Bob's White Chili

Ingredients: 

This is a recipe that has evolved according to our own tastes, and makes no claims to be an 'authentic' dish :)

Serves 4/5:

• 2 large escalopes of chicken, cut into small strips


• 1 large onion


• Large red or green pepper, according to taste


• 500g tin or jar of haricots blanc


• 300ml chicken stock


• Big sploosh of white wine


• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped


• Spoonful of crunchy peanut butter


• Cumin


• Chili pepper to taste


• Sploosh or two of hot chili sauce


• Sprinkle of caster sugar


• Salt & pepper


• Olive oil

Instructions: 

• Heat the oil and soften the onions and peppers


• Toss in the chicken and brown it


• Add in stock and haricots blanc and bring to boil


• Turn down to a low heat and chuck in everything else


• Simmer for about 20 mins or so to allow flavours to blend, but not so long as to let the chicken get stringy


• Serve with plain rice and flatbreads, and a nice, crisp rosé

Big, Fast and Easy Is How I Like It

Even when they're teenagers, school holidays are surprisingly disruptive (In a good way, sweetie! Love you! xxoxx)  and there are people in and out of the house at all times. Meals need to be flexible, and easily adapted to include unexpected extra mouths to feed.  I try and keep the cake tin full, and enough ready-made pastry in the freezer to knock together extra food in a hurry. A sheet of pastry, smear it generously with some pesto or tomato sauce, sprinkle on some cheese and pop it in a hot oven for about 10 minutes and you have a 'pastry pizza' starter.

Dishes such as spag bol are easily bulked out with extra tomatoes and pasta. Pasta salads are quick and easy, as well as filling, so the protein part of the meal (meat/fish/whatever) can be divided into smaller portions. I finally got my hands on some crunchy peanut butter (not so easy to do here), so my white chili is back on the menu. I usually accompany this with rice and flatbreads which are, again, a good way to bulk a meal out to accomodate last-minute guests.

It's easy to slip into the habit of repeating the same exact recipes time after time so on Sunday, with a new guest to lunch, I decided to go for a lighter, mousse-ier topping for chocolate tartjust to change it up a little. Wild and crazy, I know. The good thing (apart from the chocolatey deliciousness) about this tart is that it is frozen, so it can be prepared in advance and whipped out of the freezer to soften whilst you are eating the main course.

Mmmmm......chocolate.......