Chicken & Chorizo Stew

I made this easy one pot dinner a few weeks ago. Chorizo is one of my favourite ingredients as it does all the hard work for you, the incredible oil it releases adds plenty of flavour to whatever you're cooking without having to use dozens of ingredients. I added a little honey to sweeten the tomatoes and some hot sauce to add a little heat, paprika or chilli powder would also have been a welcome addition.

Serves 3
5-6 free range chicken thighs and/or legs
1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red pepper, chopped
100g chorizo, skinned & cut into 1cm chunks
Tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp hot sauce
Small bag spinach
Jacket potatoes & creme fraiche to serve

1. Fry the chicken in a little oil, until the skin has browned. The meat does not need to be cooked through at this stage as you will poach the chicken in the sauce later
2. Fry the onions, peppers and garlic over a medium heat in a little oil. Once softened add the chorizo and continue to fry until it releases its delicious oil and starts to colour
3. Add the chicken back to the pan with the tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 30 minutes until the chicken has cooked through and the sauce has thickened
4. Add the spinach for the final few minutes. Once it has wilted, add the honey and hot sauce to taste along with plenty of seasoning. Serve with jacket potatoes and a big dollop of creme fraiche

Hungarian Goulash with Caraway Seed Dumplings

Yet again, we made another of my mum's excellent recipes for Sunday night dinner. Whilst a casserole isn't what I'd normally chose to eat in July, considering the ridiculous weather we've had over the weekend, I welcomed this warming casserole. Dumplings are the ultimate in comfort food, and the caraway seeds add a delicious perfumey flavour. This recipe is originally from an 80's Good Housekeeping casserole book, but as they say, you can't improve on a classic, so I don't think it needs updating.

The dumplings are a bit of a faff to make, but well worth it. The dough is very sticky so you'll probably end up with half of it stuck to your hands, remember they expand as they steam so they only need to be the size of a golf ball when they go in the oven. Whilst 4 tbsp of paprika sounds like an awful lot, it isn't at all overwhelming. 

Serves 4-6
800g pork leg, diced
4 onions, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
100g button mushrooms, cut into quarters
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml beef stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
4 tbsp white wine

For the dumplings:
225g self raising flour
125g butter
5 tbsp cold water
2 tsp caraway seeds
150ml sour cream

1. Heat a tbsp of oil in a casserole dish and brown the meat in batches. Remove the meat from the pan and add the onion, carrot, mushrooms and garlic, add a little extra oil if necessary. Cook for 10-15 minutes until soft
2. Add the paprika and flour to the vegetables and mix thoroughly. Allow to cook for a further 3 minutes
3. Add the white wine and allow to cook off. Next add the beef stock and season, bring to a simmer and put in the oven on 130 degrees for 2 hours
4. In the meantime, make the dumplings. In a large bowl, rub together the butter and flour until it is thoroughly mixed together. Add the water, caraway seeds and sour cream and kneed with your hands until you have a smooth dough. Make the mixture into 16 small dumplings
5. After 2 hours in the oven, take the goulash out and pop the dumplings on top. Add an extra sprinkling of caraway seeds and put back in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until they have swollen to twice the size. Serve with cabbage or greens of your choice 

Meat & LOTS of veg:

Chris' handiwork with the dumplings:

 Dumplings ready to steam:

 Delicious plump dumplings:

Served with cabbage:

Spicy Lamb & Feta Burgers

Inspired by a recipe on Good Food, I decided to make lamb and feta burgers for dinner. Sainsbury's on Stoke Newington High St didn't appear to stock harissa, so I swapped it for a tablespoon of tomato puree and two tsp each of paprika, chili powder and cumin. I also added some garlic and ginger and swapped the mint for parsley as I have some growing on my balcony. As Valentine Warner would say, they were 'bloody good' served with plenty of salad, hummus and tzatziki. YUM!

Burgers ready to go in the oven:

Tasty tasty buuuurger:

Al fresco dining, that's how we do in Clapton:

Three Bean Chili

After a long weekend of meat eating in Shropshire, I decided to make us something vegetarian for dinner on Monday night. I really enjoyed this bean chili, but I'm not sure Chris is convinced by vegetarian food, as his first comment was how nice it would be with some chicken or beef in it. But considering this is a man who said 'I like vegetarian food, as long as it's got loads of meat in it', there probably isn't much hope of him becoming a fan of meat-free meals. Frezule and I will be eating the leftovers tonight, so lets hope she's a fan!

You can use any beans you happen to have in your cupboard, but I like to have a mix including baked beans; the sauce helps to prevent the tomatoes being too acidic and half a tin counts as one of your 5 a day. It's reasonably spicy, so a dollop of yogurt and some cooling avocado piled on top tasted great. It's also nice served with brown rice or with a roasted sweet potato, topped with cheese.

For the bean chili:
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
250g pack mushrooms, quartered
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp hot chili powder
1 tin baked beans
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tin black eyed beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 squares of dark chocolate

1. Add the onion and garlic to a pre-heated pan with a little oil and allow to soften for 5 minutes. Then add the red pepper, courgettes and mushrooms and leave to cook on a medium heat for a further 10 minutes
2. Add the cumin, chili powder and paprika and cook for 1 minute, until the spices are fragrant
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and all the beans, bring to a light simmer, adding a little vegetable stock if necessary. Turn the heat down and leave to cook with the lid on for 1 hour
4. Once the sauce has thickened, add a few squares of dark chocolate and allow to melt into the sauce. Season and serve with roasted butternut squash, topped with yogurt and avocado

Vegetables with lots of spices:

Ready to eat:

With roasted squash, yogurt & avocado: