80. Chicken fajitas

Ingredients

For the chicken:
3 boneless chicken breasts, skin removed
2 limes, grated zest and rind
0.5 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp dried oregano
1.5 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the vegetables:
2 Onions, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 orange pepper, seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, seeds removed, thinly sliced
3 tbsp vegetable oil

For the tortillas:
250g plain flour, sifted
0.25 tsp Baking powder
1 pinch Salt
50g lard
60ml warm water

To serve:
guacamole
tomato salsa
Soured cream


Method

1. Slice the chicken breasts into strips, about 2cm wide, and place in a large bowl.

2. Add the lime rind and juice, the caster sugar, oregano, cayenne and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly and set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes - longer if you have the time.

3. Meanwhile, make the tortillas. Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

4. Rub in the lard, and pour in the water in a steady stream, until the mixture becomes a firm but pliable dough.

5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until smooth and elastic.

6. Divide the dough into 6 equal sized pieces and roll each piece out to make a 30cm circle. Cover with cling film to prevent them drying out.

7. Heat a large frying pan or griddle over a medium heat. Cook each tortilla for about 1 minute on each side, or until the surface begins to blister and turn golden. Keep the cooked tortillas warm and pliable by wrapping in a clean, dry tea towel.

8. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes, until tender.

9. Stir in the peppers and onions and cook for a further 3 - 4 minutes, until the chicken strips are cooked through and the vegetables are soft and tender.

10. Spoon the chicken mixture into a serving dish and bring to the table with the cooked tortillas, guacamole, salsa and soured cream. Keep the tortillas wrapped.

12. To serve, spread a little salsa over a warm tortilla and top with a spoonful of guacamole. Heap a tablespoon of the chicken mixture in the centre and finish with a dollop of soured cream. Fold the tortilla over the filling and serve straight away

Cook's Tip :
To make rolling out tortilla dough easier and quicker - place each dough ball between two sheets of baking parchment or cling film before rolling.

81. Gazpacho

Ingredients

1 green pepper, chopped
half Cucumber, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
1kg Tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
2 tbsp White wine
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
small bunch fresh basil leaves, chopped
small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
small bunch tarragon, chopped
salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 slice stale white bread, crusts removed
3 tbsp Olive oil
crushed ice


Method

1. Place the chopped pepper, onion, cucumber and celery for the soup into a large container or bowl.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes and pour over the wine, sherry vinegar, garlic and chopped herbs. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir to combine. Leave to marinade for about 2 hours in the fridge.

3. Meanwhile, make the croutons. Cut the bread into 1cm dice and gently fry in a little olive oil until crisp and golden. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper, then store in an airtight container until required.

4. To finish the soup, blitz the marinated vegetable mixture in a food processor until smooth. Break the stale bread into chunks and add this to the processor. Blitz again until the soup has a smooth consistency, then chill.

5. Just before serving, stir the olive oil into the soup. Put the ice into a clean food processor and blitz very briefly until slightly crushed. Place a little ice into each serving bowl and pour over the chilled soup. Serve immediately with the vegetable dice, herbs, croutons and chopped boiled egg.

82. Rice and spinach cake

Ingredients

For the red pepper salsa:
2 red peppers, diced
1 small red chilli, diced
2 limes, juice only
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp Honey

For the rice and spinach cake:
Butter, for greasing
600g Spinach, stems removed
200g Arborio rice
1 onion, finely chopped
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp grated Parmesan
100g soft goat's cheese
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Method

1. For the red pepper salsa: place all the ingredients together in a small bowl and mix well to combine. Set aside.

2. For the rice and spinach cake: Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Grease a round cake tin with butter

3. Rinse the spinach leaves in cold water, then place in a pan with a drop of olive oil and cook until soft. Remove from the pan, squeeze to get rid of excess liquid, and chop finely.

4. Cook the rice in a pan of water for 10 minutes, or until al dente, then drain.

5. Place the pan you used for the spinach back over the heat and add a drizzle of olive oil followed by the finely chopped onion, then lightly fry for 3-4 minutes until soft.

6. In a large bowl, mix together the spinach, onion, rice, eggs, parmesan, goats cheese and nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Press the rice and spinach mixture into the greased cake tin, place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

7. Divide the cake into portions and serve with the red pepper salsa.

83. Caramelised onion and lentil Wellington

Ingredients

150g red lentils
400ml water
2 tbsp Olive oil
3 Onions, chopped
1 tbsp Sugar
1 large unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest and juice
1 tbsp Rosemary, chopped
375g pre-rolled, ready-made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten


Method

1. Put the lentils in a small pan and add the water. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring frequently, until soft - about 15 minutes. You may have to add a little more water while cooking if they seem to be too dry, but don't add too much as the lentils should be thick. The resulting consistency should be like thick porridge. Stir some salt through the lentils cool. Chill in the fridge to firm up the lentils.

2. Heat a frying pan over a moderate heat and add the oil. Fry the onions, stirring frequently, until they start to turn golden. Add the sugar and cook until well caramelised. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.

3. Stir the onions through the lentils, adding the lemon zest and juice, rosemary and black pepper. Taste for seasoning. The mixture can be chilled and stored for up to 48 hours at this stage, until you're ready to cook the Wellington.

4. Lay the pastry flat on a baking sheet. Spoon the lentil mixture down the middle in a thick sausage shape, leaving a border at each end. Wrap the pastry around the filling and press the edges firmly together. Seal the ends of the Wellington. Roll the pastry over so the seam is underneath. Brush with beaten egg, then slash with a sharp knife several times diagonally.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until deep golden and puffed all over. Cool for a few minutes before slicing.

84. Melazane alla Parmegiana

Ingredients

2 round violet Aubergines, cut into 5cm slices
extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove
500g tomato passata
1 bunch Basil
100g grated Parmesan

Method

1. Sprinkle salt over each slice of aubergine and place in between two chopping boards. Place a heavy weight on top and leave for 2 hours. Wash and dry them thoroughly.

2. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and when smoking, fry the slices for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Drain on kitchen paper.

3. Pour some olive oil into a saucepan. Fry the garlic until it begins to colour. Add the tomato passata. Simmer gently for 45 minutes, then season with salt and pepper and allow to cool completely.

4. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

5. Arrange the slices of aubergine in a serving dish, spreading each with some of the tomato sauce, topping with basil leaves and grated parmesan as you go. bake for 20 minutes and serve hot.

85. Spaghetti with puttanesca sauce

Ingredients

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and chopped
6 salted or canned anchovies, chopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
450g ripe tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and sliced into strips
100g black olives, pitted and sliced
1 tbsp capers
350g dried spaghetti
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
finely grated Parmesan

Method

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil for the pasta.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the chilli, anchovies and garlic. Gently fry for 30 seconds, mashing the anchovies to a paste with a wooden spoon, and taking care not to let the garlic brown.

3. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the tomatoes, olives and capers. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

4. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions until 'al dente'.

5. Pour the sauce into a heated serving dish. Drain the pasta well and stir into the sauce.

6. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan.

86. Spaghetti vongole

Ingredients

1 packet spaghetti
4 tbsp Olive oil
2 Chillies
2 large Shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
500g clams
6 anchovy fillets
4 Tomatoes, chopped
250ml White wine
1 lemon, juice only
1 sprig Parsley, finely chopped


Method

1. Cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling salted water, according to the directions on the pack until just tender

2. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the chillies, shallots, garlic, clams and anchovy fillets for 1 minute.

3. Add the tomatoes, wine and lemon juice and bring to the boil.

4. Add the well-drained spaghetti and chopped parsley and toss through until evenly coated.

5. Serve at once with chilled wine.

87. Tomato baked mackerel

Ingredients

6 ripe tomatoes, de-seeded and diced:
2 Onions, chopped
5 sprigs of Thyme
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp Olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper
3 medium mackerel, filleted and then cut each fillet diagonally into 2

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas 3.

2. Mix together the tomatoes, onion, thyme, vinegar and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Layer the tomato mixture in a roasting tray.

3. Season the mackerel fillets with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the mackerel on top of the tomato mixture, skin side up. Drizzle over the remaining olive oil.

4. Cover the mackerel with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

5. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 5 minutes.

6. Serve hot from the oven.

88. Steamed mussels with tomato and tarragon

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1kg mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
2 tbsp dry white wine
30g unsalted Butter
60g Tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and finely chopped
5g tarragon, finely chopped

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the garlic.

2. Cook over a medium heat for about a minute to soften.

3. Add the mussels, turn up the heat and add the white wine.

4. Put a lid on the pan and cook for a few minutes until all the shells have opened, but only just. Stir the shells once or twice during cooking to distribute them evenly.

5. Remove from the heat and pour through a colander set over a bowl.

6. Keep the mussels warm while you transfer the liquor to a pan.

7. Heat until boiling, whisk in the butter then add the tomatoes and tarragon. Check the seasoning; it's always a good idea to leave seasoning to the end with shellfish because you never know how salty they are going to be.

8. Add salt if necessary and freshly ground black pepper.

9. Stir the mussels into the pan.

10. Serve with plenty of crusty bread or alternatively with a mound of al dente linguine pasta.

Cook's Note:
Make sure the mussels are tightly closed or close rapidly when tapped. Discard any mussels with broken shells.

89. Kedgeree

Ingredients

450g smoked haddock fillet
85g Butter
1 tbsp sunflower oil, or vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
170g Basmati rice, rinsed
0.5 tbsp curry paste, (mild)
140g frozen peas, thawed (or fresh in season)
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
2 tbsp Parsley, chopped
1 pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper

To serve:
6 lemon wedges, or lime wedges
1 jar mango chutney

Method

1. Cover the haddock with boiling water and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid.

2. Measure the soaking liquid and add enough water to make it up to 400ml. Skin and flake the haddock, removing any stray bones you come across, and set aside.

3. Melt 30g of the butter with the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook gently until softened but not browned.

4. Add the rice and the curry paste and stir for 1-2 minutes.

5. Pour in the measured cooking liquid, bring up to the boil then reduce heat down to a bare simmer and cover tightly.

6. Leave to cook, without disturbing for 8 minutes, and then stir in the flaked haddock and the peas.

7. Cover again and simmer for a further 4-5 minutes, until the rice is quite tender and has absorbed virtually all the liquid. If absolutely necessary, add a splash more hot water to prevent burning.

8. Draw the pan off the heat, dot the rice with remaining butter, and then cover and let it stand for 4 minutes or so.

9. Add the egg and parsley and stir in lightly with a fork, fluffing up the grains of rice. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt only if needed.

10. Pile up in a mound on a serving dish and serve steaming hot with lemon or lime wedges and plenty of mango chutney.