chicken and mushroom hotpot

Wow, this was a Jamie great. Very pleased with the results.

Started with chicken legs: skinned, then trimmed the meat off and diced. The skin was then put into a hot pan and allowed to render the fat out. Then browned the leg meat, and added onion, garlic and celery. Once this had all sweated a little I chucked in some sliced chestnut mushrooms and seasoned well. Then, a spoon of flour mixed through to help thicken it up. I added some chicken stock until soupy, then lovely wood thyme.

I poured this into a casserole pot and topped with lightly-boiled sliced potatoes and baked in the oven for half an hour. Thick, savoury and a lovely blend of textures. Nice!

pancetta & pea risotto

Risotto is a deeply calming dish, both to cook and especially to eat. What amazes me about risotto is that it starts the same but can end so many ways depending on what you add.

It starts with: onions fried gently, then the heat turned up as your arborio or carnaroli rice is added. A handy tip for measuring rice: two handfuls per person. The rice needs to get hot and toasted all over to prepare it for absorbing stock. Stock should be boiling the background (thank you, last week's chicken stock). Booze is needed here, a glass of white wine is best. Allow this to bubble to nearly nothing. Then stock is added a ladelful at a time, allowing it to reduce away until sticky. You need a bit of armwork, stirring away to move the rice off the bottom of the pan. Once the rice is tender and tasty, you can eat as is (a little dull) or add what works for you.

For me, it's grated parmesan and butter, vigorously stirred through. In this case I added fried pancetta just beforehan, kept to one side then put back into the rice at the end. Some frozen peas and it's ready. Eat with a spoon and a lazy grin.

stroganoff

A handsome, rich and satisfying meal. I'll admit that's one of the worst photos of food in the world, sorry. Tastes good though, promise.

I start by dusting strips of steak in flour and paprika, then frying quickly and leaving to one side. Then I fry an onion, garlic, thyme and sliced mushrooms until softened. Then a nice bit of flambé with brandy (although I used whisky tonight), some scary flames, and then the meat goes back in to warm, accompanied by some sliced gherkin. Some creme fraiche now, and after a touch of seasoning it's there. Perfect with rice.

I must have made this with eight or nine different recipes, and it tastes the same every single time.

gordon's pasta

Crappy name, sorry about that. But we've never settled on a better name for this heavenly and wholesome dish, that not only celebrates the ingredients in it, but is an absolute triumph of speed and economy. I found it via Gordon Ramsay, hence the name.

Five ingredients - that's all you need - pancetta, leeks, chestnut mushrooms, creme fraiche, conchiglie or shell pasta (I've tried all shapes and shells are the best).

Get some pasta going in boiling water. Two tips here: make sure the water is at "the rolling boil" and going great guns. Secondly, always salt the water. How much? The best advice I heard was "twice as much as you think you need" which never fails me. The pancetta starts off in a medium-heat big saucepan, and once slightly crispy, leeks go in. When tender, mushrooms, then a couple of minutes later a small tub of creme fraiche is added while the heat goes down. Season up now and have a taste. As there's not a lot of cooking going on it's going to need good seasoning to bring the flavours out. By now the pasta should be done (al dente please) so drain that and add a splash of cooking water and the shells to the mix and toss together.

That's it. Honestly. For perfection I add a dash of chopped parsley, but it's such a celebration of each of its parts it's really difficult to get wrong. Salty pancetta, tangy leeks, meaty mushrooms and a tart creamy finish, all cupped in a little pasta shell. Brilliant.

pea, bacon and mushroom pasta

Here's a mouthful. A little of everything in one bowl, quick and tasty.

I got some spaghetti on to boil whilst the pan business goes on. A quick frying of some bacon in a pan, and then some frozen peas and sliced chestnut mushrooms. Whilst that fries up I took a trip to the windowbox to collect some woody, aromatic thyme. I think it's my favourite herb, so robust and penetrating, leaving a comforting note. I chuck a few leaves in with everything else.

Pasta's about done now, so I drain that and chuck it in the pan with some creme fraiche and lemon juice. A quick season, a sloosh around for a couple of minutes, and in a bowl it goes. Instant and tasty.