Penne with pan fried chicken and capers

If you like pesto, this is the dish for you. First, mix in a bag, 25g plain flour, salt and pepper. Add diced chicken breast (4) and mix well. Fry the chicken with olive until the pieces are golden brown. Set aside. Add 1 sliced red onion and 1 chopped garlic to the pan and cook for 5 min until softened. Return the chicken to the pan and add 5 tbsp of pesto and 200g of cream cheese. Stir and mix well. Then add 1 tsp of whole grain mustard, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 2 tbsp of chopped basil and 1-2 tbsp of capers. Mix cooked penne with sauce and serve with shavings of parmesan cheese.

Chickpea and chorizo stew

A Nigel Slater recipe in the Guardian magazine.

2-3 tbsp of olive oil
2 large onions
4 cloves garlic
3 chorizo sausages - about 400g
crushed dried chillies
a glass of dry sherry, vermouth or white wine
5 or 6 decent-sized tomatoes
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
small bunch of parsley

Warm the olive oil in a deep, heavy-based pan. I use a cast-iron casserole. Peel the onions, roughly chop them and add them to the oil, stirring to coat them, then letting them cook at a moderate heat. Peel the garlic, slice it thinly and stir it into the onions. Leave to cook, partially covered by a lid, until the onions are soft and pale gold.

Cut each sausage into about four fat chunks. Mix these in with the softened onions, then add a teaspoon or so of crushed, dried chillies.Pour in a glass of dry sherry, vermouth or white wine and bring it to an enthusiastic bubble. Chop the tomatoes roughly, add them and bring them to the boil. Add the chickpeas, drained and rinsed, then pour in a can of water. Season with salt and black pepper, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and leave to cook slowly, half-covered with a lid, for 45 minutes.

I would give it a stir from time to time, and check the liquor levels.What you want to end up with is a rich, brick-red sauce with a spiciness from the chillies and chorizo.

Just before serving, chop the parsley, roughly, then stir into the stew. Serve in shallow bowls.

Spring onion pastry

Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao has excellent spring onion pastries, and according to l, this restaurant at Tiong Bahru has it as well. I have been there before, around eight years but I can't remember whether it's that good. I have always had the impression that it was difficult to make but thankfully it isn't. My mom came to me one day and said that it was really easy to make and that I should try it. And I did. I have to confess, I didn't really participate in most of the steps. The preparation of the dough, with flour, water and oil, I watched my mom while she did it. Neither did I season the spring onions with salt and oil. But the preparation of the pastry, I made a number of them.

It was perfect in all aspects except the taste, we added too much salt but i guess that's an easy thing to remedy.

150 g sifted plain flour. Pour slowly into the centre of the flour, 150 ml warm water, and mix well. add 2 tbsp of oil and knead till smooth. Cover with moist kitchen towel for 15 minutes. 150 grams of spring onions, add 1/2 tsp of salt before adding 2 tbsp of oil, mix well. Roll the dough