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.

Lamb chops with black olives and chilli

From Nigella Express
Serves 4
Ingredients

Ingredients

12 lamb rib chops
4 tablespoon(s) olive oil (plus 2 tablespoons for frying)
3 clove(s) garlic (peeled and sliced)
1 teaspoon(s) dried chilli
1 teaspoon(s) oregano
1 small lemon juice (zest and juice)
1 teaspoon(s) maldon salt (or ½ teaspoon table salt)
15 black olives (pitted and sliced)
1 long red chilli pepper (deseeded and finely sliced (optional))

Method

Layer the rib chops between clingfilm and flatten gently with a rolling pin or mallet. Unwrap and place the chops in a large dish, so that they all fit in a single layer.
Pour the 4 tablespoons of oil over the chops and add the sliced garlic, chilli flakes, oregano, lemon zest and juice. Sprinkle with the salt and the olives, then turn the rib chops in the marinade so that both sides are coated.
Cover and leave the lamb to marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.
Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy-based frying pan, and add the chops, scraping off the marinade before you put them in the pan. (Reserve the marinade.) Fry them for a couple of minutes a side on quite a high heat so that they take on some colour.
Turn the heat down to medium and pour the reserved marinade into the pan over the now coloured chops. Add 2 tablespoons or so of water and cook for about 5 minutes for rare cutlets or a little longer if you like your lamb well done (this will also depend on the thickness of the chops).
Transfer the chops to a serving plate, pour over the juices from the pan and sprinkle with the chopped red chilli, should you feel like enhancing the dried chilli with the pep of fresh.

Normally, I am not a huge fan of Nigella’s recipes. They tend to be simple and not inspiring unlike Jamie Oliver who always has a few tricks up his sleeves.That said, this lamb chops recipe works wonderfully well, good combination of hot and savoury.

As the sides, I added some cherry tomatoes to the frying pan, to cook it a bit. And I chopped up some potatoes, added thyme, salt and olive oil, and roasted it in my toaster oven for around 40 minutes. Good combination.

Grilled chicken breast with tomatoes, olives and feta cheese relish

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cherry tomatoes (about 10 ounces)
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 1/2 ounces)

4 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves (about 6 to 7 ounces each)
preparation

Mix cherry tomatoes, olives, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, mint, and vinegar in medium bowl. Gently stir in feta cheese. Season relish to taste with salt and pepper. 

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush chicken on both sides with remaining 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill chicken just until cooked through, about 7 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plates and slice, if desired. Top with relish and serve.

This is such an amazingly simple yet delicious dish. The relish can be used for pasta, I made a huge batch of it and am using it for salad for the next couple of days.

I used chicken thighs instead: 220 degrees for 25 minutes followed by 3-5 minutes until the grill.

Pasta Puttanesca or Working Girl’s Pasta

Jamie’s Dinners
Serves 4

Ingredients:
A handful of fresh basil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Two 8-ounce tuna steaks, chopped into bite-size chunks, or 2 cans of good-quality tuna, drained
14 ounces penne or spaghetti
8 anchovy fillets
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 handfuls of soaked capers
A handful of black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1 to 3 small dried chiles, crumbled to your taste, or 1 fresh red chile, deseeded and finely sliced
2 handfuls of really ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
Optional: a swig of white wine
A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Smash the basil to a pulp with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the lemon zest and juice and 2 good lugs of extra virgin olive oil. Mix this up and either rub over your chopped-up fresh tuna or mix with your broken-up canned tuna and allow to marinate.

Get a large pan of salted boiling water on and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. As soon as you put the pasta on, put 3 or 4 good lugs of extra virgin olive oil into a large frying pan and put on the heat. As the pan starts to get warm, add your anchovy fillets and allow them to fry and melt. At this point add your garlic, capers, olives, and chili and stir around for a couple of minutes. If you have used fresh tuna, add it to the pan now with all of the marinating juices and sear it on both sides. When done, add the tomatoes and a little swig of white wine if you have some. If you have used canned tuna, add it to the pan at the same time as the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring regularly with a spoon, breaking the tuna up into smaller pieces. What you don’t want to do is overcook the tuna so it goes tough. You want it to be soft and silky. Correct the seasoning carefully with salt and pepper.

The pasta should now be ready, so drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Toss the hot pasta with the hot tuna sauce, add the parsley, and mix well. You may need a few more lugs of olive oil and a spoonful of cooking water to make the sauce nice and loose.

One of my go-to recipes for good wholesome seafood pasta.

Spinach and feta cannelloni

From BBC GoodFood 101 Mediterranean dishes
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 large sheets no-pre-cook lasagne
1kg frozen spinach , defrosted
200g pack low-fat feta cheese
generous grating nutmeg
large handful olives , pitted and chopped
1 tbsp capers , rinsed
400g can chopped tomatoes
25g parmesan , grated

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Put the lasagne sheets in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 5 mins or prepare according to pack instructions. Meanwhile, squeeze as much water as possible from the spinach, then mix with the feta, nutmeg and some seasoning. Drain the pasta, then cut each sheet in half vertically. Spoon 4 tbsp of the filling along the centre of each half, then roll up to enclose. Place in a lightly oiled baking dish.

Mix the olives, capers and tomatoes together in a bowl, season, then spoon over the cannelloni. Sprinkle with parmesan, cover with foil, then bake for 20 mins.

Baked sea bass with tomato confit and black olives

From I Know how to Cook – Ginette Mathiot
Serves 2
Ingredients

1 garlic clove
1 sea bass, about 800g, gutted and cleaned
100ml olive oil plus extra to serve
50g butter
12 sun-dried tomatoes
12 black olives, stoned
pepper
salt
12 basil leaves, chopped

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Rub an oven proof dish with the garlic clove, and place the sea bass in the fish. Pour in the olive oil, lemon juice and 100ml water over the fish, and dot with the butter. Bake for about 16 minutes, basting frequently. To check whether the fish is cooked, insert a wooden toothpick: it should pass easel through the thickest part of the fish. If it does not, cook for a further 5 minutes before checking again. Just before the fish is cooked, add the tomatoes and olives to the dish and return to the oven.

When the fish is cooked, drain the cooking juices into a small pan, place on a high heat and simmer until half the liquid has evaporated. Add a splash of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. To serve, return the reduced sauce to the oven proof dish with the sea bass and garnish with the basil.

This is a Franck Raymond recipe, the head chef at Mon Plaisir at Covent Garden, London. Have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of that restaurant, I went there once and I thought it was alright, nothing really fantastic. But I suspect my impression of that dinner was marred by the fact that I was sat right next to the cheese board. I actually didn’t know what the smell was until someone unveiled the cheese board by removing the cloth that was covering it.

Anyway, this is a good simple recipe for sea bass. I used sea bass fillets rather than the whole fish. I am now tempted to go back to Mon Plaisir to get a second opinion on the food there!

Salade Niçoise

BBC GoodFood 101 Mediterranean Dishes
Serves 4
Ingredients

5tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for frying and drizzling
2tsp finely chopped fresh oregano
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
16 new potatoes, halved
100g green beans
4 X 100g fresh tuna steaks
handful of black olives, pitted
8 anchovy fillets, thinly sliced in strips
16 cherry tomatoes
4 small eggs, soft boiled, halved
grated parmesan, to serve

Whisk the five tbsp of olive oil with the oregano and enough of lemon juice to taste, in a large bowl. Season, set aside

Cook the potatoes in boiling, salted water for 10 minutes or until tender, adding the beans for the last 4 minutes . Drain well and toss well while warm in the dressing.

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan. Add the tuna and fry over a high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side. Add the olives, anchovies and tomatoes to the potatoes and gently toss. Scatter the salad over four plates, top with the tuna, eggs, Parmesan and a drizzle of oil.

Balsamic pork with olives

From GoodFood 101 Mediterranean dishes
Serves 4
Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves , crushed
4 boneless pork loin chops
2 handfuls green olives , pitted and halved
large handful basil , chopped

Mix the oil with vinegar, mustard and garlic. Score the meat on both sides, season, then put into a dish. Pour over the balsamic mixture and leave to marinate for 5 mins.

Heat a griddle pan until very hot. Lift the pork from the marinade, scraping off any garlic, then cook for 4 mins on each side. Remove the meat and keep warm. Pour the marinade into the pan with the olives, cook for 2 mins, then stir in the basil. Pour any juices from the pork into the pan, drizzle the sauce over the pork and serve with pasta.

If you can’t do a BBQ, griddled food is the next best thing for an Indian summer day!

Sausages with oregano, mushrooms and olives

From GoodFood 101 More one-pot dishes
Serves 4

Ingredients
450g pack reduced-fat sausages
1 tsp sunflower oil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves , sliced
400g can chopped or cherry tomatoes
200ml beef stock
100g pitted black olives in brine
500g pack mushrooms , thickly sliced

Using kitchen scissors, snip the sausages into meatball-size pieces. Heat a large pan and fry the pieces in the oil for about 5 mins until golden all over.

Add the oregano and garlic, fry for 1 min more, then tip in the tomatoes, stock, olives and mushrooms.

Simmer for 15 mins until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce has reduced a little. Serve with mashed potato or pasta.

Very very simple dish to make. It’s like having sausages with a rich tomato sauce.

Roasted sea trout with onions, tomatoes and chorizo

James Martin – Saturday Kitchen

For the chorizo
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
100g/3½oz chorizo, cut into chunks
2-3 sprigs thyme
50g/1¾oz black olives, stones removed
8 cherry tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sea bass
1 large sea bass, head removed, scaled and gutted
small bunch fresh thyme
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Preparation method
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and chorizo.
Fry for 4-5 minutes until the oil runs out of the chorizo and the onions soften.
Add the thyme, olives and tomatoes and stir to combine.
Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, before transferring the mixture to an ovenproof dish.
Using a sharp knife, slash skin of the sea bass diagonally along each side so that the flesh is exposed and place sprigs of thyme into the slashes.
Season the sea bass with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place on top of the chorizo mixture.
Drizzle over the olive oil and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the fish is tender and cooked all the way through.
To serve,take the cooking dish to the table.

Ah chorizo, one of the best things the spaniards have ever made. I probably mentioned this before somewhere in the multitude of posts in this blog that I first tasted chorizo at Borough Market when I had the chorizo, rocket and red pepper bab. Well, another one of the things I brought back from Barcelona is a nice fat chorizo sausage which I have just used in this dish.

Chorizo goes well with fish, and thats why this recipe works. I couldn’t find any sea bass at Tesco last night and so I used sea trout instead.