Goat's Cheese & Red Pepper Tart--Baking Recipes

Goat's Cheese & Red Pepper Tart

Ingredients

2 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
12 pitted black olives
2 red pepper (choose tapered, heart-shaped ones if possible)
200g ready-made shortcrust pastry
150-200g / 5-7oz log firm goat's cheese, such as Sainte-Maure de Touraine or Capricorn
250g cherry tomato
few oregano or basil leaves

Ingredients

2 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
12 pitted black olives
2 red pepper (choose tapered, heart-shaped ones if possible)
200g ready-made shortcrust pastry
150-200g / 5-7oz log firm goat's cheese, such as Sainte-Maure de Touraine or Capricorn
250g cherry tomato
few oregano
 or basil leaves

Method

1. Cook the onions in the oil for 6-7 mins, until they are softened and lightly coloured, then add the balsamic vinegar and 1 tbsp water. Cook for a further 2-3 mins. Roughly chop the olives and stir in. Leave to cool.

2. Halve the peppers, remove the seeds and core. Put under a hot grill, skin side up, until the skins are charred. Remove and put into a food bag until cool enough to handle, then peel off the skins.

3. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Roll out the pastry and line a 23-24cm deep flan tin. Line with baking paper and beans, then bake for 10 mins. Remove the paper and beans, then bake for 5 mins more, until the pastry is golden and crisp.

4. Spread the onion mix over the base of the pastry case. Put the halved peppers on top, cut side up with tapered ends towards the centre. Slice the goat’s cheese and put a few slices in each pepper half. Tuck the tomatoes in the gaps between the peppers.

5. Bake for 20-25 mins until the cheese is lightly tinged brown and the tomatoes have burst. Scatter over the herb leaves and serve warm or at room temperature.

Oriental Express--Baking Recipes

Oriental Express

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped into chunks

½ tsp Chinese 5-spice powder or ground ginger

300-340g packet fresh stir-fry vegetables

2 x 250g packets ready-cooked express basmati rice

2 tbsp soy sauce, or more to taste

Method

1. First put the wok on the heat, then pour in the oil and bring it up to a medium-high temperature. Now add the onion and cook, stirring only occasionally, until it starts to brown – this takes about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the 5-spice powder or ginger and stir it around quickly for about 30 seconds. Next tip in the vegetables and stir them around, keeping the heat quite high so the vegetables cook quickly and stay crunchy. Keep cooking and stirring for 4-5 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, make a 2cm tear in the top of each rice packet, then microwave each packet separately for 2 minutes on full power. If you don’t have a microwave, put your rice on to cook according to the packet instructions before you heat up the work.

3. Splash in 2 tbsp soy sauce and remove from the heat. Use more soy if you like but remember that it’s salty. If you want more sauce, splash in 1-2 tbsp water. Tip the rice on to plates, add the veg and eat immediately.

Chicken korma melts--Baking Recipes

Chicken korma melts

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breast fillets
180g tub full-fat cream cheese
2 tbsp Korma paste
1 tbsp chopped coriander, plus extra to serve
juice ½ lemon
1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
rice and salad, or new potatoes and vegetables, to serve


Method

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and arrange the chicken in a large ovenproof dish. Beat the cheese, korma paste and the 1 tbsp coriander together with a squeeze of lemon. Squeeze the remaining lemon over the chicken and spread the curry mix on top. Scatter over the chilli and bake for 15 mins.

2. Remove from the oven, add the tomatoes to the dish then return to cook for another 10 mins. Scatter with more coriander and serve with rice and salad or new potatoes and vegetables

Sticky pork & pineapple hotpot--Baking Recipes

Sticky pork & pineapple hotpot

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1½ kg (about 8) pork shoulder steaks, each cut into 4 thick strips
3 onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
small bunch coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves reserved
3 Thai red chillies, 2 sliced, 1 left whole and pricked
3 star anise
100g dark soft brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp fish sauce
600ml chicken stock
350g fresh pineapple, cut into chunks

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large, flameproof casserole dish. Season the pork, and brown it in 2 or 3 batches until golden, about 5 mins per batch. Set aside in a bowl. Stir the onions into the remaining fat, cover and soften for 5 mins – they will take on the browned colour of the meat. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.

2. Add the garlic, coriander stalks, chillies and anise to the dish, sizzle for 1 min, stirring often, then mix in the sugar and tomato purée. When these have melted and it looks a bit like barbecue sauce, return the pork and its resting juices to the dish, along with the fish sauce and stock. Tuck in the pineapple chunks here and there.

3. Once simmering, cover the hotpot, leaving a small gap for steam to escape, and transfer to the oven for 2 hrs. With 30 mins to go, skim some of the fat from the top (this tends to seal the liquid in, making it more difficult for the sauce to reduce), then return to the oven. The pork will be meltingly soft when ready. If the sauce is thin, lift the pork into a warmed serving dish, put the casserole dish on the hob and simmer until the sauce has slightly thickened. Leave to cool for 5 mins, taste for seasoning, pour over the pork and sprinkle over the coriander leaves.

Pot-roasted spiced honey soy pork--Baking Recipes

Pot-roasted spiced honey soy pork

Ingredients

1x1.6-1.7kg/3½-3¾lb p 1ml pork belly without rind and bones (about 2.7kg/6lb before boning and derinding)
5 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying
2 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 celery sticks, sliced
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 tbsp clear honey
150ml soy sauce
300ml red wine
500ml chicken stock

Method

1. Preheat the grill until hot. Meanwhile, trim off as much visible fat as possible from the top of the joint, and trim the underside too of any flaps of meat. Neaten the edges. Brush with 2 tablespoons of the oil, season and then place in a roasting tin. Brown under the grill for 10 minutes on each side. Preheat the oven to 170C/gas 3/fan 150C.

2. Make the marinade. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and sauté the carrots, onion and celery over a high heat for about 10 minutes until nicely caramelised. Stir in the five-spice powder and honey. Cook for another minute or so. Pour in the soy sauce and wine and boil until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Then add the stock and boil for 2-3 minutes more. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

3. Pour the hot marinade over the meat in the roasting tin and cover the top with butter papers or wet greaseproof paper. Roast for 2½ -3 hours until the meat is very tender when pierced with a fork. Allow the meat to cool to room temperature in the marinade.

4. Scrape the vegetables off the top of the meat, then put the meat on a tray and place a board on top. Weigh down with weights or large cans and chill overnight. Strain the marinade and chill it too – don’t worry if it doesn’t look very glamorous at the moment, it will look better.

5. When ready to complete the dish, cut the pork across the grain into ‘rashers’ about 2cm wide. Cut each rasher crossways in half. Heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan until nice and hot, then sauté the pork slices in batches for about 5 minutes on each side until caramelised, spooning over the reserved marinade so they cook to a glossy glaze. As each batch is cooked, cover the pork and keep it warm.

6. At the end, any remaining marinade can be bubbled down slightly for a serving sauce (there will only be a little for drizzling). Pick a light fruity red, such as French grenache (garnacha in Spain), or a semillon from Australia or Chile to serve with this dish.

Moroccan chard & lamb pan-fry--Baking Recipes

Moroccan chard & lamb pan-fry

Ingredients

1 bunch chard
1oz olive oil
600g diced shoulder of lamb
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tsp each ground turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander seeds
pinch chilli flakes
400ml stock, lamb or chicken
handful raisins
handful toasted pine nuts

Method

1. Strip the chard leaves from the stalk. Cut the stalk into batons and roughly shred the leaves. Set aside separately.

2. Heat the oil in a sauté pan and fry the lamb for 5-6 mins over a high heat until browned. Add the onion, garlic, chard stalks and spices and continue to cook for 3-4 mins until softened. Pour over the stock and scatter in the raisins, then simmer for 4-5 mins to make a sauce. Wilt chard leaves through the stock, season and serve scattered with pine nuts.

Roast radish, new potato & peppered mackerel salad--Baking Recipes

Roast radish, new potato & peppered mackerel salad

Ingredients

2 x 200g bags radishes
500g baby new potatoes, halved (or quartered if large)
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp Greek-style yogurt
juice ½ lemon
1 small garlic clove, crushed
½ small pack dill, most finely chopped, a few fronds reserved to garnish
2 bags lamb's lettuce
 (about 140g)
300g pack smoked peppered mackerel fillets, skin removed, broken up into large flakes

Method

1. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Put the radishes and potatoes in a shallow roasting tin. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of the olive oil and season. Roast in the oven for 30 mins, tossing once, until tender and golden.

2. Meanwhile, make the dressing. Whisk together the remaining oil, the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, chopped dill and seasoning. It may separate slightly and need whisking again before serving.

3. Remove the veg from the oven and allow to cool for 5 mins. Toss the lettuce in the dressing, top with the veg and then the fish. Sprinkle over the reserved dill fronds and serve.