Roast duck with potatoes

From Nigella Kitchen
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 duck legs
2 baking potatoes or 1 pound other large white-skinned potatoes
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

On the stove, heat a small roasting pan (I use one like a slightly oversized tarte tatin pan) and sear the duck legs, skin-side down over medium heat until the skin turns golden and gives out some oil.

Turn the legs over, and take the pan off the heat while you cut the potatoes into 1-inch slices across, then cut each slice into 4. Arrange these potato pieces around the duck legs, then let a few sprigs of thyme fall over the duck and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper, before putting into the preheated oven.

Cook for two hours, occasionally turning the potatoes, for optimal outcome, which is tender duck legs and crispy potatoes, though both will be ready to eat after 1 1/2 hours.

This is so ridiculously easy! I wouldn’t go for 2 hours as I think the duck will be too dry. I bought two duck legs from Waitrose and simply followed the instructions which is to cook it for 2 hours at 180 degrees. I added the tomatoes for the final five minutes just to make it a balanced meal

Pot-roasted chicken with apples and cider

Roasted (flattened) chicken with artichokes, lemon and thyme recipe

From the Telegraph
Serves 4

Ingredients
Serves four
4 artichokes or 8 tinned artichoke halves
2 lemons, halved
2 onions, thickly sliced into rings
1 whole head of garlic, unpeeled, halved horizontally
½ bunch lemon or normal thyme
½ bunch sage leaves
2 handfuls of black olives,
destoned
1 x approx 2kg/4.4lb chicken, deboned
Olive oil
300ml/10fl oz white wine
A handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. If using fresh artichokes, prepare them first. Have a bowl of water ready with half a lemon squeezed into it. Remove the tough outer leaves of the artichoke, then slice away the top third and lightly peel the artichoke stem. Slice in half lengthways before scooping out the hairy core. Place them in the acidulated water until ready to use.

In a large roasting tin, spread out the onions in a single layer, then dot the garlic and lemon halves around. Scatter the thyme sprigs, sage and olives over the top. Season the chicken on both sides, then place it, skin-side up, on the onions. If using fresh artichokes, distribute them around the chicken, tucking some underneath. Season them a little. Drizzle the chicken and fresh artichokes generously with olive oil and place in the oven for 25 minutes, adding the tinned artichokes (if using them instead) and pouring over the white wine for the final 10 minutes.

When the skin is golden and crisp and the juices run clear, remove the chicken from the oven. Cover and leave to rest. Remove the chicken from the pan, slice it up roughly, then return it to the roasting tin to serve it with all the other lovely ingredients and the cooking juices. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Portugese Cabbage Soup

From The Hairy Bikers

Ingredients
2 fat onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
60ml/2¼fl oz olive oil
1 chorizo sausage
6 large potatoes
1.5 litres/2 pints 13fl oz good vegetable or chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
large bunch of greens or cabbage
smoked paprika and olive oil, for dressing
Preparation method
Gently fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil until softened and translucent.
Chop the chorizo into small chunks and add to the pan with the onion.
Fry the onions and sausage for a few more minutes and then add the diced potatoes. They will absorb all the flavour from the sausage.
Transfer the mixture to a large pan, add the stock, seasoning and bay leaves, and cook until the potatoes are soft.
Meanwhile, very finely chop the cabbage (alternatively, buy a cabbage-shredding machine from the market as we did).
When the potatoes are ready, mash them into the broth to make a thick base. Blanch the greens in boiling water for one minute to take off any bitterness, drain, then add to the simmering broth.
Add as much cabbage as the broth will support – if you want heavy soup add loads of greens, if lighter, add less.
Simmer for a few minutes. The soup will go the colour of jade.
Mix the smoked paprika with some olive oil to make a dressing, and swirl this red magic into the vibrant green soup. Serve with some rustic country bread.

Chicken cous cous one-pot

From BBC GoodFood, More one-pot recipes
Serves 4
Ingredients
8 skin on, bone-in chicken thighs
2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions , finely sliced
3 garlic cloves , sliced
500ml chicken stock (from a cube is fine)
large handful whole green olives
zest and juice 1 lemon
250g couscous
small bunch flat-leaf parsley , chopped

Toss the chicken thighs in half the spices and a pinch of salt until completely coated. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large sauté pan with a lid. Fry chicken, skin-side down, for 10 mins until golden brown, turn over, then cook for 2 mins before removing from the pan. Pour the rest of the oil into the pan, then fry the onions and garlic for 8 mins until golden. Stir in the rest of the spices, then cook for 1 min longer. Pour over the chicken stock and scatter in the olives. Bring everything to the boil, turn down the heat, then sit the chicken, skinside up, in the stock.
Cover the pan with a lid, then simmer gently for 35-40 mins until the chicken is tender. Put the kettle on, then lift the chicken onto a plate and keep warm. Take the pan off the heat. Stir the lemon juice and couscous into the saucy onions in the pan and top up with enough boiling water just to cover the couscous if you need to. Place the lid back on the pan, then leave to stand for 5 mins until the couscous is cooked through. Fluff through half the parsley and the lemon zest, then sit the chicken on top. Scatter with the rest of the parsley and zest before serving.

Spaghetti tetrazzini

From Jamie’s Italy
Serves 6
Ingredients

20 g dried porcini mushrooms
olive oil
4 higher-welfare chicken thighs, boned, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
350 g mixed fresh mushrooms, cleaned and torn
200 ml white wine
320 g dried spaghetti
300 ml single cream
150 g Parmesan cheese, grated
1 sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Put your porcini mushrooms in a bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover them (approx. 150ml/5½fl oz). Put to one side to soak for a few minutes. Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients, and pour in a splash of olive oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown them gently in the oil. Strain the porcini, reserving the soaking water, and add them to the pan with the garlic and fresh mushrooms. Add the wine, with the strained porcini soaking water, and turn the heat down. Simmer gently until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the wine has reduced a little.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions and drain well. Add the cream to the pan of chicken, then bring to the boil and turn the heat off. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce and toss well. Add three-quarters of the Parmesan and all of the basil and stir well. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish or non-stick pan, sprinkle with half the remaining cheese and bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling and crisp. Divide between your plates, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese before serving.

After one month of spending weekends in the office, and not having much energy left to do proper cooking, things have quietened down a bit (fingers crossed) and I have managed to get myself back into my cooking routine. What better way to do that than a simple pasta bake.

Recipe uses chicken but I had turkey from Tesco and so I decided to use that instead. If I am not wrong, the tacky version of this uses turkey!

Ham with madeira sauce

From The Best Ever French Cooking Course cookbook by Carole Clements & Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
4 shallots (finely minced)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato puree
6 tablespoons madeira wine
4 ham steaks (6-7 oz each)
salt & freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Melt half the butter in a heavy med-sized saucepan over med-high heat. Add the shallots & cook for 2-3 min till just softened, stirring frequently.

Sprinkle over the flour & cook for 3-4 min till well-browned, stirring constantly. Whisk in the stock and the tomato puree and season to taste with salt & pepper. Simmer over a low heat till the sauce is reduced by nearly half, stirring occasionally.

Taste the sauce & adjust seasoning as desired. Add the Madeira wine & cook for 2-3 minutes. (The sauce can be made up to 3 dys in advance, chilled & then rewarmed to serve.).

Snip the edges of the ham steaks to prevent curling. Melt the remaining butter in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the ham steaks & cook 4-5 mins (turning once) till the meat feels firm to the touch. Serve immediately with the sauce.

Special Cassoulet by the Hairy Bikers

From Hairy Dieters – How to Love Food and Lose Weight
Serves 6

Ingredients
½ tsp sunflower oil
6 sausages, at least 85% meat
4 celery sticks
3 carrots
2 onions, halved and sliced
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 450g/1lb)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g/7oz piece smoked lean gammon, trimmed and cut into 2cm/1in cubes
2 x 400g/14oz cans chopped tomatoes
150ml/5fl oz red wine (or water)
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 bay leaf
4-5 bushy sprigs fresh thyme
400g/14oz can cannellini beans in water, drained and rinsed
400g/14oz can butter beans in water, drained and rinsed
freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish
handful fresh flatleaf parsley
½ large orange, zest only, finely grated

Brush a large non-stick frying pan with the sunflower oil, using the tip of a pastry brush. Add the sausages to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, turning every now and then until nicely browned on all sides.

Meanwhile, trim the celery and peel the carrots and cut them into diagonal slices about 1.5cm/½in thick.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Add the onions to the frying pan and cook with the sausages for 6-8 minutes, stirring regularly until softened and lightly browned.

Trim the chicken thighs of any visible fat – we find a good pair of kitchen scissors does the job well – then cut the thighs in half.

Add the garlic and chicken pieces to the pan with the sausages and onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, turning the chicken twice until coloured all over.

Transfer everything to a large flameproof casserole dish.

Stir in the gammon, celery, carrots, tomatoes, red wine and 300ml/½ pint cold water, then sprinkle over the caster sugar and chilli flakes. Stir in the bay leaf and thyme and season with lots of ground black pepper.

Bring the cassoulet to a simmer on the hob, then cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes.

Take the casserole out of the oven and stir in all the beans. Cover with the lid again and put the dish back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Just before the cassoulet is ready, prepare the garnish. Chop the parsley roughly and toss with the orange zest in a small bowl.

Serve large portions of the cassoulet in deep plates or wide bowls with a good sprinkling of the zesty parsley garnish on each one.

Cassoulet (French pronunciation: ​[ka.su.lɛ], from Occitan caçolet [kasuˈlet]) is a rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.
The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round, earthenware pot with slanting sides.

BBQ rack of venison (lamb) with saffron and roasted peppers cous cous

From Waitrose recipes
Serves 3 or 4
Ingredients:

2 New Zealand Racks of Venison, each with 3 or 4 ribs
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
200g essential Waitrose Couscous,
Large pinch saffron
1 chicken stock cube
280g jar Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Chargrilled Peppers in Olive Oil, drained and cut into thin strips
25g pack fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 Place the venison in a large dish, add the rosemary, olive oil and lemon zest and juice and rub in well. Leave to marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, place the couscous, saffron and stock cube in a heatproof bowl and add 350ml boiling water. Stir well and set aside for 5 minutes until the water is absorbed and the couscous is tender.

3 Remove the venison racks from the marinade then barbecue them over hot coals or under a preheated grill for 10–12 minutes on each side until crusty and well browned but still pink in the centre. Leave
to rest for 5 minutes before carving into cutlets.

4 Stir the peppers and parsley into the couscous. Serve with the venison.

Winter soup with bacon, lentils and pasta

Waitrose recipes
Serves 4
Ingredients
200g Waitrose Free Range Smoked Dry Cured Lardons
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 tomatoes, chopped
200g Waitrose Love Life Green Lentils
1.5 litres hot chicken stock
100g Waitrose Orzo
25g pack flatleaf parsley, chopped

1. Cook the lardons, chopped onion, garlic, celery and diced carrot in a large saucepan for 5 minutes until the bacon lardons begin to crisp – there should be enough oil in the lardons so you won’t need to add more.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes, cook for 1-2 minutes or until pulpy then stir in the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Add the orzo pasta and cook for a further 8-10 minutes until both the lentils and pasta are tender. Stir in the parsley then ladle into bowls and serve with plenty of black pepper.