Vegetable Curry

I love vegetarian Indian food.  There are so many vegetarian people in India (a quick google search said 31%) and figures from the UN says India has the lowest rate of meat consumption in the world.  These has my favourite vegetables in a curry, chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and cauliflower give substance and make you feel full without meat.  Long before cauliflower was trendy, Indians were using it in curries.

Mushroom and Bacon Pot Pie

May in the UK can be getting the sun cream out one minute then racing back indoors for an umbrella and a coat the next so my cooking swings from barbecues to heartier fare.

This pot pie is nothing fancy but it is very tasty.

Slow Cooked Chunky Beef Chilli

I love chilli made with minced beef but I love this recipe even more with meltingly soft and tender chunks of beef in a rich, spicy sauce.  You get far more texture and variety making chilli this way and the slow cooking makes the flavour awesome.  Smoked paprika may sound like an odd ingredient but it gives a sweet smoky depth to the stew.  Just make sure you use sweet smoked paprika or test the flavour first as you can get spicy versions.

Chilli flakes and powders vary (mine was a pretty new jar and the more recently the jar or pack is opened, the spicier it will be) so you may find this less spicy than you like.  My top tip though is to use some tabasco or other hot sauce to bring up the spice at the end if you feel that it needs it.  The problem with slow cooking is it tends to intensify the flavours of chilli so it's easy to end up with a chilli at the end which is more "blow your head off" than "gently warming" so I'd err on the side of cautious then correct the flavour at the end.  The other benefit being you then have a more multidimensional flavour.

White Chocolate, Irish Cream and Coffee Cheesecake

A delicious cheesecake recipe made even cheekier by a touch of Bailey's and subtle coffee flavour from the base.

I found myself at a restaurant recently and, unusually for me, I found myself not interested in any of the dessert options.  Had this been on the menu however, I would have jumped at it and probably asked for seconds.  This is a pudding to make for a loved one but only if they've been really lovely to you.  (Don't tell them how easy this is, there could be major brownie points!)

Chicken with Haricot Beans

I love haricot beans, pulses are a great way to contribute towards your 5 (or 10 a day) while also getting a great source of energy, a fantastic alternative to pasta, rice or potatoes.

This recipe is not exactly healthy but it is delicious and reheats surprisingly well.

Slow Cooked Chinese Style Pork

I had some pork belly strips in the fridge and wanted to treat them so they'd end up in a sweet, sticky and spicy glaze.  This is what I came up with, with the crunchy vegetables it turned out to be a delicious feast.

Mixed Bean Chilli

I love chilli, I particularly love vegetarian chilli, slow cooked meat chillis, frankly I just love the heat.  What is great about this chilli though is as well as being vegan, it also contains mostly store cupboard and "likely to be in your fridge" ingredients.  It's so cheap as well and freezes brilliantly making it the ideal recipe for when the month is nearly up and your bank balance doesn't look quite so healthy.

You could mix up the beans in this; I would have used pinto beans if I'd been organised enough to soak and cook them (I couldn't find any in cans in my local supermarket.)  Of course you can use dried beans here which would make this even cheaper, just soak and cook them first as I find cooking them with something acidic like tomato if they're not already cooked through makes them a little tough.

Spicy Chicken Salad

This dish is something I've been making and tweaking for years.  It started off as a Vietnamese chicken salad with poached chicken breasts and a spicy dressing.  Over the years the recipe evolved to using thighs and baking the chicken then using the dressing as a marinade and here is where I am now.

Nothing authentic about it; in a way it's like a Vietnamese chicken salad meats caramel chicken mash up; sorry for the mish mash of influences.

Most of all though, it tastes great.  The harshness of the garlic and chilli are mellowed out by them being cooked.  The chicken thighs are much juicier and flavoursome than the poached breasts but benefit from the oven cooking to give them flavour and cook out some of the fat.  The freshness is still in the dish from the salad.

Venison and Chestnut Stew

When the weather is chilly outside, I often look to my slow cooker for something delicious, hearty and filling.  Venison may not be the most obvious choice but I bought some wild venison from my local supermarket.  Some people get very squeamish about eating it presumably because deer are prettier than cows?  I don't.  We have several deer parks in the UK and deer are a pest in many areas, especially Scotland.  I also can't see a better life to lead than a completely wild one.

That said, venison is a lean, delicious meat but not a cheap one.  This is why I bought cheap pieces of venison for slow cooking and also had the idea to include chestnuts.  I've included chestnuts once or twice in stews before and if you've not tried it, I urge you to.  They add a textural difference and a delicious, sweet note, they also make 300g of expensive venison into 3 portions.

Quick Cassoulet

Ok, ok, natives of the South of France will be hollering and calling me names, saying this is "inauthentic".  I know, I know but this was inspired by trying to make something with all the delicious flavours of cassoulet but without slaving away at it for hours.  It is meant to be something possible to make at the end of a work day for 1 or 2 people not the "feeding of the 5000" that a good batch of proper cassoulet can be.

And do you know what?  Part of me is feeling pretty robust about this because it tasted bloody good.  So good in fact that I ate the whole lot (oops) but it does reheat pretty well if you can resist...

I don't suggest the duck or goose fat to be obtuse, it's a nod back to the duck or goose confit you would have in a traditional cassoulet and adds a really lovely flavour.  I also have loads of goose fat in my freezer from Christmas dinner, I mean loads.

Slow cooked lamb curry

This is a cracking frugal recipe which you could adapt to what you have available.  It makes the most out of quite a small amount of lamb.

If your lamb is on the bone, cook it in the curry bones and all and take them out later (if you like) as this improves the flavour.

Chicken in Sherry Sauce

Ah... sherry, beloved of Grandmas... boring eh?  NO!  Sherry rocks!  Forget your thoughts of cream sherries of your Grandma, it is a delicious fortified wine which can take you from deliciously dry and crisp Finos and Manzanillas, fantastic with tapas to Pedro Ximenez which is delicious as a dessert wine.  My favourite is those labelled as Solera taking some of the citrus fruitiness of Palomino with the sweetness of Pedro Ximenez.

So anyway... try it, I urge you.  A bit more about sherry at the end for those of you keen to learn more.

But in the meantime, sherry is often used in cooking in Spain but it's not normal to use the sweeter sherries in savoury dishes.  This was an invention of mine which might sound strange but it is delicious.  Imagine the stunning sweetness and depth of flavour of roasted onions and then you're getting the idea.

Roasted Parsnips

I'd always found roasting parsnips a bit hit and miss.  The problem is parsnips have a higher sugar content than potatoes so tend to burn a little more easily.  I've come up with a few ways to help reduce the risk of that happening and have lovely golden parsnips for your tea or Sunday Lunch.

Beef and Mushroom Pie

Slow cooking is not the most obvious thing to do when cooking for one but actually the great thing about it is that it always freezes well and is adaptable.  You can serve as a stew or as an awesome pie like this.

Game stew

Now autumn feels like it's properly here.  I love summer but the first flushes of autumn with stews, pies, traditional puddings are like the coziness of coming home.  Autumn, season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, at the end moving into winter, the crisp cold, maybe snow.  The older I get the more I look forward to every season and everything it brings.

The dried mushrooms in this massively add to the flavour.  Without them, it wouldn't be the same, it wouldn't have the depth of flavour so I really would give it a go.

This was going to be a game pie and it would be fabulous to make into a pie filling if you prefer.  I was just too lazy and my son liked the smell of it so he wanted to taste it straight away (it was a hit with the 6 year old too!)

Paprika Halloumi Skewers

I love halloumi, the Cypriot cheese which keeps it's shape even when cooked and I decided to try a non traditional way to prepare it with more Spanish spicing.  It worked pretty well.

Duck with honey and chilli

An odd time to post this considering I've been out in torrential rain this morning for a parkrun but I came up with this delicious recipe a few days ago when the weather was more promising (and I've just seen a glimse of sunshine, all may not be lost!)

I don't cook duck often but with the lovely fatty layer, it's surprising it's not a more obvious barbecue choice.

I chose to serve this with a salad and without a dressing but by all means add a little more soy or a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce if liked.  I thought the duck was flavourful and juicy enough on it's own.

You could serve this as a light or starter sized portion or go for a larger main course.

Is it extravagant to fire up a barbecue for one?  Well maybe but I like barbecues.  If you prefer you could grill (broil) the duck instead.

A summer stew of chicken and chorizo

I love the flavours of Spain and in a slightly cool summer, using these in a light braise is a way to get a bit of warmth and oomf into your day.

Spicy Prawn Skewers

A fantastic and simple way to have prawns (shrimp) on a barbecue.  As I've said before, barbecues don't have to be all about meat and, in fact, vegetarian and fish based barbecues are, in my opinion, some of the best.

The other great thing about using fish on a barbecue is you can buy prawns (shrimp) raw and frozen, they're pretty quick to defrost as well so in no time at all, you can be enjoying a lovely barbecue.

Lamb Tikka Skewers

I had intended to cook these on the barbecue but the weather turned and was looking less inviting.  They were delicious though just as they were cooked under a grill.

The great thing about cooking red meats like lamb or beef on a barbecue is from a food safety point of view, it doesn't matter if the food isn't totally cooked through, in fact, it's pretty lovely to have lamb slightly pink and I'm a fan of rare steak.  That said, I did accidentally cook these all the way through and they were still delicious and tender.  The sign of a good marinade!