a frying pan - you will probably have to do this in two batches. Then transfer the meat to a casserole dish.

Then add a little more oil to the frying pan and soften the onion with the sugar, add the crushed garlic and the ginger after about five minutes, and cook for a few minutes more. Tip everything into the casserole dish with the meat.

Move the casserole dish onto the heat and stir in the flour, letting it cook through for a minute or two, then slowly add the chicken stock while stirring, allowing it to thicken slightly. Throw in the dried apricots, clap on the lid and shove it in the oven on a medium heat (about 170') for about one to one and a half hours or until meat is tender.

You can stir in a tablespoon of cream or creme fraiche if you like before serving. This went very well with rice and a green salad, and just needs a scattering of parsley or a sprig of lemon thyme to garnish.

Bon appetit!

Spinach, Plum and Black Pudding Salad

A warming winter salad that came about, like much of my recipes, when we had unexpected visitors for lunch. Easy and looks amazing on the plate... This will easily feed four, probably five if you serve it with lots of granary toast...

2 Black puddings, sliced
6 Plums (must be oozingly ripe)
Baby spinach leaves
1/2 red onion
Handful of toasted pinenuts

In a hot pan, fry the black pudding in a little oil until cooked.

Meanwhile, remove the stones and cut the plums into eighths.

Cut the onion into rings.

Toss everything together and dress with a honey and mustard balsamic vinaigrette. Job done!

You could try adding streaky bacon, and apple wedges or even radish slices instead of the plums. I did this once with blood oranges and it looked spectacular, but use a classic vinaigrette. Watercress works well instead of spinach.

Chicken Chowder

This recipe has so many variations that it is a brilliant and easy way to rustle up a quick and tasty supper for the family, because you'll always have something in the larder or the fridge that you can chuck in! It is wonderfully comforting on chilly evenings and the little ones love it...

The basic recipe for four hungry people is as follows:

Butter
A dash of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup rice
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 chicken breasts, skin removed and meat diced
1/2 cup frozen or tinned sweetcorn
Handful of flour
Chicken stock, about 2 pints
Single cream or creme fraiche

You will notice that I haven't given any quantities for some of the ingredients - don't be afraid, this dish is really done by 'eye' and you can't actually go wrong.

Start by cooking the onion gently in a good tablespoon of butter with a very small dash of olive oil which will stop the butter burning. You don't want to brown the onions, so go slowly on a medium heat, keep stirring and add the diced chicken after about five minutes. It doesn't have to be breast meat - (in fact, you can even use the equivalent amount of cooked chicken, but if so don't put it in yet!)

When the chicken has coloured slightly, but not browned, add the rice and keep stirring so each grain is covered in the buttery juices. You may need to add another tablespoon of butter - that's fine. Let it all cook for a further minute, stirring all the while, and then chuck in a handful of flour. It needs another minute and you must keep stirring so the bottom doesn't catch.

Then add the chicken stock slowly - keep stirring! - and it will thicken nicely. The amount is up to you, but I think a pint is about right for now. Then add the diced potatoes, stick the lid on, and go and do something else for 20-25 minutes. You will have to stir it occasionally to stop it sticking, and you will need to add more stock as the rice swells, but you should end up with a marvellous thick velvety soup.

When the rice and potatoes are cooked, add the sweetcorn, If you are using cooked chicken - now is the time to throw that in too. Also add some cream or creme fraiche to taste and heat it all through until piping hot. Obviously season well, and serve in wide flat bowls with a scattering of parsley on top. It needs hot crusty bread and should be eaten while wearing sheepskin slippers for greatest effect...


There are loads of variations on this theme - try adding different fresh herbs (sage or thyme work really well); crumbled crispy bacon; cheddar cheese; celery or carrots; substitute the chicken for ham or smoked sausage or crab; add curry powder when sauteeing the onions; add white wine or milk to the stock; use less stock to make a thicker dish that you can serve with mashed potatoes... the world is your chowder.

Sausage, Lentil and Apple Casserole

This is one of our family favourites. Don't be put off by the lentils - it helps to stretch the meal a little further and they have a wonderfully subtle nutty taste. Don't faff about with soaking dried ones overnight if you don't want to - most supermarkets sell tins of lovely green or puy lentils - just open the can, drain and rinse and chuck them in! If you are cooking for children, you may prefer to chop the onion finely rather than cutting it into wedges.

1 onion, cut into wedges
4-8 sausages (depending on how hungry you are)
1-2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
1 tbsp flour
1 pint of chicken stock (made from stock cubes)
1 tin green lentils, drained and rinsed
Fresh sage leaves or a pinch of dried herbs

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add your sausages and fry on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, turning frequently.

Add the onion wedges and continue to stir around, until everything is nice and golden.

Add the apples, and stir carefully so the wedges remain whole and start to colour slightly too.

Throw in 1 tbsp flour, and continue to stir about until it has been absorbed and cooked through for a minute or two.

Add chicken stock slowly, stirring until it thickens. You probably won't need all of it - you are aiming for a sauce rather than a soup!

Drain lentils and add to casserole with some fresh sage or dried herbs.

Allow to simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. (Add more stock if necessary)

Serve with crusty bread or mashed potatoes.

VARIATIONS:

You can stir in a teaspoon of mustard to the casserole if you like, or some apple sauce. Try using dried apricots insted of an apple. Alternatively, use beef stock and redcurrant jelly for a different flavour. Feel free to throw in a slug of wine also…

Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Muffin

This is a ridiculously easy and very tasty lunch dish, great on a lightly toasted plain muffin or granary bread, or as a filling for a baked potato. The quantities shown here are for one hungry person...

2 rashers bacon (diced)
3 large mushrooms (very thinly sliced)
Worcester sauce
Crème fraiche
1 toasted muffin

Heat the oil in a frying pan on a high heat and fry the bacon until nearly crispy.

Add the mushrooms and cook until lightly golden.

Add 2-3 teaspoons of Worcester sauce to the hot pan and stir it around until it coats the mushrooms and bacon and bubbles away to almost nothing.

Add 2 tablespoons of crème fraiche and stir it into the mixture. Season with black pepper (no salt - the bacon and Worcester sauce are salty enough)

Serve piled onto a hot buttered toasted bagel with slices of fresh tomato on the side.

If you do not have any Worcester sauce, you can use the juice of half a lemon with some dark soy sauce and a bit of brown sugar, and natural yoghurt could replace the crème fraiche.

Smoked Fish and Quail's Egg Salad

I created this simple salad for a dinner party a couple of years ago, and we have served it in the pub where it has proved very popular, both as a starter but also as a light lunch. It is a great antidote to the excesses of Christmas feasting, because it satisfies everyone's New Year resolution to eat more healthily while providing just enough warming stodge to keep out the winter chill, especially if served with some crusty bread from the oven. As usual with most of my dishes, there are endless variations... it can easily be de-poshed and de-caloried! Quantities are virtually impossible to define - this is really about texture and taste (and all too often what is left in the fridge) - but if you start with the salad leaves as a guide, you can build from there. For this reason I usually create each salad for each person individually, rather than serve it in a large bowl for everyone to help themselves - but it's up to you!

Green salad leaves (any variation but those with some crunch work really well, like cos or little gem hearts)

Cucumber

Spring onion

Apple

Eggs (soft or hard boiled)

Warm boiled potatoes

Smoked fish fillet (hot-smoked salmon or trout preferably)

Parsley

Chives

Hollandaise or horseradish dressing

You can just chuck everything together, but I think it does look better if you take a little time to arrange things. I start by laying a bed of salad leaves, and then add some cucumber rounds cut in half and some apple slices. I leave the skin on the apples to add some colour. (Depending on how colour-conscious you are you might want to keep everything to a limited palette - in which case green apples are best, but perhaps for a winter meal a flash of dappled red will lift it. In the summer, I like to put the apples in the fridge for a good hour beforehand, so you get that wonderful contrast between ice-cold crisp from the fruit and soft melting warmth from the potato.)

The potatoes are best boiled - in the summer the baby new potatoes in their skins are perfect for this dish, but there is nothing wrong with using the larger older varieties if you peel them and cut them into bite-size pieces. After cooking, toss them in real butter or olive oil and salt and pepper when still hot, then let them cool slightly, before adding them on top of your layer of leaves. I usually use quails' eggs cut in half because they look so neat and taste wonderful, but if it is not for a special occasion then hens' eggs work just fine cut into quarters. I prefer them to be soft-boiled so the velvety yolk oozes out and gently coats the other ingredients. I don't tend to toss things together because each mouthful should taste slightly different and also the eggs are likely to break up. The spring onion works best I think cut small and scattered.

Then lay two small fillets of smoked trout or hot-smoked salmon on the top in a cross, and dress with a spoonful of hollandaise or drizzle over some horseradish dressing. This is easy to prepare with mayonaise or creme fraiche combined with horseradish to taste. Finish by scattering over some chopped parsley and some uncut whole chives.

For family catering on a budget, you could use iceberg lettuce, tuna which the children will like, and plain mayonaise. They will probably turn up their noses at the parsley and chives - it is disparagingly known as 'grass' in this family!