FEEDING FAVES

This weeks hot tip is relevant to my story above: it is a shout out to Maison Francois. I’m going to try not be London-centric with these recommendations, but if you are ever in the big smoke it’s one of my favourite places to eat as a family. The food is fabulous, they happily accommodate kids and you can still feel like you’re eating somewhere chic with not a frozen chicken nugget in sight. Also, did I mention the dessert trolley?

Bulgur wheat pilafi with tangy Greek yoghurt

Servs 4 - 6

• Extra virgin olive oil

• 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 50g vermicelli, broken into small pieces

• 1 tbsp tomato puree

• 3 large, ripe tomatoes, chopped (or 1/2 x 400g tin plum tomatoes)

• 250g coarse bulgur wheat

• 550ml hot stock (chicken or vegetable)

• 1/2 x bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

• Greek yoghurt, the tangiest you can find, to serve

Place a large saucepan on a medium heat and add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, the chopped onions and season well. Fry for 5 minutes, without colouring much, then stir in the broken vermicelli and another tablespoon of olive oil. Fry for a further 5 minutes, so the pasta and onions start to colour slightly. Stir in the tomato puree and chopped (or tinned) tomatoes - if using tinned, make sure to break them up with a wooden spoon. After a couple of minutes (5 minutes if using tinned tomatoes), stir in the bulgur wheat, followed by the hot stock. Turn up the heat, once it’s bubbling, turn it down to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

When it’s ready, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid and cover with a tea towel for a further 10 minutes. After that, it’s ready. Serve with a hearty dollop of yoghurt and sprinkling of chopped parsley.

NB: for garlicky prawns, my mum would slice lots of garlic. She’d fry the raw king prawns in a generous knob of butter then when they were almost ready she’d stir in the garlic and occasionally a little dried chilli. A squeeze of lemon to finish would be ideal.

Thanks again for reading. I’m off to curl up with my babies and eat a huge bowl of pourgouri pilafi. Persephone will love it. Elektra will find something to complain about I am sure! Lets see if I can keep this memory going. x

I'm going to be honest - right now, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. But I’m excited to finally be giving this a go. I’ve wanted to write a fortnightly newsletter, full of considered, useful recipes, for such a long time

Whether you’re batch-cooking for yourself, or need to feed an army of hungry mouths, there will be one pan dishes, adaptable meals, foods you can eat on the run between the endless classes or meetings, plus snacks that aren’t laden with sugar.

But there’s another reason I want to do this.

I’ve been craving a space where I can write freely. The chances are, if I’m struggling with the work/life/friendship/parenting/health/grief juggle, then there are others out there feeling the same. Some days I get into bed and think ‘I nailed today’. Other days I sob into my chamomile tea, and wonder whether it’s because I am missing my mum (always), my HRT dosage isn’t quite right (potentially) or that I’ve just hit a wall because I’ve been screamed at for snacks one too many times (highly likely).

So how are we all doing on this hamster wheel? I will never claim to have all the answers. But perhaps by sharing the things I cook - that make our lives a bit easier - it might help one other person. And by sharing the daily battles, it might make someone else feel a little more seen. It takes a village right? And sometimes that village is online.

So here’s a little story to get ‘Feeding’ off the ground.

One of my favourite anecdotes about my husband’s family is that my mother-in-law served the same weekly menu for pretty much his entire childhood. We’ve been together for around 17 years now, and I cannot tell you how much this tickled me for the first ten. I’d never heard anything like it. Sausage and mash EVERY Monday? Lancashire hotpot on a Wednesday? Chicken on Saturdays? And so on. No deviation. Same meals, every single week. Heather, aka The MiL, was the butt of many of my jokes.

But you know who the real clown is here? Me.

Because Heather raised three boys, with both parents working. She KNEW how to get by. I look back on my initial shock and feel thoroughly embarrassed. The woman is a genius. Of course she had a weekly menu! Ours isn’t quite so regimented, mostly because I spend 90% of my time in the kitchen, developing recipes. But you’d better believe we have meals on repeat.

So Heather, I apologise for the arrogance and audacity. Turns out, you were onto something all along.

Feeding Faves

Each fortnight I’ll share something that makes our lives a little bit easier, whether it’s a product, book or even person. This week I want to give a shout out to Pola Poles, whose immunity pops got us through last years germy winter season. The ginger and lemon flavour soothed our throats when nothing else helped. And none of their products have sugar, dairy or additives, so they’re great for all ages. Although if you order something from the cocktail range then you probably want to keep them away from the kids.

My first recipe to get things off the ground is in keeping with the story above. It’s a classic from our rotating meal pan, and a style of cooking I come back to time and time again. My kids love it, their mates love it, and we love it too. Make sure the chicken has the skin on and bone in - this will keep it juicy and give the rice all its delicious flavour. And rinse the rice until the water runs clear, so it is as fluffy as possible.

Crispy one-pan chicken with olive and lemon rice

Serves 4

• 4 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in

• 1 heaped tsp dried oregano

• 1 heaped tsp sweet smoked paprika

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

• 150g mixed pitted olives, roughly chopped and torn

• 300g basmati rice, washed

• 700ml hot chicken stock

• ½ unwaxed lemon

Preheat your oven to 200/ 180 fan. Place the chicken thighs into a mixing bowl with the dried oregano, sweet smoked paprika and a good pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the olive oil and mix together well. Place the thighs in a cold shallow casserole, skillet or wide ovenproof saucepan, skin side down. Place on a medium-high heat and pop a weight on top of the thighs (a meat press or smaller pan lid with some cans on top will do). Cook for 8-10 minutes until the skin is super crisp and the fat has rendered out. There will be a good amount of fat in the pan which is why you don’t need much olive oil. Flip the thighs over, cook for a further 2 minutes, then transfer to a plate, skin side up.

Reduce the heat to medium- low and stir in the sliced garlic. After a minute, stir in the chopped and torn olives and washed basmati rice - you want to coat every grain in that delicious flavourful oil. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add the hot chicken stock. Stir all together then position the chicken thighs back on top, skin side up. Finely grate over the lemon zest and squeeze over the juice. Turn up the heat, bring back to the boil, then cover with a lid of foil and place the pan in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and cook uncovered for a further 10 - 15 minutes, until everything is golden on top and tender. Serve with steamed greens or a dressed green salad.

Thanks for reading! If you make the recipe let me know, I’d love to hear how you get on. I’m heading back to the kitchen to develop more recipes (Christmas) and listen to some True Crime podcasts. All recs welcome! x

Monday 12th October. Lets go.