recipes

• Trim any fat from the thighs and cut the flesh into bite-sized pieces.
• Remove the coarse outer layers from the lemon grass and trim the top and base.
• Chop the rest – the softer bit of the lemon grass – as finely as you can.
• Put half of this into a bowl with the fish sauce, caster sugar, half the chillies, all the garlic and the chopped chicken.
• Mix together with your hands, cover with cling film and put into the fridge.
• Leave to marinate for at least four hours; overnight is even better.
• Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
• Heat the oil in a wide-based saucepan or a wok set over a medium heat.
• Add the chicken and cook on all sides, getting a really good colour all over it.
• Add the reserved chillies, reserved lemon grass and the onion and stir-fry until the onion starts to soften.
• Be careful not to burn the chillies or the lemon grass.
• Pour in the stock, then reduce the heat, cover and allow the chicken to cook for about five minutes.
• Remove the lid, increase the heat and continue to cook until the liquid is reduced.
• You want a mixture that is wetter than a stir-fry but drier than a braise.
• Add lime juice to taste, then check for seasoning and sweet-sour balance, adjusting with sugar and lime.
• Sprinkle with the amaranth leaves or coriander and sesame seeds, if you like, and serve with brown rice and stir-fried greens.

• Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
• Halve the potatoes unless they are really small.
• Trim the chicken joints of any scraggy bits of skin or fat to make them neat.
• Put the potatoes and the garlic into a big shallow ovenproof dish (I use a shallow cast-iron pan that measures 30cm/12in across).
• It has to be big enough to take the chicken in a single layer; you don’t want the joints to be piled on top of each other or they won’t crisp and brown properly.
• Add the joints, season and pour over the oil and balsamic.
• Toss with your hands to coat everything in a little oil then arrange so the chicken pieces are lying skin side up.
• Season the chicken with sea salt so that it crisps the skin and roast for 40–45 minutes in the hot oven.
• You need to move the potatoes around a little halfway through cooking, so they don’t get more colour on one side than the other.

Meanwhile, prepare the butter.

• Either pound the butter in a mortar and pestle, or beat in a small bowl with a wooden spoon, with all the other ingredients.
• Once everything is mixed together, put it in the fridge to firm up, then mold it into a sausage shape, wrap in cling film or greaseproof paper and return it to the fridge until you need it.
• Serve the chicken and potatoes in the dish in which they were cooked with rounds of the butter melting over the top.
• A green salad or roast onions would be good on the side.
• And actually pickled pears (or pear chutney) are rather good with this, too.

• Put the chicken and breadcrumbs into a bowl.
• Remove the coarse outer layers from the lemon grass and trim the top and base.
• Chop the rest – the softer bit of the lemon grass – as finely as you can.
• Add this to the chicken with the onion, garlic, ginger, lime zest, fish sauce, coriander and sugar.
• Mix everything together well with your hands (it really is the best way to incorporate it all).
• Shape into six patties and put them on a baking sheet.
• Cover with cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow them to firm up a little.
• Remove and discard the coarse central core from each of the cabbages and shred the leaves finely.
• Put into a bowl with the carrots, radishes and herbs.
• Make the dressing by mixing the fish sauce, lime juice and rice vinegar together in a cup with the caster sugar; whisk to encourage the sugar to dissolve.
• Add the chilli.
• Throw this over the vegetables in the bowl.
• Heat a griddle pan and brush the burgers on each side with a little oil.
• (You can also fry the burgers, just heat the oil in a frying pan instead.
• ) Cook the burgers over a medium heat at first, then over a lower heat once they’re coloured, for five minutes on each side.
• Take a peek into the middle of one (use the point of a sharp knife) to check that the chicken is cooked all the way through, with no trace of pink.
• Serve the burgers with the slaw, either with brown rice on the side (the healthy option) or in lightly buttered buns with mayonnaise or your favourite chilli sauce (or both).
• I like them in a bun with mayo, chopped pickled chilli and pickled ginger.

• Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
• Trim the skin on the chicken so it just covers them (you just want to get rid of those straggly bits).
• Slice each onion half into large half-moon shaped wedges (about 1.
• 5cm/¾in thick at their thickest).
• Heat the oil in an ovenproof dish that can hold all the chicken in a single layer.
• Season the chicken and brown it on all sides over a medium-high heat, just to colour it, not cook it through.
• Remove the chicken and pour away all but 1 tbsp of fat.
• Add the onions and cook for about four minutes, season and return the chicken, skin side up.
• Make sure both chicken and the onions are quite moist with fat.
• Put into the oven for 20 minutes.
• Heat the wine in a small pan and add the prunes.
• Simmer for two minutes, then add the garlic and the cassis (if using; I just like the extra fruity taste it imparts), then set aside.
• To make the herb crust, put the parsley, salt flakes (and some pepper) and the garlic into a mortar and pestle and pound together.
• Or just chop the parsley and garlic finely and season.
• In either case, mix to a rough paste with the breadcrumbs and olive oil, then add the brandy.
• When the chicken has cooked for 20 minutes, turn the onions to colour on the other side, dot the prunes among them and pour in the wine.
• Cook for 10 minutes, then spread the herb paste over the chicken.
• Cook for another 10 minutes.
• The wine should be reduced and the prunes plump.

• You can make the corn cake batter well in advance.
• Simply put the first six ingredients into a food processor and, using the pulse button so the corn gets chopped rather than puréed, mix everything together.
• Stir in the chillies and spring onions and season to taste.
• Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
• For the chicken, mix the spices, olive oil, sugar, butter and mustard together with some seasoning.
• Season the joints, then spread the spice paste all over.
• Put the chicken in a roasting tin and cook in the hot oven for 40 minutes.
• Baste every so often with the cooking juices.
• It is cooked when the juices in the thickest part run clear, with no trace of pink.
• Meanwhile, halve the avocados and remove the stones.
• Scoop out the flesh and put it in a bowl.
• Crush it very roughly with a fork or pestle, but don’t mash it.
• It should still have some structure.
• Gently stir in the other ingredients.
• They shouldn’t completely blend together, that way you meet contrasting flavours as you eat it.
• Just before you’re going to serve the chicken, heat some groundnut oil in a frying pan and, once it’s hot, spoon dollops of the corn cake batter into the pan (about 7.5cm/3in across is a good size).
• Once each cake has set underneath, flip it over and cook until golden on the other side.

• Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
• Mash the Dijon mustard with the tarragon and butter until it is well mixed together.
• Put the chicken into a roasting tin (or ovenproof serving dish) and brush or spoon on the mustard mixture.
• Season, then press on the breadcrumbs.
• Roast in the hot oven for 35 minutes.
• The chicken should be cooked through.
• Check this by piercing the flesh near the bone, with the tip of a sharp knife, in one of the larger joints.
• The juices should run clear with no trace of pink.
• If not, cook for a few minutes more then test again.
• The top should be a lovely golden colour.
• Serve immediately with the cooking juices that have gathered round the chicken, some boiled waxy potatoes and a green salad or green beans.

• Put each breast between two pieces of greaseproof paper and, using a rolling pin, bash them to a thickness of about 5mm (¼in), but don’t bash so hard that they break up.
• Season.
• Wrap a slice of Parma ham round each chicken escalope and put a sage leaf on top.
• Some people secure the ham and sage with a cocktail stick but, once you have dusted the chicken in flour and fried it, the sage does stay in place.
• Lightly dust the escalopes on both sides with the flour.
• Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan.
• Cook the chicken over a medium heat for about three and a half minutes on each side.
• Check the flesh of the chicken to see whether it’s cooked or not: if you stick the tip of a sharp knife into a breast, the juice that runs out should be clear with no trace of pink.
• Remove and keep warm.
• Add the Marsala to the pan and bubble it away over a high heat until thickened and reduced by about half.
• Taste for seasoning and serve poured over the chicken.
• Rosemary- or thyme-flavoured potatoes, either sautéed or roasted with olive oil, are lovely on the side, as are some simple greens.

• Put the chicken in a shallow dish.
• Mix together the sugar, thyme, oregano, spices, 4 tbsp of the regular oil, both the citrus juices and salt and pepper and pour this marinade over the chicken.
• Turn the chicken round to coat well, then cover and marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• Bring it to room temperature before you cook it.
• For the pesto, put the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan and place over a medium heat.
• Stir for a couple of minutes, or until they turn a shade darker and smell a little toasted (this method also works for spice seeds and nuts).
• Put in a food processor with all the other ingredients except the chilli.
• Blend to a rough purée.
• Scrape into a bowl, stir in the chilli and set aside until you want to use it.
• When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
• Transfer the chicken, skin side up, to a roasting tin or a large, broad, shallow ovenproof dish.
• Dot the pumpkin wedges around the chicken.
• Brush the pumpkin with the remaining 2 tbsp of regular oil and season.
• Put into the hot oven and cook for 40 minutes, basting every so often.
• Check the flesh of the chicken to see whether it’s cooked or not: if you stick the tip of a sharp knife into the underside of a thick joint, the juice that runs out should be clear with no trace of pink.
• Serve with some pesto spooned over (offer the rest on the side) and scatter with crumbled feta and sprigs of coriander and some more chilli, if you want.

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
• Heat the oil in a small ovenproof frying pan that can fit the thighs and morcilla snugly in a single layer.
• Season the chicken and brown on both sides just for colour, not to cook it through.
• Take out of the pan and set aside.
• Add the morcilla to the pan and cook it lightly on both sides, then remove it, too, and set aside with the chicken.
• If there’s a lot of fat in the pan, pour all but 1 tbsp of it off.
• Don’t wash the pan or try to dislodge any bits stuck to it; there’s flavour there.
• Add the onion to the pan and colour it lightly; you don’t need it to soften.
• Deglaze the pan with the sherry, scraping the base with a wooden spoon to remove all the flavoursome scraps, then return the chicken and morcilla.
• Bake in the hot oven for 40 minutes; if you stick the tip of a sharp knife into the underside of one of the thighs, the juices that run out should be clear with no trace of pink; if the chicken is not quite ready, cook for a few minutes more, then test again.
• There should still be sherry left in the pan, now mixed with the cooking juices.
• If there isn’t, and the pan is quite dry, add 3½ tbsp more and stir it into the rest.
• Put the pan over a medium heat (be sure to hold the handle with a tea towel or an oven glove) and pour in the cream, heating it until it bubbles.
• Sprinkle with the pine nuts and parsley and serve immediately.

• Place crackers in a large bowl; set aside.
• Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and stir to mix.
• Pour over crackers; gently stir and let stand overnight.
• May also be spread on a baking sheet
• and baked at 250 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Store in an airtight container.