This was perfect meal for a wet and not-at-all warm half term supper. Adapted from Jamie at Home.

Serves 4 hungry young hippos.

• 1kg pork shoulder, skin-on, seasoned with salt & pepper
• 1 or 2 onions, thinly sliced
• some fresh chillies
• 2 heaped tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 2 tsp dried oregano and/or marjoram
• 2 red, orange or yellow peppers
• 1 x 400g tin tomatoes
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• rice, soured cream, wraps to serve

Heat the oven to 180C. Fry the pork, fat-side down, in some olive oil in an 0ven-proof casserole for about 15 minutes. When the fat has rendered a bit, put the pork to one side and fry the onions, chilli, paprika, fennel seeds, herbs and peppers for about 10 minutes. Then add the tomatoes, red wine vinegar and pop the pork back in. Top up with water and put in the oven for an hour or two, until the pork is cooked and pulls apart in tender strands.

Serve with rice and / or wraps and soured cream. Delicious.

It feels like summer is almost here, so while I was tidying up the garden I got a lamb stew on the go. It’s a bit like this one that I made a while back, with a few twists.

For the stew:

• 500g lamb
• 400g tin tomatoes
• harissa paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 6 – 10 dried apricots
• salt & pepper
• half an onion
• a few garlic cloves
• 4 small carrots
• water

Put the oven on at about 170C. Cut the lamb into big chunks – about the size of a piece of meat that you’d say ‘ooh lovely’ if it was served to you in a posh restaurant, but secretly you’d be disappointed. Rub a couple of tabelspoons of harissa paste, salt & pepper all over the meat and leave to marinate at room temperature for an hour or so.

In a casserole dish, quickly brown the meat, add the onion thickly sliced, garlic and whole carrots. When it’s looking brown all over, add the tomatoes and a can and a half of water. Add the apricots, halved, and bay leaves. Put in the low oven for a couple of hours, topping up the water after an hour if required.

For the cous cous:

• 250g cous cous
• salt & pepper
• 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
• dash olive oil
• half a teaspoon of sumac

Cover all the ingredients with boiling hot water, stir & leave until cooked.

For the roast veg:

• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 red onion, quartered
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• sliced butternut squash, skin-on
• 1 aubergine, diced

Coat the veg in olive oil, salt & pepper and roast along with the stew – keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t catch.

This was lovely in the garden with a glass of cold Riesling, with fish for the pescatarians. The lamb was sweet & spicy & melty. Delicious.

This is pretty easy and so so tasty.

• half a leg of lamb or 800g lean diced lamb
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 400g tin of chickpeas
• cinnamon stick
• small packet of ready-to-eat apricots roughly chopped
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• salt & pepper
• water
• couscous – enough to feed your hoard
• vegetable stock cube or melt

Put the oven on to 190° C. If you have half a leg of lamb (rather than diced lamb), chop it into very large pieces – about 6 chunks maybe. I left the bone in for extra flavour. Remove as much of the fat as you can as you cut it – use a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen scissors if you like. I know fat adds flavour, but lamb is so fatty you can afford to remove a lot. Rub the ground spices (add more cumin and coriander if you like, but go easy with the paprika), salt & pepper into the meat and fry in a little olive oil in the casserole. When it starts to brown, add the garlic, apricots, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, drained rinsed chickpeas and enough water to cover the meat. Bring to the boil, cover, then put in the oven for about an hour.

Make the couscous up to the packet instructions – I like to add a veg stock melt or cube to the mix. Spread a layer of couscous over the casserole and bake or grill with the lid off for a further 10 minutes or so. Serve with some freshly-steamed green beans and crusty bread to mop up the juice.

This is a great, easy, delicious stew – just fry some onions and sage in a casserole, bung in some diced stewing beef, root vegetables (I use parsnips, swede, carrots, potatoes), red wine and beef stock. Cook for an hour ar 160C, then leave in the oven for a few hours on a low heat, say just over 100C. Melty meat, warms the soul. I make a veggie version too – replace the meat with some beans, and the beef stock with veggie stock.

Lancashire Hotpot is traditionally made with lamb, but this hotpot variation calls for beef.

- Some diced stewing steak. About 500g.
- Potatoes – loads.
- One onion.
- Half a pint of red wine.
- Veggie stock cube (optional).

Preheat the oven to 170c.

Peel the spuds and cut them into chunks about the same size as the pieces of your meat.

Coarsely chop the onion.

Throw the meat, potatoes and onion into a large pot.

Pour in the wine and top up with boiling water. Add the stock cube if you want.

Put the lid on the pot and leave in the oven for three hours. I usually take it out and give it a stir once an hour, but there’s really no need to!

Serve while piping hot. You can garnish with beetroot, and it’s also really good with some biscuits of shortcrust pastry to help mop up the juice.

I think it’s a great dish for this time of year. It’s lovely to put on before going to see a fireworks display. When you come back home the delicious smell will meet you at the front door, and the meal will warm you all up again. If there are any left-overs it’s just as good reheated in a saucepan the next day!

This has evolved from a recipe on the side of a packet of Marmite stock cubes. I don’t think you can get Marmite stock cubes any more – it probably dawned on people that you could just use ordinary Marmite in cooking instead. It’s a basic vegetable stew, made with whatever we have to hand.

• Lots of root vegetables – potatoes, parsnips, turnips, carrots etc
• celery
• garlic
• olive oil
• large onion
• tin of tomatoes
• tin of mixed beans – kidney beans, borlotti beans etc
• mushrooms, if you have them
• tomato puree
• slug of red wine
• teaspoon of Marmite
• dried mixed herbs
• bay leaf
• 2 handfulls of small pasta (such as ditali lisci no. 58)
• teaspoon of vegetable stock powder such as Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon.

Fry the onion and garlic in some olive oil. When well-cooked add the roughly chopped celery and root vegetables. Fry for a few minutes and add all the other ingredients, topping up with water as needed to cover the veg. Simmer on the stove or in the oven for an hour or so.