Pork and olive stew

This is perfect with some basmati rice, and some greens on the side. It vanished fairly quickly, but that’s because you have an ongoing love affair with olives – and have had since you were about six months old.

You’ll need:

400g pork shoulder (or something that will do well when stewed for a very long time), cut into chunks
half a jar of black olives
a tin of chopped tomatoes
1 onion, finely sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
a splosh of olive oil
1 tsp paprika
thyme, black pepper, a little salt

First of all, stick the oven on low – maybe 160 degrees C, and fish out a good, ovenproof casserole dish. We’re still using the old one your Dad went to college with.

Brown the pieces of pork in a little olive oil in a frying pan, and then tip into your casserole dish (I used some of the oil the olives were packed in). Fry the onions in the same pan until they turn translucent, and then add the red pepper. Cook for another couple of minutes until it too has softened. Chuck in the tin of chopped tomatoes, a good sprinkling of thyme, the paprika and lots of black pepper – and then bring to the boil. Tip this into the casserole dish with the pork.

Put the lid on (or cover with foil), and then sling the casserole dish in the oven for a couple of hours. Keep an eye on it – you may want to add a little more water near the end to stop it sticking. It’s ready when the pork falls apart – but it’ll keep in the oven for as long as you need it to (as long as you add enough water).

Lamb and olive stew

It was a proper autumn day today - warmish, but drizzly and grey. There were soggy leaves everywhere on the way back from nursery - which weren't much fun to swish through. So we left the lamb and olive stew to cook in the oven, and went for a swim.

You'll need:

a few lamb pieces, preferably on the bone (we had about 400g of large bits of lamb in some very odd cuts)
one onion, sliced
2 green peppers, sliced
1/2 a jar of green olives
a tin of tomatoes
dried thyme, oregano and black pepper

Stick the oven on at about 160 degrees C.

Brown the pieces of lamb in a large ovenproof saucepan or casserole dish - you may need to add a little olive oil so it doesn't stick. Chuck in the onion and green peppers, and cook for a couple of minutes.

Tip in the green olives, tomatoes, and some water (about a can-ful). Season liberally with thyme, oregano and black pepper. You probably won't need much salt, especially if your olives were packed in brine.

Stick the lid on, and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours, until the meat is falling off the bone, and the tomatoes have cooked down to a beautiful red sludge. Check on it every now and again- you may have to add a little more water half an hour before the end.

We ate this with couscous and a spinach salad.

Fish parcels, with tomatoes, olives and parsley

A funny old day today - we went to the Baltic this afternoon, which was unusually uninspiring (all the kids things in the Quay on Level 2 just looked battered and old, and there didn't seem to be much that engaged you).

We ended up taking so long at the supermarket afterwards (thank you Tesco, your new layout is most unappreciated) that tea had to be something bung-in-the-oven-quick that would cook in 20 minutes while we watched a bit of telly.

You'll need:

a fillet each of white fish or salmon (we had pouting, which I'd never come across before, but was cheap in Morrisons. I think salmon would have been better - it was a bit bland)
half a jar of black olives
half a punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
some long stems of parsley (we are still inundated with the stuff, even in March)
a little olive oil
black pepper

Turn the oven on to about 180 degrees C. Take a large piece of foil (squareish), and place a fillet in the centre. Chuck a tablespoon of cherry tomatoes on top, add 8-10 black olives and a couple of stems of parsley, and drizzle a little olive oil over the top. Season well with black pepper.

Fold up the foil into a parcel, and then place on a baking tray (if it leaks, you don't want fish juice all over the floor of your oven). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or so - depending on the thickness of your fish.

We ate ours with some boiled, buttered potatoes, and some shredded cabbage.

Pissaladière

I first made this when we were away in France this summer, mainly because we needed to use up lots of onions before we left. We ate it on the train, somewhere between Bordeaux and Lille - the ticket inspector looked very jealous as he walked past.

Essentially pissaladière is a flat, open tart with lots of onions, anchovies and olives. I've tried making it with shortcrust pastry but it's a bit rich - a doughier option is what you're after. This scone-type base comes from your Grandma - it's also the base of her fishy pizza, which you'll get the recipe for at some point.

This makes enough for four people.

For the base you'll need: (I'm sorry it's all in ounces, but I can't bake as well in metric...)

8oz self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
a teaspoon of baking powder
2oz butter
4fl oz milk

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Rub in the butter, and add the milk, until it forms a stiff, firm dough. Roll it out - this should be enough for an A4-sized baking tray.

(Don't forget to either line the baking tray with a silicon sheet, or brush with a little oil first - otherwise the base will probably stick).

For the topping you'll need:

lots of onions - at least 5 or 6 medium ones
a little garlic - a clove or two
a tin of anchovies (you'll probably use half)
some black olives

Slice the onions and garlic, and fry in some olive oil over a low heat for 20 minutes or so, until they're translucent and slightly gooey. Bung on top of the base. Criss cross the top with the anchovies in whatever design takes your fancy. Stud the top with the olives.

Bake in the oven around 180 degrees C for about 20-30 minutes. Keep an eye on it - you don't want the onion to burn.

UPDATE, June '10: It's also good made with puff pastry - see the picture at the top.