So our local butcher (well, I say ‘local’, he’s a half-hour drive away) does some really nice finely minced pork.  I usually make meatballs in tomato sauce, but since I’ve done both chicken breasts and lamb shanks (simmer for 2 hours until the meat is falling off the bone) in this sauce recently, I thought I’d try something different.

For the meatballs:

500g minced pork

2 slices bread

Parmesan cheese

1 large egg

Dried oregano

Salt & pepper

For the sauce:

1 red pepper, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1 glass red wine (and one for the cook)

4 or 5 ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks

1 tin borlotti beans, drained and rinsed

Chilli flakes

Handful basil leaves

So bung the minced pork in a bowl, whiz up a couple of slices of bread in the food processor (I’ve got a little attachment on my hand blender which is really handy for this).  Oh, and if you’ve got some - add a chunk of parmesan in the blender with the bread too.  Add the cheesy breadcrumbs to the mince then break in an egg and add a pinch of dried oregano (perfectly acceptable dried herb, honest) and season generously with salt and pepper.  Squish together until well mixed, then roll into meatballs - I go for lots of small ones but if you want cricket balls that’s fine by me.

Fry the meatballs in a heavy-bottomed frying pan (they tend to release their own oil, but if you have very lean mince you might need a splash).  When they start to brown, add the sliced pepper, garlic and onion.  Continue to cook until the onions become translucent and the peppers start to soften, then add a nice big glass of red wine (or stock if you’re virtuous) bubble away a bit and then add the tomatoes, beans and about half of the basil, along with a generous pinch of dried chilli flakes.  Pop a lid on and continue to cook for another ten or fifteen minutes (longer if you’ve got massive meatballs - ahem) while your rice or pasta is cooking.  Season to taste.

Just before serving, sprinkle over some more fresh basil and grate over some parmesan.  Serve with pasta or rice and the rest of the red wine if you haven’t already drunk it all.  Hic.

So last night we all sat down for a nice family meal to celebrate the end of term/prizes/the promise of good reports to come (#2 looked slightly green at the mention of those), etc.  I made little meatballs with my lamb kebab mixture, which I baked in the oven, along with some of #1’s famous tomato sauce.

Hubby, generally a stranger to the kitchen (unless there’s scrambling of eggs or anything to do with chillis) contributed this exceptionally good couscous recipe (well, come on, couscous is hardly cooking, to be fair).

8oz couscous

1/2 pint chicken stock

4 tbs olive oil

1 tbs sultanas (or very finely chopped dried apricots would be good, I think)

Couple of sliced spring onions

1 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley

2 tbs chopped mint

4 tbs good olive oil

2 small finger chillis, deseeded and finely chopped (Hubby used 6 and we’re still breathing fire)

Salt and pepper to season

So once your meatballs (or whatever you’re eating this with) are nearly cooked, put the couscous in a bowl along with the sultanas and pour over the hot stock.  Stir, then cover the bowl with cling film or a plate or somethng and leave for five minutes.  Meanwhile, heat your oil in a pan and bung in your very finely chopped chillis.  Swirl around so that the chillis release their oil, then you can turn it off.  After five minutes, when the couscous has absorbed the stock and the sultanas are all plump and lubly, fork the couscous through to fluff it up and pour over your chilli oil.  Add the chopped herbs and spring onions, season to taste and if you want to go mad, serve with a little sprinkling of chopped pistachios. 

Enjoy.  Oh, and an added bonus is that you get lovely minty burps afterwards.  See, not only do I provide you with lubly recipes, but you get fragrant indigestion into the bargain.

So noodles then.  Unfortunately with noodles, we’re a family at war.  We all love them, but #2 likes stir fried chicken noodles with frozen peas (‘and NO juice’), #1 likes chilli, Hubby likes chilli and lots of soupy stock, I don’t mind chilli but prefer them with coconut milk… Oh the dilemma.  This latest edition, then, is a kind of mixture of stuff that everyone likes.  It went down quite well:

1 pack fine egg noodles
2 chicken breasts or some leftover chicken, shredded
2 tbsp oil

Marinade:
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, or 1 tsp chilli flakes
Juice of a lime
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (Nam Pla)
2 tbsp brown sugar or honey

1/2 tin coconut milk

1 pack Pak Choi, sliced and washed (can be gritty)
Couple of spring onions, thinly sliced

To garnish: Salted peanuts, chopped coriander

So first boil up a big saucepan of salted water and chuck in your noodles.  Mix up the marinade ingredients (don’t put the coconut milk in yet).  Heat the oil in a wok and snip up your chicken breasts into strips.  Bung them in along with the marinade (you can marinate it first but frankly I can’t be arsed unless I’m making kebabs with it). 

Stir fry until the chicken’s cooked and the marinade is starting to reduce.  Now add the coconut milk and your chopped spring onions and Pak Choi.  Stir until it’s just wilted then drain your noodles and tip them into the wok, mixing them all in with the chicken and the sauce. Serve sprinkled with chopped salted peanuts and some coriander.

If you’re a fan of coconut milk, you can always add more (I would if it was just me).  And if you are just marinating chicken to make kebabs or just to grill or whatever, bung the coconut milk in with the marinade.  It’s yum scrum pig’s bum (bless my children and their wordy ways).

Little Italian interlude today then.  Hubby’s away so we’ve been stuffing ourselves with pasta (which he hates) and all thoughts of a Sunday roast were quickly discarded as we were all suddenly overtaken by an inexplicable need for lasagne.  This, by the way, contains #1’s tried, tested and patented recipe for tomato sauce, which is the only one that his brother will eat, considering that English Towers enforces a strict ban on sauces in a jar (ew).

#1 is a bit of a whiz in the kitchen.  Being older, his problem is less the safety aspect (#2 is permanently trying to separate his digits from his hands) but more his penchant for odd ingredients.  Still, if you don’t mind the odd peanut butter, chocolate and jelly baby muffin for breakfast, you’re quids in.  I’m keen that by the time they have to fend for themselves, they’re more than capable of making a few basic recipes in order to stave off any yearning for Pot Noodles.  #1 is a big pasta fan, and taking into account his little brother’s hatred of lumpy sauces, has created this easy sauce: which works for everything from pouring over penne, to making pizza.  You can even add some vegetable stock and a couple of cans of butter beans or chickpeas and make it into soup.

For the ‘bolognaise’ sauce:

1 large onion

1 clove garlic

1 tin good quality tinned tomatoes

Handful of basil leaves

Generous pinch of dried chilli flakes

Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

So first slice the onion, finely chop the garlic and fry gently, along with the chilli, in a pan with a splosh of olive oil, adding a sprinkle of salt until soft and slightly golden.  Leave to cool while you open the tin of tomatoes, then blitz them until smooth in the blender.  Add your onion and garlic mixture, plus the basil leaves and blitz again.  Of course, if you’re normal and don’t care about lumps you can omit the blending bit and add the meat straight into the onions.  Back to the pan, then, bung in a little olive oil and then add your mince, frying until brown.  Then add back the blitzed tomato sauce and add salt and pepper and sweeten to taste with the sugar.  Let this bubble away while you make the cheese sauce.  If it seems a bit thick you can always add a bit of beef stock (remember the pasta will absorb some liquid).

For the cheese sauce:

1 fat slice butter (about 1oz should do it)

About the same quantity of flour (a heaped tablespoon I’d say)

1/2 to 3/4 pint milk

Handful grated Wexford mature cheddar

Handful grated Grana Padano (my current fave) or Parmigiano Reggiano

Plus, obviously, a pack of dried lasagne sheets

Melt the butter on a low heat and add the tablespoon of flour.  A little whisk is indespensible here - whisk it until it makes a lovely smooth paste.  Now you can start gradually adding your milk, stirring all the time to make a smooth bechamel sauce.  The amount of milk you need will depend upon how thick you like your sauce.  Just judge it by eye.  Now add all but a little smidge of your cheeses (reserve a bit to sprinkle on top). 

Now gather up all your bits and pieces (steady) and in your lasagne dish (deeper is better than wider, I find, as you can create more layers).  The trick here is to start with a thin layer of cheese sauce, then just layer it up with lasagne sheets, then cheese sauce, then bolognaise, then lasagne, then cheese sauce, then bolognaise.  Finish with a thin layer of cheese sauce and sprinkle on your reserved cheeses.  Bung it in the oven at around 180 degrees for about 20 minutes and serve with a fresh green salad, some garlic bread and a big smug grin.

So we were all in need of a bit of comfort food last night.  And this packet of bloody Carnaroli rice has been sitting in the cupboard glaring at me every time I go in there for a tin of beans.  Me and risotto have a chequered history.  It’s not that I don’t like it, oh no, it’s just that every time I make it, I get that kind of ‘hmmm’ response from my lot that means ‘yeah, it’s okay’, not the more favourable ‘mmmm’ which translates to ‘wow, that was fabulous’.  My best effort was Jamie Oliver’s pea and prawn risotto which is rather nice.

Anyhoo, I was in the mood for a bit of messing in the kitchen (keep it clean, people) and this is the result:

2 pints chicken stock

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

300g carnaroli or arborio rice

3 or 4 large flat mushrooms

1 pack streaky bacon

2 chicken breasts (free range, natch)

Handful of frozen peas

Parmesan cheese to taste

So first things first, get your stock bubbling on the hob and plop your chicken breasts in to poach.  Get a nice heavy based pan and chuck in a big slice of butter and a glug of olive oil.  Finely chop your onion and garlic and let it soften on a low heat.  Snip up the streaky bacon and add to the pan along with your sliced mushrooms.  Keep it cooking until the mushrooms and onions are starting to look a little golden, then add your rice and stir around.

Now you can start to add ladles of your stock, one at a time, making sure all the liquid is absorbed before adding another.  It takes a while but the stirring is really therapeutic.  When the stock’s nearly gone your chicken breasts should be ready, so chop them up and add them to the risotto as well.  Finally, bung in a final knob of butter, stir it through and leave it to sit for 5 minutes with a lid on, just to get even creamier.  Taste, season, and pile into big bowls to eat in front of the telly.

A little fresh thyme would be lovely with this, but I didn’t have any.  Enjoy!