Harissa Spiced Cauliflower & Lentils

This is so easy I’m not even sure it qualifies as a recipe but there you go - whatever, it is good. And while it may not look like much it sure does pack a hefty flavour-punch. What’s more when you spend lunch and an early afternoon in the pub with friends it is perfect as a fairly light but necessary supper with a just-right amount of spice.


Harissa Spiced Cauliflower & Lentils
serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 smoked garlic clove, thinly sliced (or normal)
½ head cauliflower,split into small florets
100g red lentils
small tin tomatoes
500ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp harissa (I used one each of normal & rose harissa)
½ tbsp chipotle en adobo
1 tsp sundried tomato paste

In a frying or sauté pan, cook the onions with a small pinch of salt in the olive oil over a low heat until softened and translucent. About 10 minutes.

Add the cauliflower and garlic and continue to cook for another 6-7 minutes.

Stir in the lentils, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, chipotle and harissa(s), crushing the tomatoes down to mush as well as you can.

When it is all well combined add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-25 min until the lentils and cauliflower are tender.

Serve with rice.

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Hot Wings with Herby Couscous & Blue Cheese Dip

I have had some amazing Buffalo wings in my time. MeatLiqour’s in particular are, in my opinion, fantastic and what I wanted was to recreate them as far as possible.

Buffalo Wings are so-named as they actually originated in a bar called the Anchor Bar, in Buffalo New York. Owned by Frank and Teressa Bellissimo, Teresa apparently invented the dish back in 1964. The original wings are fried, then tossed in a combination of melted margarine and Frank’s hot sauce.

I know that I didn’t want to deep fry. Or use margarine. But butter would work instead of marg and Frank’s is easy to get hold of so I was set to go. Frank’s is good to use as it isn’t too hot but if really want your wings extra spicy you could use tabasco and still get that vinegar tang or just add some cayenne to the Frank’s as you make the sauce.

So I chose to bake rather than fry (frankly there needed to be some concession to healthiness after all that butter) and similarly when I made my blue cheese sauce I used 0% yoghurt rather than sour cream. As I’ve baked, not fried, I’m calling these hot wings lest I offend any purists...

Traditionally these wings would be served with celery sticks to dip in the blue cheese to temper the spiciness of the wings but here I’ve made it more of a meal by having alongside the couscous and the blue cheese sauce on the side for dunking (extra sacrilege!).


Buffalo-style Hot Wings
serves 4

10-12 whole chicken wings (about 1kg)
2 tablespoons rapeseed or groundnut oil
sea salt and black pepper
For the sauce
120ml Frank’s Hot Sauce
100 g unsalted butter
pinch of salt
cayenne pepper or tabasco to taste (optional - if you want the wings spicier)

Prepare the wings which are traditionally cut into three pieces - do this by cutting through the joints with a very sharp heavy knife or cleaver. If you turn the wings over with the underside of the wings facing up you should be able to see the joints and then cut through them rather than any bone. You can discard the wing tips or, and a much better idea, store them in the freezer to make chicken stock at a later date.

Rinse the wings and pat them dry with kitchen roll and then toss them together in a large bowl with the oil and a good grind of salt and pepper.

Meanwhile slowly melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat and then add the hot sauce, whisking well to combine. As soon as the butter is melted and the sauce combined take off the heat - you don’t want the butter to separate.

Taste and if necessary season with salt and add cayenne or tabasco if you want it spicier.

Toss the wings with about ¼ of the sauce, cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour or longer.

When you are ready to cook the wings preheat the oven to 200C.

Lightly grease a baking sheet with a little oil using a piece of kitchen roll or pastry brush to make sure that the sheet is evenly coated.

Then arrange the wing pieces skin-side-up so that they are fairly closely packed but not overcrowded.

Cook for 30 minutes until golden brown and then using a pair of tongs turn the wings over and return to the oven to cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until crisp.

Gently reheat the Buffalo sauce while you wait for the wings to finish.

When the wings are cooked, pour the Buffalo sauce into a bowl and add the wings (in batches if necessary) to coat them well in the sauce.

Blue Cheese Sauce

85g blue cheese, crumbled
6 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp 0% yoghurt
½ lemon, juice of
½ tbsp white vinegar
sea salt & black pepper

Put the blue cheese in a bowl and mash with a fork until a paste forms. Whisk in the remaining ingredients until you have a smooth sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Herby Couscous
serves 2

75g couscous
handful of mint, roughly chopped
handful of parsley, roughly chopped
½ lemon, juice of
olive oil


Pour the lemon juice
 over the couscous in a bowl then add just enough boiling water just to cover.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and set aside for 10 minutes.


Fluff the couscous and stir through the herbs and a splash or two of olive oil. Season to taste and serve with the wings and blue cheese sauce on the side.

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Creamy Smoked Trout Spaghetti

Wednesday night, until the last few months or so (when I switched to Friday mornings), was Pilates night aka we need something that is quick to cook for dinner night.. which in my world generally means pasta. I’d been looking therefore for some interesting and quick pasta recipes else it would be all too easy to always fall back on my pancetta pasta or defrosted bolognese / ragu from the freezer (of which we always have a few portions).

I found this on Not Quite Nigella’s website which is a good source of inspiration for me.

I’ve adapted this slightly - mainly through necessity as we didn’t have any cream and I didn’t want to buy more when such a small amount would be used. The creaminess in this case comes therefore from the egg yolks, starchy pasta water, and a little crème fraîche.


Creamy Trout Spaghetti
serves 2

200g spaghetti (I used wholewheat)
1 egg, plus one yolk, beaten well with a fork (you won’t need all of this)
100g hot smoked trout
small handful asparagus tips, sliced into 1½ inch lengths
1 tbsp crème fraîche
a small handful of fresh dill, roughly chopped
15g parmesan
salt and pepper

Boil the spaghetti according to directions in plenty of salted, boiling water.

Beat the crème fraîche into the eggs.

Blanch asparagus in the boiling water, remove drain, plunge into cold water then drain again.

When the pasta is ready, take out one cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the spaghetti and immediately, put it back in the pot along with the egg and cream mix and use the heat of the spaghetti to cook the eggs and asparagus - the asparagus gives it a nice crunch so you don't want it too soft.

Add some of the pasta water to loosen the sauce a little then add the trout and dill and season with a little salt and a generous grind of black pepper.

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Quick Thai Jungle Curry

I absolutely love jungle curry - it is definitely my favourite of the Thai curries - but when making it authentically it can be a bit of a faff with a fairly long list of ingredients that are hard to get hold of outside a Chinatown or oriental food store. That can be seen with the version that I have posted previously here.

With this one though all the ingredients can all be found in the high street supermarkets: Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose and so on. Yay!

You can use chicken (or duck) instead of pork or even up the veg and make it entirely vegetarian (obviously you can use vegetable stock if that is the case). While not as amazing as the original this is definitely giving a go if you don’t have the time or inclination for the former.

Be aware that commercial Thai curry pastes can vary considerably in taste and strength - I use Mae Ploy which actually being Thai in origin is quite pungent (in a good way) but you may need to alter the paste quantities given below depending on what you have, and of course, to taste.


Quick Jungle Curry
serves 2

400 ml weak pork (or chicken) stock
40g red curry paste (about 2 tbsp + 2 tsp)
½ tsp galangal paste
½ tsp ginger, grated
1 birds eye chilli, finely sliced
300g pork (I used fillet), sliced thinly
5 tsp fish sauce
½ tsp sugar
75g tinned bamboo shoot (mine came in strips)
100g baby corn, cut in half length-ways
50g shitake mushrooms, sliced
75g green beans, cut in half
4-5 kaffir lime leaves
10 basil leaves

Heat up a wok and add in the stock, red curry paste, galangal, chilli & ginger. Bring to the boil, stirring to combine.

Reduce heat to a simmer and add the beans and babycorn.

Cook the veg for a minute then add the pork and cook for another minute.

Add the fish sauce and sugar. Stir to mix then gently stir in the bamboo shoot, mushrooms and kaffir leaves into the wok. 

Cover the wok and bring to boil. Turn the heat to medium and let it cook for 5-6 minutes. Add in the basil leaves. Give it a quick stir and cook for 2 minutes. Serve with jasmine rice.

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Peppered Fillet Steak with Artichoke & Sunblush Tomato Salad

This is adapted from a recipe I saw on the BBC Good Food website - they had said to use grilled marinated artichoke hearts (so feel free to do so) but instead I used half a tin of artichoke hearts in brine, rinsed, drained and quartered them, then added a couple of bits from a jar of marinated then drizzled over some of the oil from the jar.

The artichokes were then roasted in a preheated oven at about 200C for around 30 minutes. The result was delicious home-roasted artichokes, slightly crisp & charred in places with lovely creamy centres.

I also got a couple of pieces of excellent beef fillet from The Ginger Pig in Borough Market. Really then this is a fairly “special occasion” meal owing to the cost of the fillet but hey I was then due to be off work for 4 days so that was cause for celebration enough.

Peppered Fillet Steak with Artichoke & Sunblush Tomato Salad
serves 2

2 fillet steaks (about 140g each)
1 tbsp dried pink peppercorn, crushed slightly using a pestle & mortar
good quality extra virgin olive oil
250g grilled baby artichoke hearts, quartered (see note above)
85g mixed salad leaves
100g grilled peppers
10 SunBlush tomatoes
good quality balsamic vinegar

Heat oven to 180C.

Season the beef with salt, then rub in the crushed peppercorns. Heat a sauté or frying pan over a medium high heat and when hot add a small splash of oil. Sear the steaks for 1 minute each side then place on a roasting tray and put in the oven for 5-8 mins.

Remove, wrap tightly in foil, then leave to rest while making the salad.

Put the salad leaves in a bowl with the peppers, artichokes and tomatoes and drizzle in a little olive oil.

Season and toss around then arrange on plates and drizzle some balsamic over the top.

Remove beef from the foil and slice.

Arrange the slices of fillet on the plates alongside the salad and serve.

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Navarin Printanier

I’m really not sure what spurred me on to make this: yes, it is something I’ve wanted to cook for some time but that is the case with dozens, hundreds probably, of recipes or recipe ideas that I have stored in various ways.

I’m presuming therefore that as, at time of writing, it was late Spring and I just decided that what better thing to cook one Saturday was this so very traditional French Spring dish of lamb casserole cooked with Spring vegetables.

A bouquet garni, in case you didn’t know, is a bundle of herbs, either tied together with culinary string or tied together in a little muslin bag used in the preparation of soups, stews and the like.

There is no generic recipe for bouquet garni, but most include bay. I also used parsley and rosemary (natch, it is lamb after all) as, frankly, that was all I had but you could add thyme as well.

A quick note about pearl onions - it is simply a pain in the bum to peel these silly mini onions but there are a couple of ways that make the process easier. The first is to bring some water to a boil in a saucepan then drop in the onions and boil for 3 minutes. Drain them and under a slowly running cold tap water, peel them using a knife to cut off the root tip. The alternative is to place them in a microwave for 15-30 seconds and then peel the same way. Easy peasy.


Navarin Printanier
serves 2-3

400g boneless lamb neck fillet, cut into 3-4cm chunks, dusted with seasoned flour
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6-7 pearl onions, peeled, left whole
6-7 baby carrots, trimmed, peeled and halved (or left whole if thin)
2-3 young turnips, trimmed, peeled and halved or quartered depending on size
55g fine green beans, trimmed
40g frozen peas
50g broad beans
1-2 tbsp olive oil
15g butter
500ml - 750ml lamb (or beef) stock
100ml white wine
bouquet garni (I used 1 rosemary sprig, 3 parsley sprigs & 1 bay leaf)
2 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tbsp flour
½ tbsp picked parsley leaves, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 175C.

Heat the oil & brown the lamb in batches in a large sauté pan, sprinkling a little sugar over as you do. Place the browned lamb in a cast iron casserole.

Add the garlic to the sauté pan and let sizzle for a minute or two.

Add the wine and boil to burn off the alcohol, then add the tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly then stir in the tomato puree and pour in the stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then pour over the meat in the casserole. Add the bouquet garni.

Cover & cook in the oven for about an hour to 1¼ hours. Remove from the oven and add the all the vegetables except the beans and peas. Cover and return to the oven for a further 45 minutes.

Fifteen minutes or so before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the beans. Cook for 5 minutes then drain. Take the casserole out of the oven, add the beans as well as the peas.

Return to the oven for 10 minutes until the meat & vegetables are tender.

Discard the bouquet garni, season carefully with salt and pepper to taste and serve in bowls sprinkled with chopped parsley and crusty bread alongside.

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Sherry & Butter Baked Cod

A super simple recipe that I got from Food52 - an excellent site as I have mentioned before where you can find lots of interesting recipes.

You need a couple of firm fleshed white fish fillets - I’ve used cod purely because I couldn’t get to a fishmonger and supermarkets are very boring when it comes to fish but if you can get to a good fishmonger ask him for something in season and sustainable. Other than that this just uses 5 other ingredients.

I’ve served with some crushed and slightly roasted new potatoes and some green veg but really have whatever you fancy as long as it helps soak up the lovely buttery boozy juices.

By the way, I’m not going to include an ingredients photo as usual as, well, it’s fish, butter and sherry.


Baked Cod with Butter & Sherry
serves 2

2 cod fillets
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
25g unsalted butter
2 tbsp dry sherry (about 30ml)
½ tbsp finely chopped parsley
Heat the oven to 200°C.

Grease the bottom of a casserole or baking dish just large enough to hold the fillets in a single layer with some butter or olive oil and then arrange the fillets, sprinkled with a little salt and pepper in an even layer on top.

Dot the tops of the fillets with butter and sprinkle over sherry and parsley.

Bake for about 12 minutes per inch of thickness - you can check that they are done by cutting into a fillet at the thickest part to see if it's opaque inside and pulls apart.

Place the fillets on pre-warmed hot plates, spoon over the melted butter and juices in the bottom of the pan and serve immediately.

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