Monster meatball!

I'm all in favour of cutting down work in the kitchen and one of the best ways to do this, I think, is not to fiddle with things. Why make a meatball mixture and spend an hour separating, rolling and frying 20 little meatballs, when you can just put a humungus one in the pan and cut it up afterwards? Maybe you like all the sides to be brown and crisp, but it can also dry the meat out, and my version is cooked in 15 minutes.

This is a large dinner plate, although it appears to be a side plate!

This particular meatball was made with beef mince, chopped onion, a slice of white bread, an egg, dried thyme, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard (essential in a meatball!), a liberal amount of Himalayan rock salt, white pepper and a few teaspoons of ground cumin. Mmm, mmm!

Serve on mash with lots of chutney or sweet chilli sauce, and your favourite vegetables or a salad.

Livening up a chicken breast

If there is one thing that I am guaranteed not to look forward to eating, it is a chicken breast. The slightest bit of overcooking and you are left with a dry, stringy and dare I say tasteless bit of protein. Apart from keeping a watchful eye on it and making sure that you are not cooking the tastier bits such as thighs and drumsticks, which take much longer, in the same dish, the way to add excitement to chicken breast is to stuff them.

A breast that is still on the bone is always more tender and tastier than deboned - perhaps that's because all meat cooked on the bone seems to benefit from it - and these can be stuffed just as successfully. All you need is a sharp boning knife to make a slit that doesn't quite separate the two halves of a breast. Each flap should be the same thickness, about 1cm, and you can then fill the pocket with mouthwatering stuffings - whatever takes your fancy.

Last night I filled them with pesto made from olive oil, parmesan and pecorino cheese, basil, chilli and ground almonds. Make sure that the open side faces upwards and secure with a couple of toothpicks. Cook for a short time - 15 to 20 minutes at 180 deg C should be more than adequate. Only cook just before eating, as chicken breast doesn't improve with standing!

Serve with basmati rice and a salad or some lightly steamed vegetables. Mmmm!