Leftover chipolata, squash and chickpea stew

This one was another result of needing to do something with a random ingredient, in this case it was six cooked chipolatas that were donated by my housemate. We are on a bit of an economy drive at the moment so I decided to raid the fridge/cupboards and see what I could do with it. I then remembered this cheeky little recipe passed on from a friend and thought I'd adapt it. Voila, this awesome concoction was born.

Feel free to use larger cooked sausages for this, it just so happens that my housemate is a fan of the smaller ones - so many jokes, not enough time. This one does take a bit longer than the normal recipes I post, but it is damn nice so it's worth the wait for sure. Also, if you're in the arms of a hairy vegetarian, leave out the sausages and you will be on a fast track to pound town my friend. 

How it's done

This one is pretty much made up from cupboard staples like chopped tomatoes, stock cubes, chickpeas... 'Wait, did he just say chickpeas?!' I hear you scream. Well yes, I did. Stop being a little bitch about everything and make sure you ALWAYS have a can of these bad boys in the cupboard because they are an awesome utility ingredient for all sorts of things, including a fantastic little curry recipe I have coming up for you.

• Cooked sausages
• A butternut squash
• Garlic clove
• Dried thyme
• An onion
• Some fresh coriander
• 20g sultanas (these aren't a complete necessity but add great flavour)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• A small red chilli
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 160g cous cous
• Fat free yoghurt

This is all very straight forward, if a little time consuming. Peel and chop up the squash (I can't be arsed with the fat end that has all the pips and shit, I just use the top part), you want it in small chunks around 2cm. Throw the squash into a roasting tin with a good amount of olive oil, the dried thyme and a clove of garlic that you've crushed with your bare hands. No seriously, just get a garlic clove (don't worry about taking the skin off) and put it on the counter before slamming your fist down on to it just to crack it so all the awesome flavours will come out. Get this into an oven on 200C for about 40 minutes. 

Peel the onion and finely dice it up before putting it into a reasonably large pan with some olive oil, the sultanas (if you want them), the de-seeded and chopped chilli, the cinnamon and the roughly chopped stalks of the coriander. Stick a lid on top and cook this for around 20 minutes, stirring every now and then, along with adding some boiling water here and there to keep it moist and stop it burning. 

Then add the roasted squash, can of tomatoes and chickpeas (drain half of the juice out of the can but be sure to add some to the pan). Pour in 300ml of boiling water and crumble in the stock cube. Leave this simmering for around 30-40 minutes on a medium heat with the lid off, until the liquid reduces and the stew thickens.

When the stew has about 15 minutes to go, stick the cous cous into a large bowl and just enough boiling water to cover it. Get a plate on top and leave it to soak up the water. Just before the stew is done, fluff up the cous cous with a fork and season well. 

That's it, all done. Put the cous cous on the plates and then get the stew on top. Lob on a bit of the yoghurt and sprinkle the whole thing with chopped coriander leaves

Tartiflette

Yes, I know it is weird to be posting this rich, awesome, French mountain food as the weather starts to get warmer but this weekend I was craving it. I spent some time working in the Alps as a chalet host, and this dish was something that I never got bored of during the four months I was out there. For some reason, on this warm early Summer's day in England, I fancied tartiflette and all of it's cheesy, gooey, creamy goodness. 

You might want to save this for a freezing cold Winter's day so feel free to keep it in the back pocket until then. Whenever you do choose to use it, however, you can be sure that the Mrs will also be in your back pocket as a result. There's nothing to not like in this dish - unless you're vegetarian, allergic to dairy or simply just don't like awesome food. 

Literally every ingredient in this meal is good: from the cream to the bacon to the potatoes to the white wine. What's not to love? Get involved.

How it's done

I've adapted this recipe to make single portions rather than one big one like they tend to do in France, but they key thing is to find the right cheese. I've only found it in Waitrose in the UK so that's a heads up, but you might be able to find it elsewhere. 

• 1kg Charlotte potatoes
• 250g bacon lardons
• 1 onion
• Garlic
• 100ml white wine
• 200ml double cream
• Half round of reblochon cheese

This one is super easy. Get the oven on to 200C and then stick the potatoes into a pan of salted, boiling water for 5-10 minutes. While they are bubbling away, dice up the onion and fry that in a little oil with the lardons and crushed garlic. Once the onion has gone a nice, golden brown throw in the white wine to deglaze the pan. Leave that cooking until the wine has evaporated.

Drain the potatoes and once they have cooled enough to touch, slice them thinly. Then in each of your dishes put a layer of potatoes, season them and then throw some of the bacon, onion and garlic mixture on top and repeat until you've nearly filled it up. Pour over half of the cream and top it off with the cheese - slice it through the middle and lie it so that the rind is facing up. 

 Stick into the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling. Serve with a side salad the rest of the wine (in a glass you dope!). Bonjour tout le monde!

Chicken and spinach pasta with toasted pine nuts

Firstly let me apologise for the short break away but what can I say, I've been enjoying the fruits of my labour... I don't just say this stuff for fun guys, this shit works! I've still been cooking, but just haven't been able to take shots and get things written - I promise to be better if you'll stick with me!

This one is something I put together a few years ago and still gets a great reaction when I pull it out of the bag. It's perfect (if you ignore the bacon lardons that I snuck into this version) for when the Mrs is on a diet and you need protein for your gym regime. With the pine nuts and spinach, I've also thrown in a few superfoods as well. Aren't you lucky?!

There's a lot of ingredients going on here but they all combine to make something awesome - mark my words. 

How it's done

If she (and/or you) are on a health kick then it might be best to leave the lardons out but, since I'm not and think they add a nice amount of flavour, I didn't.

• Pine nuts
• Chicken fillets
• Bacon lardons (your call)
• Garlic
• Red onion
• Mushrooms
• Cherry or plum tomatoes
• Balsamic vinegar
• Ground nutmeg
• Spinach
• Whole wheat spaghetti

This is all pretty straightforward. The first thing you have to do is toast the pine nuts in a DRY pan. Dry means dry guys, no oil or anything required. Literally get a frying pan on a medium heat and throw them in. Keep giving them a toss and after a couple of minutes they will start to brown. Once they go, the go quickly so keep an eye on them. Once they have some colour, get them out of the pan and into a bowl for later. At this point stick the spaghetti into some boiling water with a bit of olive oil to keep it separated. Leave that going whilst you do the rest.

Next, dice up the onion and mushrooms and lob them into a large frying pan (or wok) with the garlic, which should be crushed or finely chopped, and some olive oil. Fry for a few minutes or until the onions get soft and then throw in the diced chicken breast.

Keep this awesome little mixture cooking until the chicken is cooked through. At this point add the tomatoes which you will have halved. They will start to soften and break up to create a little bit of a sauce. Next add in a shit load of spinach. It will fill the pan and you will freak out, but it will wilt into next to nothing very quickly. 

When the spinach has wilted, add a large lug of balsamic vinegar and a dash of nutmeg. Cannot believe I just used the word dash. Moving on quickly... Leave everything in the pan to cook down and reduce for a few minutes.

Drain and plate the spaghetti before adding the chicken and spinach mixture on top. Throw on the toasted pine nuts and you are golden. If you happen to be fancy like me and have some balsamic glaze then great but it's not a necessity. Enjoy...

.

Sticky honey and soy pork

Sweet and sticky are the two words that best describe this dish, one that was borne out of not having a lot of ingredients available to me one day. I've never been a fan of pork, unless it's in bacon or ham form, and my heart fell when the housemate brought some home one evening expecting me to do something amazing with it. I came up with this and, suffice to say, it was awesome. 

Trust me when I say that the woman in your life, or the one you want in your life, will not be able to resist you once you've put this in front of her. It's the sort of meal that leaves her eyes rolling in pleasure and emitting sounds that will have the neighbours wondering what the hell you're doing to her.

How it's done

I like to serve this with a sweet potato mash so if you want to do that then the first thing you've got to do is get them peeled and cut into small cubes. Get them in a pan with some salt and boil for around 15 minutes or until mashable. 

You can use whatever sort of pork you like (just adjust the cooking time to suit) but for this I like to use a nice slab of boneless loin. A medium thickness pork loin will take about 10 minutes to do so make sure you get your timings right. I also added some broccoli here but enough of the hand holding, make your own fucking decision about what you have with it. For two people you need:

• 2 boneless loins
• Some olive oil
• Soy sauce
• Honey
• Chilli powder 
• A clove of garlic

Season both sides of the pork with salt and pepper and then add to a frying pan that is already hot and contains lug of olive oil. Depending on the thickness of your loin (that was a difficult phrase to type) you'd want to cook this for about 4-5 minutes on the first side. Crush in the garlic clove when the first side of pork has about a minute left and then turn the loins over. 

At this point throw in equal measures of the honey and soy (probably around 3 tablespoons of each depending on how much sauce you want - believe me it's so good that you'll want a decent amount). Sprinkle over a pinch of chilli powder and move the loins around in the pan to combine the sauce ingredients, then leave it bubbling away for 5-6 minutes. 

The sauce will start to bubble up and the smell will be immense. As it starts to caramelise, just turn the loins over so each side is nicely coated. At this point you can leave the pork for a minute to make your mash. I love to finely chop up some fresh rosemary and add it to the sweet potato before mashing, along with a knob of butter. Perfect. 

Get the loins out of the pan and onto the plate before drizzling over the remaining sauce and there you have it, a dish that will have her begging for more both in the kitchen and upstairs. Unless you live in a bungalow which, if you do, you need more help than my recipes can give my friend...