January 2026

Happy New Year! Yes, another year of cooking adventures! I’ll be honest with you, there is a small part of me that feels slightly anxious at this thought. I’m always on the hunt for new, successful recipes, but there can be weeks when they’re elusive and I’m left restless in my kitchen. In an exaggerated way, I imagine it’s rather like an author with writer’s block – one moment you’re riding high on success and the next you feel very much lost and out of control. I flourish when cooking goes well. I suppose, to avoid disappointment, I could just keep to all my tried and tested favourites – there’s certainly enough already on this website! However, where would the fun in that be? So instead, I continue to feed my addiction of buying new cookery books and looking online for recipes which will hopefully be ‘winners’. One of this month’s recipes was discovered during a period in which I was struggling to find that aforementioned ‘winner’. Then, whilst searching the book stores, I found Athena Calderone’s ‘Cook Beautiful’, and soon after, I was singing in the kitchen! I thought that this recipe would be a particularly good recipe to share with you at the start of the year. And, I’m hoping that, like me, this recipe will leave you ‘singing’ in your kitchen!..

So, Menu One is ‘Pan-Roasted Chicken with Shallots & Dates’ from the cookbook, ‘Cook Beautiful’. Who would have thought that a few dates, olives and shallots could shine so wonderfully with a chicken breast?! Menu Two is ‘Simple Goan Fish Curry’. This recipe, which is from the cookbook ‘Simple’ by Diana Henry, may be ‘simple’, but it’s packed with flavour. Make sure your store cupboard has the ingredients at the ready for this delicious curry, which is easy to cook any day of the week.

So, 2026 here we come…Enjoy!..

Menu One

Pan- Roasted Chicken with Shallots & Dates (Serve 4)

Ok, I know that all the recipes I share are delicious, but this one is particularly good!.. Who would have thought that a few dates, olives and shallots could shine so wonderfully with a chicken breast?! Thanks to the cookbook ‘Cook Beautiful’ by Athena Calderone for this fantastic recipe. You’ll need an oven-proof frying pan – a cast-iron one is best. Caldrone suggests putting the pan in the oven first to get it really hot to brown the chicken breasts – a great idea if you have time on your hands (and remember the handle will be hot!).

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or sunflower oil)

60g unsalted butter

10 shallots, peeled, larger ones halved lengthwise

4 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped

8-10 sprigs of thyme, divided

120ml dry white wine

360ml chicken stock

8 Medjool dates, pitted and halved lengthways

100g green olives, smashed and pitted (I use Nocellara olives)

1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Place your largest oven-proof frying pan in a preheated oven, 230’c fan, for 15 minutes (see note above). Pat the chicken breasts dry and generously season on all sides with salt and pepper. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and place it on the stove. Add the oil and heat over a medium-high heat until very hot. Working in two batches, cook the chicken, skin-side down, until the skin is crispy and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate, whilst you make the sauce.
2. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the pan. Over a medium heat, add 30g of the butter, and when melted, add the shallots. Cook the shallots for 5-6 minutes until caramelised and golden. Add the garlic, a few thyme sprigs, and a further 15g of butter, and season with salt and pepper. Toss with the shallots and continue to cook until they begin to soften, 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the wine and reduce it by half. Add a few more thyme sprigs and the stock. Simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, until reduced slightly. Check the seasoning and add the dates and olives to the sauce.
4. Return the chicken to the pan, skin-side up and place in the oven, 230’c fan. Roast the chicken until it’s cooked through, about 20 minutes.
5. Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate, set them aside and keep warm. Return the pan to the stove over a medium-high heat. Add the vinegar to the sauce, simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 3-5 minutes. Remove it from the heat and stir in the remaining 15g of butter and the lemon juice. Check the seasoning. Return the chicken to the pan and serve immediately, garnished with the remaining thyme and lemon zest.

Menu Two

Simple Goan Fish Curry (Serves 4)

This recipe from the cookbook ‘Simple’ by Diana Henry, it may be ‘simple’, but it’s packed with flavour. Make sure your store cupboard has the ingredients at the ready for this delicious curry, which is easy to cook any day of the week..

4 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

4 dried red Kashmiri chillies

2cm root ginger, peeled and finely grated

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon turmeric

Sea salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons sunflower or rapeseed oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 large plum tomato, finely chopped

400ml can of coconut milk

1 tablespoon palm sugar or soft light brown sugar

2 teaspoons tamarind paste

1 green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

500g firm white fish fillets, skinned and cut into 3cm pieces

2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

1. Toast the coriander, cumin seeds and the dried chillies in a dry frying pan for about a minute. Crush in a mortar and pestle, then mix in the ginger, garlic, turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt.
2. Heat the oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat and fry the onion until soft and golden. Stir in the spice mix. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato and cook until soft. Add the coconut milk, sugar, tamarind and green chilli and bring to just under the boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for about five minutes, until slightly thickened. Taste for seasoning
3. Season the fish all over, then add to the sauce and simmer gently for about 4 minutes until cooked through. Check again for seasoning, add the coriander leaves and serve with rice.