For this recipe I use pork leg, although the original used pork belly. Leg is much, much leaner, belly is much, much more tasty. You takes your choice, but belly should probably be cooked a bit more before hand, and you definitely won’t need to add any extra oil! I also used a homemade dashi – a unique Japanese stock made from seaweed and flaked fish. I’ve also made this from powdered dashi stock, but if dashi is too difficult to get hold of a combination of fish/vegetable stock could probably work as an alternative. Sake and mirin can’t really be substituted.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp goundnut oil (or veggie oil)
• 900g diced pork leg (Waitrose sell 450g packs specifically for stewing)
• 100g ginger (peeled and roughly chopped)
• 500ml dashi stock (or half fish, half vegetable stock)
• 170ml sake
• 60ml mirin
• 125ml soy sauce
• 80g dark brown sugar
• 6 medium free range eggs
• corn flour or potato statch
• spring onions

Heat oil in a large sauce pan, and cook the diced pork for about 5 minutes. It probably won’t brown, but it shouldn’t be pink on the sides. Around half way through, throw in the chopped ginger. Add the liquids (stock, sake, mirin, soy) and sugar, bring to the boil, cover the pan and simmer on a low heat for 3 hours. The pan should never get dry – in fact, there should be ample liquid at the end of cooking in which to make sauce. So if a drought threatens the pan, then add a small amount of water.

While the pork is cooking, partially hard boil six eggs (add eggs to cold water, bring to boil and cook for 6 mins), carefully remove the shell and cool in cold running water.

When the pork is tender (the pieces should fall apart) remove the chunks from the liquid and put aside. Add the eggs to the liquid and cook for a further 10 minutes, so that the eggs take on a bit of the flavour of the gravy. There should be enough liquid to almost cover the eggs – add a touch more water if necessary. Remove the eggs, and place with the pork. Thicken the gravy with about a teaspoon of corn flour or potato starch (let down first with a few drops of warm water) until the sauce is a good consistency. Return the pork and eggs to the pan to reheat in the thickened sauce for a couple of minutes.

Serve immediately with freshly chopped spring onions sprinkled on top. This makes enough for six medium sized portions at around 355 calories each. A small helping of rice on the side goes down well, as does a small amount of chilli sesame carrots.

Chilli Sesame Carrots

Jullienne one medium-large carrot per person. Place in a bowl with a small amount of water, and microwave for 3 minutes until the carrots are cooked but still have bite. Drain any remaining water, and to the bowl add a small drizzle of sesame oil, a few drops of rice wine vinegar and small splash of dark soy sauce. Finally add a sprinkle of sesame seeds, a pinch of chilli powder (to taste) and combine. Serve topped with a small amount of freshly chopped spring onions.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp groundnut oil (or vegetable oil or sunflower oil)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 150g celery (approx 3 medium stalks) trimmed and finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed/finely chopped/whatever
• 30g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 tsp coriander seeds
• 4 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 2 tsp dried coriander leaf
• 200g split red lentils (the ‘no need to soak’ variety)
• 600ml vegetable stock (600ml water w/ 2 tsp bouillon powder)
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp tomato puree
• 1-2 red chillis, seeds in, finely chopped (vary to taste!)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 250g spinach leaves (washed, but otherwise unprepared)
• pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder / pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste)

Sweat off the onion and celery in oil heated in a medium-large saucepan for about 5-10minutes. Add the ginger and garlic about half way through. While the onion and celery is sweating, toast off the coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a dry frying pan for 1-2 minutes (until the seeds just start to smoke!) Grind the seeds and add to the pan, with the turmeric, garam masala, and coriander leaf and season with freshly ground black pepper. Add the lentils, stock, tomatoes, and stir in the tomato puree, chopped chilli and sugar. Allow the lentils to cook on a low heat for 20-30 minutes, keeping an eye on the water (if it gets too dry, add some more – but be careful not to add too much as there will be liquid to come out of the raw spinach). Add the spinach a bit at a time, so as to not swamp the pan, and a largish pinch of salt if needed. Taste the sauce, and if it’s too mild, add a small mix of chilli powder and cayenne pepper. Cook for a further 10 minutes or until the lentils have become soft and the spinach has wilted. Best served with rice or naan bread.

Makes 4 decent sized portions, each weighing in at around 260 calories (not including the rice, naan, or whatever).

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp groundnut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 2cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed/finely chopped/whatever
• 4 small carrots, halfed lengthwise and finely sliced
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp dried coriander leaves
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 chillies (or just the one if you’re not wanting it too hot) finely sliced
• 75g Greek yoghurt
• 2 large (bonless and skinless) chicken thighs (approx 250g), chopped into small 2cm-ish chunks
• 800ml chicken stock
• 50g (uncooked) basmati rice
• cornflour to thicken (optional)

Start by heating the oil in a medium-large pan, and sweat off the onions for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, carrot and half of the chilli, and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Transfer about 2/3-3/4 of the mixture to a small blender, and with a bit of water added, blend until you get a very smooth paste. Return the paste back to the pan, add all of the spices, and cook for a couple more minutes. Stir in the yoghurt (a small amount at a time, so that it doesn’t split), followed by the chicken and cook slowly until not-quite bubbling, before adding the rice and stock. Cook for ten minutes, or so, until the rice and chicken is cooked. If the sauce is too thin, add a couple of teaspoons of cornflour let down with a small amount of warm water, and stir into the soup.

Serves 4, and if you’re counting, each serving weighs in at a fairly lean 225 calories

• a pack of lardons
• two leeks, sliced into small rings
• an onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 swede, peeled and roughly cubed
• a pack of about six good sized skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• three cloves garlic, sliced
• handful of parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• a bottle of white wine
• couple of handfuls of frozen peas
• couple of cups of chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6-8 dumplings made from packet mix

Brown off the lardons in a hot stock pot, before adding the leeks, onion, garlic and swede. You don’t need extra oil, just let them cook in the tasty bacon fat until they’ve softened up a bit, for about 5 minutes or so. Add the chicken, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, and turmeric, and stir about in the mix before adding in the bottle of white wine and frozen peas. Top up with the chicken stock until it looks like there will be enough liquid for about half an hour’s cooking, and sit the doughy dumplings made from the mix on the top.

Cook for half an hour and when almost done, throw in the chopped parsley and season. This can be served on it’s own in a bowl, or with a generous serving of mashed potatos should make enough for four people.

Chop 3 onions and fry off with a small splosh of olive oil in a large saucepan for 5ish minutes. Add 3 large potatoes, chopped (should be around 780g) and cook, covered for another 5 minutes. Chop the two 85g packs of watercress, and add with a litre of vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, which should take about 15 minutes.

Blend the mixture, while adding 500ml of semi-skimmed milk, a freshly grated nutmeg and some black pepper. Reheat to serve.

Chop a large onion. Chop up two cloves of garlic. Add to a big heated saucepan which has got some oil in it. Add some chopped mushrooms and a thickly sliced green pepper. Fry off for a bit, and add plenty of dried oregano and cayenne pepper, and throw in a can of kidney beans.

While this is cooking off, put around 120g of soya mince in a jug, and rehydrate with boiling water and a generous sprinkle of vegetable buillion powder. Lace with tabasco sauce and worcester sauce, stir and wait a bit until the mince has rehydrated before pouring into the pan. Add a can of chopped tomatoes, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and a couple of teaspoons of tomato paste.

Put a dollop of marmite in the bottom of the can the tomatoes came in, add about a teaspoon of buillion powder and fill with any remaining boiled water, stir and add the liquid to the pan. Add more cayenne pepper and/or chilli flakes to taste, and cook for around 15-20 minutes until the chili is more sauce than liquid.

For the rice, boil up 250g of American easy cook rice with a splash of oil. Half way through cooking, add a couple of generous handfuls of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

This should make about six portions.

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
smallish chunk of ginger, finely chopped
6-7 medium-sized mushrooms, roughly chopped
can of kidney beans
can of chick peas
can of plum tomatos
1 green pepper, roughly sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tsp of tomato puree
handful of oregano
sprinkle of pepper
generous splash of soy sauce
few drops of tabasco to taste
juice of one lime

In a stock pot or large saucepan, cook the onion in a small amount of oil, until browned. Add the chilli, garlic, ginger, oregano and mushrooms and cook unto the mushrooms have softened. To the mixture add the chopped carrots, green pepper, kidney beans, chick peas, tomato and tomato puree, with the soy sauce and enough tabasco to taste. Season with pepper, and ensure there is enough liquid to cook for 20-25 minutes. About half way through, incorporate the juice of one lime. The chilli is cooked when the carrot has softened and the sauce has thickened. Serve with rice, or cous cous, or whatever you’d normally have a chilli with.

Ingredients
2 eggs per person
2 slices of bread per person
haloumi cheese
sliced ham
splash of milk
tomato ketchup
ground white pepper

For the eggy bread:
Beat the eggs with the milk, and add a generous sprinkling of pepper (just like for making scrambled eggs). Soak each side of a piece of bread, and cook on a lightly greased griddle pan turning every now and again until both sides are browned. If making lots then make sure they stay warm, while cooking the others.

For the filling:
Slice up enough haloumi cheese to comfortably fill each sandwich, and cook on the griddle until nicely browned. Add the cooked cheese with a slice of ham to each sandwich, and a smudge of ketchup (or brown sauce) if you’re that way inclined.

Ingredients
1/2 tsp dried, red chilli flakes
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2cm chopped galangal (ginger)
1 1/2 tsp tumeric
2 medium red chillies chopped and deseeded
1 stick of lemongrass, finely chopped
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

1ltr chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, diced
2 chicken thighs
200ml coconut cream
1 large sweet potato, diced
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 spring onions, sliced
Juice of lime

Rehydrate chilli flakes in water for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic, galangal, turmeric, red chillies, lemon grass, shallots and oil and fry for about 20 minutes. That’ll make the paste.

To the paste, add the chicken stock and potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are soft. Blend until smooth and add the sweet potato, coconut cream and chicken and cook for another 10 minutes until the sweet potato and chicken is cooked. Then add the fish sauce and lime juice, and top with spring onion to serve.

115g butter
110g brown sugar
3 mashed bananas
115ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
175g wholemeal flour
100g wheat bran
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
handful of chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 190. Mix sugar and butter until ‘creamy’. Add mashed bananas, milk, vanilla, eggs and milk. Combine the flour, bran, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and add that to the mixture. Pour generously into muffin cases (this should make about 14 decent sized muffins) and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

I have eaten some and frozen some. They look like this.