Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Mozzarella and Wrapped in Bacon

You can see why this dish is so popular, it's easy, it tastes good and it's something a litle different to do with chicken breasts which, lets face it, can be a bit boring.

Rob prepared this tonight by cutting slits in the breasts lengthways, stuffing them with sliced mozzarella and then wrapping them in bacon. You could use a different cheese for this and parma ham instead of the bacon if you like.

Once the chicken breasts are prepared, into the oven they go, on a baking tray or in a dish in case of spillage, at 180c for around 30-40 minutes until cooked through. Simple!

Good Home Cooking On A Blustery Night

Britain has been battered by storms over the last two days. Yesterday saw the kind of wind that pushes you along faster than your feet can keep up with when it's behind you and stops you in your tracks like an invisible wall when in front of you. It eased off today but picked up again this evening.

The sky has been grey, trees fell on train tracks, teenagers on the dark streets shrieked in mock terror, rain flooded parts of the country and umbrellas broke against the wind. This is the kind of weather that you shut the door against and shelter from.

I had one thing on my mind as I travelled home tonight - major comfort food in the form of chicken risotto (with kale, which I decided to add when I saw it sitting in the fridge). This has perfect comfort food ingredients – butter, chicken, rice – and it left me feeling full, sleepy and happy, which is exactly what I expect from comfort food.

Chicken and Kale Risotto

Put some chicken stock in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. I'd say put on about a litre of stock but you may need less or more, depending on how much rice you're using.

Next, sauté a chopped onion in butter and olive oil until a little softened, then add risotto rice (I used 160grams for 2 people) and stir well to coat the rice with the butter. Add a good slosh of vermouth and again stir well.

Chop 2 chicken breasts into bite size pieces and add to the pan. Fry until the chicken turns white, stirring the rice to ensure it doesn’t stick or go dry (if it starts to just add a little stock to the pan). Now add a ladleful of the hot stock to the pan. Stir until the rice absorbs the stock then continue to add the stock a ladleful at a time, stirring all the while. About halfway through add chopped kale and seasoning.

Once the rice is al dente and creamy and the chicken is cooked through add no more stock and take the risotto off the heat, then stir in a knob of butter and parmesan cheese. Check the seasoning and serve.

Food Sin Number 6

In this heavenly world of food us foodies pride ourselves on wholesome, home cooking with good, fresh produce. Let’s be honest, there can be a certain smugness that comes with knowing that we don’t survive solely on ready meals, takeaways and oven chips, that we know how to whip up hearty meal from scratch and that our saintly shopping baskets are filled to the brim with vegetables, herbs and pulses.

But take another look at that basket. Move in closer, push the olive oil to one side and lift up the organic fish. What’s that underneath? Could it possibly be……no, surely not? Not JUNK FOOD? Oh yes my friend, guilty as charged.

You see there’s a seedy underworld in this gastronomic paradise. It’s the dark side, where temptation lives and submission is rife. Debauchery, that’s what it is. Shocking.

For some, it’s the sweet, sugary chocolate (or candy bars for our US friends) that breaks them. For others, the salty snacks and for others still it’s the towering takeaway giants that beckon – the burgers, the fried chicken, the (horror of horrors) kebab in the early hours of the morning. You won’t hear a foodie admit to this very often, of course not, it goes against the grain, it’s the unspoken, it’s everything we abhor…isn’t it? Well yes, but even us foodies are weak sometimes. It’s true and I hang my head in shame. Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.

Now I’m not saying that ALL foodies submit to the odd, er…what are we calling it…indulgence, but its out there you know – it happens. At the end of the day, some of the junk just tastes so damn good. It does, it really does. OK we wouldn’t want to live on it, goodness no - what an atrocious thought, but every now and then is ok, isn’t it? Sort of a reward for being so good the rest of the time. Yes, I think we can talk ourselves round to believing it’s ok. But, um, don’t tell anyone will you? Let’s keep this confessional to ourselves.

Crispy Roast Pork Chinese Style

Belly of pork is fabulous for a chinese meal. The piece I used for this still had the ribs attached so I cut off them off first and cooked them along with the rest of the pork.

Cut the belly of pork into strips and rub them with Chinese 5 spice powder. If you're using the ribs too treat them the same way and put all the meat in a roasting tray skin side up. Roast in the oven on the highest shelf at 200c for 20 minutes. The skin should be nice and crispy at this stage.

After 20 minutes turn the ribs over and remove the fat from the tray. Add a glug of light soy sauce and rice wine vinegar along with some water (make sure the water doesn't cover the skin). Roast for a further 30 minutes or so until cooked through.

Remove the pork from the roasting tray and spoon off as much of the fat as you can. Reduce the rest of the liquid until you are happy with the taste, not too much or it will be very salty.

Spoon the cooking juices over the pork and garnish with sliced spring onions. Serve with egg fried rice and greens, such as purple broccoli, stir fried with sliced garlic.