Mael's Yassa chicken (Senegalese recipe)

Marinate a jointed chicken (or six legs) in the juice of four lemons, some OO, S&P, and three large finely sliced onions overnight in a cool place.

BBQ the bird bits (or griddlepan them) - blackening allowed.

Chuck em in a pot and add the marinade. Simmer till done.

Servir avec du ris et des haricots verts.

Blackspring's Nan's pork hock

A variation on red-cooked pork, from the old GuardianTalk website:

1 giant pork hock (size doesn't matter) -1 lump of ginger roughly sliced -2 tbsp (or more if you fancy) dou ban jiang (chili bean sauce - I use AMOY brand) -2 tbsp brown sugar -3 tbsp dark soy sauce -3 tbsp light soy sauce (I use Kikkoman for giant umami kick) -2 star anise 2-3 spring onions or half a little red onion AND: 2 tbsp rice wine (not essential) 1 tsp 5-spice powder (not essential)

Put all ingredients into a deep pot with enough water to cover the hock completely and bring to the boil, then simmer for 4-5 hours. You will know when it is done when the house starts smelling amazing and the meat falls off the bone. don't worry if the pork hock looks fatty when you buy it, it all rises and you can skim it off at the end. what you are left with is a silky gelatinous amalgamation of very lean shredded pork (almost like Texan slow-cooked brisket) that is melt in the mouth. You won't need a knife. You can cut through it with a spoon. Serve with some simple steamed pak choi on steamed rice, or over thin white rice noodles in a deep bowl with lots of meaty liquor.

Blackberry jelly

1kg blackberries
1kg preserving sugar
Juice of 3 large lemons

Method

1. Place the blackberries in a colander and rinse carefully under cold running water. Tip the fruit into a large, heavy-based pan or preserving pan. Add 400ml cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer, very gently, for about 20 minutes, until the fruit is soft and pulpy. Add the preserving sugar and lemon juice. Heat gently, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved. This will take about 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile, place 2 or 3 small plates or saucers in the fridge to chill.
2. Remove the lid from the pan, bring the mixture to the boil and cook rapidly for 8 minutes. The heat should be sufficiently high so that the mixture bubbles vigorously, but is not so near the top of the pan that it might boil over.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and test to see if the syrup will set by spooning a little onto one of the chilled plates or saucers. Cool for a few seconds, then push the syrup with your finger tip. If it wrinkles slightly on the surface, it has reached setting point. If not, boil for a further 2 minutes and then test again. Repeat this process, if necessary, until setting point is reached.
4. Position a large metal sieve over a large mixing bowl. Fill the sieve carefully with some of the blackberry mixture. Using the back of a large, metal spoon, push the pulp through the sieve into the bowl. When you have extracted as much syrup as you can, discard the seedy pulp left in the sieve. Continue this process with the remaining mixture in the pan until it has all been strained through the sieve.
5. Ladle the strained syrup into clean, sterilised preserving jars (see cook's tips). Cover the surface of the jelly with waxed discs and seal the jar lids with rubber seals. If using jam jars, seal with jam pot covers. Label and store in a cool, dark place.

Rhubarb pudding

1lb rhubarb, peeled and chopped
2 eggs, whisked
4oz brown sugar
2oz plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1oz melted butter
1/2 pint milk

Method

- Beat 3oz of the sugar into the eggs.
- Add the flour and ginger, beating well.
- Add the butter and milk to form a batter.
- Put the rhubarb and the remaining sugar into a buttered ovenproof dish.
- Pour the batter over the rhubarb.
- Bake at 180 degrees centigrade until golden brown and firm to the touch.

Mrs Cornic's stuffed tomatoes

This recipe for tomates farcies works equally well for courgettes. Many thanks to Mael Cornic for passing on his mother's recipe. We use a lot of ras el hanout - you get a lot of stuffing from this mixture, so up to four tablespoonfuls of ras el hanout is not too much if it's a mildish mix. I know it sounds like too much. I think lamb mince would be a good substitute for the beef/sausage mixture if you didn't want to use pork.

Anyway:

You'll need biggish tomatoes. Cut the top (side opposed to that of the stem) and delicately empty the tomato using a spoon. Keep the flesh. Sprinkle the inside of the tom with salt turn over and leave to rest on a tray. You can also do the same with courgettes and peppers, if you want more variety (I must say the stuffed courgettes are my fave).

For the stuffing for ~8 stuffed veggies you'll need:

- 400g minced beef

- 400g sausagemeat

- 1 big onion, chopped finely

- 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

- 1 small can of tomato puree

- a bunch of parsley, chopped finely

- 1 egg

- salt, pepper, ras el hanout if you have otherwise cumin powder

- breadcrumbs

- vegetable stock

Fry all the meat separately (in butter, yum). In another pan, fry the garlic and onion gently - let to sweat properly. Then add the reserved tomato (and courgette) flesh that you've kept and let reduce. Add the cooked meat. Adjust the tomatoness with tomato puree. Finally crack an egg on top and mix rapidly - that'll bind the stuffing. Adjust seasoning and spice (ras el hanout ideally, cumin otherwise ; go easy on the cumin) and throw in the chopped bunch of parsley. Don't be afraid to turn your stuffing green.

Finally stuff your tomatoes (or other veggies) with that lot, leaving a little mound at the top. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs. Do not cover the tops with the sliced off tomato top but simply lay them aside in the dish. Lay in an oven proof dish ; moisten the bottom of the dish with vegetable stock. Bung in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes (check that the stock is not drying up ; top up if necessary).

To serve, top the toms or other veggies with their sliced off tops over the breadcrumby bit which should have gone crunchy.

Evelyn Curran's apple bake

This is my great aunt Evelyn Curran''s recipe. It's a tray bake which would probably work equally well as an apple cake if you baked it a bit longer (or possibly the lack of egg would make it a bit heavy). She used imperial measurements, and this recipe comes from her notebook, but if you want to convert, 4 ounces = roughly 100 grammes.

Cream four ounces of margarine (she lived through the war - I use butter) with four ounces of sugar. Mix in eight ounces of self-raising flour and eight ounces of chopped, peeled cooking apples. Loosen to a thickish batter with (she says) four tablespoonfuls of milk. I used a bit more. Alternatively, she says, you can rub the fat into the flour and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Bake for around 20 minutes at around 200 degrees. It should be mid brown on top.

You could add cinnamon or nuts to this, but it's worth trying the plain unadorned recipe first: it's really good despite being so simple. If you don't use cooking apples, you'd probably want to reduce the sugar a bit, as the sharpness of the fruit keeps it from blandness.

Mercimek çorbası: Turkish lentil soup

Essential ingredients: red split lentils, ground cumin, onion, dried mint, Turkish chilli flakes, oil, salt, pepper

Useful additions: stock, tomato paste, celery, carrot, easily wilted greens eg spinach/radish tops/chard

To finish: something to sour it -  a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, a dollop of yoghurt, or a sprinkle of sumac all work well

Another one where the quantities vary - make it as thick or as thin as you like, add lots of vegetables or none but the essential onion.

Finely chop the onion and garlic and saute it until soft (also add finely chopped celery and carrot if you're using them). Stir in the tomato paste if you're using it, and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the ground cumin and stir until the scent is released. Add the red split lentils and cover with water or stock; add a teaspoonful of Turkish chilli and 3 - 4 teaspoonfuls or so of dried mint (not fresh, which has a very different flavour). Simmer until the lentils disintegrate: should take half an hour or so. If you like you can wilt some shredded greens into the soup at this stage.

Season with salt and black pepper, and finish with lemon/yoghurt/sumac and some more Turkish chilli flakes if you like.

Thanks to the Verbal Privilege blog (which is fascinating but not particularly about cooking) where I originally found a version of this recipe.