Pepper Chicken Potato Crush

3 garlic cloves
3 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
3 tbsp olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
100 g goat's cheese, cut into 6 rounds
3 strips of roasted peppers in oil
a few fresh thyme sprigs
300 g small potatoes
85 g rocket salad

Preheat oven to 200C. Chop garlic cloves and mix with 1 tbsp of oil. Make 3 diagonal slits accross each breast. Reserve half the garlic mixture and spread the rest over the chicken and into the slits.
Halve each cheese slice and tuck two halves, a piece of pepper and some thyme into each slit. Season and bake in an oiled shallow dish for 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked.
Meanwhile, cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes. Drain, return to the pan and coarsely crush with a fork. Stir in rocket to leave to wilt. Stir remaining into the garlic mixture, season and stir into the potatoes.

Moules

Food of the World - Vegetable Torte

150 g asparagus
4 tbsp olive oil
1 chopped onion
1 courgette
2 large garlic cloves
100 g spinach
1 tbsp chopped basil
75 g grated Parmesan
250 g ricotta
250 g mascarpone
4 eggs

Wash the asparagus and remove the woody ends. Slice the stems and boil asparagus for 2 mins. Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the olive oil and cook the onion until soft. Increase the heat and add sliced courgette and cook until it's soft and golden brown. dd the garlic and then spinach. remove from the pan, add the asparagus and basil, season with salt and pepper and leave to cool.

Grease a 20cm tin with butter and dust with about 1tbsp Parmesan. Mix together the ricotta , mascarpone, eggs and 50 g Parmesan and add to the cooled vegetables. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into the tin and scatter with the remaining Parmesan. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Leave to cool for 30 minutes, then chill in the fridge for about 3 hours until it has set. Serve with salad.

Food of the World - Arancini

They are specialty of Sicily, and the name means "Little Oranges". Isn't it cute?

large pinch of saffron
250ml white wine
100g butter
1 finely chopped onion
1 large crushed garlic clove
750 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp thyme
225 g risotto rice
50g grated parmesan
100 g mozzarella, cubed
75 g breadcrumbs
oil for deep-frying

Leve the saffron to soak in the wine while you prepare the risotto. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the thyme and rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute to seal the rice. Add the wine and saffron and stirr until the wine is all absorbed. Add several laddles of stock, stirring continuously, so the rice cooks evenly. Keep adding the stock, stirring frequently. Continue this way for about 20 minutes,or until the rice is creamy. It is not so essential to keep the rice al dente. Remove from the heat and stirr in the parmesan, then spread ot onto a tray covered with clingfilm, leave to cool and,if possible, leave in the fridge overnight.
To make the arancini, roll a small amount of risotto into a walnut-sized ball, press a hole in the middle,place a small piece of mozzarella cheese inside and press around. epeat with the rest of the risotto. Roll each ball in the breadcrumbs. Deep-fry the arancini in batches, drain on paper towels. Serve hot or in a room temperature.

Food of the World - Leek and Potato Soup

Apparently, it can be served hot or cold. Hot version is traditional French, and cold version is called Vichyssoise, as it is believed that it has been served for the first time in Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York by a French chef from Vichy.

50 g butter
1 chopped onion
3 leeks, white part only, sliced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
200 g potatoes
750 ml chicken stock
220ml single cream

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion, leek, celery and garlic. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring. Add chopped potatoes, stock and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes (covered). Allow to cool a little before puréeing in a blender.
Return to clean saucepan, bring the soup gently to boil and stir in the cream. Season with salt and white pepper and reheat without boiling.
Few tips: you can also make it without celery and / or without cream (a healthier option?)

Stuffed peppers

Delicious hot or cold

Food of the World - Chicken, Coconut and Galangal Soup

This is one of the classic soups of Thailand. There are a few variants of it and you can skip on ingredients if you don't have something at the moment. You can also use prawns, fish or vegetables instead of chicken.

400 ml coconut milk
1 lemon grass stalk
5 cm piece of galangal or you can use ginger instead
3 shallots, smashed
400 g skinless chicken fillets
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar ( I used brown cane sugar)
200 g baby tomatoes (as you can see in the picture, I used normal-sized tomatoes, worked pretty well)
150 g button mushrooms
3 tbsp lemon juice
5 kaffir lime leaves

Put the coconut milk, lemon grass, galangal pieces and shallots in a sucepan or wok and bring to a boil. Add the chicken, fish sauce and palm sugar and simmer, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add the tomatoes and mushrooms and simmer for 2-3 min. Add lemon juice, lime leaves in the last few seconds, taking care not to let the tomatoes lose their shape. It's a bit tricky if you are using whole tomatoes cut into pieces, but unless you stir vigorously, it should work out just fine. Garnish with coriander.