Author: Sophie

Chicken tikka salad

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Not traditional AT ALL, but so delicious and crunchy I couldn’t not share. This is the ultimate lunch and a sublime way to use up leftover chicken tikka. Not so much a cooking job, as a tossing job – and then immediately eating with undignified grunting sounds job. Feeds 2.

  • Leftover chicken tikka (equivalent of 4 thighs)
  • 1 gem lettuce, cut into bitesized pieces
  • 10 cm piece cucumber, cut into little chunks
  • 8 radishes, sliced
  • 1 avocado, peeled and cut into bitesized pieces
  • ½ mango, peeled and cut into small bitesized pieces (could replace this with apple if you like)
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • Flaky salt
  • Pinch of chaat masala spice mix (optional)
  • 6 tbsp plain Greek yoghurt
  • Couple of handfuls bombay mix
  1. Mix together the lettuce, cucumber, radish, avocado and mango and dress with the lemon juice, oil and a pinch of salt
  2. Toss together gently, then top with (in this order) big dots of yoghurt, a little sprinkle of chaat masala, the chicken pieces and then a generous cascade of bombay mix (which should be added just before serving)

Warning: may incur office-based jealousy and lunch thievery. I take zero responsibility for this.

Chicken tikka

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Pretty in pink, succulent and tender. Feeds 2 generously.

  • 6 chicken thigh fillets (skinless, boneless), cut into chunky pieces
  • 5 tbsp plain yoghurt
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped/minced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 heaped tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp mild chilli powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  1. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken together
  2. Mix the chicken into the marinade, turning to coat every piece
  3. Cover and refridgerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight
  4. String the marinated chicken pieces onto metal skewers
  5. Grill under a very hot grill for 10 mins, then turn and give them 10 mins on the other side

Serve with a simple salad of crunchy lettuce and cucumber, tangy raita and naan

Potato and chard croquettes

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Small and tasty. Crunchy on the outside and fluffysoftcheesy on the inside.

  • 400g mashed potato
  • 50g parmesan, grated
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 150g chard stalks, roughly chopped (keep the leaves for something else, like spanakopita)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Grate of nutmeg
  • 4 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 1 whole egg plus the extra egg white, beaten
  • 30ml milk
  • 50g plain flour
  • 200g breadcrumbs
  • Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  • Cook the chard in salted boiling water for 4 mins
  • Press the water out in a sieve or a clean tea towel
  • Mix together the mashed potato, egg yolk, nutmeg, parmesan, chard and spring onions. Season with salt and pepper (if the mashbisnt already seasoned) and make sure it’s all thoroughly combined
  • Create little cylinder shapes in the palm of your hand about an inch and a half long. They are easiest to coat if you chill the cylinders in the fridge for 30 mins to firm them up, while you get on with other stuff
  • Beat together the egg and milk
  • Put the flour and the egg mixture and the breadcrumbs into separate shallow bowls next to each other
  • Coat each croquette gentlt in flour (shaking off the excess), then in egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs. Repeat the egg and crumb layers so each one has a double coating
  • Place the croquettes onto a lined baking tray and bake for 20-25 mins, until golden brown (or deep fry, which is probably nicer, but makes the whole house smell of hot oil and leaves you with quite a lot of oil to dispose of afterwards)

Eat straight away with lashings of sriracha and mayo. Or something a bit fancier probably.

Very berry cookies

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Sweet and fruity, crunchy on the outside and beautifully soft on the inside.

  • 150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 120g soft light brown sugar
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, cold from the fridge
  • 300g plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 24-30g freeze-dried berries, roughly scrunched into pieces. I LOVE these brilliant mixed berries from The Rotten Fruit Box but you could choose any other freeze-dried fruit. It’s all great! (Although I’m not 100% sold on the olives)
  1. Pre-heat oven to 150C fan (170C)
  2. Tip melted butter and both sugars into a bowl. Whisk vigorously until creamy
  3. Beat in the vanilla extract and then the eggs, one at a time
  4. The whole mixture should be light and voluminous
  5. Tip in the flour, bicarb, salt and mixed berries. Stir in gently (but don’t over-mix) until combined into a soft dough
  6. Pick up large pinches of dough and roll between your fingers until they are walnut-sized balls, again being careful not to overwork it
  7. Pop them onto a lined baking tray a couple of inches apart to allow for spreading
  8. Bake for 16 mins or so until golden round the edges. Leave to cool on the tray for a minute before lifting onto a wire rack to cool fully (or just enough to pop one straight in your mouth and another for each hand)

Sweet potato and feta fritters

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Tasty golden morsels.

  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 2 heaped tbsp plain flour (or gluten free flour)
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and grated
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • Handful of fresh herbs, chopped (I like parsley and mint, but you could choose dill, coriander, whatever you like)
  • 150g feta, crumbled
  • Salt and pepper
  • Veg oil
  1. Put the egg, milk and flour in a bowl and mix together until smooth
  2. Gently mix in the sweet potato, spring onion, chilli and herbs, then stir in the feta ensuring you leave some slightly bigger pieces
  3. Heat enough veg oil in a large frying pan to coat the bottom of the pan
  4. Fry small spoonfuls of the sweet potato mixture over a medium heat until golden on one side, then flip and cook on the other side

Serve piping hot from the pan.

Cottage pie

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We’ve discussed shepherd’s pie previously – and here is its delicious cousin. Deeply savoury and immensely cosy, this is proper nursery food. Feeds 4.

  • 750g beef mince
  • 3 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 beef stock cube
  • 3 tbsp tomato puree
  • 3 dashes worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 400ml boiling water
  • 1 sprig rosemary, needles stripped from the twig and finely chopped
  • 2 sprigs thyme, leaves stripped and finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 heaped tsp cornflour
  • 1 kg floury potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
  • 50g butter
  • 50ml whole milk
  • 3 tbsp grated parmesan
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Heat oil in deep frying pan over a high heat and add the minced beef
  2. Cook the mince, stirring and breaking into small pieces, until well browned
  3. Remove the mince from the pan, turn the heat to low and add the 2 tbsp butter
  4. Add the onion, stir and cook for 5 mins until soft
  5. Add the garlic and a pinch of salt and cook for another couple of mins
  6. Add the tomato puree and crumbled stock cubes and stir together until it coats the onion
  7. Add the mustard, worcestershire sauce and boiling water, scraping all the delicious brown off the bottom of the pan
  8. Add the mince back to the pan, along with the herbs, salt and pepper
  9. Bring to a bubble, then cover and simmer for 30-45 mins, stirring occasionally
  10. While this cooks, make the mash and pre-heat the oven to 200C fan (220C)
  11. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
  12. Tip the potato pieces into the boiling water and cook for 15-20 mins until soft
  13. Drain the potatoes and put back into the pan with the butter, milk, a bit of salt and plenty of pepper
  14. Mash well until smooth and then stir through the grated parmesan
  15. When the mince is cooked, in a small cup mix together the cornflour with 1 tsp water and stir until smooth. Pour into the mince and stir together over a low heat until it goes clear and thickens into a rich gravy
  16. Taste everything for seasoning and then you’re ready to construct your cottage pie
  17. Empty the mince into the base of a large ceramic or glass baking dish. Top with big dollops of mash, gently joining the potato islands together until it covers the top of the pie from edge to edge
  18. Bake for 30 mins until golden and crisp on top

Serve with peas and a spoon and a comfy sofa

Polpette al sugo

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Deliciously comforting – succulent, tender meatballs in a rich tomato sauce. Feeds 2

  • 1 slice of white bread, crusts removed
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 300g minced beef
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tsp sugar
  1. Rip the bread into pieces and soak in the milk until soft
  2. Put the beef mince into a large bowl with the wet bread, egg, 1 clove of minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper
  3. Use your hands to mix everything together.
  4. Divide the mixture into 8 large meatballs with wet hands and let them rest while you make the sauce
  5. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium-low heat and cook the other minced clove of garlic gently until fragrant
  6. Add the tomato puree and stir in, cooking for 2 mins
  7. Add the tinned tomatoes, half a tin of water, the sugar and seasoning
  8. Cook for 20 mins until the sauce is rich and thick
  9. Drop the meatballs in the sauce, making sure they are submerged
  10. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan and poach for 15 mins

Serve with tagliatelle, or long grain rice or just a pile of crusty bread for dunking.

Dauphinoise potatoes

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Decadent treat food. Creamy, delicately textured and rich in flavour. Good enough to eat completely on their own and still feel delightedly fulfilled, but especially good with a medium-rare steak or a slice of garlicky roast lamb – and of course some steamed green beans or a pile of sauteed spinach. Feeds 4-6.

  • 1kg large, waxy potatoes, peeled
  • 20g unsalted butter
  • 500ml double cream
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 clove garlic, finely grated
  • Salt and black pepper
  1. Pre-heat oven to 150C fan (170C)
  2. Take a wide, shallow ceramic baking dish around 2 litres capacity and grease the inside generously with half the butter
  3. Slice the potatoes 2mm thick (ideally with a mandolin)
  4. Place the potatoes in the dish in orderly, overlapping layers
  5. Whisk the cream, milk and garlic. Season well and pour gently over the potatoes
  6. The cream should just cover the potatoes. If it doesn’t, add a touch more milk. Dot with the rest of the butter and pop in the oven
  7. Bake for 1-1½ hours until the top is bubbling and golden brown, and the potatoes are completely soft when you poke a thin, sharp knife down into the dish
  8. Remove from the oven and leave on the side for 15 mins before serving, to allow the potatoes to lose some of their molten heat and firm up a bit

Dan Lepard’s chocolate muffins

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Achieves the wondrous magic of being fluffy and cloud-like whilst also being deeply, intensely chocolatey. All thanks to total flipping baking genius Dan Lepard. What can I say, any recipe that starts with making chocolate custard is well on its way to being pretty special. Makes 20 full size muffins.

  • 50g cornflour
  • 3 level tbsp cocoa powder
  • 100g dark soft brown sugar
  • 225ml cold water
  • 75g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 125g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
  • 75ml sunflower oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 125g plain flour
  • 2½ tsp baking powder
  • Pre-heat oven to 165C fan (185C)
  • First make the custard (ikr!!!) Put the cornflour, cocoa, brown sugar and water into a saucepan and whisk well over a medium heat until boiling, very thick and smooth
  • Remove from the heat, beat in the butter and chocolate until melted and well combined
  • Then add the oil, vanilla and one of the eggs, and beat again until combined.
  • Add the remaining egg and the caster sugar, and beat again until smooth and thick
  • Measure the flour and baking powder, stir together, then tip directly into the custard
  • Beat through until combined
  • Spoon into paper muffin cases sitting pretty in a muffin tin
  • Bake for 13 mins for mini muffins, 25 mins for big ones.
  • Cool on a rack before serving to a rapturous audience

6 hour roast pork

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Yes, it means getting up at 7am to get it in the oven in time for Sunday lunch. But aside from the early start and occasionally throwing stuff in the oven, it’s the very essence of simplicity. And the end result is beautifully, succulently delicious, with crispy crackling too!

  • 2 kg boneless pork shoulder
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary and sage
  • 5 large waxy potatoes, cut into chunky pieces
  • 5 unpeeled cloves of garlic
  • 7 medium shallots, peeled and left whole
  • 3 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
  • 2 tart apples, peeled and cored and quartered
  • 1 heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 175 ml white wine or marsala
  • 250 ml chicken stock
  1. Pre-heat oven to 140C fan (160C)
  2. Score the skin with a sharp knife, cutting into the fat but not as far as the meat
  3. Using your hands, rub in the salt, pepper and herbs all over the joint, brushing off any on the surface of the fat and pressing the mixture into the slits in the skin. Sprinkle the leftovers in the bottom of the tin under the pork
  4. Put the meat into a roasting tin with plenty of extra space and roast for 4 hours without touching
  5. After 4 hours, put the potatoes into the tin around the pork and turn over in the fat
  6. After a further hour, put in the garlic, shallots and carrots and mix them in gently
  7. Cook for 30 mins and then add the apples, popping them into any gaps
  8. Cook for a final 30 mins
  9. By this time the meat will be tender, flaking with a fork. Remove the roasting tin from the oven. Then remove the meat and veg from the tin and keep it warm to rest
  10. If the skin isn’t 100% crispy yet, pop under a medium grill for a few mins until it’s really crunchy and crispy
  11. To make gravy, pour off all but 1 tbsp of fat from the roasting pan, keeping all the juices and savoury brown bits IN
  12. Put the pan over a burner on the stove on a medium heat
  13. Stir the flour into the fat in the pan with a rubber spatula, cooking for a couple of mins
  14. Add the wine and cook until it is reduced by half
  15. Then add the stock and scrape off any bits of meat and vegetable on the bottom of the pan
  16. Taste for seasoning and serve on a platter in all its resplendent glory, surrounded by the beautiful veg