Jamie's Sticky Pan-Fried Scallops (and Chocolate Brownies)

By Helen
Main Ingredients:

• Frozen scallops
• Honey
• Chinese five-spice
• Broccoli and asparagus
• Rice, spring onions and eggs

A good chocolate brownie recipe is closely-guarded and much envied. 

This one - although at the time seeming unnecessarily complicated and slowing me down when I wanted to get started on my main course -was pretty impressive. Dark chocolate was blitzed with butter, sugar, cocoa powder, four eggs, a morsel of flour and a handful of crystallised ginger, then poured into a tin with dried cherries and pecans sprinkled over the top (as below).

While that was in the oven I could get started on the rest of the meal - covering the scallops in oil, lemon zest and five-spice, before frying with honey, chopped chilli and a little garlic.

This was my first experience cooking scallops and the fact that they were frozen rather than fresh meant they were juicy rather than sticky. They were also smaller than I expected (only about the diameter of a penny) so at least they didn't take any longer to cook.

Carbs were provided by boiling some rice and stirring in beaten eggs, soy sauce and chopped spring onions, before sprinkling over a little coriander and sweet chilli sauce. Some simple greens (asparagus and broccoli) was dressed with oil and lime juice to add some colour.

I wouldn't usually have suggested such a rich dessert after a meal like this but it worked surprisingly well - the added fruit and nuts in the brownies meant they weren't cloyingly sweet and the hint of ginger went down well after the chilli too.

If you can bear to just have the main course, it came out at £2.77 a head - not bad considering most of that was scallops. Factor in the dessert and it's more like £4.48 a head (but that includes an extra piece of brownie each to make your work colleagues jealous the next day).

Taken from... Jamie Oliver - 30 Minute Meals

Best for... Convincing people they DO like shellfish - and rewarding them for trying something new

Chris says... I've never seen four plates quite so clean, yet somehow everyone found room for Brownie...

Jamie's Summer Veggie Lasagne

By Helen

Main Ingredients:

• Asparagus
• Frozen peas and broad beans
• Fresh lasagne sheet
• Cottage cheese
• Tomatoes

After last week's 'challenging' effort, the theme of living dangerously continued as I attempted a summery veggie lasagne for none other than Chris' parents.

Once again the sheer quantity of food (a kilo and a half of green veg alone) threatened to overwhelm me and the kitchen, but thankfully nothing was too fiddly. Spring onions and asparagus were chopped and fried, quickly joined by a large volume of frozen beans and peas. With lemon, mint, cream, cottage cheese and a little stock this made the basis of the lasagne - refreshingly different from the more standard tomato/courgette/aubergine version.

This was then layered up in a large dish (or two) with lasagne sheets and parmesan, and topped with cottage cheese and thyme. Under the grill it went for long enough to melt the cheese - and that was pretty much it. The Tuscan salad of tomatoes, jarred sweet peppers, basil and capers added some welcome sharpness and colour, even though I managed to create my very own mushroom cloud by incinerating the first batch of croutons under the grill.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this one - broad beans are one of my least-favourite ingredients but they were perfectly palatable (and could easily have been left out in favour of more peas and asparagus). Plus if I hadn't felt under pressure to make the 30-minute mark I might have planned ahead a little better and avoided some of the mess in the kitchen which Chris is valiantly battling now. Per head cost: £2.61 - but easily could be made a lot more cheaply by reducing the amount of asparagus.

Best for... A tasty supper when you've been sent an allotment food parcel
Taken from... Jamie Oliver - 30 Minute Meals
Chris says... Not really my cup of tea, if I'm honest, but much preferable to the aubergine/courgette version

Jamie's Pan-Fried Sea Bass and Crispy Pancetta

By Helen
Main ingredients:

• Sea bass fillets
• Pancetta
• Sweet potatoes
• Asparagus
• Broccoli

As Chris wasn't available this week, I was free to use one of his least-favourite ingredients: fish. 

Sea bass fillets were fried skin-side down (mmm...crispy!) with pancetta, fennel seeds and lemon. Meanwhile I microwaved sweet potatoes and mashed them with mango chutney, coriander, soy sauce and lime juice. The veggie element was provided by broccoli and asparagus dressed with more soy, more lime juice, garlic and chilli.

It all sounds complicated but the instructions are pretty logical (even if Jamie is a little obessed with serving things on boards!) I didn't time it exactly but I reckon it took around half an hour to pull it all together - no I didn't make the recommended 'lemon and ginger drink' or berry icecream, but I was taking it easy and chatting to my guests rather than battling the clock.

This was a real success. The fish was moist, mash was warm and tangy, and we found it impossible to leave any of the greens. Price per head: £3.98 - or £4.31 including dessert, which was borrowed from a different Jamie recipe - frangipane tarlets.

Making a large one rather than several small ones messed with the timings, but the combination of raspberry jam and almondy, buttery paste was very comforting, especially once it had cooled and set a little.

Best for... A noisy dinner with friends who are all happy to dig in and eat themselves to a standstill
Taken from... Jamie Oliver - 30 Minute Meals
Chris says... Nothing!