I first found this recipe in my favorite weekly magazine, The Week. It had the best subtitle for any recipe I think I’ve ever seen. “Brown Rice – Not just for hippies anymore!”, it proclaimed. This was about 15 years ago and before brown rice was ubiquitous. The recipe is a great take on Arroz con Pollo and the rice gives a nuttiness to the whole dish that goes so perfectly with the smokiness of the chorizo and the sweetness of the red peppers. I’m a big lover of one pot meals not just for their convenience but for the way all the flavors meld after being cooked together.

 

Arroz con Pollo y Chorizo

Serves 6 

Ingredients:

3 red peppers

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

3 chorizo links (about 3/4lb), sliced

1 onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon of dried oregano

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cups of brown rice

1/2 cup of white wine

3 cups of chicken broth

Chopped fresh parsley for serving

 

Method:

1. Cut peppers in half lengthwise, remove seeds and lay flat (skin side up) on a foil lined baking tray.

2. Broil until skin is completely charred, then set aside to cool. Once cooled, remove charred skin and slice into strips.

3. Preheat oven to 400 °F.

4. In a large dutch oven, heat oil on medium high.

5. Season the chicken thighs and add skin side down. Leave them unturned for 10-12 minutes until the skin is brown and crispy. If they do not all fit, you can cook them in batches. Remove the chicken to a plate.

6. Next add the chorizo and cook until browned all over, stirring frequently; about 5 minutes. Remove to the plate with the chicken using a slotted spoon.

7. Add the onion, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes to the oil and fry until slightly browned; about 8 minutes.

8. Add the brown rice to the onion mixture and coat well with the oil. Fry for about 2 minutes until the rice is glossy.

9. Add the wine and bring to a boil and scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the yummy juices from the meat. Cook for about 1 minute until the wine has almost evaporated.

10. Add back the chicken (skin side up), chorizo and roasted pepper strips and then pour over the broth.

11. Bring to a simmer, cover and bake in the oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check after 40 minutes to make sure that all the liquid hasn’t evaporated. You can add a bit more water if needed. It’s ready when the rice is cooked through.

12. Sprinkle with parsley and serve straight from the pot.

 

This recipe will add some sizzle to your weekday grind. With a choice of red or green piri piri sauce and even a Romesco Sauce for good measure, simply roasted chicken and potatoes turned into a meal that packed a flavorful punch.

 

 

Piri Piri Chicken

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

6 chicken legs

6 chicken thighs

Olive oil for drizzling

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 jar Green Piri Piri Sauce

1 jar Red Piri Piri Sauce

1 jalapeño, sliced thinly for garnish

1/4 cup washed cilantro leaves as garnish

 

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 450° F.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. On the first sheet, lay down chicken pieces skin side up. Drizzle with olive oil and top with salt and pepper.

3. On your other cookie sheet add your fingerling potatoes. Again drizzle with olive oil and season to taste. Bake for 20 minutes until crispy on outside and tender on the inside.

4. Bake chicken for about 30 minutes until crispy brown and fully cooked.

5. Combine your chicken and potatoes on a serving platter and top with piri piri sauce. The sauce can be a bit spicy so add to your taste.

6. Garnish with sliced jalapeño and cilantro.

 

There’s something so comforting about taking a freshly baked pie out of the oven, breaking through the crust and watching the steam escape with all its delicious aromas. I’m a sucker for anything topped with puff pastry which is now so readily available and always in my freezer. Take any of your favorite stew recipes, add a layer of puff pastry, brush a little egg wash on top and you’ve got yourself a perfect savory pie to battle the cold away. I decided on a Steak and Guinness pie in honor of the upcoming St. Paddy’s Day. You can use this recipe as a guideline to create any basic beef stew. Don’t like guinness? Switch it out for another ale, wine or even beef stock. Add mushrooms, different herbs or other root vegetables. Just dream up your your favorite flavors and go for it! 

 

Steak and Guinness Pie

Serves 4

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 1/2 lb of stewing beef (cut into 1″ cubes)

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 medium onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 carrots, chopped

1 (14 oz) can of chopped tomatoes 

2 cups of Guinness

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

Puff pastry (you can find in the freezer section of most grocery stores)

1 egg

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. 

2. Put the flour in a large ziplock bag. Season the meat with salt and pepper and add to the bag with flour. Close the bag and shake well so the meat is coated with flour.

3. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium high heat. Remove meat from flour, shaking off any excess and transfer to the Dutch oven. Brown the meat on all sides being careful not to overcrowd the meat so it doesn’t steam. You may need to do this in several batches. Once you finish your first batch, remove it to a plate.

4. When all the meat is browned and on a plate, add the celery, onions, garlic and carrots to the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes. 

5. Return the meat to the pan along with any juices from the plate.

6. Add the tomatoes, Guinness, fresh thyme and bay leaves. Stir and season well with salt and pepper.

7. Bring to a simmer, cover well and cook in the oven for about 3 hours. Remove the lid for the final half hour of cooking after giving the stew a good stir. 

8. Remove the thyme stalks or any other fresh herb you may have used and transfer into a baking dish. If the sauce is too thin, you can remove the meat and vegetables first with a slotted spoon and reduce the sauce on the stove over a high heat. 

9. Beat the egg in a bowl and brush the edges of the pie dish with the egg mixture.

10. Roll out the pastry so that it is larger than the pie dish and gently lay over the dish. Cut off the excess pastry and crimp the edges with your fingers.

11. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg wash, cut two little slits in the middle of the pastry with the tip of a knife to let some air escape and bake in the oven for about 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown and flaky. 

 

 

 

Now that I’m officially an American, I thought it was about time I learnt how to make Meatloaf. It’s always seemed like the quintessential American dish and one that seems to have a million and one variations. Rather than attempt to test a million and one recipes, I turned to my all-knowing and all-wonderful friend Cree. Her recipe for Bacon-Swaddled Meatloaf appears in her latest Cookbook, Pork and after trying it, there was no need to try another. Juicy, tender and oh so tasty, she has very kindly given permission to share it here.

 

Bacon-Swaddled Meatloaf

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 tablespoon hot sauce or Sriracha

2 tablespoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1lb ground pork (at room temperature)

1lb ground veal (at room temperature)

1lb ground beef, 80% lean (at room temperature)

1/2 cup matzoh meal or superfine bread crumbs

1/2 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoon Champagne Ketchup

12 slices of bacon

 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the onions on medium heat until soft and lightly colored (about 5-8 minutes). Turn off heat and leave to cool.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the shallots, hot sauce, mustard, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, eggs and sour cream.

4. Add the pork, veal, beef and onions and mix until combined – good time to use your hands!

5. Add the matzoh meal or breadcrumbs, parsley and thyme and mix again.

6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and transfer the meat onto the sheet. Mold into a loaf shape.

7. Brush the loaf with ketchup and then begin to swaddle in bacon. Start at one end, tucking the ends underneath the loaf. Each strip of bacon should slightly overlap the one before.

8. Place the meat loaf in the oven and cook until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf reads 165° F. This should take about an hour and the bacon should be nice and crispy on the outside.

9. Leave to sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

I served it with buttery mashed potatoes, sautéed spinach and of course lots of extra ketchup.

 

 

Sunday lunches at my grandmother’s were a wonderful constant in my childhood. The menu rarely veered from Wiener Schnitzel or Chicken Paprikash. Born in 1902, into what was then the Austro Hungarian Empire, those dishes were the classics from the region and still two of my favorites. To this day, the aroma of sour cream and dill takes me back to her flat in London. Unfailingly cheerful, she cooked for us well into her 90’s and I regret never asking her to teach me to make those dishes, wrongly assuming she’d always be around to make them for us. I’ve loved trying recipes for Chicken Paprikash from old Hungarian cookbooks that I’ve found including one written by Maria Flores, my father’s guardian during the war, sentimentally entitled “Cooking for Love”.

 

 

As the weather turns and we begin to crave hearty comfort food, it’s one of the first dishes I make each September, trying a slightly different version each time. This latest version not only made use of the incredibly juicy airline chicken breasts from Porter & York but it even got the ultimate stamp of approval from my brother, not known for effusive compliments on my cooking. He thoroughly endorsed it after taking a forkful of leftovers straight from the fridge. I hope my grandmother would have approved too.

 

 

Chicken Paprikash 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 Airline Chicken Breasts (you can also substitute 8 bone-in chicken thighs with skin)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced

3 teaspoons of flour, divided

1 heaped tablespoon of Hungarian paprika

1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1 (14 oz) can of tomatoes

1/2 cup of chicken stock

1 green pepper, cut into strips with seeds removed

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh dill

1 teaspoon of Hungarian Paprika Salt

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a large dutch oven, heat the oil. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and fry until golden brown, starting with skin side down (about 5 minutes each side). Fry in batches if they don’t all fit – it’s important not to overcrowd the pan.

3. When all the chicken is browned, transfer to a plate.

4. Add the onion to the remaining fat and fry until soft for approximately 10 minutes.

5. Stir in half the flour, the paprika and the cayenne and continue stirring for about 2 minutes until all the juices have been absorbed.

6. Return the chicken to the pan along with any juices from the plate. Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to a simmer.

7. If using thighs, cover and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Add the green pepper and return to the oven (covered) for another 30 minutes. If using airline breasts, add the green pepper and cook (covered) for just 30 minutes.

8. Remove from oven. In a small bowl, mix the remaining flour with the sour cream. Then add the flour mixture to the sauce.

9. Simmer while stirring for about 2 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

10. Plate and finish by sprinkling with fresh dill and paprika salt. I like to serve it, as my grandmother did, with spaetzle topped with a little butter.

 

I remember very clearly the first time I ate this dish. It was love at first sight. The day was July 4th and I was in Cape Cod. My friend Margot had just returned from a trip to Italy and she was feeding a large group of us with recipes she picked up in Tuscany. Like a bee to honey, I found myself ogling at a platter of baguettes that had been stuffed with pork, wrapped in prosciutto, drizzled with oil and roasted. The taste was even better than I had hoped; the crust was salty and crunchy, the bread was soaked through with roasting juices and herbs while the pork remained tender, insulated in all that deliciousness. Absolute genius!

 

Margot generously shared the recipe with me and I’ve been impressing friends with it ever since. It’s perfect for a large group as you can make it in advance as it’s actually best served at room temperature. Recently, while staying with friends for the weekend, I made it for a large family lunch. Because so little work is involved, my friend Stephen and I managed to go for a hike, a swim and have a leisurely time reading the papers before everyone arrived for lunch. By the time he had set the table, the pork was in the oven and the rest was history.

 

 

Herbed Pork Tenderloin in a Baguette

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin

Sprinkle of sea salt

1 heaping tablespoon Herbes de Provence (We use Taste of Provence)

8 slices of prosciutto

1 good French baguette (not too skinny- about 3 inches in width)

Extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)

(String to truss the baguette)

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.

2. Pat the pork dry and season lightly with salt then sprinkle half of the Taste of Provence all over the pork.

3. Next, wrap 4 slices of prosciutto around the pork.

5. Cut the baguette so it’s the same length as the pork. Then cut the baguette lengthwise but not all the way through, scooping out as much of the inside of the bread as you can.

6. Drizzle olive oil inside the bread on both sides and sprinkle with the remaining Taste of Provence.

7. Place the pork inside the loaf and then wrap the remaining slices of prosciutto around the outside of the baguette.

8. Tie with string along the length of the baguette to keep in place and then drizzle more olive oil over the baguette on both sides – be generous.

9. Roast for 40 – 45 mins – turning once to make sure both sides are crispy.

10. Let rest for at least 10 minutes. Slice before serving.