Gingery Hot Duck Salad

Serves 2

1 duck breast
2 tbspns fish sauce
Juice of half a lime and juice of half an orange or 1 Seville orange
1 Cayenne chilli finely chopped
1cm ginger grated
Few drops sesame oil, (optional)
50g baby spinach, watercress, lambs lettuce or a mixture


1.Grill or fry the duck breast - fat side down, if not removed - until it's cooked to juicy pinkness.

2.Let it rest on a board, while you mix together the fish sauce, lime and orange juice (or just seville-orange juice), chilli, ginger and optional sesame oil together in a bowl.

3.Pour any juices that the duck has made into the bowl, and then carve the meat on the diagonal into thin slices. Toss the sliced duck into the bowl and stir everything well. Turn it out onto a serving plate covered with the salad leaves.

Chocolate Cloud Cake

Serves 8-12

Cake

250g dark chocolate minimum 70% cocoa solids
125g unsalted butter, softened
6 eggs: 2 whole, 4 separated
175g caster sugar: 75g in the cake, 100g in whites
2 tbspns Cointreau (optional)
Grated zest of an orange (optional)
23cm springform cake tin

Cream topping

500ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbspn Cointreau (optional)
Half tsp unsweetened cocoa powder for sprinkling


1.Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

2.Line the bottom of a 23cm Springform cake tin with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or a microwave, and then let the butter melt in the warm chocolate.

3.Beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with 75g caster sugar, then gently add the chocolate mixture, the Cointreau and orange zest.

4.In another bowl, whisk the 4 egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the 100g of sugar and whisk until the whites are holding their shape but not too stiff. Lighten the chocolate mixture with a dollop of egg whites, and then fold in the rest of the whites. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake is risen and cracked and the centre is no longer wobbly. Cool the cake in it's tin on a wire rack; the middle will sink as it cools.

5.When you are ready to eat, place the still tin-bound cake on a cake stand or plate for serving and carefully remove the cake from its tin. Don't worry about cracks or rough edges: it's the crater look we're going for here. Whip the cream until soft and then add the vanilla and Cointreau and continue whisking until the cream is firm but not stiff. Fill the crater of the cake with the whipped cream, easing it out gently towards the edges of the cake, and dust the top lightly with cocoa powder pushed through a tea-strainer.

Hot and Sour Soup

Serves 4-6
Ingredients

1½ litres chicken stock
2 heaped tbsp tom yam paste
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
1 stick lemon grass, tender inner part only, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lime
4 tbsp fish sauce
3 small fresh red or green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
150g straw or button mushrooms, halved or quartered according to size
500g peeled raw prawns, thawed if frozen
5 small spring onions, cut into short lengths and then into strips
Small bunch coriander, chopped

1. Heat the stock and tom yam paste in a decent sized saucepan with the lime leaves, lemon grass, lime juice, fish sauce, chillies and sugar.

2. Bring to the boil, add the mushrooms and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the prawns and spring onions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, or until the prawns are cooked but still tender. Sprinkle with a little coriander and put more on the table for people to add themselves as they want.

Pork Belly Roast

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 2½ hours


1.5kg pork belly
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
2 sticks of celery, halved
1 bulb of garlic, skin on, broken into cloves
A small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
600ml water or vegetable stock

1. Preheat your oven to full whack, it needs to be at least 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.

2. Place your pork on a clean work surface, skin-side upwards. Get yourself a small, sharp knife and make scores about a centimetre apart through the skin into the fat, but not so deep that you cut into the meat.

3. Rub salt right into all the scores you’ve just made, pulling the skin apart a little if you have to. Brush any excess salt off the surface of the skin and turn it over. Season the underside of the meat with a little more salt and a little black pepper. Place your pork, skin side-up, in a roasting tray big enough to hold the pork and the vegetables, and place in the hot oven.

4. Roast for about half an hour until the skin of the pork has started to puff up and you can see it turning into crackling. Turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and roast for another hour. Take out of the oven and baste with the fat in the bottom of the tray.

5. Carefully lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board. Add all the veg, garlic and thyme to the tray and stir them into the fat. Place the pork on top of everything and pop the tray back in the oven. Roast for another hour. By this time the meat should be meltingly soft and tender. Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover with tin foil and leave to rest while you make your gravy.

6. Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky tasty bits on the bottom of the tray. When you’ve got a nice, dark gravy, pour it through a sieve into a bowl or gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the goodness of the veg through the sieve. Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it.

7. Serve the pork with the crackling, gravy, some creamy mashed potato, nice fresh greens and a dollop of English mustard.

Mustard-Stuffed Chicken

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

125g ball mozzarella , torn into small pieces
50g strong cheddar, grated
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
4 skinless boneless chicken breast fillets
8 smoked streaky bacon rashers


1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Mix the cheeses and mustard together. Cut a slit into the side of each chicken breast, then stuff with the mustard mixture. Wrap each stuffed chicken breast with 2 bacon rashers - not too tightly, but enough to hold the chicken together. Season, place on a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 mins.


Tip:
If you want to use less bacon, stretch out four rashers using the back of a knife to make each one longer and thinner. Wrap just one around each chicken breast as before.


Make it veggie:
Cheesy baked mushrooms: Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Mix the mozzarella and cheddar with 1 tbsp pesto, then spoon into the hollows of 4 portobello mushrooms. Place on a baking tray and roast for 15 mins or until the mushrooms are softened and the cheese is bubbling.

Nutrition per serving:
367 kcalories, protein 49g, carbohydrate 0g, fat 19 g, saturated fat 10g, fibre 0g, salt 1.93 g

Honey Mustard Chicken Pot

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
8 bone-in chicken thighs , skin removed
2 onions , finely chopped
350g parsnips , cut into sticks
300ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp clear honey
Few thyme sprigs
Flat-leaf parsley , to serve (optional)


1. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan or shallow casserole with a lid. Brown the chicken until golden, then set aside. Heat the remaining oil, then cook the onions for 5 mins until softened.

2. Nestle the thighs back amongst the onions and add the parnips. Mix the stock with the mustard and honey, then pour in. Scatter over the thyme, then bring to a simmer. Cover, then cook for 30 mins (or longer, see tip) until the chicken is tender, then season. Serve with steamed greens.


Tip:
If you've got time, this casserole will gently bubble away for up to 90 minutes. The meat will be very tender and fall away from the bones.

Nutrition per serving:
326 kcalories, protein 39g, carbohydrate 23g, fat 10 g, saturated fat 2g, fibre 6g, salt 0.82 g

Mexican Minced Beef Cobbler

Makes 2 meals, each serving 8
Takes 1 hour to make and 20 minutes in the oven

8 tbsp sunflower oil
4 medium onions, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1½ tsp crushed dried chillies
4 tsp freshly ground cumin seeds
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2kg lean minced beef
6 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp light muscovado sugar
2 tsp dried oregano
600ml beef stock, hot
400g can chopped tomatoes
4 roasted red peppers from a jar, drained
2 x 400g cans red kidney beans in water, rinsed and drained

For the spicy polenta cobbler:
400g plain flour
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp crushed dried chillies
175g polenta
125g Cheddar, finely grated
2 medium eggs
350ml milk
4 tbsp sunflower oil
50g butter, melted


1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions and garlic and cook for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the chillies, cumin and cayenne and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the beef and cook over a high heat, breaking up with a wooden spoon as it browns. Add the purée, sugar, oregano, beef stock and tomatoes, bring to the boil, then simmer for 25 minutes, until reduced and thickened.

2. Finely chop the peppers and stir into the meat with the kidney beans. Season, then spoon into 2 x 2.75-3-litre shallow, oval ovenproof dishes.

3. Make the cobbler. Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir in the chillies, polenta and 100g grated cheese. Beat the eggs, milk, oil and melted butter together and stir into the dry ingredients.

4. Drop 8 spoonfuls of the mixture around the edge of each dish, about 2.5cm apart, and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.

5. To freeze, cool, then cover 1 dish with cling film and freeze until firm. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw for 24 hours in the fridge, then bring up to room temperature.

6. To cook, preheat the oven to 220°C/fan200°C/gas 7. Bake for 20 minutes, until bubbling and the topping is puffed up and golden.

Nutritional Information

Per serving:
590kcals
30.7g fat (10.5g saturated)
40.2g protein
43.9g carbs
8.3g sugar
1.8g salt