Banana and Blueberry Bread

One of the things I learned from baking this is that sometimes it's still best to fold in a mixture by hand, despite having a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. No doubt, it was easy combining the wet ingredients with the electric mixer, but fold in the dry by hand, followed by the very delicate fruit. You'll end up with wonderfully juicy fruit still waiting to burst in your mouth, instead of berry juice that has bled into the mixture. Even though the original recipe called for raspberries, use any berries which are available and in season. Toasting the slices and buttering them is up to you, we found they were wonderfully moist on their own.

Serves 6-8

2 eggwhites, lightly beaten
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/4 cups frozen raspberries (or a punnet of fresh blueberries)
butter, to serve

Preheat oven to 160 deg C and butter a 21cm x 4cm loaf tin. Line the base an long sides with baking paper.

Combine the eggwhites, mashed banana, sugar and oil in a bowl. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda, and fold together until just combined. Fold through the raspberries, then spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 1/4 hours, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes or so before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice, toast and serve with butter.

Toast with Avocado, Fried Eggs and Soy Sauce

One invaluable thing to learn in the kitchen is how to fry eggs (and not burn them along the way). You'll find that topping any meal with a fried egg can go a very long way! This recipe can easily be doubled for a lovely breakfast together. If you plan to save half the avocado for later, remember to save the avocado half with the stone in its flesh, as it helps keep it for longer.

Serves: 1

1 tbsp of groundnut oil
2 large eggs
2 slices of seeded rye bread
1/2 ripe avocado (save the rest for a salad later), stone removed and flesh scooped out
Drizzle of light soy sauce
Salt and ground black pepper

Heat a wok over a medium heat until it starts to smoke and then add the groundnut oil. Crack the eggs into the wok and cook for 2 minutes or to your liking. Meanwhile, place the bread in the toaster.

To serve, place the toast on a plate and spread with the avocado flesh. Place the eggs on top and drizzle over the soy sauce, then season with salt and ground black pepper and eat immediately.

Chicken, Leek & Bacon Pot Pies

I got the idea to make this when we had some leftover shredded roast chicken from our picnic. I did cook up fresh chicken pieces, but stirred in the leftover shredded chicken to the mixture before cooling. I never remove rinds from bacon, they're the best bits! It's also handy to have ground nutmeg and dried parsley in the pantry, so you can whip this up when you get a pie craving. I also ended up with enough chicken filling for 6 ramekins, and because I was only cooking for Nick and myself that evening, I only made pastry lids for two pies. I covered the rest with cling wrap for the fridge and freezer for future meals. Just bring those from the fridge to room temperature when ready, or defrost those from the freezer, then make your pastry lids and bake as below.

Serves 4

40g unsalted butter
1 tbs olive oil
3 leeks (pale part only), thinly sliced
4 bacon rashers, rind removed, chopped
800g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2m pieces
1 tbs plain flour
Pinch of nutmeg
200ml chicken stock
300ml light sour cream or creme fraiche
2 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tbs lemon juice
4 sheets frozen puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat the butter and oil in a pan over low heat. Add the leek, bacon and chicken and cook, stirring, for 6-8 minutes until the leek is soft and chicken is almost cooked. Stir in the flour and nutmeg and cook for 1-2 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the stock, increase heat to medium and bring to the boil. Season, then remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream, parsley and lemon juice. Cool completely.

Preheat oven to 200 deg C.

Cut two 1cm strips from the sides of each pastry sheet. Set aside. Cut pie lids from the remaining pastry, 1cm wider than the top of four 300ml pie dishes or ramekins. Divide chicken among dishes. Press pastry strips around the rim of each dish to make a 'collar' and brush with some of the egg. Carefully top with pie lids, press firmly into the collar to seal, then trim edges if necessary. Make 2 cuts in each pie top, then brush with remaining egg. Bake the pies for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden.