Banana skewers

I should have photographed these because they were fantastic, and you were so proud of them. Next time...

Makes enough for 3. You'll need

a couple of bananas, roughly cut into large slices
straws (or skewers - but straws are easier if you're only small)
100g (ish) of chocolate, preferably dark
a couple of tablespoons of dessicated coconut on a small plate

Break the chocolate into small pieces, and place in a small bowl. Stick in the microwave for short intervals (eg 15s) until the chocolate is melted - it helps if you keep stirring it in between the bursts.

Thread your banana piece on a straw/skewer. Drizzle over the melted chocolate, then roll the whole thing over the coconut so it sticks to the chocolate.

Stand each straw/skewer in a glass, and leave to harden. Eat as quickly as possible, so no one can pinch yours.

Chicken, coconut and potato curry

This one was a bit of a 'let's see what there is in the fridge and chuck it in' curry. Makes enough for 4.

You'll need:

1 large chicken breast (or whatever cooked chicken you've got hanging about), sliced
4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow pepper, sliced
a handful of spinach
4 or 5 mushrooms, sliced
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
about half a block of creamed coconut, dissolved in about a tin of hot water
2 teaspoons dried ginger (fresh would be even better)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

Chuck the onions and garlic in a frying pan with a little oil, and fry until translucent. Add all the spices, and fry for another couple of minutes. Add the chicken, and stir, coating it in the spices. Cook for 4-5 minutes, and then throw in the pepper/mushrooms/spinach/whatever, and stir round until they're soft.

Add the tin of tomatoes, and stir in the coconut/water. Tip in the potatoes, and bring everything to the boil. Leave to simmer for as long as it takes the potato to cook - the longer the better (45 minutes or so), though you may have to add a little extra water if it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Eat with lots of basmati rice, and a scattering of cashew nuts on top.

Coconut dahl

This one was shamelessly lifted from Olive magazine, and tweaked slightly. It's delicious with cold chicken, naan bread and salad.

You'll need:

250g red lentils
a tin of coconut milk (around 400ml)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed dried chillies
1 teaspoon turmeric
a good splosh of sunflower oil
a teaspoon of black mustard seeds

Chuck the lentils, coconut milk, finely chopped onion, tomatoes, chillies and turmeric into a saucepan. Add about 300ml water to start off with (you may need a little more later on if the lentils aren't quite cooked and are starting to stick).

Mix well, and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer for half an hour, until the lentils are tender - everything will have gone a beautiful yellow colour.

Take the sliced onion, and fry in a good splosh of sunflower oil until it's crisp and browned. Add the mustard seeds, and fry until they start to pop. Sling on top of the lentils and serve (some fresh coriander on top would also be nice).

Coconut and banana ice cream

Guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of the most chicken pox-ridden small child.

You'll need:

a banana
2/3 of a tin of coconut cream/milk (here's the recipe that used the other third)
about 80g sugar

You'll also need the foresight to put the bowl for the ice cream maker in the freezer the day before...

Stick all the ingredients in a blender. Blitz until they're well mixed. Pour into your freezing cold bowl and churn for however long it takes (it's about an hour in our very aged ice cream maker - and inevitably it still needs a brief spell in the freezer after that).

You could also make this in container in the freezer - you'll need to remember to take it out occasionally and mix.

Coconut rice with peas

We made this as a sneaky treat because your Dad was out (he's an inveterate pea hater).

Makes enough for 1 adult and 1 small child.

You'll need:

coconut milk (I used about a third of a tin)
a handful of peas (defrosted)
basmati rice (about half a mug)

Chuck the rice in a pan. Pour the coconut milk into the measuring mug, and top it up with water until it reaches the top (you need twice as much liquid as rice!). Tip into the pan, bring to the boil, then simmer gently until all the liquid has been absorbed, and the rice is tender. You might need to add a little extra water - keep an eye on it.

The rice will take about 8-10 minutes to cook - so you need to add your peas in the last couple of minutes, so that they heat through.

If you want to be fancy, you could also add some chopped coriander before serving.

We ate this with some chicken and red pepper kebabs. The wooden skewers caught fire, so they weren't exactly a success...

Chicken curry with coconut, courgette and mangetout

This is loosely based on a Jamie Oliver curry recipe that we've made many times (I think it's the one in Happy Days with the Naked Chef) - when you first arrived we made batches of the stuff to go in the freezer and ate it in shifts between the early evening wails.

Today's tea was far more sedate, after an afternoon of taking down the Christmas decorations. Roll on December - the house looks bald without them.

You'll need:

some cooked chicken (enough for 3 or 4 - ours came from the slowly decreasing pile of Christmas capon in the freezer)
a courgette, chopped
a large handful of mangetout
a tin of coconut milk
three really large tomatoes (I happened to have some in the veg box last week, but to be honest I most often use a tin of chopped tomatoes)
an onion, finely chopped
a teaspoon of mustard seeds
a teaspoon of curry leaves
a teaspoon of turmeric
a teaspoon of chilli powder
a teaspoon of dried ginger (fresh would be miles better but I didn't have any in)
a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds
some sunflower oil

Heat a couple of tablespoons of sunflower oil in a frying pan, and add the mustard seeds. When they pop (after a minute or so), add the fenugreek, curry leaves and ginger, and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the onion, and cook until it's softened and browned. Add the chilli powder and turmeric (watch out - it's impossible to get off if you spill it down you), and fry for another couple of minutes. You may need to add a little more oil if it sticks.

Throw in the tomatoes, and cook for five minutes or so until they start to go slightly mushy. Add the coconut milk, turn the heat up slightly, and simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Add the chicken and courgette, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Chuck in the mangetout, and cook for a couple of minutes if you like them al dente, 5 or 6 if you prefer them a little softer.

Eat with lots of plain boiled rice. Some chopped fresh coriander on the top would be perfect, if a little poncey.