Home Cooking Made Easy

150g quick-cook thin noodles

Small bunch of fresh basil leaves

Small bunch of fresh mint leaves

1 lime, cut in half

Put the chicken stock into a large pan with the spring onion whites, garlic, chilli, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, peppercorns and a good amount of salt. Bring to a simmer, then carefully slide the chicken breasts in and cover with a lid. Cook for 12 minutes, then throw in the celery and carrot and cook for a further 5 minutes. Taste the soup and season as necessary.

Remove the chicken, cinnamon stick and star anise from the soup with a slotted spoon and at the same time put the noodles into the broth and cook, uncovered, for as long as needed.

While the noodles are cooking, flake the chicken into bite-sized pieces with two forks. Just before the noodles are ready, put the chicken back into the broth to heat through and taste the soup again to check if you need any more seasoning.

Rip up half of the basil and mint leaves, stir through the soup with the spring onion greens and then divide the soup among 4–6 bowls. Scatter the remaining herbs over the top and squeeze a little lime juice over each one to finish.

Pea soup with minted mascarpone

There is always a bag of peas or petit pois in my freezer. Peas are my vegetable of choice and I serve them most days of the week. The other thing I always have in abundance is mint. If you have ever tried to grow it, you will know the ease with which it slowly takes over the garden, winding its way through and over everything else in its path. The supply manages to keep up with demand; we are a mint-loving family and use mint in salads, teas, the odd alcoholic beverage and, of course, in soups. Serve this soup hot with a big chunk of fresh bread slathered with butter.

Makes 1.5 litres, serves 6

800ml chicken or vegetable stock

1kg frozen petit pois

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

A small handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

4 dollops of mascarpone (about 150g)

Bring the stock to the boil in a large pan and add the peas. Cover with a lid and allow it to return to the boil. I always put a lid on while waiting for it to boil, as it speeds up the process quite considerably. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes, or until the peas are tender, then remove the pan from the heat.

Working in batches, blitz the peas and stock in a blender until smooth. Pour each batch into a clean pan as you go. Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper, then reheat it gently over a low heat.

Meanwhile, stir the mint through the mascarpone until well blended.

Once the soup has been heated through, divide it among serving bowls, put a dollop of the minted mascarpone on each one and serve piping hot.

Hot & spicy Bloody Mary soup

The morning after the night before in a steaming hot bowl of soup. Of course, the Vodka at the end is entirely optional but it does add a nice alcoholic kick, should the mood take you! I am not normally a fan of tomato soup, but this one is really full of flavour and will be one to remember.

Makes about 1.2 litres, serves 4–6

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large red onion, peeled and sliced

500g ripe tomatoes (about 5 vine or plum tomatoes), roughly chopped

1 litre tomato juice

3 squirts of tomato purée

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp soft light brown sugar

50ml Worcestershire sauce

½–1 tsp cayenne pepper (depending how spicy you like it!)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Several shakes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Vodka, to taste (optional)

1 stick of celery, trimmed and cut into batons

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the tomatoes, tomato juice and purée, bay leaf, sugar, Worcestershire sauce and finally the cayenne and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat a little to let it bubble away for a good 30 minutes to really get the flavours going.

Taste the soup and add more seasoning if needed, so it is just as you like it. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Then, working in two or three batches, ladle the soup into a blender and blitz until it is quite smooth but still has a little texture. Pour the blended soup into a large bowl or jug as you go. Once done, return it all to the pan and heat through gently. Add the Tabasco and Vodka, if using, and taste again, adjusting the seasoning if necessary.

Ladle the soup into warmed mugs or serving bowls and serve with the celery batons.

Deep-fried Camembert with a cranberry, Burgundy & thyme sauce

This dish is so naughty – in every way. It comes in the canapé chapter, but it is mightily fine as a meal in itself, to be perfectly honest. For me, life is too short to make cranberry sauce from scratch every time (except at Christmas!), so I like to buy a jar of ready-made and give it a little help from some herby friends.

Serves 4

4 tbsp red wine, preferably Burgundy

Pinch of fresh thyme leaves

150g cranberry sauce

1 egg, lightly beaten

80g natural or golden breadcrumbs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 x 250g whole Camembert, unwrapped

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying