Crisp chicken legs with sweet tomatoes & basil

For ➍
4 chicken leg quarters
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 big bunch fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
2 big handfuls red and yellow cherry tomatoes and ripe plum or beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes halved, plum tomatoes quartered
1 whole bulb garlic, broken into cloves
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped, or a big pinch of dried chilli flakes
olive oil
410 g can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
2 handfuls new potatoes, scrubbed (optional)

Heat your oven to 180°C.
Season the chicken pieces all over with salt and pepper. Put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer, skin side up.
Throw in all the basil leaves and stalks. Then chuck in your tomatoes. Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chile and drizzle over some olive oil. Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath.
Place in the oven, uncovered, for 90 m, turning any of the exposed tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat is falling off the bone.
If after an hour or so the skin isn’t crisping to your liking, you can turn up the heat and switch to convection, or just blast it under the broiler for a bit at the end, rotating the pan occasionally and watching closely, until you get the skin as brown as you like.
Don't let the sauce simmer too vigorously or the meat might toughen up.
Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving. If you fancy, you can add some drained cannelini beans or some sliced new potatoes to the pan along with the chicken.

*Or you can serve the chicken with some simple mashed potato.
**Or make it part of a pasta dish: remove the chicken meat from the bone and shred it, then toss into a bowl of linguini or spaghetti and serve at once.

Cinnamon-braised lamb shanks

For ➍
4 cm piece of ginger
4 garlic cloves
100 g golden raisins
1 tbs ground cinnamon
2 red chillies
2 ts ground coriander
20 cl natural yogurt
6 lamb shanks
groundnut or vegetable oil
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 bay leaf
8 shallots
50 cl chicken stock
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Peel and roughly chop the garlic and ginger. Blitz along with the raisins, ground cinnamon, chillies and ground coriander in a food processor. Add the yogurt, and a good pinch of salt and pepper and pulse until just mixed. Make incisions in the lamb shanks and place in a bowl. Rub the marinade into the meat, cover and marinate for a few h or even for a day if possible.
When you are ready to cook the meat, peel and finely slice the shallots. Add a drizzle of groundnut oil to a deep, heavy-based casserole - large enough to hold all the shanks, and fry the cinnamon stick, star anise and bay leaf for a minute. Add the shallots, then turn the heat right down and sauté for 10 m until soft and sticky. Spoon the mixture into a bowl and leave to one side.
Drizzle in a little more oil and turn up the heat. Brown the lamb shanks in batches, reserving any marinade left in the bowl. When the meat is brown on all sides, return it all to the pan with the softened shallots and any reserved marinade. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Carefully cover with foil, then cook over a low heat for 3 h, turning the shanks regularly and adding more stock if it gets too dry. The lamb should be tender and falling off the bone.
Remove the shanks from the pan and cover with tinfoil to keep warm. Turn up the heat and let the sauce bubble away for around 10 m until you have a lovely, thick sauce.
Return the lamb shanks to the pot and serve. Perfect with mashed potato or creamed cauliflower and greens, or even steaming basmati rice.

Imam bayildi (Turkish stuffed eggplant)

For ➍
2 medium or 4 small eggplants, cut in half lengthwise
1 large or 2 medium onions, sliced very thin
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
600 g tomatoes, peeled & chopped
4 tbs fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tbs dill, finely chopped
2 tbs basil, finely chopped (optional)
salt
4 tbs olive oil
4 tbs water
2½ ts sugar
2 tbs lemon juice (optional)

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment and brush with olive oil. Slit the eggplants down the middle, being careful not to cut through the skin. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 20 m, until the outer skin begins to shrivel. Remove from the oven and transfer, cut side down, to a colander set in the sink. Allow to drain for 30 m.*
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbs of the olive oil over medium heat in a large, lidded skillet and add the onions. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are very tender, 5 to 8 m. Add the garlic. Cook, stirring, for 30 s to 1 m, until fragrant. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Add the tomatoes, herbs, salt to taste and 1 ts of the sugar and 1 tbs of olive oil.*
Turn the eggplants over and place in the pan, cut side up. Season with salt. Fill with the onion and tomato mixture. Mix together the remaining olive oil, the remaining sugar, the water and the lemon juice. Drizzle over and around the eggplants. Cover the pan and place over low heat. Cook gently for 1 to 1½ h, checking the pan for liquid and basting from time to time with the liquid in the pan, and adding water to the pan if it becomes too dry. By the end of cooking the eggplants should be practically flat and the liquid in the pan slightly caramelized. Spoon this juice over the eggplant.
Allow to cool in the pan. Serve at room temperature with börek or flat bread.

*You can roast the eggplant and make the filling through several hours before assembling and cooking the imam bayildi. Once cooked, the finished dish can sit for several hours.

This is a lighter version of a classic Turkish dish. Imam bayildi is a variation of karnıyarık, which contains minced beef, and is served warm (and is close to Greek moussaka).
It spread through the Turkish and Arab world, from Iran to the Balkan, the idea resounding in French ratatouille.

Roast beef with yogurt sauce

For ➍
1 kg beef
shichimi togarashi
salt
for the yogurt sauce:
125 g sunflower oil
45 g egg white
30 g sushi vinegar
5 g yuzu (or lime) juice
50 g yogurt
10 chives

Sprinkle the beef with the shichimi spices and salt. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 h.
Fry the meat nicely brown in a little oil.
Cook the roast in the oven at 120°C until it has a core temperature of 46°C. Use a thermometer. Allow it to cool.
When the roast beef is cold, cut into thin slices.
For the yoghurt sauce, in a blender mix the egg white with the sushi vinegar, yuzu juice and yogurt.
Then pour in a thin stream oil there, so you get a thick cream.
Cut the chives very finely and mix it with the yoghurt sauce.
Serve the meat with yogurt sauce.

The shichimi togarashi ('seven flavours pepper') originates from Japan. It was created in the 17th century by herb dealers in Tokyo. It is also called nana-iro tõgarashi or yagenbori, as with most spice mixes everyone has there own version and the ingredients may vary. It might include red chillies, orange peel, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, sansho pepper, ginger and nori. It might be used as a rub marinate, as in this recipe, or added to stews and noodles.

Boeuf en daube (French beef stew)

For ➋
350 g beef chuck roast, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
for the marinade
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small stalk celery, finely chopped
5 peppercorns
1 sprig fresh thyme, bruised in hands
1 sprig fresh rosemary, bruised in hands
20 cl strong red wine
1 ts red wine vinegar
2 strips orange rind
1 ts salt
for the daube
50 g salt pork, cut into strips
10 cl beef stock
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste

Combine marinade ingredients in a large zippered storage bag. Add beef. Marinate for 8 to 48 h in the refrigerator, turning bag over to redistribute marinade every 4 to 6 h.
Pour marinade through a strainer into bowl and set aside, discarding everything except the meat.
Pat the meat dry and season with salt and pepper.
Heat oven to 150°C.
Place a dutch oven or closed pan over medium heat. Add the salt pork and oil. Cook until fat is rendered and pork is crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve.
Increase heat to medium high. Brown beef in 3 or 4 four batches (to avoid over-crowding) and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium low and cook onions stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown.
Return beef and salt pork to pot and add reserved marinade, beef stock, and bay leaf. Increase heat to high, bring just to a boil, then immediately cover and place pot in the oven and cook for 2 - 2½ h. The liquid should not quite cover the meat.
Serve with boiled potatoes or polenta.

A lighter version of a daube.
Try other slow-cooking recipes: roast beef & yoghurt or lamb & pomegranate salad.

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Warm lamb salad with pomegranate & mint

For ➏
1 kg lamb (evt. boneless), at room temperature
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
6 cloves of garlic
5 dl water
1 pomegranate
fresh mint leaves

This dish will take 6 h of slow cooking in the oven. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Heat a large pan, suitable for the oven. When hot, brown the meat, fat side down.
Turn the meat over, add the onion, carrot and garlic cloves.
Pour water in the pan, cover with alumin foil and you put it in the oven.
After 6 h, the meat will be tender and falling apart.
Slice the meat and put it in a nice bowl.
Cut the pomegranate in half, give it a few good taps on and the seeds will drop out. Sprinkle with the torn mint leaves.
Serve with Turkish bread with hummus.

*Or try a more classic approach with grilled lamb.

More pomegranate salads: pomegranate,endives & feta, pomegranate, tomatoes & garlic, pomegranate & cucumber salad, pomegranate & quinoa salad, Friuli winter salad, pomegranate fruit salad

tip: Dutch oven & slow cooking times

A Dutch oven has the advantage of using one pot from start to finish—you can sear proteins in the same pan you use to braise. When using a Dutch oven, you can braise on the stovetop or in the oven. If you choose the stovetop, you will need to stir occasionally and check the heat under the burner to make sure the bottom of the pan isn’t burning or sticking. For that reason, prefer braising in the (fan) oven at 140º to 160ºC.
Chicken: 1 to 1 1/2 h in a Dutch oven; 2 h high setting in slow cooker
Cubed meat (lamb, beef or pork): 2 to 3 h in a Dutch oven; 2 to 3 h high setting in slow cooker
Whole shanks or larger cuts: 3 to 4 h in Dutch oven; 4+ hhigh setting in slow cooker (the larger the cut, the more time required)
Beans: Soak in cold water overnight. Cook 1 to 2 h in Dutch oven; 2 to 3 h high setting in slow cooker
Note: To use a slow cooker’s more gentle low setting, cook for about twice the amount of time you would on high.
For large cuts, try this trick: place a piece of foil under the lid of the Dutch oven so that the liquid doesn’t over-reduce. Consider turning large roasts about 2/3 through the cooking time to make sure both sides are equally tender. Check the meat as it cooks; add more liquid if needed. Or, add more water at the beginning of cooking, and you can reduce it in the oven or on the stovetop once the protein is done.