chicken and egg curry

More pampering! The kids weren't likely to eat an egg curry so some chicken thighs were roasted and added. Without the chicken it would have still been amazing, with really interesting textures and the heartiness that lentils always bring to the table. The recipe will be for the egg curry but it's easy to add the chicken if anyone can't get their head around the idea of eggs in the dish.

ingredients:
(serves 3-4)

• 1 onion (sliced)
• 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• a few mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 red pepper (cored and chopped)
• a handful of red lentils
• a handful of puy lentils
• 4 eggs (hard boiled, shelled and cut in half)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• most of a tsp of turmeric
• half a tsp of cinnamon 
• 4 cardamon pods (crushed)
• 1.5 pts of chicken stock
• a knob of butter
• sunflower oil
• a handful of chopped fresh coriander

method

1. fry the onions, long and slow before adding the garlic, mushrooms and pepper
2. add the dried spices and cook out on the lowest temperature, adding a bit more butter if necessary
3. add the lentils and stir it all together
4. add most of the stock and the bay leaf. Simmer for 40 minutes or so, adding more stock if needed, stirring occasionally
5. add the eggs and leave to rest, off the heat for about an hour
6. Bring back to heat, being careful not to break the eggs up
7. serve, when piping hot, garnished with the fresh coriander

fish pie

A mix of salmon, cod, smoked haddock and prawns - cooked into a cream and Chardonnay sauce, flavoured with fresh dill. Heaped mashed potato, capped with Mature Cheddar and Parmesan cheese. Baked in the oven until the cheese has browned but not so long that the poatato is super heated (I hate that!) I'd love to say the kids ate it but they had fish fingers. When will they learn?

Morrocan vegetable stew

This delicious vegetable stew is inspired by a fantastic meal at a restaurant on Old Brompton Road in London, 'Cous Cous Darma'. We had it served with pan fried sea bass fillets and a mixed grill. It was described as a 'lovely vegetable stew to moisten the cous cous'. It was. I served it with a shoulder of lamb smothered in Ras-el-hanout (a Moroccan spice mix), roasted with whole garlic. The flavour was very close to the version we had in London and the perfect match to any roast meat or fish or just on it's own with cous cous. i always used 'easy' cous cous made with butter and chicken stock.

Ingredients
(serves 4)

• 1 red onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• 1 hot green chilli
• a few potatoes (cut into about 1 inch pieces)
• 1 courgette (cored and chopped into 1 inch pieces)
• 1 carrot (as above)
• 1 green pepper (as above)
• 2 tomatoes (as above)
• about a pint and a half of chicken or vegetable stock
• a few black olives
• the rind from 1 preserved lemon (sliced quite finely)
• 2 tsps ground cumin
• 2 tsps sweet paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1 pinch of saffron
• a bunch of coriander (chopped)
• 1 bay leaf
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. sweat the onion and garlic before adding the vegetables for a further 5 minutes, on a low heat with the spices (except saffron)
2. add the stock, saffron and bay leaf
3. simmer for about 40 minutes or so, until the potatoes are softish
4. add the olives and tomatoes
5. simmer for a further 5 minutes
6. then it can be turned off and left to be reheated or throw in the coriander and serve

What I couldn't recreate was the amazingly dry, crisp Moroccan rose wine that we were served with the meal at Cous Cous Darma.

kebabs

Lamb kofte and tandoori style chicken kebabs

smoked haddock with rice and potatoes

beetroot, fennel and walnut salad

ingredients
(serves 4 as a side dish)

• a small handful of walnuts
• 1/2 a bulb of fennel
• 2 boiled beetroot
• fresh mint
• red wine vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. cut all the ingredients to size
2. whisk the vinegar and oil to emulsify
3. slice (rather than chop) the mint
4. combine the beetroot, fennel, walnuts and mint
5. toss in the dressing

fennel, onion and radish salad

Doctor Who in the background - children quiet. I didn't even bother to suggest that they try this since this kind of salad is probably 'not for them'.
This plate was a reward for trudging around a woeful car-boot sale, looking for Nintendo Gamecube games that the middle boy has to have but will rarely play. I'm glad I went though since the plate was the inspiration for the salad which was very nice indeed with roast chicken and new potatoes. It is delicious with fish too and, in my opinion, almost anything else! Ruth just slipped in that she has just finished the left overs, making it 'serves 2' when it could feed a couple more!

Ingredients:

serves 4

• one red onion (finely sliced)
• 1/2 a bulb of fennel (cored and finely sliced)
• 6 or 8 radishes (finely sliced)
• fresh flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
• salt and pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 2/3 of a small lemon

1. combine the vegetables and parsley
2. make an emulsion of the lemon juice and oil by whisking - about 3 or 4 times as much oil as juice
3. combine the dressing with the vegetables
4. season, serve and eat