Cold Chicken Noodle Salad Serves 2-3, 15 mins prep, 5 mins cook time, 20 minutes total Ingredients 2 bundles dried noodles* 1 tbsp Hoi Sin sauce 1 tbsp Chinkiang Chinese black vinegar** 1 tbsp mirin 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp sunflower oil 1 tbsp light soy sauce Around 200g cooked chicken, cut into small pieces 1 tbsp sesame seeds Small bunch fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped 1 medium carrot, finely chopped 5 spring onions, finely sliced 1 quarter cucumber, cut into small chunks Bit of left over tomato, chopped into chunks (optional!) *I used one bundle each of Waitrose own brand fine egg ..read more

Lemon Chicken Supreme in Combi Microwave Serves 3, 5 mins prep, 25 mins cook time, 30 minutes total* Ingredients 3 Chicken supreme pieces with skin left on 1 lemon, sliced Salt and pepper Method 1. Arrange the chicken supreme pieces in a deep oven tray, preferably non-stick. 2. Press three lemon slices on top of each supreme piece. Give each a quick grind of salt and pepper. 3. Program the combi-microwave to oven cook at 200c with 25 minutes low microwave power. Pop in the tray and press start button. 4. Check progress after twenty minutes. Juices will run clear when cooked. Allow the chicken ..read more

Turkey Thigh Tagine Serves 6, takes 25 mins prep time, 30 mins cook time, 55 mins total Ingredients • 1 tbsp light olive oil • 1 large red onion, finely sliced • 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced • 400-500g turkey thigh chopped into cubes • half a red chilli, finely chopped • 300ml vegetable stock • 400g can chopped tinned tomatoes • 1 level tsp ras-al hanout spices (or mild curry powder if you can’t get that) • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon • 300g diced butternut squash • 1 medium courgette, chopped into chunky dice (around 300g) • 1 tsp chopped or dried thyme • 12 dried apricots cut in half • ½ tbsp ..read more

Raspberry and Coconut Flapjacks Makes 12-16 flapjacks depending how big you dare eat them. You will need a lined baking tray approximately 9”x12” Ingredients 225g unsalted butter 225g demerara sugar 75g golden syrup 1 tsp vanilla extract 275g porridge oats 50g desiccated coconut 100g fresh raspberries Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4. 2. Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan on a low to medium heat. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. 3. Mix the oats and coconut in a large mixing bowl. 4. Pour the melted mixture onto the dry ingredients and stir unt ..read more

1st July marks eleven years since my first blog post. Returning from The Break I wanted to recap my most positive experiences and happy blogging memories. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” –  naturally there’ll be a follow up of 10 things that went eclair-shaped but reading some old posts has restored my enthusiasm for how much fun blogging from the heart really was. I published solidly for 5-6 years. Then less for 2 years but usually weekly. Meanwhile the landscape evolved and eschewing the Google-chasing-‘Gram-bragging model I retreated to only publishing occasional ..read more

Tom Yum Prawn Noodle Soup Serves 3-4, takes around 10 minutes Ingredients 1 litre vegetable stock – I used Marigold bouillion powder 1 heaped tsp tom yum paste Juice of half a lime Glug of fish sauce 2 birds eye chillies, chopped 1 tsp sugar Several mushrooms – either 2 portobellos or half a dozen normal  ones would do 1 bag frozen king prawns (approx 300g) Several spring onions Small bunch of coriander Dried egg noodles – enough for however many people you are serving/how greedy you feel Method Heat the stock in a large saucepan with the tom yum paste, lime juice, fish sauce, birds eye ..read more

Cinnamon and Raison Flapjacks Makes 12 flapjacks You will need a lined baking tray approximately 9”x12” Ingredients 225g unsalted butter 225g demerara sugar 75g golden syrup 275g porridge oats 100g raisins 2 tsp powdered cinnamon Method Preheat the oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4. Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan on a low to medium heat. Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Pour the melted mixture onto the dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated. Pour the batter into your tin. Spread to the edges and pack the mix flat with the back of a wooden spoon to compre ..read more

For too long I’d put off returning to blogging and the biggest bottleneck is the first post. How on earth to explain what happened and where the time went? It can’t be summed up in a single post because it will just become that bottleneck again. My Custard Pie came close to explaining similar feelings “staring at the draft posts section” – although here it was staring at the photographs before getting that far. Dropbox bulges with lovely photos I took TEN YEARS AGO but never published. Some fifty potential posts at various stages. And yet what was published instead wasn’t aired because it was ..read more

Cold Chicken Noodle Salad Serves 2-3, 15 mins prep, 5 mins cook time, 20 minutes total Ingredients 2 bundles dried noodles* 1 tbsp Hoi Sin sauce 1 tbsp Chinkiang Chinese black vinegar** 1 tbsp mirin 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp sunflower oil 1 tbsp light soy sauce Around 200g cooked chicken, cut into small pieces 1 tbsp sesame seeds Small bunch fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped 1 medium carrot, finely chopped 5 spring onions, finely sliced 1 quarter cucumber, cut into small chunks Bit of left over tomato, chopped into chunks (optional!) *I used one bundle each of Waitrose own brand fine egg ..read more

Lemon Chicken Supreme in Combi Microwave Serves 3, 5 mins prep, 25 mins cook time, 30 minutes total* Ingredients 3 Chicken supreme pieces with skin left on 1 lemon, sliced Salt and pepper Method 1. Arrange the chicken supreme pieces in a deep oven tray, preferably non-stick. 2. Press three lemon slices on top of each supreme piece. Give each a quick grind of salt and pepper. 3. Program the combi-microwave to oven cook at 200c with 25 minutes low microwave power. Pop in the tray and press start button. 4. Check progress after twenty minutes. Juices will run clear when cooked. Allow the chicken ..read more