Day 1: Italian tuna salad

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Serves 4
A dash of olive oil
Zest and juice of two lemons

Mix the lemon juice with twice the amount of olive oil. Add the mustard, lemon zest and chilli powder. Taste and season.

Toss the tuna, capers and spring onions, red onion and mozzarella in the dressing.

Rub the garlic vigorously all over the bread and then toast the slices lightly. Cut into soldiers.

Fan the tomato slices onto a large plate and spoon the tuna into the centre. Serve in the centre of the table with the garlic bread on the side so people can help themselves.

Day 2: Salt and pepper prawns
Serves 4

600g of raw prawns with their shells on
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper, crushed
1 tsp of pink pepper corns crushed
½ tsp of chilli powder
Rice for 4
A bunch of coriander, chopped

Crush together the sea salt, peppers and chilli powder. Dry fry them in a pan until you can start to smell the flavours release.

Heat a dash of oil in a pan or wok and fry the garlic until it is about to change colour. Remove the garlic from the pan and use the same oil to fry the prawns on a high heat. Once they have changed colour and are cooked through remove from the heat.

Drain off any excess oil from the pan and add in the pepper mix and the garlic and coat the prawns.

Serve with the rice and coriander sprinkled over the top. I often use a little soy sauce on the side if the rice is a bit dry without.

Day 3: Bruschetta with mint and pine nuts
Serves 4

8 slices of good bread
2 cloves of garlic, cut in half
a dash of olive oil
6 large ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
mint, finely chopped
a large handful of pine nuts, chopped
1 tsp of cider vinegar

Rub each slice of bread generously with the garlic so the flavour is transferred to the bread. Discard what is left of the garlic.

Drizzle some olive oil over the bread and toast lightly under a grill.

In the meantime toss the tomatoes, mint, pine nuts in the cider vinegar. Taste and season well.

Spoon the tomato mixture onto the bread once it is out of the oven and serve while still hot.

Day 4: Marinated coconut chicken
Serves 4

175 mls of coconut milk
1 tsp of fish sauce
1 tbs of honey
2 cloves of garlic, very, very finely chopped or crushed
zest of 2 limes
1 tbs of chopped peeled ginger
1 tsp of mild chilli powder
4 chicken breasts, sliced
a handful of chicken wings
a handful of desiccated coconut rice for 4

Mix together the coconut milk, fish sauce, honey, garlic, lime zest, ginger and chilli powder.

Keep half of the marinade aside in the fridge and pour the rest over the chicken. Toss all the chicken so that it is completely coated and leave in the fridge for an hour or two to let the flavours combine. If you can leave it overnight all the better.

Put the rice on to boil in lightly salted water and drain when cooked. Heat your gill to medium and place the chicken pieces on a thin wire rack. Discard any marinade that is left in the bowl.

Pour most of the sauce that you kept in your fridge separate from the chicken into a sauce pan and heat. Taste and season.

Use the remaining sauce from the fridge to coat the chicken as it is cooking. Once the chicken is cooked through remove from the grill and toss in the desiccated coconut.

Serve with the rice and sauce.

Day 5: Puy lentil and bacon stew
Serves 4

A dash of olive oil
4 potatoes, peeled and chopped
6 cloves of garlic, 4 whole and two chopped
1 onion, very finely chopped
200g of lardons of bacon, or rashers chopped up
1 tsp of chilli powder
2 sticks of celery, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 tins of tomatoes
A large bunch of thyme, chopped
1 tsp of honey
500 ml of good quality stock
6 tbs of puy lentils
A small handful of parsley, chopped

Toss the potatoes and the four whole cloves of garlic in the olive oil. Season and place in a medium oven for 20 minutes until the potatoes are beginning to turn golden.

Sauté the onion over a low heat until it is turning translucent and then add the garlic. Stir gently for about a minute until the garlic is starting to change colour.

Add the lardons to the pan with the chilli powder, celery, carrots and keep gently stir-frying until the bacon is cooked. Add the tomatoes, thyme, honey, stock and lentils, stir everything together. Leave to bubble away with the lid off the pan for about 20 minutes until the lentils are softening. Add the potatoes and garlic from the roasting tray. Taste and season if necessary. You can add a little more stock if necessary too.

Leave to bubble again until the lentils are cooked through. If they are fresh it should just take around ten more minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.