Romaine Lettuce Chicken Salad with Pepper Rose Peach Vinaigrette

A wonderful mixture of Romaine lettuce, cherry radishes complimented by the addition of honeydew melon, blueberries, and leftover teriyaki chicken and enhanced lively with a bright, tangy peach vinaigrette.

Pepper Rosé Peach Vinaigrette	Salad
1 Ripe peach, peeled and pitted 2 Peach halves from can 3 tbsp White balsamic vinegar 3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp Salt 1/3 tsp Pepper rose, crushed	1 head Romaine lettuce 2-3 Cherry radish, diced Onion rings Shredded carrots 1 handful Blueberry Honeydew melon balls or cubes Left over teriyaki chicken

1. To make the dressing, place all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
   
2. Rinse, drain and tear Romaine lettuce into bite-size pieces. Cut each cherry radish into 6 pieces. Arrange them in a serving bowl together with onion rings, shredded carrots, blueberries and honeydew melon balls. Finally top the salad with leftover teriyaki chicken.
   
3. Pour dressing over salad just before serving, and toss to coat.

Thyme Lemon Spelt Shortbread Sticks

These golden wholemeal spelt shortbread sticks are not too sweet and full of fragrances and characters. They are seasoned with fresh thyme, lemon zest and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. If you do enjoy a little digestives in the snack, this is the right one for you. They're irresistible plain or served with a cheese dip.

Adapted from Food

60 g Bio wholemeal spelt 140 g All purpose flour 40 g Sugar 1/4 tsp Salt 1 tbsp Finely grated lemon peel 2 tsp Fresh thyme, chopped 150 g Butter, at room temperature 2 Large eggs 1 tsp Fleur de sel

1. Stir together the flours, sugar, salt, lemon peel and chopped thyme. Cut in butter and rub together, using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Lightly beaten eggs and reserve 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture for brushing.
   
2. Add the remaining egg mixture and blend until dough comes together. Wrap the dough in a plastic film and chill for 1 hour until firm. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line the bottom of a baking sheet with parchment paper.
   
3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll the dough between plastic films into a rectangle, about 12x7-inch. Cut the shortbread dough in half, forming two 6x7-inch rectangles. Using a pizza wheel, cut into 1/2-inch wide strips. Place the shortbread on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with the reserved egg mixture and sprinkle sea salt on top. Bake for about or minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Peanut Butter Bars

Baked chocolate base (adapted from Joy of Baking) filled with a layer of fluffy cream cheese peanut butter mixture (adapted from Betty Crocker) and finished off with a chocolate layer. Those bars are super easy to prepare and they make a great party food.

Base	Topping
130 g All purpose flour 50 g Unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder 1/4 tsp Baking soda 1/4 tsp Salt 90 g Unsalted butter 150 g Caster sugar 1 tsp Vanilla extract 1 Egg white	200 g 17% Cream cheese 180 g Creamy peanut butter 80 g Powdered sugar 100 ml Whipping cream 350 g Semi sweet chocolates, coarsely chopped 50 g Butter, diced

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line a 12x8-inch rectangular baking pan with baling paper. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter, sugars and vanilla extract on high speed for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg white. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Press mixture firmly into prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Set on a rack to cool completely.
   
2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and whipping cream on low until blended. Beat on high about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
   
3. Place the chopped chocolate in a heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly till the chocolate begins to melt. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in diced butter until thoroughly blended and smooth.
   
4. Spread 1/4 cup chocolate mixture evenly over the cooled cookie base. Place it in the freezer until the chocolate is firm, about 5 minutes. Now evenly spread cream cheese peanut butter mixture over the chocolate layer. Give the rest of chocolate mixture a quick stir and then spread evenly over top of the layer of cheese and peanut butter mixture. Cover the pan with a plastic wrap and chill overnight. Once set, use a sharp knife to cut into small squares. Serve them cool and store the rest in the fridge.

Winner's Dinners

I had dinner at Michael Winner's house the other night. This kind of stuff occasionally happens to me - occasionally - and it's always so surreal when it does that I tend to forget all about it. But I remembered just now that I had been because I was thinking about dinner parties.

I had better be discreet about Michael Winner's house because I'd want some shitty half-arsed blogger to be disscreet about mine but I can definitely say that it was extremely grand with a lovely garden. As you'd expect. And Michael Winner is a very charming person and Geraldine is a hoot. But I've always thought that. People think that Michael Winner is some kind of monster because his columns are a bit brisk but they don't understand that he's only joking. There was another guest at dinner who did an outrageous impersonation of Michael pretty much all evening and Michael seemed to think it was funny. Or at least didn't mind, which I think speaks volumes.

The really interesting thing about the dinner was the dinner. There is, thanks to programmes I guess like Masterchef and Come Dine With Me, to attempt to make dinner at one's house like a restaurant experience. And I really thought that was what would happen at Winner Towers.

But actually what we got was the definition of a kitchen supper, which is all any of us ought to aspire to when making dinner for friends in our own home. There were some fantastic canapes, (mini spanakopita, thai pork somethingorother wrapped in lettuce, roast beef on crostini etc) and some really good smoked salmon as a starter.

THEN there was a choice of chicken in a kind of tarragonny cream sauce or beef stroganoff with salad and either white or brown rice. And you were allowed to help yourself!! There is nothing more terrifying or kind of un-jolly than someone else deciding how much you want for dinner. Then there was some cheesecake so amazing that I still regret not taking the leftovers home. But I didn't know if Michael was joking or not when he said that I could.

I hope you don't think I'm bragging telling you about this. I don't mean to. I just thought it was interesting and instructive that what Michael Winner wants to eat is moreish canapes, excellent smoked salmon and a good honest plate of stroganoff with rice.

So next time you're sitting there going "fuck, fuck, fuck" at the prospect of cooking for six people, just bear this in mind. People aren't coming to a restaurant, they're coming to your house. Don't even bother with something as elaborate as a roast.

Keep it simple and everyone will be happy; someone might even impersonate you for the whole evening. Imagine that.  

Yakitori Chicken Sandwich on Kaiser Rolls

This Asian-flavoured, warm chicken sandwich recipe is truly delicious prepared with homemade yakinori chicken and Kaiser bun fresh out of the oven. It would make a great snack or paired with some French fries and call it a meal!

Adapted from Essen und Trinken

• 10 g Fresh ginger
  
• 4 tbsp Sherry
  
• 4 tbsp Soya sauce
  
• 1 tbsp Water
  
• 2 tsp Brown sugar
  
• 150 g Chicken breast
  
• 1 Tomato
  
• 1 stalk Spring onion
  
• Green bell pepper
  
• Red onion
  
• 1 tbsp Corn oil
  
• 2 Kaiser rolls (adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice)
  
• or toast bread
  

1. Peel and thinly slice the ginger. Mix sherry, soya sauce, water and brown sugar in a bowl. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add in ginger slices.
   
2. Slice the chicken breast and add into the marinade. Set aside for 30 minutes. Cut tomato in slices, spring onion, red onion and green pepper in rings.
   
3. Remove the sliced chicken from the marinade, drain. Reserve the marinade. Heat a skillet with oil. Add in sliced chicken and cook for 5 minutes until lightly golden brown. Now pour in the reserved marinade and cook until chicken is done.
   
4. Cut the roll crosswise in half and toast. Layer chicken, tomato slices, spring onion, green pepper and red onion rings on the Kaiser roll bottoms.

Thank you, Anne of "From My Sweet Heart", Eli of "Food and Thriftfinds", and Cooking Rookie of "Cook Book of Trial and Error" for sharing those beautiful awards with me.

Thai pork patties

Babies really fuck up your life.

But it's not for the reasons that you might think. It's not really the sleeplessness, or the back-breaking feeding, changing, washing, washing, washing, feeding, scrubbing, washing, folding, folding, shh shh, folding, washing, or the constant worry that they are bored, or hungry, or sleepy, or not sleepy, or understimulated or overstimulated or constipated, or not constipated enough.

Those are just details. They are just the sort of slightly tedious minutiae that litter any kind of job. And looking after a baby is - as is well-documated - a full-time job. (No weekends off or anything, as I was surprised to discover when my first Friday night as a mother rolled around.)

No, they fuck up your life because even though looking after them is a grind that at times you worry might send you completely out of your fucking mind, if you attempt to leave them in the care of someone else for more than 20 minutes, you start to feel weird, then sick, then heartbroken, then demented. You desperately want to let go. But you can't.

About a month ago, looking after Kitty full-time was getting to me a bit. I was getting depressed. I just wanted to walk out of the door and keep walking, without having to tell anyone where I was going or what time I was going to be back.

What we need, I declared to my husband, is a part-time nanny. One was duly sourced, poached off another family and roped in to drop in once or twice a week and play with Kitty while I wrote, or cooked, or went for a walk, or went to Waitrose.

And she is lovely. Posh, charming, friendly, biddable and knows a lot about babies. And yet I hover over her like a dark cloud when she's here. While she is feeding Kitty or waving Sophie La Giraffe at her and saying "Peepo!" I am NOT doing any cooking, or writing, or running any errands. I am hopping from foot to foot, waving at Kitty from corners of the room or fetching the nanny tea.

"This is fun!" said Nanny A brightly and not unkindly the other day. "I get to play with you while Mummy waits on me hand and foot!"

I took the hint and managed to go next door to read a cookbook for a whole twenty minutes.

My husband doesn't want to know. "There is no point," he said in his serious voice, "having a nanny if she's just here to help you play with Kitty. Go out. Do things. Do some fucking exercise so you can stop moaning about your belly. She's just getting to know Kitty just the way that you had to, that I had to, that Shura had to. Let her get on with it."

I narrowed my eyes at him and sidled out of his office and went to curl back up in the corner of the bedroom to do some more rocking backwards and forwards.

The cookbook I managed to read was a new one by a boy called James Ramsden, who is a very modern sort of cookery writer. He's one of those cooks and writers who attitude is "It's only dinner." His new cookbook is called Small Adventures in Cooking and it is available for purchase here. Despite the fact that it won't lie flat on a worksurface and doesn't have enough pictures for a cook with as shit an imagination as me, it's very jolly and I recommend it to you.

I cooked from it the other day some Thai Pork Patties.

These are excellent for a light supper wrapped in lettuce (James recommends Little Gem but I am so fucking sick of Little Gem I can't tell you so I used iceberg) and dipped in chilli sauce. They are also absolutly fantastic cold, so make too many, is my advice, and have them for snacking on in the fridge.

For 2 as a light supper with plenty left over for snacking
this is not James' exact recipe but it was nice anyway

500g best minced pork
1 large red chilli or some dried ones, whatever you've got, chopped finely or crumbled
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped finely
1 small bunch coriander, chopped
2 sprigs mint, chopped
salt and pepper
2 handfuls breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 spring onions, chopped
groundnut or peanut oil for frying

1 Combine everything well in a bowl sprinkling over 2 or 3 generous pinches of salt and a good 6 or 7 twists of black pepper

2 Form into pattie-shapes. I like mine small-ish - finishable in two large bites, but you must do yours however you like. Then turn on your extactor fan, stuff a teatowel under the kitchen door and fry off your patties in some medium-hot oil for about 3-4 minutes each side. If you can, fry them in a pan that has a lid otherwise your house will smell like the back end of a chippy all night and for most of the next day.

Eat as quick as you can and then rush back to your 24-hour cotside vigil.

Spinach Taglierini with Eggplants and Tomatoes

A delightful combination of eggplants, canned tomatoes and spinach taglierini make this pasta dish a delicious and satisfying main course meal, and you won't even miss the meat.

• 250 g Spinach taglierini or linguini
  
• 2 Large aubergine
  
• 8 tbsp Olive oil
  
• 2 clove Garlic, crushed
  
• 2/3 can Crushed canned tomatoes
  
• 1/4 tsp Crushed dried chillies
  
• 1/4 tsp Dried oregano
  
• 1 handful Chopped spring onions (or basil leaves)
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  

1. Cut off the tops and bases of each eggplant and cut across into two. Cut each piece lengthways into thick sticks. Place into a colander and sprinkle them with one teaspoon of salt. Place the colander over a bowl and leave the eggplants for 40 minutes to disgorge some of their juices. Pat the eggplants dry with kitchen paper to remove the salt and excess juices.
   
2. Heat 6 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add in the aubergine pieces and fry, turning occasionally, until golden-brown all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and place onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.
   
3. Fill a large pot with enough water and bring to the boil. Add the salt, then the spinach taglierini and cook according to packet instructions, or until al dente. Shortly before the pasta is ready, add the remaining olive oil and the garlic to the frying pan and return it to the heat.
   
4. As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, add the crushed chillies, dried oregano and the tomatoes and cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggplants and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add in chopped spring onions or basil leaves and mix well.
   
5. Drain the cooked spinach taglierini and divide into 2-3 bowls. Spoon the eggplant mixture over. Serve right away with some shaved Parmesan cheese if desired.

Chiffon with Dulce De Leche Whipped Cream and Blueberries

Layers of soft sour cream chiffon cake nestle between spread of stabilized whipped cream flavoured with rich ducle de leche and top with fresh blueberries. Vanilla buttercream would be a great substitute for whipped cream.

Adapted from Food and Wine

	Dulce De Leche Whipped Cream
3 disc 10-inch Sour cream chiffon cake (without cranberries) 400 g Blueberries, rinsed and dried 2 tbsp Apricot jam 1/2 tbsp Water White chocolate curls or mint leaves to garnish	450 ml Heavy cream, chilled 120 g Dulce de leche, chilled 4 sheet Leaf gelatin

1. Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for 5 minutes to soften. Remove the gelatine from the water, squeeze it between fingers to remove any excess water. Melt the squeezed out gelatine in a microwave on high power about 10 seconds.
   
2. In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream with the dulce de leche. Beat the cream until slightly thick, then slowly add in the dissolved gelatin and beat until the cream holds soft peaks.
   
3. Place one cake layer, cut side up, on a round cardboard. Spread 1/3 of whipped cream over cake.Repeat procedure twice. Smooth the top of the cake with the flat edge of your spatula. Hold a decorating comb on the side of the cake and run around the cake to form ridges.
   
4. Arrange the blueberries on the top. Heat the apricot jam and water in a microwave until melted. Strain the jam through a fine strainer to remove any fruit lumps. Gently brush on the blueberries. Garnish with white chocolate curls or mint leaves.

Chicken Rice with Black Fungus, Parmesan and Cherry Radish Leaves

Black fungus has a reputation in Chinese herbal medicine for increasing the fluidity of the blood, improving circulation and purifying lungs and intestines, etc. As black fungus carries a compound called polysaccharide that inhibits tumor growth and prevent cancer. Besides this, black fungus is also rich in protein, vitamins D, B1 and B2.

If you can't find black fungus, then substitute them with any other dried fungus, like shiitake.

• 200 g Skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
  
• 10 Small dried black fungus (cloud ears)
  
• 1 Onion, chopped
  
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
  
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
  
• 1/3 tsp Dried thyme
  
• 2 tbsp Dry white wine
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1/2 cup Long grain and wild rice mix
  
• 120 ml Vegetable broth
  
• 25 g Parmesan cheese, grated
  
• Some cherry radish leaves, chopped

1. Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces. Rinse thoroughly, and dry with paper towels. Soak black fungus in warm water until soft and completely expanded, about 20 minutes. After soaking, rinse them thoroughly and trim the gritty part. Slice each into 2-3 pieces. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and mince the garlic.
   
2. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, minced garlic, and thyme. Stir until onion is tender. Add in diced chicken and saute lightly browned. Add white wine and season with salt and pepper.
   
3. Cook until liquid almost evaporates,about 3 minutes. Stir in rice, black fungus, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in cheese and chopped radish leaves.

Dinner party poussin

Sorry, this turns out to be a bit blurry. But you can get the idea.

One solution to a dinner party crisis - especially if you are not a magnificently confident cook (who is?!) - is to throw a lot of money at the problem.

I don't like doing this, because I have been brought up to think that if I do not buy all my clothes from H&M and make dinner out of half a loaf of stale bread and some turnips then I am wretched and profligate and will probably go to hell. Although when you're from a family as protestant in thought and word and deed as mine, hell is a far too good, interesting and racy place for sinners.

This is why I'm always cooking cabbage.

But it is a fact that you can just go out and spend a lot of money and throw an impressive dinner party. Like doing this Lucas Hollweg thing I found in the Sunday Times the other week. I don't have much time for Lucas Hollweg normally - partly because he says things like "I cooked this for my book group and they loved it!!!!!" but mostly because he's got a fucking wicked job and I am not big enough NOT to hate him for it.

Nigella's always going on about how marvellous poussin are for a party and my objection has always been meanness. "£3.99 each?!?!" I find myself screaming silently to myself. "Absolutely not. They can have boiled ham and carrots."

But if you are half-minded to unload some cash, poussin are a good idea - as everyone gets one each, so you don't have to do any tedious carving and they're more festive, somehow.  The idea is to pile up the poussin in a bowl and everyone helps themselves in that modern, faux-naif, nauseatingly bourgeois way.

Lucas does this with a sort of middle-eastern marinade thing, which works pretty well and smells great. It also means that you can do this with a salad and couscous, rather than dicking about with a lot of veg.

This is not his exact recipe, but it's kind of the same idea.

For 3 poussin you need the following quantities for the marinade:

4 tbs olive oil
1 tbs groundnut oil
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp paprika - any sort
3 crushed garlic cloves

Soak the birds in this mixture for as long as you can. Ideally for a few hours, but even one hour makes a difference. If you've got a lot of poussin, increase the quantities of your marinade accordingly.

Then sprinkle over with salt and roast at 180C for 35-40 mins.

If you're doing this with couscous, add to it some lemon juice, coriander, salt and pepper, chopped cucumber and toasted pine nuts. We also had this with some minted yoghurt, which was just a lot of fresh mint chopped up and added to Greek yoghurt with some salt and pepper.

V nice. If pricey.

Cocktail Tomato Cups with Pesto Bocconcini

A deliciously simple, colourful salad with bite-size balls of fresh mozzarella, homemade ramsons pesto and rocket leaves that can be made in a jiffy. They are ideal as a great finger food or a side salad for barbecue meat.

• 15 Cocktail tomatoes


• 15 Bocconcini Mozzarella balls


• 3 tbsp Ramsons pesto


• 1 tsp Lemon peel, grated


• Salt and freshly mulled black pepper


• Rocket leaves to serve

1. Cut a thin slice off the top of each cocktail tomato. Scoop out and discard pulp. Sprinkle the cups with a bit of salt and drain.



2. Drain the bocconcini and place them in a bowl. Add in ramsons pesto, lemon peel and freshly mulled black pepper to taste. Mix well.


3. Arrange the rocket leaves on a serving plate. Fill the tomato cups with prepared bocconcini and place them on the serving plate.