Chicken Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 250 g boneless, skinless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
• 100g chorizo sausage, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped (optional)
• 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 yellow pepper, sliced (red or green can be used, or a bit of each!)
• 100g brown basmati rice, soaked for 20 mins before hand and well drained
• 20 fl oz hot chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method:

1. Heat the frying pan and brown the pieces of chorizo sausage over a high heat without adding any fat. Remove from the pan to a plate and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil, brown the chicken all over and transfer that to the plate with the chorizo.
3. Fry the onions for 2-3 minutes until starting to brown, then return the chorizo and chicken to the pan and add the garlic, fennel, chilli and sliced pepper. Cook for about ten minutes.
4. Stir in the rice to coat with of oil, then add the chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, hot chicken stock and Tabasco. Season with salt and black pepper.
5. Let it simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes, covered. Check the rice is cooked - add a little more stock if necessary. Cover with a lid for 5 more minutes, then serve sprinkled with the chopped parsley.

Garlic Potato Wedges

I think it's roasting the garlic beforehand, which gives it a lovely sweet, smoky taste, which sets this variation of my own devising apart from all the other recipes I've experimented with to try and find the ultimate Garlic Potato Wedge.

For two people:

• 1 large potato, cut into wedges (peel or leave unpeeled, as you prefer it!)
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 fat garlic cloves, unpeeled
• Salt and pepper
• Pinch of paprika

1. Drizzle the unpeeled garlic cloves with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and bake for about 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees F, stirring occasionally, until soft.
2. Meanwhile cut the potatoes into thick wedges and cook in boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse them in cold water. Dry them well and dust with flour, shaking off any excess.
3. Squeeze the roasted garlic into the rest of the olive oil (discarding the skins), mix in the paprika. Pour over the potatoes and toss to coat. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
4. Tip the wedges into a roasting tin and spread them out so they're not touching. Roast at 450 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are crispy and golden-brown, turning them over a few times so they brown evenly and don't stick. Yum!

These are good served as an accompaniment for just about anything, or piled in a bowl and shared with a partner as a movie snack :)

Warm pumpkin and chickpea salad with tahini

Ingredients

• 500g pumpkin or squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
• ½ clove garlic, crushed
• pinch ground allspice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 125g cooked chickpeas, or 1 x 200g/7oz tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• ½ small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
  For the tahini sauce
• ½ clove garlic, crushed to a paste with salt
• 1½ tbsp lemon juice
• 1½ tbsp tahini paste
• 1 tbsp water, to taste
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. Toss the pumpkin with the garlic, allspice, olive oil and some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place on a tray in the oven for about 15-25 minutes or until soft. Remove and cool.
3. While the pumpkin is cooking, make the tahini sauce. Mix the crushed garlic with the lemon juice and add the tahini. Thin with water and olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. You should taste a balance between the nutty tahini and lemon.
4. To assemble the salad, place the pumpkin, chickpeas, red onion and coriander in a mixing bowl. Pour on the tahini sauce and toss carefully. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.

This recipe originated on the BBC Food site

Roasted Butternut Squash and Brown Rice Risotto

Loosley based on a recipe from a book long since returned to the library, but with just about every ingredient substituted anyway to what I normally have in the cupboards. This is scribbled down from memory as I made it last night. I don't see any reason why pumpkin couldn't be used instead of butternut squash.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped, or 1 leek, sliced into 1/2" rounds
• 1 clove garlic
• 2oz mushrooms
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• olive oil
• 120g brown Basmati rice
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1" cubes
• 1 small courgette, sliced
• 1 coarsely grated carrot
• 70ml vegetable or chicken stock
• 25g Parmesan, grated
• 1/2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley

Methodology:

1. Soak the brown rice in water for 20 mins beforehand, then drain and cook in fresh water until just done, approx 20 mins.
2. Preheat oven to gas mark 5. Heat half the olive oil in an roasting tin, add the squash and half the thyme, season with black pepper and salt. Roll the squash around to get it oiled all over, and roast for 20-30 mins until soft and just starting to brown.
3. Heat half the butter and the rest of the oil in a large pan, fry the onions and garlic until soft, add the mushrooms and courgettes and cook until just going brown.
4. Add the grated carrot, stir through and cook for 2 mins.
5. Add the rice, the rest of the thyme, the parsley and the stock and cook half-covered for 5 mins.
6. Add half the Parmesan and the roasted squash and stir through. Season to taste.
7. Serve straight away with the rest of the Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Mushroom Rice

Quick, simple, reliable, and can be either a light meal or a side dish. What more can anyone want?

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Basmati rice
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound mushrooms (you can use any combination including field, button, shiitake, oyster, and portabello mushrooms)
• 2 scallions or shallots, or half an onion diced very fine
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method:

1. In a large heavy saucepan, bring rice and water with salt to a boil. Stir rice once and cook, covered, over moderately low heat for 6 minutes.
2. Remove pan from heat, drain off the water, and let rice stand, covered with a towel-wrapped lid, for 5 minutes (it's fine to leave it longer until you're ready to use it!)
3. Cut mushrooms into 1/4-inch-thick slices and chop the scallions/shallots/onion.
4. In a skillet heat butter over moderately high heat until the foam subsides and sauté the mushrooms with salt to taste until golden and any liquid given off is evaporated. If you're using shallots or an onion, brown those along with the mushrooms.
5. Add the wine and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the wine is evaporated.
6. Fluff the rice up with a fork, stir in the mushrooms and scallions and sprinkle over the parsley before serving.

Tip: To make this a main meal for non-veggies, you can add stir in shredded cooked chicken at the end and heat through thoroughly.

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

This one is a great recipe if, like me, you have a vegetarian and a meat-eater in the house and don't want to be arsing about making two seperate meals. You can just make this (using vegetarian stock) up to stage 3, then add the peas in and set aside a portion to keep meat-free before adding the chicken to the rest.

Ingredients:

• Knob of butter
• 1/2 onion , finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove , finely chopped
• 150g risotto rice
• 1 glass white wine
• 500ml chicken or vegetable stock, heated to simmering
• Handful peas, cooked
• Cooked or leftover roast chicken, torn into strips, no skin
• 25g Parmesan, grated
• 100g fresh mushrooms cleaned and sliced
• A little salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
• Flat leaved parsley, chopped
• Lemon juice

Methodology:

1. Melt a knob of butter in a large pan, add the mushrooms, onion and garlic and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Stir in the rice until coated with butter.
2. Add half the wine and stir until evaporated. Add the stock a ladle at a time until the rice is cooked but still with a little bite, adding in the rest of the wine with the last of the stock. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the peas and chicken in the last 5 minutes of cooking to heat through.
4. When the rice is tender and the risotto is thick and creamy remove from the heat, stir in the Parmesan and a squirt of lemon juice and leave to rest for about 30 seconds, before garnishing with the parsley and some shavings of Parmesan cheese.

Serves two people

Apple-Honey Scones

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup wheat germ
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup butter, chilled
• 1 1/4 cups finely chopped apple
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/3 cup honey

For the topping:

• 1 tablespoon wheat germ
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
2. Combine the first seven ingredients; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Combine the apple, milk and honey, and mix into the dry ingredients until they are just moistened.
4. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface - knead gently 5-6 times. Pat into 9-inch circle.
5. Combine remaining ingredients - sprinkle over dough.
6. Cut into 10 wedges; place 1/2 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake 16-18 minutes.