Delia's Mexican Enchiladas with Mozzarella and Wensleydale

By Chris

Main Ingredients:

• 4x Soft flour wraps
• 150g Mozzarella, 110g Wensleydale
• 200g crème fraiche
• 1x red onion, 400g chopped tomatoes, 1x green chilli
• Lime juice and fresh coriander

This dish was inspired by that well-known pantheon of classy food, Reading Festival, after I enjoyed a rather sumptuous chicken burrito there on Saturday. Delia's take on Mexican food looked intriguing and not too tough to manage amid an epic hangover. Furthermore, the subtle and smooth flavours sat nicely in our slightly scrambled stomachs.

Enchiladas are essentially baked fajitas, and this version substitutes chicken for a nice gooey cheese filling, making it veggie friendly. First up, I made a fresh and zingy salsa out of a tin of chopped tomatoes (which were drained), half a red onion, one green chilli (de-seeded), a handful of fresh coriander leaves and the juice of one lime.

Next up, the four wraps were dry toasted for a few seconds on each side, then filled with a tablespoon of salsa, a table spoon of crème fraiche and a sprinkling of the two grated cheeses in each one. The remainder of the salsa, cheese and crème was then spooned over the top, along with another half a chopped red onion, and the whole thing was baked at 180 degrees for 25 minutes.

Being a greedy soul, I served up this concoction with some fried spicy rice, red peppers and refried beans. This would have been plenty to feed three people, despite the lack of meat, and it was gentle enough for even the most sensitive of spice wimps. The choice of cheeses was a little unusual for a Mexican dish, but it did let the fresh taste of the salsa shine through.

If I were to do this again, I would have added some cheddar and left the seeds in the chilli for an extra kick (but a few glugs of Tabasco did that job anyway). All in all, fairly easy to make, pretty decent value at £2.45 a head, and a nice change from bog-standard chicken fajitas.

Best for... A lazy night in for tired and weary campers

Taken from... Delia Smith - How to Cook: Book Two

Helen says... Creamy and fresh - lovely!

Jamie's Tapas Feast

By Helen
Main dishes:

• Chorizo and lentils
• Smashy chickpeas
• Pork and parsley meatballs
• Rosemary and tomato bread
• Cheese and ham croquetas
• Tinto de verano sorbet

Why learn one new recipe when you can attempt five or more at once?

Now it's finally the right time of year for nibbly, share-y food that doesn't have to keep out the chill, I decided to revisit the tapas-style meal. The chorizo fried with a tin of lentils was my personal favourite - the spicy oils making otherwise dull pulses more substantial. The chickpeas - a sort of hot hummous - weren't that spectacular but were very simple to make and added some useful carbs along with the bread.

The meatballs were a little more complicated than I'd expected (peel my own tomatoes? Me?) but very tasty and only the croquetas (deep-fried cheese balls) were disappointing. I think I needed to make the thick cheesy mixture a bit thicker and leave it to chill for longer (then coat with some slightly less... 'rustic' breadcrumbs) and they might have been more successful. But that's the point of tapas I suppose - there's a certain amount of trial and error from a cook's point of view as well as a guest's.

The real surprise was the sorbet - a mixture of lemonade, sugar syrup, water, lemon juice and not especially expensive red wine which came out a beautiful raspberry colour and velvety smooth after 24 hours in the freezer. Really refreshing and not nearly as sharp as lemon but it still looked pretty classy in small glasses.

At £2.69 a head this really wasn't too pricey and I'd definitely use a couple of these dishes again, alongside some more adventurous ones - baby clams or deep-fried squid anyone?

Best for... A long evening gradually eating to a standstill (if you can stop being punctual!)

Taken from... Jamie Does...Spain

Chris says... There's something for everyone on a lovely tapas platter, just pity the poor soul who has to do the washing up!

Delia's Stir-Fried Chicken with Lime and Coconut

By Chris

Main ingredients:

• 4x Chicken breasts
• 400ml Coconut Milk
• Thai fish sauce
• 2x limes, coriander and green chilli

This week was a real turn-up for the books as Delia beat Jamie at a quick, easy meal with plenty of fresh herbs. A few months ago I tried Jamie's Thai green chicken curry and it was surprisingly fiddly for a 30-minute meal. Delia claimed that her version was "an absolute winner", so I was sold.

I did make an early mistake by forgetting to marinade the diced chicken breast in lime juice for an hour, but the 20 minutes or so that they had added a nice fruitiness. The chicken was then stir-fried for four minutes, then two green chillis were added for a bit of heat. One tin of coconut milk and two tablespoons of Thai fish sauce made up the sauce, which was flavoured with fresh coriander and spring onions.

After a few minutes of simmering, the slightly sloppy mixture was served up with egg-fried rice and that was that. Dead simple, garnished with more spring onions and coriander, and with just enough spice to make it really rather exciting. This was far simpler and cheaper (£2.30 per head) than Jamie's over-elaborate recipe and Delia's is the one that I will definitely repeat.

Best for... A lively, quick and tasty meal, perfect with a few cold beers.

Taken from... Delia Smith - How To Cook: Book Two

Helen says... Arriving a little late, my version was filled out with fresh peas and prawns - a real winner.

Jamie's Spinach and Feta Filo Pie

By Helen
Main Ingredients:

• Ready-made pastry
• Spinach
• Feta cheese
• Cherry tomatoes and cucumber
• Mint and basil

This week's New Food Monday starts (as is becoming traditional) with me blaming our local supermarket for not having a key ingredient. 

This week it was filo pastry, and I have to admit I had but low expectations for the puff pastry we substituted, after rejecting Plan A (throw tomatoes at staff).

Three eggs were mixed with crumbled feta and grated cheddar, toasted pine nuts, oregano, lemon zest, nutmeg and a big bag of spinach which had been wilted in a little butter and oil. While the frying pan was still hot it was lined with half the thinly-rolled pastry and the eggy mixture poured back in, before the other half of the pastry was artfully arranged on the top.

I considered tackling this recipe during Veggie Lent and I'm very glad I came back to it now. The pie was much prettier than I expected, the spinach was soft and sweet and the cheese not too overpowering. Admittedly this meal was made special by the salads - tomatoes with basil and garlic, and cucumber with olives, chili and mint.

The mix of herby flavours and fresh veggies made the whole thing feel just a little bit luxurious (or at least like one of my favourite Whitecross Street lunchboxes) - and for once it didn't require every pan and worksurface in the kitchen.

For a veggie recipe, it wasn't cheap - coming in at £3.12 a head - but it was surprisingly filling, relatively uncomplicated and gave the illusion of being fantastically healthy!

Best for... Dining on the terrazzo, or with a mix of veggie and carnivorous friends
Taken from... Jamie Oliver - 30 Minute Meals
Chris says... Tasty, summery and surprisingly filling, even sworn meat lovers will be happy!

Hugh's Herby Barbecued Chicken

By Chris
Main ingredients:

• 1.2kg Chicken legs
• Tarragon, thyme and parsley
• Oil, lemon juice and black pepper
• Garlic and English mustard

With barbecue season in full swing at last, I turned back to Hugh for inspiration and once again he did not disappoint. Having had great success with his lamb and beef burgers, the chicken was a bit more of a gamble, given the likelihood of it ending up worryingly undercooked on the inside and carbonised on the outside.

My brave adventure of salmonella avoidance began with a mound of fresh herbs. Hugh called for four herbs - tarragon, thyme, parsley and chive, but my local Tesco was out of chives and it was three for two on herbs, so it fell by the wayside. Three tablespoons of the herby pile was added to a large bowl and mixed with four tablespoons of oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, black pepper, garlic and half a teaspoon of Coleman's mustard. The whole she-bang made a nice zingy marinade for the chicken.

After two or three hours letting the chicken drink up the juices, we sparked up the barbie and whacked on the meat. The problem with cooking chicken, or indeed any sizeable chunk of meat on the BBQ, is balancing inner cooked-ness with outer blackness, and this wasn't helped by the amount of oil used and the woody thyme sprigs, which resulted in a flamy start. After the flames died down, we moved the now slightly crispy chicken to the side of the barbie and let them sizzle for 25 minutes.

Served with a mustard, egg and caper potato salad, these went down a treat, with the skin blackened in places, but not burnt so much that the flavour didn't survive. If I were to do this again, I'd give it more time to marinate (possibly overnight), but it was well worth the risk: so far no-one has died and this would have happily made dinner for four people for just £1.95 a head.

Best for... Something a little adventurous for the barbecue if you're bored of burgers and sausages and aren't in too much of a hurry.

Taken from... Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - River Cottage Every Day (full recipe)

Helen says... Our guests approached the chicken cautiously at first but were all pretty pleased with the result!