CHICKEN, CHORIZO & CHICKPEA STEW

After living in Madrid for a year I got an addiction to chorizo that I've not quite fully recoved from yet. This is one of the most delicious, heartwarming dishes that leaves you completly satisfied but still wanting more! The flavours really complement each other perfectly and its an absolute dream when enjoyed with good friends and a bottle of red wine

Chicken, chorizo and chickpea stew

Chicken thighs

Chickpeas

Chirizo

Onion

Garlic

Red wine

Chopped tomatoes

Chicken stock

Bay leaf

Brown off the chicken skin on the thighs in a pan, add chopped garlic, onion & chorizo. Turn down heat and add chicken stock, slowly simmer for 2-3 mins. Add tomatoes, red wine and chickpeas and bring to boil to reduce sauce for 5-10 mins. Turn down heat and add bay leaf and leave to simmer for an hour. ENJOY with a big honk of crusty bread & a large glass of red wine!

PIZZA PERFECTION

Dough, glorious dough, why do you taunt me so! No real introduction needed, just a sheer love and appreciation of a bloody good pizza. DE-LI-CIOUS. I have died and gone to pizza heaven.

Dough

1 kg white bread flour or Tipo '00' flour

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 x 7 g dried yeast sachets

1 tablespoon golden caster sugar

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

650 ml lukewarm water

Sieve the flour and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough. Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.  Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in clingfilm, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straight away, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas – this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.

Tomato Sauce

olive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked and torn

3 x 400 g good-quality tinned plum tomatoes

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Place a large non-stick frying pan on the heat and pour in 4 generous lugs of olive oil. Add the garlic, shake the pan around a bit and, once the garlic begins to colour lightly, add the basil and the tomatoes. Using the back of a wooden spoon, mush and squash the tomatoes as much as you can.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper. As soon as it comes to the boil, remove the pan from the heat. Strain the sauce through a coarse sieve into a bowl, using your wooden spoon to push any larger bits of tomato through. Discard the basil and garlic that will be left in the sieve, but make sure you scrape any of the tomatoey goodness off the back of the sieve into the bowl. Pour the sauce back into the pan, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes to concentrate the flavours. It will be ready when it's the perfect consistency for spreading on your pizza. 

I decided to top my pizza with mozzarella (torn not chopped) and anchovies (because anchovies are delicious). The rest is really up to you! ENJOY! 

KEY LIME PIE

Why are limes the most goddamn delicious thing on this planet? This recipe has limes & biscuits!! It seriously yummy. Bowl lickingly good! 

Key Lime Pie

• 300g Hob Nobs
• 150g butter, melted
• 1 x 397g tin condensed milk
• 3 medium egg yolks
• finely grated zest and juice of 4 limes
• 300ml double cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar
• extra lime zest, to decorate
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• Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Whizz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor (or put in a strong plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin). Mix with the melted butter and press into the base and up the sides of a 22cm loose-based tart tin. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and cool. Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk for a minute with electric beaters. Add the condensed milk and whisk for 3 minutes then add the zest and juice and whisk again for 3 minutes. Pour the filling into the cooled base then put back in the oven for 15 minutes. Cool then chill for at least 3 hours or overnight if you like. When you are ready to serve, carefully remove the pie from the tin and put on a serving plate. To decorate, softly whip together the cream and icing sugar. Dollop or pipe the cream onto the top of the pie and finish with extra lime zest.

Diets not allowed. Calorie me up. 

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CHINESE FEAST - Chinese Braised Beef, Chilli Bok Choi and Marinaded Beansprouts

Chinese food is so disgustingly tasty that I want to put my head in a whole bowl of noodles and smother myself in soy. Im in love with this dish as it provides all the soft elegant fragrances of Chinese food but there is enough sticky juices to satisfy your craving for naughty 'takeaway' food. This dish is a perfect saturday night dinner party favourite.

Chinese Braised Beef

• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• good thumb-size piece fresh root ginger, peeled and shredded
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 1½ kg braising beef
• 2 tbsp plain flour, well seasoned
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 2 star anise 
• 2 tsp light muscovado sugar (or use whatever you've got)
• 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, plus more to serve
• 500ml Beef Stock
• steamed bok choi 
• Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large, shallow casserole. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and chilli for 3 mins until soft and fragrant. Tip onto a plate. Toss the beef in the flour, add 1 tbsp more oil to the pan, then brown the meat in batches, adding the final tbsp oil if you need to. Add the five-spice and star anise (if using) to the pan, tip in the gingery mix, then fry for 1 min until the spices are fragrant. Add the sugar, then the beef and stir until combined. Keep the heat high, then splash in the wine scraping up any meaty bits. Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Pour in the soy and stock (it won’t cover the meat completely), bring to a simmer, then tightly cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 1½-2 hrs, stirring the meat halfway through. The meat should be very soft, and any sinewy bits should have melted away. Season with more soy. Nestle the cooked bok choi into the pan, then bring to the table.

Chilli Bok Choi

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 heads bok choi, split in half lengthways
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
• Heat the oil in a wok, add the garlic and fry for 2 mins. Tip in the bok choi and stir well over the heat for 4 mins until it wilts. Pour in the oyster sauce, soy and 50ml water. Simmer for a further 3 mins, then scatter over the chilli to serve.

Marinaded Beansprouts

  Bag of Beansprouts

  

  Oyster Sauce

  Honey

  Soy

  Really simply heat the honey, soy and oyster sauce in a pan for 3 minutes then add the beansprouts and cover with the sauce and then cook for a further 3 minutes. Serve. 

Serve all these dishes with rice and noodles and wear stretchy pants. De-li-cious.

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