I’m no food snob. I love a bit of fried chicken. A KFC or Junior Spesh after a night out is one of life’s pleasures. But there’s nothing wrong with elevating it a couple of notches either. I use thighs for this recipe, as to my taste they’ve got the right skin to flesh ratio, and of course that tasty dark meat. I also use a good dose of not very traditional herbs and spices in the coating.

Buttermilk isn’t that easy to get in the UK, so if you can’t get it, some live yhogurt will do just as well. Lets get cookin’.

Ingredients (serves 2)

6 chicken thighs

For the ‘marinade’

1 pint (600ml) buttermilk

1 clove of garlic

1/2 an medium onion

Sprig of rosemary

Sprig of time

For the coating

150g all purpose flour

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped

salt & pepper

Additional

1 large egg

Oil for frying (ground-nut / grape seed / rapeseed)

250g French beans, 1 large clove of garlic & olive oil (for the sauteed beans).

500g new potatoes, milk & butter (for the mash)

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

The first thing you need to do is ‘marinate’ your chicken in the buttermilk. The whole point of this stage is to tenderise the meat and to help keep it moist during the pretty intense cooking process. But it’s also a chance for you to get a bit of extra flavour into your meat. Note that the chicken will need to sit in the buttermilk for at least 6 hours, preferably over night.

Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl and then crush the garlic clove under a knife and add it to the milk. Chop the onion in to thick slices, smash the rosemary and thyme with a blunt object to release their oils, and then add them to the bowl too. Give the marinade a good mix, and then add the chicken thighs, making sure each one is fully submerged. Cover with clingfilm and  put in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

Later / the following day, take your chicken out of the fridge at least an hour before you cook it. After you’ve done this, prepare the coating. In a large freezer bag, combine the flour, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and the finely chopped rosemary and thyme. Give the bag a good shake so all the ingredients are properly combined.

Now, set your oven to 180c, then remove the chicken thighs from the buttermilk mixture, and wipe off the excess with some kitchen towel (discard the marinade). Place the thighs in the bag two at a time and give them a good shake around to get them nicely coated all over with the seasoned flour. Set aside, and then repeat until all are covered.

Take the egg, crack it into a bowl and whisk it until the yolk is combined with the white. Again 2 at a time, coat the thighs with the egg mixture, let the excess drip off and then return the thighs to the coating bag. Give them another shake to coat all over, and repeat with the remaining chicken. This double dipping in the flour will give your fried crust extra flavour.

Your chicken is now ready to go. Take a heavy bottomed frying pan easily big enough to accommodate the six thighs (if you don’t have a pan big enough, fry in batches), and fill it up about a half an inch with your oil. Get it good and hot, around 160c, until a cube of bread sizzles and quickly fries golden brown in it. Fry the chicken on both sides until dark golden brown. This will probably take around 4 or 5 minutes on each side.

By now the chicken will have great colour and a crispy texture, but will not be cooked all the way through. So place it on a metal rack (NB. not a baking tray or anything solid or the underside of the chicken will get soggy) and pop it into your pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, or until you are satisfied it is cooked through.

Serve as soon as it’s out of the oven with French beans par cooked and the sauteed in olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper, a rustic, skin on new potato mash, lemon wedges for squeezing all over the crispy coating, and hot sauce (for the record my favourite hot sauce of the moment is Melinda’s original Habanero pepper sauce – it’s killer).

And that’s it in all it’s finger lickin’ glory y’all. Sorry about the lack of pictures. I got a bit engrossed in the cooking process and forgot to snap.

So, catching up, the second course of our valentine’s dinner was baked cod and baby leeks straight from the pages of Jamie at home, which if you don’t have it is a brilliant book (IMHO). The cod is marinaded in a lemon and herb mix before cooking. We had ours served with garlic mash.

Ingredients

10 baby leeks, trimmed

2 x 200g fillets of cod (with skin and sustainable if possible)

4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

Juice of 1/2 a small lemon

Olive oil

1 large clove garlic finely chopped

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

Salt & pepper

For the mash

400g potatoes

1 large clove garlic

Butter, milk salt & pepper to taste

Method

First, make the marinade for the fish. Bash up the thyme, rosemary and bay in a pestle and mortar with a good pinch of sea salt. Add a couple of glugs of olive oil, a few grinds of black pepper and the lemon juice. Chop a large clove of garlic finely, then add to the herby mixture and stir. Pour the marinade over the cod fillets in a bowl, rubbing it in and making sure it’s well coated.

Bring a pan of mildly salted water to the boil and then parboil the leeks for 3 minutes, pull out and then pat dry. Add them to the bowl the fish is marinading in, and toss.

Now put on your oven to 200 degrees C with a baking dish inside. At the same time, add your spuds to the same pan you cooked the leeks in with a clove of garlic and simmer gently. After 15 minutes, your oven should be up to temperature. Remove the dish, and remove the two cod fillets from the marinade and place them skin side down in the pre-heated dish, you should hear a nice sizzle. Then pour in the leeks and the remaining marinade. Finally place the rashers of bacon on top of the fillets before placing the dish back in the oven; it’s going to cook for 15 minutes.

After 10 minutes, the potatoes should be cooked, remove from the heat, drain, mash and add butter, milk, salt and pepper to taste. Beat with a spoon until nice and smooth.

The fish should now be ready. Remove from the oven and serve with the leeks and some of the marinade and cooking juices, and a good dollop of mash. Quite a tough dish to make look really attractive, but very tasty. Thanks Mr Oliver.

“As far as I’m concerned, the sausage is just about man’s noblest creation. It is a wonder (or should be), a perfect piece of design, elegant and economical…Sausages are classless, as acceptable on the table of the royal family as on that of the Royle family. Is there anyone who does not smile at the sight of a sausage? Who’s mouth does not salivate just a bit at the thought of that first bite?”

So in honour of the banger and British Sausage Week, here’s a recipe for a warming and tasty sausage casserole. It’s a bit of a French remix of a Delia recipe, and is the perfect dish for this time of year.

Ingredients

6 good quality Toulouse sausages

4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

150 g lardons

15 shallots, peeled

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

250 g chestnut mushrooms

500 ml French red wine

Bay leaves x 2

1 large red chili

Sprig of rosemary and thyme, finely chopped

1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly

1 heaped teaspoon of flour, dijon mustard and butter (to make a roux)

Ground black pepper

Method

Put some olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and brown off the sausages, being careful not to puncture their skin. Once you’ve done this, remove them from the pan, set aside, and then add the lardons. Fry them off for a minute or so before adding the garlic, shallots and chopped carrot. After a couple of minutes add the mushrooms, chili and herbs to the pan and sweat off for 5 minutes or so.

Next, add the red wine and bring up to a gentle simmer, before adding the redcurrant jelly. Return the sausages to the pan, turn the heat down and put a lid on. Simmer for around half an hour. After 30 minutes, take off the lid and simmer for another 10 or 15 minutes or so to reduce some of the cooking liquid.

While the casserole is reducing, make the roux by mixing the flour, mustard and butter together. Once you’ve got a good paste together, add it to the casserole and whisk in. The roux will thicken the sauce as well as adding a bit of flavour, and as soon as it’s dissolved, you’re ready to chow.

Eat with a big, fluffy pile of mash. That’s an order.