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    Pak choy & Shiitake

    Very quick, simple stir fry, lovely and fresh tasting and could be a main or a side quite happily.  The sauce somewhat gummed up here and reduced to a coating, not at all unpleasant, but I’d love a touch more liquidity, so go easy on the potato flour. From Every Grain of Rice, pg. 180

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    Oven baked aubergine, tomato & sheep's cheese bechamel

    This is not what the book intends, the aubergine shells did not come out crispy and could in no way be filled so much as they could be draped into a lasagne dish.  So I took inspiration from this new physical form and created a sort of lasagne.  Flexible in that it can be a sauce with other things or a sort of stew on its own. Oo, also cheddar is not the suggested cheese, but used here it was fine.  I do think the nuttiness of gruyere would be a benefit, however. From Aegean, by Marianna Leivaditaki, pg. 118

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    Roast Roots & Feta

    A variation on a perviously cooked dish, no soft cheese was available so feta was experimented with, thrown in to the roasting dish with the roots. It seemed like this would be too much for it, with a part way trend towards becoming a burnt liquid, but blind faith was had and it ended up just perfect, squishy but firm and caramelised. Also in the mix this time were beetroot and green pepper, both fine additions. Though I certainly missed the parsnip. King of the roast vegetable… Ok, I’m not sure about that, the roast vegetable bracket is a fiercely…

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    Baked feta

    Exceptional thing to do to a slab of feta. Easy, quick, delicious. A subsequent ordering of the dish in a taverna revealed that you can really push the grilling quite far and let the feta soften more than I did here. Either way though, this should be repeated often. Greek-Style Baked Feta Recipe

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    Basque-style cheese cake

    I do believe that this is now my favourite cheesecake recipe. It turns out having the best qualities of both unbaked and baked cheesecakes. Though do remember to let it fully chill! Allowed to do so the texture is improved immeasurably and the lemon within intensifies and become syrupy. Some modifications made here out of necessity. No sour cream, the task of translating the entire refrigerated aisle of the Greek supermarket proving too much for me. The volume being made up with normal double cream. Only 500ml of cream cheese. No cornflour. These changes worked just fine, and I could…

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    Briam

    Tasty and flexible veggie bake, can make a batch and have many meals from it. As much as I have repeatedly, with single-minded insistence, attempted to make it work with sausages, they muddy the flavours a little and this is best with fish. Pictured here with too many chunks of sausage and a lovely cut of, I think, red mullet. Made in a beautiful Greek kitchen in Lefkada with presumably the same lighting designer as a Cornish tin mine, requiring the fumbled light of a phone to perform all but the most rudimentary tasks. Baffling.  This inadequacy also resulted in…

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    Everyday stir-fry

    Pleasant and relatively speedy. The de-seeded cucumber is a treat in stir frys. As ever I replaced the spring onion with leek. Would look to push the flavours a little here, I feel like the quality of my ingredients is perhaps letting some of these dishes down… Martini is not quite the substitute for shaoxing wine that sherry is. But this is good nonetheless. From Every Grain of Rice, pg. 120

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    Braised chicken with Chestnuts

    Wonderfully simple and quick.  A real comfort meal for a day that just doesn’t afford much space for cooking. Steaming hot, gentle flavours, a little sweet but not too much.  Very nice. Would perhaps look to thicken the sauce just a smidge more, either through flour or reduction.  It could stand the gentle heat of a pricked chilli, perhaps, but not at all essential.  And I would love to make a big batch with a whole chicken, to really pump those savoury flavours into it. From Every Grain of Rice, pg. 124

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    Fish curry molee with black cardamom

    Very pleasant alternate molee, although bones almost ruined the day. Worth ensuring the onions are properly coloured before moving onto the next steps. I world try again, however I do have to say that the prawn molee recipe is a more pleasing dish, and I would probably just use that method with alternate protein from now on.  This one requires a good bit more lime pumped into it to bring it to life. Rick Stein – India – pg. 150