Recipes from In Belinda's Kitchen: Essential Recipes, by Belinda Jeffery

These are the essential dishes Belinda makes time and again - recipes that tell stories of family and friendship and hold a special place in her heart. Many were originally published 20 years ago, and by popular demand Belinda has revisited and polished favourite recipes in her repertoire to reflect the way she cooks now - and added a handful of new ones. With Belinda's wise and warm encouragement, this book is just like having her by your side in your own kitchen.

This is one of those lovely mix-and-match dishes where you can use up all sorts of vegetables, herbs and odds and ends of cheese that happen to be lurking in the fridge. Just make sure the amounts of all these bits and pieces roughly correspond to the quantities in the recipe.

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 leeks, washed thoroughly and finely chopped

500g spinach

6 zucchini (about 400g total weight)

2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp finely chopped dill, mint or basil

40g fine dry breadcrumbs

200g marinated feta, crumbled

150g haloumi, crumbled heaped

60g freshly grated parmesan

sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

6 x 60g eggs, lightly beaten

Garnish:

dill or mint sprigs, optional

To serve:

steamed new potatoes tomato salad drizzled with olive oil

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Lightly butter a 25cm 6cm round ovenproof dish and line the base with buttered baking paper. Set it aside.

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add the leeks and cook them, stirring regularly, for two to three minutes, or until they have just wilted. Take them off the heat, scrape them into a large bowl and leave them to cool a bit.

3. Steam the spinach for two to three minutes, or until it is a brilliant green and has wilted. Drain it in a colander and refresh it under cold running water. Squeeze it to get rid of as much moisture as possible. Fluff it up a bit, chop it coarsely and add it to the leeks.

4. Steam the zucchini for two to three minutes, or until they have softened a little. Drain and refresh them under cold water. Pat them dry and chop all bar one small zucchini into little chunks. Slice the remaining zucchini into slender strips and put them aside.

5. Add the zucchini chunks to the veggie bowl, along with the parsley, dill (or mint or basil), breadcrumbs, cheeses (reserving a little of each for the garnish), salt and pepper. Toss everything together until it's thoroughly combined. Pour in the beaten eggs and mix them in well.

6. Scrape the mixture into the prepared dish and press down on it so it's firmly packed. Press the slender zucchini strips into the top and scatter on the reserved cheeses.

7. Put the dish in the oven and bake it for 45 minutes, or until it's just set but still moist. To check, insert the tip of a fine knife down into the middle and press the two sides of the cut apart, then have a peek, it should look moist but set.

8. When it's ready, sit it on a rack to settle for about five minutes. Loosen the bake around the edges and invert it onto a flat plate, peeling away the paper. Sit a serving platter on top and re-invert it onto the platter. (You may find some juices seep out initially; if they do, mop them up with a paper towel.) You can sprinkle herb sprigs on top, if you like, but there's quite a lot happening already! Serve the bake warm or at room temperature. It's lovely served with steamed new potatoes and a tomato salad drizzled with a little fruity olive oil.

Serves 6-8.

If I'm having a special dinner and want a really lovely, make-ahead dessert, then this flan is invariably what I turn to. Firmer than a traditional creme caramel (with a voluptuous texture somewhere between a cheesecake and a custard), yet with a delicate flavour and wonderful shimmery coating, it fits the bill perfectly as it only gets better after sitting for a few days. As always with dishes like this, the real secret to it is to get the right balance between the custard and the caramel topping: the caramel needs to be a bit darker than you may feel comfortable letting it become, to give it the right bittersweet flavour to cut through the richness of the custard.

Ingredients

180g caster sugar

250g cream cheese, at room temperature

1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk

3 tsp vanilla extract

5 x 60g eggs, at room temperature

430ml milk

softly whipped cream and sugared almonds, to serve, optional

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 150C. Line the base of a roasting tin with a folded tea towel (this helps to diffuse the heat when you bake the flan). Sit a 20cm round cake tin on the tea towel.

2. Put the sugar and 125ml cold water in a medium-sized, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely, then stop stirring, increase the heat, and bring the mixture to the boil. Allow it to boil, undisturbed, washing down the sides occasionally with a brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals that form. (The reason for doing this is that if these crystals stay on the sides of the pan they can cause the caramel to candy.) Once the syrup turns a light amber colour, watch it like a hawk - you want it to become a deep rich brown, but not so dark that it burns.

3. Once it's ready, pour the caramel into the cake tin. Leave it a few minutes then, using oven gloves to protect your hands, very carefully tilt and rotate the tin to coat the base and sides in caramel. Keep swirling the caramel around the sides until it starts to thicken and set. Sit the cake tin back in the roasting tin.

4. Cut the cream cheese into chunks and put them in a mixer bowl. Beat it on medium speed for a couple of minutes until it's light and creamy. Pour in the condensed milk and vanilla, and continue to beat the mixture, stopping and scraping down the sides occasionally, until it's thick and smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition, then reduce the speed to low and slowly add the milk. Stop the mixer once or twice and give the sides of the bowl a good scrape to ensure everything is thoroughly combined. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. Slowly pour the custard into the caramel-coated tin, then use a spoon to skim away any air bubbles that form on the surface.

5. Sit the roasting tin on the middle shelf of your oven. Add enough very hot water to the tin to reach halfway up the sides of the cake tin. Cook the flan for about 80 minutes, or until the sides are set and the centre wobbles very slightly when you gently jiggle the tin.

6. Remove the roasting tin from the oven then carefully lift out the cake tin and transfer it to a wire rack. Leave the flan to cool completely in the tin. When it's cool, cover the tin and refrigerate the flan overnight. (Better still, leave it for two to three days, as the longer it sits the more the caramel coating dissolves, forming a lovely toffee syrup around the flan when it's turned out.)

7. To unmould the flan, carefully run the tip of a knife around the top edge of the custard to loosen it if it's attached to the sides. Dip the tin nearly to the rim in hot water and leave it for 20 seconds, then wipe it dry. Sit a serving dish on top of the cake tin (make sure it has a lip to catch the caramel) then take your courage in both hands, grasp the edges of the cake tin and serving dish and quickly flip the whole thing over. All being well, the flan will gently plop onto the dish; if it doesn't, carefully re-invert it, loosen it a little more and try again. Leave it for 10 seconds or so then gently lift off the cake tin to reveal your beautiful, shiny flan! I usually serve the flan just as is, however you can offer cream with it and sprinkle some sugared almonds over the top, if you like.

Serves 8.

When we were kids, I so looked forward to Sunday nights. It was the one night in the week that we were allowed to watch television as we ate, for Disneyland was on. And our meals that night were different to the rest of the week. So many of my favourite dishes appeared then - bacon-and-egg jaffles, frankfurters with tomato sauce and oodles of buttery mashed potatoes, mum's fish pie, and occasionally, a rather wonderful egg dish like this. I love that it's all cooked in the one pan; it somehow seems the perfect thing for a Sunday night in, watching a movie or catching up on a favourite TV series.

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium-sized red onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small red chilli, finely chopped

2 large red capsicums (peppers), in thumbnail-sized chunks

1 tbsp sun-dried tomato pesto or tomato paste

2 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3/4 tsp sugar

1-2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar

3/4 tsp sea salt flakes freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbsp slivered black olives, optional

4 x 60g eggs

2 chorizo sausages (200g), sliced into rounds

Garnish:

small basil or parsley leaves

To serve:

a loaf of good, warm crusty bread to mop up the delicious juices

Method

1. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chilli and cook for one minute more.

2. Increase the heat to high and tip in the capsicum. Cook it, tossing regularly, for five minutes. Now add the tomato pesto or paste, tomatoes, sugar and a good splash of vinegar. Cook everything for two to three minutes more, giving it a stir occasionally. Then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook everything until the capsicum is just tender, about eight to 10 minutes.

3. At this stage you want the mixture to be quite thick. If it looks a bit watery, remove the lid, increase the heat and cook off any excess liquid (just be careful it doesn't catch on the base of the frying pan). With the heat on low, stir in the salt, pepper and olives, if you're using them. Taste the mixture and add a little more vinegar if you think it needs it.

4. Now use the back of a spoon to make four little hollows in the capsicum mixture. If you can, pile up the sides around the hollows a bit to help hold the eggs. Break one egg at a time into a cup. (If the eggs are really big, tip out a little of the white; it will overflow its hollow otherwise and look a bit messy.) Slide an egg into each of the hollows. Cover the pan and leave the eggs until they're cooked how you like them. The cooking time can vary quite a bit but they usually take eight to 10 minutes.

5. While the eggs are cooking, quickly saute the chorizo slices in a non-stick frying pan for four to five minutes, or until they're lightly coloured on both sides.

6. When the eggs are ready, remove the pan from the heat. Tuck the chorizo slices down into the mixture and sprinkle some basil or parsley leaves over the top. Serve the eggs straight from the pan (I usually sit it on a mat on the table.) Make sure you have lots of bread to mop up the juices - they're too good to go begging!

Serves 2.

I love this simple chicken dish and cook variations of it all the time as it's such a successful way to cook chicken pieces, and the resulting smoky, lemony cooking juices are delicious. Just make sure everybody gets some of the succulent roasted garlic cloves to squeeze onto their serving of chicken. The recipe doubles well if you want to serve a large group, however if you do so, spread the chicken pieces onto two trays so they have enough space for the skin to brown and crisp.

Ingredients

8 skin-on chicken thigh cutlets (bone-in)

1 large lemon, sliced into 5mm thick rounds

2-3 whole heads garlic, halved crosswise

18 Sicilian green olives

thyme sprigs or fresh bay leaf sprigs, to garnish

Chicken marinade:

100ml extra-virgin olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

zest of 1 large lemon, finely grated

60ml lemon juice

3 bay leaves

1 tbsp thyme leaves, roughly chopped

1 tbsp smoked paprika

2 tsp sea salt flakes

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Combine the chicken marinade ingredients in a large bowl and thoroughly mix them together. Add the chicken cutlets, lemon slices and garlic then swish them about so they're really well coated in the marinade. (It's a good idea to slip on a pair of prep gloves and do this with your hands to ensure everything is well coated).

2. Line a container that will hold the chicken mixture comfortably with a compostable plastic bag. Scrape the mixture into the bag, then knot the bag tightly. Seal the container and pop it in the fridge for at least five hours or preferably overnight - give the bag a good squish occasionally. (The longer you leave the chicken, the more imbued it will become with the flavours. That said, I've made this and cooked it almost straight away, and it has still been delicious).

3. When you're ready to cook the chicken, preheat your oven to 190C.

4. Line a large shallow baking tray with foil, then baking paper. Empty the chicken mixture onto the tray. Sit the chicken cutlets in a single layer, skin-side up, and tuck the garlic halves and lemon slices around them. (If you want to sit a slice of lemon on each piece of chicken, do, it looks lovely once it's cooked). Pop the tray in the oven and roast the chicken for about 40 minutes, until it's deep brown and cooked through but tender. Add the olives in the last five minutes of cooking.

5. Remove the baking tray from the oven and transfer everything, including any juices, to a large serving platter. Garnish with thyme or bay leaf sprigs to serve.

Serves 6.