ROAST CHICKEN WITH WARM VEGETABLES AND ROCKET CREAM

This recipe is by the trusted cookery writer Diana Henry and comes from her book Cook Simple. The last time I saw Diana Henry on television, she was one of the presenters on Market Kitchen, unfortunately she no longer presents on the programme, which is a great shame.

The rocket cream is a winner and a perfect match for the chicken and vegetables. Only a few good quality ingredients are required for this recipe and after a couple of hours you will be indulging in a delicious meal.

Diana has written some wonderful cookery books and this one is a firm favourite of mine. A taster of recipes from the book - Chermoula Lamb with Hot Pepper and Carrot Puree - Mackerel Fillets with Mushrooms, Parsley and Lemon - Salad of Seared Beef and Cashel Blue Cheese - Cassis-baked Fruit - these are "make me recipe" titles, and I just love them.

I have given the full quantities for the recipe, although for just the two of us I halved the amount of ingredients.

Serves: 4-6

You will need: 1 x 1.8kg roasting chicken, 300g cherry tomatoes on the vine, 600g small waxy potatoes, 200g green beans, juice of half of a lemon.

Rocket Cream: 125g mayonnaise, 100g fromage frais, 75g rocket.

To Serve: Extra-virgin olive oil, rocket.

1. Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and season. Roast in a preheated oven 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 for 1½ hours, or until cooked through.
2. Place the tomatoes in a roasting tin, season and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about 25 minutes.
3. Whiz all the ingredients for the rocket cream in a food processor. Put into a bowl and place in the refrigerator.
4. Boil the potatoes until tender, then drain. Cook the beans in boiling water for 2 minutes to retain some crunch, drain.
5. Slice the potatoes. Place the potatoes, beans and the tomatoes into a bowl and toss them with salt, pepper, 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and the lemon juice.
6. Serve the vegetables with chunks of the chicken, rocket cream, and some extra rocket would be good.

INDIVIDUAL PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN PUDDINGS

I can't resist a good British Pudding and this is one of those puddings that has stood the test of time.

As a child I ate this at home, learnt to cook it at school, served it to my family and to this day it is still a firm favourite.

I have adapted this recipe from Good Food Magazine 101 Tempting Desserts.

Serves: 6

You will need: six buttered 200ml ramekin dishes.

For the topping: 100g butter, 100g light muscovado sugar, 2 tbsp dark rum, 432g can drained pineapple rings, 6 glace cherries

For the cake: 50g unsweetened desiccated coconut, 100g butter at room temperature, 175g golden caster sugar, 3 large eggs, 175g Self-raising flour, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 125ml milk.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4/Fan 160°C.
2. To make the topping, put the sugar, butter and rum into a pan and heat for 2 minutes, until the sugar has melted, stirring occasionally. Pour a little of the mixture into the bottom of each ramekin, then put a pineapple slice with a cherry inside on top.
3. To make the cake: put the coconut in a pan over a gentle heat, stirring often, until it begins to turn light golden brown, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
4. Mix the remaining cake ingredients together until they are well combined. Stir in the cooled coconut. Spoon the mixture over the pineapple slices.
5. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown. If they aren't cooked cover with foil and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes or so.
6. Turn the puddings out, reheat any leftover topping and pour over the puddings. Serve with either custard or cream.

SESAME CRUSTED SALMON STIR FRY

A very quick and tasty stir fry, with just a few simple ingredients, and dinner was served in just over 30 minutes.

Serves: 4

2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce, 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, juice of half a lime, 4 salmon fillets, 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon sunflower oil, 380g pack stir fry vegetables, 300g noodles, ½ teaspoon sesame oil.

1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.
2. Mix the Encona sweet chilli sauce, lime juice, ginger and teriyaki sauce together, brush over the top and sides of the salmon then put on a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and cook for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Heat the sunflower oil in a wok, stir fry the veg until tender. Sprinkle the sesame oil over the cooked noodles and add to the stir fry veg.
4. Divide the stir fry veg and noodle mix between four dishes and top with the cooked salmon.


I have been sent a variety of Encona Sauces and I am now really looking forward to trying them. The sauces are suitable for marinading, adding to a variety of cooked dishes or as dips.

Thank you to Encona and Lauren.

CHICKEN CIABIATTA AND CHEESEBURGER AND CHIPS

The only thing I could rustle up for the blog this week is a chicken, bacon, avocado and lettuce number, but nonetheless, it is totally delicious. I almost forgot, I made the cheeseburger too.

If you have any teenagers at home this holiday, point them in the direction of the kitchen, and ask them to have fun making these instead of heading for the burger bar!

Absolutely no skill required for this and it's extremely filling too. Simply take a Taste The Difference Ciabiatta from Sainsbury's (if possible) and bake. Cook some streaky bacon on a griddle pan until crispy. Bash out a skinless chicken fillet and cook on a griddle pan - after it's cooked squeeze over some lemon juice and a few grindings of black pepper, cover with foil.

Take the cooked ciabiatta, split open and spread both sides with mayonnaise, place your chicken on top, layer with the bacon, sliced tomatoes, slices of avocado and top with crispy cos lettuce - then a dollop of mango chutney and a grinding of black pepper.

In the photograph there is no evidence of the bacon, mayonnaise or the mango chutney, I think they were all camera shy!

CHEESEBURGER & CHIPS


My recipe came from the BBC GoodFood website and is a real favourite of mine. I use a beefburger press gadget I bought years ago and it makes perfect burgers every time.

Spread mayonnaise on both the cut sides of the burger buns, put a piece of crispy lettuce on the base, top with the burger, slices of tomato and red onion and just because I love it, a dollop of mango chutney. Mmmm delicious.

EASTER LEMON CAKE

A Slice of Cherry Pie is hosting her annual Easter Cake Bake Challenge and this is my entry.

The cake is flavoured with lemon zest and lemon juice and then topped with lemon flavoured and tinted icing. The inspiration for the all lemon cake came from the pretty miniature spring flowers in my garden.

I decided not to crystallize the flowers but to just brush and wash them under a running tap. Shake off any excess water and leave to dry on kitchen towel. Cut the stems to the required length and wire the stems of the flowers.

Here are my cakes from the previous Easter Cake Bake challenges.

Happy Easter.

JAMIE OLIVER'S BUN AND BUTTER PUDDING

This is another of Jamie Oliver's Easter hot cross bun recipes and without any doubt his best to date.

I love Easter puddings where you make use of hot cross buns. This pudding is simply another variation of bread and butter pudding but with a Jamie twist. There are a couple of plus points about this recipe, both brandy and grated orange zest are added to the custard!

My ultimate bread and butter pudding is one with an eggy sauce layer in the bottom and so I removed the pudding from the oven after 30 minutes, checked that there wasn't too much sauce and then I put the pudding under a very hot grill to tinge the buns a slight golden brown. If you don't want the sauce layer then cook for about 45 minutes.

Slightly adapted recipe.

Serves: 6 people

600ml semi-skimmed milk, 600ml double cream, 1 vanilla pod, 4 medium eggs, 100g caster sugar, 6 hot cross buns, 3 tablespoons brandy, zest of 1 orange, icing sugar.

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3.
2. In a pan put the milk and cream and bring just to a boil.
3. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds, add to the saucepan.
4. Whisk the sugar and eggs together until light, now whisk in the milk and cream, remove the vanilla pod.
5. Halve the buns and spread with butter. Dip the buns in the mixture and place in an ovenproof dish. Pour over the cognac and the grated zest of the orange.
6. Pour the custard into a sieve held over the buns and now leave them to soak for approximately 15 minutes.
7. Put the dish into a roasting tin and half fill with hot water. Bake for approximately 40 - 45 minutes. When it is cooked the top will be slightly tinged and if you part some of the buns with a knife there should be a thick custard underneath. Check the pudding after 30 minutes cooking to ensure it doesn't overcook.
8. Dust with icing sugar.

Delicious!