Brian's Place

Family Recipes

Here are some of our family recipes. Most of them have a Mediterranean connection, and most of them are very easy.

You can find lots more recipes (and translate between English and American) using the links in the right hand panel.

Notes on some of the ingredients that we use will be found here.

Enjoy!

Soups & Starters:

• Jacquie's Rocket & Potato Soup
• See also the Delia Smith recipes below

Chicken:

• Chicken Provençale
• Brian's Chicken Cacciatore (Hunter's Chicken)
• Sauté of Chicken With Assorted Mushrooms
• Chicken Tandoori Tamatar
• Brian's Easy Gourmet Roast Chicken Stuffing

Veal & Pork (we generally substitute pork fillet for veal, since pigs are often better treated):

• Veal Cutlets Gourmand (Costolette di vitello all ghiottona) (a.k.a. Spaghetti Pork)
• Mediterranean Pork Chops

Pasta & Risotto Dishes:

• Brian's Tuna with Orange & Lime Sauce and Pasta Twists
• Brian's Quick Tuna Spaghetti With Cherry Tomatoes
• Brian's Fusilli Pasta With Chicken, Mushrooms And Artichokes
• Brian's Bolognese Spaghetti Sauce
• Brian's Leftover-Lamb Risotto

Rice and Cooked Vegetables:

• Brian's Turmeric or Saffron Rice
• "Roasties" - A Healthy Alternative to Oven Chips or French Fries
• Roman Peas

Snacks:

• Rachel's Rarebit

... and some of our favourite Delia Smith recipes from her web site:

• Prawns and/or avocado chunks on a base of shredded lettuce, with Delia Smith's Yoghurt Sea Food Sauce (a very easy piquant sauce that we like better than the usual Marie Rose)
• French Onion Soup (the best we have found anywhere - you can cheat and use two tins of Campbell's condensed beef consommé, diluted with two tins of water, instead of beef stock, and the result is every bit as good)
• Minestrone Soup With Macaroni (A meal in itself - I use 4oz of streaky bacon and sometimes 14oz of leeks and no cabbage, and home-made chicken stock)
• Lamb Baked With Herbs in Foil (produces a very succulent, tasty roast)

• Notes on Ingredients
• Garlic. I generally crush garlic with salt. I used to use the bottom of a mug and the flat end of a wooden mallet's handle, but now I am more refined and use a small pestle and mortar! It's best not to slice it except in special cases e.g. mixing it with lemon zest and parsley to sprinkle over meat in an Osso Bucco - normally, crush it by some means. (By the way - it's easier to peel a garlic clove if you give it a smart tap with something hard first.)
• Balsamic vinegar. I discovered this magical ingredient quite late in life. It comes in a variety of grades, for a variety of purposes. Roughly there are three kinds: very thin and runny, which we don't use, medium grade, which has a definite body to it but still flows easily, and the thick stuff used for decorative and other purposes. We use medium grade. In England a good medium grade should cost around £6 for a non-organic 250 ml bottle, which lasts quite a long time. Waitrose currently produce two almost identical-looking bottles, one organic and one non-organic. The organic one is slightly cheaper than the non-organic one, oddly enough, but that's because it is of lower grade (you are paying for the "organic" label).
• Extra virgin olive oil. This should have a greenish tinge and have at least a slightly peppery flavour. The price of a good one depends on the olive growing season, and the supermarkets can sometimes provide surprisingly good quality oil for around £4 a litre or even less. It's worth doing some research, price is not necessarily a good guide to quality. (There are olive oil fanatics who talk about it like wine, and go to great lengths to track down the best... but I am not in that league!)
• Basil-infused olive oil. We get this from Waitrose. A little goes a long way! I often toss pasta in about a tablespoon of it after draining the water, which gives it a nice fragrance.
• Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil make a great salad dressing. One classic Italian salad is made using chicory (slightly bitter) and red capsicum (bell) peppers (slightly sweet). The slight sweetness of the balsamic vinegar and the peppers offsets the bitterness of the chicory. Add the balsamic vinegar to the salad first, a relatively small sprinkling if it's good stuff, toss, then add the olive oil - maybe four or even five times the amount of the vinegar (although everyone's taste is different). Include a small dash of basil-infused olive oil if you like. We freely adapt this classic salad, adding mixed leaves, pitted black olives, or whatever takes our fancy!
• Chicken stock is easy to make for soups. After a roast chicken dinner I just put the carcase (minus left-over stuffing) together with a bay leaf and optionally the odd carrot, onion or stick of celery that I might have in the fridge (halving each one), into a large saucepan, add three pints of water (to make about two pints of stock - adjust depending on the strength you want), cover, bring to the boil, and simmer very gently for about two and a half hours.
• Next day when it's cool I strain through a sieve into a smaller saucepan which goes in the fridge with a lid. Any suitable container would do.
• When it's thoroughly chilled and I'm ready to make soup, I lift off the fat on top of the stock with a perforated straining spoon - one with a very shallow, large round bowl with small holes is ideal. Leaving the fat in place until now keeps the air off the stock and it will stay usable many days in the fridge, or it can be frozen.

Jacquie's Rocket & Potato Soup (Serves 4 as a generous starter)

A contribution from my sister! It's very easy, and only takes about an hour from start to finish.

Having enjoyed it at her house, I now make it myself and can really recommend this one.

Not having a garden, I buy a small (55 g) bag of rocket and a large (170 g) bag of watercress from Waitrose, which when added together work very well. I have also just made it with two 145g bags of watercress, rocket and spinach salad (on special offer from Waitrose), which gave really excellent results.

Ingredients:

• A litre (a bit less than 2 pints) of good stock (chicken or veg). Quantities aren't that precise.
• For this much liquid you'll need quite a lot of rocket - roughly a colander full - cleaned and roughly chopped (if you're growing it, and it's bolted, add the flowers as well). (If you don't have a garden, see Brian's notes above).
• An onion, roughly chopped
• 3 or 4 average-sized potatoes, peeled and diced - or use new potatoes which don't need peeling, adjusting the number depending on size
• Olive oil or sunflower oil
• Clove or two of garlic, chopped or crushed
• Seasoning
• Fromage frais (optional)

Put the stock on to heat.

Fry the onion in some oil, then add the garlic.

Toss the diced potatoes in the oil to soften slightly.

Add the cleaned and roughly chopped rocket to the pot and stir with other ingredients briefly.

Add stock and seasoning and bring to boil. bubble for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked but still intact. (Might be handy to keep some stock back if it's to thick - or have a spare cooked potato if it's too thin!)

Give it a bash in the food processor and voila! Soup. Add some fromage frais if you feel like it (I don't).

Other strong green leaves would work too - e.g. spinach. Or go wild and try dandelion or nettle.

Chicken Provençale (Serves 4)

This is probably the recipe that my family asks me most often to make, which is fine by me since it is really easy! We used to have it on a page torn from a magazine - I forget who the recipe was originally from (it may well have been Katie Stewart). It freezes well.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken portions (breast fillet or other)
• 14 oz tin of Italian chopped tomatoes in rich natural tomato juice, or else supplement tinned tomatoes with tomato purée
• 8 fl oz (bit less than half a pint) white wine - anything you'd be happy to drink with this meal, but not with an oaked taste like some Chardonnay
• Whole peeled clove of garlic, slightly cracked but not crushed
• 6 anchovy fillets (salty ones from a tin - don't need anything fancy), finely sliced
• 6 green olives (stuffed with red pimiento), sliced
• Herbes de Provence (or a mixture of herbs including oregano, thyme and bay leaf)
• Olive oil or sunflower oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Using a flat-bottomed frying pan or paella pan that will take all the chicken pieces in one layer (without too much room left over), fry the chicken pieces in the oil, about 5 minutes a side, until browned. I use a generous amount of oil and then spoon most of it out of the pan when the chicken has been browned.

Add the wine and a generous sprinkling of Herbes de Provence. Let it bubble and reduce for a few minutes.

Add the tin of tomatoes, the whole clove of garlic, a small pinch of salt (you'll be adding more salt later), and freshly ground black pepper. Stir well and turn the heat down so that the sauce simmers gently. Don't cover the pan.

Turn the chicken pieces occasionally and keep them covered with some of the chopped tomatoes in the sauce.

After 15 - 25 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces, add the sliced anchovies and olives (which will add salt in themselves), stirring well, and simmer for a further 10 minutes. It's important not to overcook the chicken or it will get tough - I generally slice through one of the chicken fillets a little early and make sure it isn't pink.

Remove the whole garlic clove, and serve!

This is nice served with saffron or turmeric rice.

Brian's Chicken Cacciatore (Hunter's Chicken) (Serves 4)

This recipe shares some ingredients and the general method with Chicken Provençale and Sauté of Chicken With Assorted Mushrooms, but the taste is quite different. I threw this together with ingredients that I happened to have in the house, and it turned out fine. There are many other variations, see here! It freezes well.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken portions (breast fillet or other - I used modestly-sized breast fillets)
• 14 oz tin of Italian chopped tomatoes in rich natural tomato juice, or else supplement tinned tomatoes with tomato purée
• A bunch of spring onions, chopped (optional - I didn't have any, but the recipe was still OK without them)
• A large glass (or a bit more) of white wine - anything you'd be happy to drink with this meal, but not with an oaked taste like some Chardonnay
• 8 to 12 oz of button mushrooms, halved or quartered into bite-sized pieces (chestnut mushrooms or dark-gilled portobello mushrooms might have been better, but the white mushrooms that I had were fine in this recipe)
• 3 or 4 oz of smoked bacon, not too thinly sliced, cut into small half-inch squares - I used 3 rashers and kept one rasher for some accompanying roasted asparagus (cubed pancetta is the real thing, but the smoked bacon was perfectly good)
• Two whole peeled cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with salt
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 4 tbsp of olive oil or sunflower oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Using a flat-bottomed frying pan or paella pan that will take all the chicken pieces in one layer (without too much room left over), fry the bacon, garlic and rosemary in the oil for a minute or two over a moderate heat, then add the chicken pieces and give them about 5 minutes a side, until browned.

(If I had been using chopped spring onions, I would have added them to the frying chicken about 5 minutes before the next step.)

Add the wine. Let it bubble and reduce for a few minutes.

Add the tin of tomatoes, a pinch of salt (there's already salt with the crushed garlic and the smoked bacon) and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Stir well, cover the pan and turn the heat down so that the sauce simmers gently.

After about 10 minutes, or longer depending on the size of the chicken pieces, remove the lid and add the mushroom pieces, stirring well, and simmer for about a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. It's important not to overcook the chicken or it will get tough - I generally slice through one of the chicken fillets a little early and make sure it isn't pink.

This was nice served with saffron or turmeric rice and roasted asparagus (but I'm sure it would go with lots of other things).

Sauté of Chicken With Assorted Mushrooms (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 chicken portions
• 1 large bunch spring onions
• 1 tsp fresh, chopped tarragon, or 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 cup (8 fl oz) chicken stock
• Salt, freshly ground black pepper
• 12 oz mushrooms (ordinary large-ish mushrooms with dark gills, or else a mixture of wild mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms, shitake mushrooms and oyster mushrooms, as available)
• 1/2 cup (4 fl oz) double cream or fromage frais or yoghourt
• 1 dssp cornflour (corn starch)

Put a pint or two of water on to boil (for pouring over mushrooms).

In a sauté (paella) pan or large frying pan, melt the butter in the oil and sauté the chicken over a medium heat until golden on all sides.

Finely chop the spring onions (saving the tips of the green parts for garnish) and add them, with the tarragon, to the chicken and cook for one minute more. Add the chicken stock, season generously and simmer over a medium heat, uncovered, for 20 minutes, turning the chicken twice during this time so that it is cooked right through.

Meanwhile, trim mushrooms, pour boiling water over mushrooms in a colander to clean them - do not peel them. When drained, cut large mushrooms into quarters, slice oyster mushrooms into 1" strips.

After chicken has been cooking 20 minutes, add mushrooms to the mixture, allow to come to the boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes (or a little longer if using wild or shitake mushrooms). Remove the chicken and mushrooms and arrange attractively on a serving dish.

Stir the cornflour into the cream/fromage frais/yoghourt, add the mixture to the sauce and bring to the boil, stirring continuously until the sauce is thick and glossy. Pour over the chicken and mushrooms and serve either with saffron or turmeric rice or tagliatelle-type noodles.

Gourmet addition: soak a few dry Porcini mushrooms in the chicken stock for 15 minutes or so, then fish them out, and add them to the pan when you add the mushrooms.

Mediterranean Pork Chops (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops, or boneless pork loin steaks
• 14 oz tin of Italian chopped tomatoes in rich natural tomato juice, or else supplement tinned tomatoes with tomato purée
• 8 fluid oz chicken stock, fresh or from cube
• Large green pepper, cut into small thin strips
• 12 oz dark-gilled mushrooms, cut into chunky pieces
• Large clove of garlic, crushed with salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Few tablespoons of sunflower oil and extra virgin olive oil

Using a flat-bottomed frying pan or paella pan large enough to take all the pork chops in one layer, heat a few tablespoons of sunflower oil and brown the chops lightly on both sides - this is very quick (maybe 30 seconds each side), you just want to seal them. Remove chops from pan.

Add the garlic and brown gently, then add the chicken stock and the thyme. Allow liquid to bubble and reduce slightly.

Return chops to pan, lower heat, add tin of tomatoes, salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, without a lid, turning the chops occasionally and keeping them covered with the sauce. It's important not to over-cook the chops or they will get tough, I generally take one out after 15 minutes and cut through part of it and check the pink has all gone. Remove chops to a warm place when done.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan or small frying pan. When quite hot, fry the strips of green pepper until soft and a little brown. Add mushrooms and a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground pepper, continue frying for a few minutes until soft. Turn off heat and leave until needed.

Once the chops are out of the sauce, add the green peppers and mushrooms to the sauce, continue simmering for 10 minutes or so until sauce has thickened as much as you like.

Serve chops with sauce over. Nice served with conchiglie (pasta shells), 2oz per person or more if you are really hungry.

Chicken Tandoori Tamatar (serves 4)

This is a delicious, very low-effort dish. People who hate curries and spicy dishes love this one.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken quarters
• 1 tablespoon Tandoori Blend spice
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 oz butter (to put on chicken when baking)
• Sauce:
• 2 oz butter
• 1 tbsp Garam Masala spice
• 14 oz tin of Italian chopped tomatoes in rich natural tomato juice, or else supplement tinned tomatoes with tomato purée
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp double cream or natural yoghourt or fromage frais
• Garnish:
• Parsley (I often don't use)
• Suggested accompaniment:
• Chinese noodles (good ethnic mix, this), cooked as per packet, and salad
• Substitute ingredients:
• Our supermarket supplies tins of chopped Italian plum tomatoes in rich natural tomato juice, which is what we use. Any other good quality chopped tomatoes, minus skins, are OK, but this is a critical ingredient. Don't substitute for butter - but if you must, avoid lo-cal stuff. Don't leave out the sugar. Other chicken joints are OK.

Preceding day: Stab chicken pieces with a sharp knife to let the marinade get in. Mix lemon juice, tandoori powder and salt to paste (not too runny), rub paste well into all sides of chicken, leave 24 hrs in refrigerator (cover with clingfilm or food wrap to stop smell spreading!)

When ready to cook: Pre-heat oven to gas Mark 6 (200 deg centigrade, 400 deg fahrenheit).

Place chicken on an open baking tray. Put knob of butter on each piece of chicken. Cook in oven about 40 min (for chicken quarters), basting occasionally with juices from the chicken.

While this is going on, prepare the sauce. Melt butter in large frypan or sauté pan. Add salt, sugar, tomatoes. Cook uncovered for about 15-20 min. Add Garam Masala powder. Simmer for another 10 min (or until thick but not too dry).

Remove chicken from oven, add chicken to the sauce. Heat slowly but thoroughly (chicken should cook for about an hour in total, first part in oven, second part in sauce - more time in oven and less in sauce is OK). Remove from heat. Stir in cream or yoghourt or fromage frais (not too thoroughly if you like it to look pretty). Add parsley and serve.

Good served with Chinese noodles and salad. Toss Chinese noodles in the juices from the baking tray before serving.

Brian's Easy Gourmet Roast Chicken Stuffing

OK, I'm exaggerating a bit here! This recipe is certainly easy because I don't bother with a chopped onion, which adds a relatively large amount of work for relatively little benefit, but the only "gourmet" quality about it comes from picking the right sausages!

Ingredients:

• About 8 oz of the best pork sausages you can lay your hands on, e.g. one of the gourmet varieties that you'll find on Waitrose's butcher's counter. This is usually 2 large sausages or 3 small ones.
• Grated zest of a lemon, and its juice.
• 2 oz of natural bread-crumbs.
• Salt (just a little) and freshly ground black pepper.
• A sprinkling of herbs (e.g. rosemary or sage) if the sausage doesn't already have herbs.

Grate the lemon for its zest, then juice it.

Slice the sausages length-wise and remove their skins.

Thoroughly mix all the ingredients in a bowl, using your fingers.

You're done!

Veal Cutlets Gourmand (Costolette di vitello all ghiottona) (a.k.a. Spaghetti Pork) (serves 4)

I adapt this recipe to use pork fillet instead of veal.

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces pork fillet, or 4 boneless pork loin chops or pork medallions
• 1/2 cup butter (this recipe is not the same without real butter!)
• 1/4 lb mushrooms, sliced (I use more) - avoid the tasteless small white mushrooms, I like large-ish ones with dark gills
• 1/4 cup (2 oz) coarsely chopped cooked ham - not smoked, and not too salty (I use more)
• 1 small black truffle (Perigord) sliced (I haven't used this yet - perfectly good without it, but who knows? - I now use some dried Porcini mushrooms which I soak in the beef broth for about 15 minutes before starting)
• Salt, freshly ground black pepper
• Whole nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1/2 cup beef broth or beef stock
• Flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• Dry bread crumbs (crumbled "triscottes" are good)
• Spaghetti (1/2 lb to 1 lb depending on appetites)

Put water to boil for spaghetti.

Trim meat, pound to flatten slightly.

Heat 2 tbsp of butter in a medium saucepan and sauté the mushrooms, ham and truffle until wilted. Season with a little salt and pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and add beef broth. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, salt, pepper and lightly flour the meat. Dip them into egg, then into bread crumbs, and brown on both sides in 3 tbsp of the butter heated to frothing in a large frying pan. Lower heat and cook for 15 minutes, less if thin, turning occasionally.

While meat is cooking, cook spaghetti al dente. Drain and rinse with hot water.

Toss spaghetti with remaining butter. Heap spaghetti in centre of large round platter. Arrange cutlets around the edge. Spoon over with mushroom, ham and truffle sauce.

Alternatively, if you fry the meat in a nice-looking sauté pan, remove pan from stove, allow to cool a bit, move cutlets to edge of pan, pile spaghetti in middle, toss the spaghetti in the butter which is still in the pan, spoon sauce over the top, and serve in the pan.

Brian's Tuna With Orange & Lime Sauce and Pasta Twists (Serves 2)

This is a poor approximation of something I once had in an Epping wine bar. The rotten chef wouldn't tell me the recipe, so here is my attempt to recreate it. It's nothing like the original, but ain't bad!

Ingredients are for two people:

• 8 oz Fusilli pasta (pasta twists)
• 2 small tins tuna, drained (I use tuna in brine, the chunkier the better, the restaurant was using tuna that I suspect didn't come in a tin) - alternatively, on special occasions use fresh tuna steak (or swordfish, or even butterfish), about 5-6 oz of fish per person
• Half a 14 oz tin of good quality chopped tomatoes
• 1/3 a large wine glass of orange juice (I use supermarket carton)
• 1/3 a large wine glass of dry or dry-ish Italian white wine (optional, but include if you can) - cheap Soave, Orvieto or Verdicchio are all good, but avoid Chardonnay or any wine with an oak flavour. Basically any white wine you'd be happy to drink with this supper is fine.
• Juice of 2 small limes  - alternatively use 1/4 wine glass of well diluted lime cordial
• Heaped tablespoon fresh chopped parsley (my ghost will haunt anyone who uses stuff out of a jar - frozen fresh parsley will do at a pinch)
• Sprinkle of balsamic vinegar (good if you have it)
• Sprinkle of soy sauce (optional)
• Sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 1-2 tablespoons butter
• Few chopped pitted black olives (optional)
• Few capers (optional)
• Seasoning to taste (very little required)

If you use fresh tuna, cut it into eating-sized fingers and fry for a minute or so on all sides, just to brown them. Set aside.

While pasta water is heating, melt butter in saucepan and cook the tomatoes in it for a few minutes. Add rest of ingredients except the tuna, keeping some parsley back. Season to taste.

Simmer gently for 30-45 minutes without lid, reducing the liquid.

Add the tuna about 10 minutes from the end, or when you put the pasta on, being careful not to break up the tinned tuna too much into flakes.

Serve with the pasta! Sprinkle with some extra chopped parsley if you like.

Brian's Quick Tuna Spaghetti With Cherry Tomatoes (Serves 4)

This is a quick and easy recipe, great for when you get home and don't feel like doing much cooking. It may be quick (about 35 minutes from start to finish, or about 10 minutes longer than it takes to bring a large pan of water for the pasta to the boil, whichever works out greater), but it's still tasty!

As with many simple recipes, the quality of the ingredients (even the tinned tuna) makes a big difference to the final result. For example, it's worth paying more for the best cherry tomatoes if you can. If the tinned tuna has a cottony texture then try a different brand!

Ingredients for 4:

• 3-4 oz spaghetti per person, or even more, depending on appetite
• 3 or 4 200g tins of tuna in brine, depending on appetite - keep some of the brine
• 3 or 4 handfuls of small, sweet cherry tomatoes, halved (not peeled)
• A few glugs of white wine (optional, but include if you can)
• Heaped tablespoon fresh chopped parsley - frozen chopped parsley or even dried parsley flakes will do at a pinch, but they are not as good
• Sprinkle of balsamic vinegar (good if you have it)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Few chopped pitted black olives
• Few capers
• Seasoning to taste (very little required) - including a few drops of Tabasco per person if you like a warm taste

Drain some of the brine from the tins of tuna. Keep about half of the brine for use later (there should only be a few tablespoons of it).

While the pasta water is heating, heat about 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the halved tomatoes, sprinkle with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook for 5 minutes or so, or until the tomatoes form a thickish sauce - the actual quantity of sauce should be quite small at this point.

Add a glug or two of white wine and the saved brine, which will thin the sauce - the sauce will eventually return to the thickish consistency when the cooking is finished.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the tuna (i.e. the chopped olives, capers, Tabasco, parsley), keeping some parsley back. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Simmer gently for about 10 minutes, reducing the liquid.

Add the tuna about 10 minutes from the end, or when you put the spaghetti on, being careful not to break up the tinned tuna too much into flakes. Add a little more liquid (water or wine) if you need to.

(If you don't like tomato skins, it's much easier to remove them towards the end of the cooking time with a pair of tongs than to peel them up front. Personally I'm quite happy to leave the skins in, as with these particular tomatoes they are usually not thick or tough.)

Cook the spaghetti al dente, drain and quickly return the spaghetti to its pan (try to avoid draining the spaghetti too thoroughly). Toss the spaghetti in the pan with some extra virgin olive oil (or some basil-infused olive oil, which gives a nice fragrance) and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve the spaghetti with the tuna sauce on top! Sprinkle with some extra chopped parsley if you like.

Brian's Fusilli Pasta With Chicken, Mushrooms And Artichokes (Serves 4)

This is an easy recipe with lots of variations. The use of cherry tomatoes is exactly the same as in the previous recipe. It takes about 35 minutes from start to finish, or about 10 minutes longer than it takes to bring a large pan of water for the pasta to the boil (whichever works out greater).

The recipe uses a jar of artichoke pieces; how long you need to cook these pieces will depend on the artichokes! If you eat one from the jar and it's already tender then you don't need to really cook them at all, just heat them up - otherwise fry them at the same time as you fry the chicken. All will become clear!

Ingredients for 4:

• An aubergine (egg plant), cut into slices about a quarter of an inch thick, and each slice cut in half or cut into quarters depending on size
• About 2-3 oz of dark-gilled mushrooms per person
• 2 oz fusilli pasta per person, or a little more, depending on appetite
• A jar of artichoke pieces in olive oil - the olive oil in the jar will be used for cooking
• 4 small chicken fillets, or 2 large ones, sliced into strips about half an inch thick and a few inches long
• 3 or 4 handfuls of small, sweet cherry tomatoes, halved (not peeled)
• A few glugs of white wine (optional, but include if you can)
• 1 tbsp of crème fraîche, or fromage frais, or greek yoghourt
• 1 tbsp of green pesto sauce, or more or less according to taste (start low)
• Seasoning to taste - including a few drops of Tabasco per person if you like a warm taste

Put the pasta water on to heat.

Sprinkle the slices of aubergine (egg plant) with salt to draw some of the moisture. After a while, pat dry with kitchen towel. Then cut into halves or quarters, depending on size.

Put the mushrooms gill-side down in a colander, pour boiling water over them to clean them up a bit (don't peel). Cut them into spoon-sized pieces, roughly similar size to the pieces of aubergine (egg plant).

About 15 minutes before you think the pasta water will be boiling, heat the olive oil from the jar of artichokes in a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the chicken strips quickly to seal them on all sides, but not to turn them brown.

If the artichoke pieces aren't tender enough to eat from the jar, add them with the chicken and fry the artichoke pieces and the chicken together.

After a few minutes, spoon out any excess oil, leaving a few tablespoons of oil in the pan. Add the halved tomatoes, sprinkle with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, also add the aubergine pieces (and the artichoke pieces if not already added). The mushroom pieces can go in a little later.

After a few minutes, when the tomatoes have reduced to a sauce, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer.

Add a glug or two of white wine, which will thin the sauce - the sauce will eventually return to the thickish consistency when the cooking is finished.

Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Continue to simmer gently until the aubergines and mushrooms are soft and the chicken strips are no longer pink in the middle - this should only take a few more minutes. If this happens before the pasta is ready, turn off the heat under the pan and leave it.

(If you don't like tomato skins, it's much easier to remove them towards the end of the cooking time with a pair of tongs than to peel them up front. Personally I'm quite happy to leave the skins in, as with these particular tomatoes they are usually not thick or tough.)

Just before serving, stir in the crème fraîche, or fromage frais, or greek yoghourt, and the small amount of green pesto sauce.

Meanwhile, when the pasta water is boiling cook the fusilli al dente, drain and quickly return the pasta to its pan (try to avoid draining the pasta too thoroughly).

Mix the pasta and all the other stuff together, and serve!

You will discover that there are plenty of variations, e.g. you can add "petit pois" frozen peas and/or subtract the aubergine or mushrooms or chicken. Have fun!

Brian's Bolognese Sauce (Serves 4-6)

This is Brian's version of Bolognese spaghetti sauce! It isn't intended to be the authentic version, but I actually prefer it to the authentic one. It freezes well.

• Tip:
• This recipe is better if the onion is as finely chopped as you can make it.
• I top-and-tail the onion, halve it then peel it, then finely slice each half with a very sharp bread-knife, keeping the slices together, then turn them through ninety degrees and slice again. Using a thin, very sharp knife like this also doesn't make the eyes water so much!
• For some reason the sauce isn't quite the same if you use a food processor to chop the onion.

Ingredients:

• One and a quarter pounds of best minced beef (if the minced beef exudes any liquid when fried, find another butcher!)
• Two 14 oz tins of Italian chopped tomatoes in rich natural tomato juice, or else supplement tinned tomatoes with tomato purée
• A medium onion, very finely chopped
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed with salt
• Good sprinkle of "Italian Seasoning", or mixture of oregano, thyme etc. to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp's each of balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, one tbsp of soy sauce (adjust to your taste!)

Fry the garlic in oil until it starts to turn colour.

Add chopped onion and fry until soft, but not brown.

Turn heat up quite high, add minced beef and mix and stir briskly until completely browned.

Turn heat down and add the rest of the ingredients (i.e. tomatoes, herbs, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce) and seasoning.

Simmer gently with lid on for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Take lid off and simmer gently for another 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Brian's Leftover-Lamb Risotto (Serves 4)

We buy a large leg of lamb to roast, and usually have plenty left over to make a lamb risotto a few days later. It is best if the cubed left-over meat is marinated for 24 hours, but a few hours in the marinade is better than nothing. Also, when we originally cook the lamb we use Delia Smith's recipe for lamb baked with herbs in foil, which results in a very succulent, tasty roast.

I use Basmati or American Easy Cook Long Grain rice, but you can use your favourite risotto rice if you like a creamy texture.

This is an easy, one-pan recipe.

Ingredients:

• For the marinade:
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp wine (any colour)
• 2 tbsp oil (sunflower, rapeseed, or olive)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 tbsp water
• For the risotto:
• Left-over lamb joint, meat trimmed of fat and cubed
• A medium onion, finely chopped
• A red capsicum (bell) pepper, cut into short slices
• Half a pint (10 fl oz) of rice
• A little less than a pint (20 fl oz) of strong-ish vegetable stock - I use 2 good quality stock cubes
• 1 tbsp of turmeric (mild yellow spice) (optional, adds colour and a bit of fragrance)
• 8 oz (at least) of dark-gilled mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces, scalded with boiling water (not peeled)
• 8 oz of frozen peas (petit pois) or fresh whole sugar snap peas
• 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

At least a day ahead of the meal (ideally) make the marinade. Put all the marinade ingredients in a tall glass, cover with cling film / food wrap and shake well. Put the cubed, trimmed lamb pieces in a suitable container and pour the marinade over. Cover the container and leave in the refrigerator for as long as possible. (The marinade, once used, is going to end up in the risotto - don't throw it away!)

Make sure that the vegetable stock is hot, before you begin.

In a large frying pan or paella pan (which must have a lid), heat the extra virgin olive oil using a moderate heat (about 6 out of 9 on our stove), and fry the chopped onions until soft and transparent but not brown. Add the red pepper pieces a few minutes after starting to fry the onion.

Add the rice and turmeric, continue to fry gently for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until all the rice has absorbed some of the oil.

Add the rest of the ingredients, i.e. the vegetable stock, the meat and its marinade, the mushrooms, the peas, the balsamic vinegar and some seasoning. Stir, cover the pan, lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Give the ingredients a stir, re-cover the pan, and continue to simmer gently for another 10 minutes (approx). Add some more stock or boiling water if all the liquid is absorbed before this time (it shouldn't be).

Check that the rice is cooked - carry on for a few more minutes if necessary.

Serve!

Brian's Turmeric or Saffron Rice (Serves 2)

This is the method that works reliably for me - but only with Basmati rice, not American Long Grain "Easy Cook" rice which takes less time but doesn't give quite such good results.

Although you don't need to do much work, plan to start the rice at least three-quarters of an hour before serving.

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice - a quarter of a pint or 200ml for two people - measure by volume rather than weight
• One good chicken stock cube for two people (or one vegetable stock cube for accompanying red meat)
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder, OR just a few stamens of saffron well pulverised with a pestle and mortar (saffron is especially good with sea-food and chicken - it's expensive but you only need a tiny amount, don't expect a strong yellow colour)
• A few tablespoons of sunflower or rapeseed oil
• Pinch of fine sea salt

Rinse the rice well in a sieve, under running water.

Tip the rice into a suitable container, and add a lot of water. Leave to soak for 10 to 20 minutes. The water will turn cloudy with starch - when the time is up, pour the water and rice back through the sieve. Leave the rice in the sieve to drain.

Towards the end of the soaking period, boil exactly twice the volume of water compared to the volume of dry rice, and add the stock cube(s) and a pinch of salt. Dissolve well. You don't want to do this too early as the stock should be hot when added.

In a large or wide saucepan with a lid, heat the oil over a moderate heat (about 5 out of 9 on our stove), add the turmeric or saffron, and then the rice. Stir to coat the rice in oil, continue heating for a minute or two (not too long, or you'll get popcorn instead of rice!).

Add the stock, stir only once, cover the pan, turn down the heat to lowest setting, and leave for 15 minutes before checking. When most of the water has been absorbed, turn off the heat under the pan and leave covered for another 15 minutes.

The rice should be fluffy, not at all sticky, and ready to serve!

"Roasties" - A Healthy Alternative to Oven Chips or French Fries

This is my wife's invention (probably similar to many others). It's extremely easy and foolproof, and tastes better (we think) than oven chips.

Ingredients:

• Baby new potatoes, ideally about 2" long and 1" across (about 5 of these per person for modest appetites)
• Herbs - we use a mixture of Italian herbs, but feel free to experiment!
• (Optional) lemon zest
• Small amount of extra virgin olive oil
• Fine sea salt

Preheat the oven to about 210 degrees C, or your usual potato roasting temperature.

For the ideally-sized potatoes, cut them in half (don't peel!). Place in a flat roasting tin.

Sprinkle with salt, swizzle them around to distribute the salt well.

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over each potato piece (the bottom of the roasting tin should only receive a few drips, not be swimming in oil).

Sprinkle a generous amount of herbs over, and the lemon zest if using. Swizzle around again.

Place in oven, leave for 40 minutes or until they are the way you like - you can turn the potatoes half way but there's really no need.

Serve!

Roman Peas (Serves 4)

This recipe was contributed by Mary Alexander. It's very nice with red meat and dishes with a "hearty" flavour, e.g. a beef casserole or Osso Bucco.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 6 bacon rashers, finely chopped
• 12 oz to 1lb frozen small peas (petit pois)
• Salt, pepper, pinch of sugar

Heat oil in saucepan, and gently brown the onion. Add bacon and cook gently for 10 minutes. Add peas, salt, pepper and sugar. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.