Huevos fantasticos

I love eggs. In all forms, at all times. I'm happiest when things are a bit eggy. But in particular I love what Spaniards and Mexicans do with eggs.

I've got a new recipe book - Real Mexican Food - which is full of delicious, easy stuff. I was particularly attracted to huevos con chorizo - simple to make, uses ingredients I've got in the fridge and perfect for brunch. So, here goes:

Chop some chorizo into fairly thin slices, then again into semicircles. Fry it in a dry pan (no need for oil, I promise) for a couple of minutes. Once that lovely red oil starts oozing out, add a sliced shallot (or a quarter of a red onion, sliced finely).

Mix it around for a few minutes, then throw in four beaten eggs and scramble them constantly with a fork. I like scrambled eggs to be on the wet side, so about 3 minutes is long enough for me, but cook them for longer if you feel the need.

And that's it. Serve it on its own or with a warmed flour or corn tortilla and a dash of smoked chipotle sauce (the Wahaca one is nice). Or you can serve it with tomato salsa, refried beans, a bit of grated cheese over the top, guacamole, etc.

And remember: if it's got eggs in it, you can eat it before midday and call it brunch!

Slim-ish recipe inspiration

There's something so wonderful about getting a new cookbook. I love the first lazy look, the second thorough pore and the third detailed scour with pen and shopping list at the ready.

My latest is Skinny Weeks and Weekend Feasts by the lovely Gizzi Erskine. The concept is based around slightly lighter, fresher, lower calorie food during the week with blowout menus for the weekend (a sort of epicurean version of 5:2). I stumbled across it first in delicious magazine, in which a few of the recipes were previewed. One in particular, satay chicken Thai curry, was so easy and delicious I made it twice within a week!

Gizzi's pork and chorizo meatballs

My next obsession was pork and chorizo meatballs with spelt spaghetti. Admittedly chorizo is quite hard to squish into a meatball and yes, I had a slightly bigger than stated portion but it was surprisingly delicious and didn't feel at all stodgy.

The best bit of this was actually the tomato sauce - easy, cheap and flavoursome. Soften some chopped onions; add crushed fennel seeds, garlic and chilli; throw in chopped tomatoes, sugar and red wine vinegar; leave it all to become lovely and mushy for 15 minutes or so.

So, what to do if you have all the ingredients except for the pork mince - key bulk of a meatball? Simple - make the sauce anyway, add in a few slices of chorizo towards the end and enjoy an even skinnier version. I discovered it by accident this evening when I was just about to cop out and stir tinned pesto lazily into some flabby fusilli. What a save, eh?

Moussaka for cattle farmers

Traditional Greek readers may wish to look away now.

A few weeks ago I had a sudden fancy for a moussaka. I didn't really know what one was and had never even it before, but saw a delicious-looking picture in Gordon Ramsay's World Kitchen.

Much to my disappointment I discovered it contains lamb mince, not a favourite in our house. But once I had the idea in my head I wasn't to be stopped and decided to try making one with beef instead.

The first stage is very similar to making a lasagne. I fried steak mince with chopped red onions, tomato puree, a dash of red wine, roughly chopped fresh tomatoes and loads of black pepper. At the same time I fried some thin slices of aubergine on the griddle pan, with very little oil.

At this stage I should explain how to make a delicious white sauce, but life really is too short. I bought a carton of fresh cheese sauce instead.

Then comes the fun bit: layer the aubergine, mince mixture then cheese sauce in a large ovenproof dish, finishing with the cheese sauce on top. I followed Gordy's suggestion of grating some cheddar on top too before putting it in the oven for about half an hour.

The result is probably woefully unfaithful to Greek cuisine, but delicious and warming. I served it with some focaccia and green salad, and lashings of red wine. It goes down perfectly on a rainy evening with plenty of quiz shows on TV.

Who are ya, Delia?

So, just as I decided to write about ready-made things and 'convenience' cooking, Delia Smith brought our her new book on more or less the same topic! Cheeky madam.

Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking is about making use of pre-prepared food if you are busy or inexperienced in the kitchen. It's assembly cooking for work nights, making use of the storecupboard and freezer rather than buying everything fresh and spending your whole weekend chopping, pickling and making your own stock.

I think this is a pretty good idea but I'm not overly sure I care for her tone! "Who peels the potatoes? Anyone but you!" It's got a hint of 'I'm sick of cooking for you ungrateful lot and I've become slightly jaded but I'll be damned if I can't make a bit of money out of opening a packet of Smash, since you're probably all cheesed-off with chopping too'.

After all, it doesn't take a staggering IQ to read one of her old recipe books and substitute freshly-grated ginger with some from a jar, does it?