Duck and Chianti lasagne

We've adapted this from a book called The Complete Cookbook, written/edited (we think!) by Weldon Owen. We've made it a few times now and improved on it slightly each time.

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 duck legs

6 rashers of pancetta

pack of mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, diced

2 leeks, sliced

1 carrot, diced

3 celery sticks, diced

4 large tomatoes, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

tbl sp chopped fresh rosemary

tea sp chopped fresh/dried oregano (optional)

tea sp chopped fresh sage (optional)

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of allspice

tin of chopped tomatoes

1/3 bottle of chianti

bechemel sauce

mix of cheddar and parmesan, grated

fresh or dried lasagne sheets

salt and pepper

olive oil

• Cook the duck legs in a pre heated oven until cooked through. We tend to do this the night before. Remove the skin and shred the duck meat. Set the meat aside in the fridge until needed. Save the excess liquid fat for roast potatoes.
• In a little olive oil cook the pancetta, onion, leek, celery and carrot until the pancetta is starting to crisp. Then add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook until the mushrooms have softened.
• Now add the fresh tomatoes, herbs, and other seasonings before adding the wine. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes on a high heat and then turn the heat down low and add the chopped tomatoes.
• After another 10 minutes or so add the reserved duck meat and leave to simmer on a low heat for at least an hour. After an hour taste it and adjust the seasoning.
• Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and start to asemble the lasagne. We find that this works best with a sprinkling of grated cheese between each duck ragu/lasagne sheet layer, but with the bechemel sauce only going on the very top, before being sprinkled with extra cheese.
• Cook for approx 35-40 minutes if you're using dried lasagne sheets and 20-25 minutes if you're using fresh lasagne sheets.

Fillet steak Diane

This is one of our favourite sauces for steak. It makes plenty of sauce for 2 people...

75ml Champagne cognac or other brandy

200ml chicken or beef stock

1 tbl sp Dijon mustard

100ml double cream

chestnut and portobello mushrooms, sliced

• Cook your mushrooms and steaks in a pan until the steaks are cooked how you like them. Remove the steaks from the pan, loosely cover with foil and allow them to rest.
• Add the brandy to the pan and allow to flame. Add the stock and mustard and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes or so until reduced by almost half.
• Add the cream and season to taste.
• To serve, pour the sauce over the fillet steaks. Garlicky dauphinoise potatoes and green veg are good on the side.

Jambalaya

Ingredients: serves 3-4

250g long grain rice

1 red pepper, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

3 celery sticks, chopped

1 onion, chopped

pack of mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 chilli, finely chopped

8 tomatoes, diced

3 chicken thighs, diced

3 cooking chorizo sausages, diced

small cooked prawns

1/2 tea sp of paprika

splash of Worcester sauce

bay leaf

approx 400ml chicken stock

black pepper

olive oil

hot chilli sauce, to serve

• In a large non stick pan fry the chicken thighs in a little olive oil until browned. Add the chorizo and cook for another minute. Remove the chicken and chorizo from the pan and set aside.
• Add the onion, garlic, peppers and celery to the pan and cook until starting to soften. Then add the mushrooms and continue to fry for a minute or two.
• Add the chicken and chorizo back into the pan, followed by the paprika, Worcester sauce, diced tomatoes, bay leaf and some black pepper.
• Add the rice and stir well and then pour over the stock. Leave to cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently until the rice is tender.
• Add the cooked prawns and stir through a couple of minutes before serving.
• Serve with a hot chilli sauce on the side for people to add according to taste.

Spicy prawn and noodle fritters

Ingredients: (makes about 12)

2 handfuls of small cooked prawns

1 sheet of medium egg noodles

4 spring onions

2 medium eggs

1 small chilli

1 tbl sp sesame oil

1 tbl spoon veg oil

1 tea sp of plain flour

• Cook the egg noodles according to packet instructions, drain and roughly chop.
• Roughly chop the prawns and spring onions and add to the noodles.
• Finely dice the chilli and add to the prawns/noodles/onions, along with the sesame oil and eggs.
• Mix everything well. It should have quite a thick consistency. If it looks too wet, add a little flour.
• Heat the veg oil in a non stick frying pan or pancake pan.
• Place spoonfulls of the mixture in the hot oil and allow to cook for a couple of minutes. Turn over and cook on the other side until golden.
• Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

A very nice steak

Mmmmmm steak! We like rib-eye and t-bone steaks the best. These were monsters... cooked to medium rare on a griddle pan and served with garlic mushrooms, slow roasted tomatoes, onion rings and home made chips.

Hake with clams, mussels and chorizo

Crispy fried potatoes as a side dish...

We make variations of this dish all the time. The chorizo, tomatoes, wine and lemon are always present though. We usually add some chopped parsley at the end but didn't have any on this occasion.

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 hake fillets

a handful of fresh mussels

a handful of fresh clams

2 cooking chorizo sausages, sliced

3 large tomatoes, diced

2 handfuls of mushrooms, sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 a lemon

1/2 glass of white wine

a glug of good quality olive oil

parsley, chopped (optional)

potatoes or crusty bread, to serve

• In a large frying pan (preferably one with a lid) fry the garlic and mushrooms in olive oil for a couple of minutes before adding the chorizo.
• After 5 minutes add the diced tomatoes and the white wine, simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Turn the heat down a little. Place the hake fillets on top of the chorizo/tomato mixture, squeeze the juice of half a lemon over. Put the lid on (if you have one) and let the fish steam for a few minutes.
• Add the shellfish and allow to cook/steam for another 3-4 minutes or so, until the shells have opened.
• Scatter with parsley, adjust seasoning and serve.

Mushroom lasagne

It looks like a bit of a dogs dinner but tasted very good.

Ingredients (serves 3-4 with salad):

1 white onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 pack of chestnut musrooms, sliced

4 portobello mushrooms, sliced

a good handful of dried mixed mushrooms

5 fresh thyme sprigs

1 bag or 4 large handfuls of spinach

1 pack of fresh lasagne sheets

1 glass of dry white wine

50ml marsala

1 small tub of double cream

parmesan

olive oil and butter

salt and pepper

• Pre heat the oven to 170 degrees
• Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes to soften
• Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in a little oil and butter until softened
• Slice the chestnut and portobello mushrooms and add them to the pan with the softened dried mushrooms
• Add the wine, marsala and a table spoon of the dried mushroom soaking liquid and allow to simmer for 7-8 minutes or so
• Add the cream, spinach and thyme and season well with salt and pepper, allow to simmer for another couple of minutes
• This bit is easier with two people... fill a large saucepan or bowl with very hot water and blanche the lasagne sheets in it for 1 minute each. In an over proof lasagne dish, layer the pre-soaked lasagne sheets and spoon in the mushroom filling between each layer
• Sprinkle grated parmesan between each layer as you go and add extra parmesan on the top layer
• Cover with foil and put in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the top is golden