This chicken and chorizo rice bake is one of those great dishes you can just pop into the oven. It’s heartwarming and full of flavour. If you don’t have a suitable casserole dish, just use a large sauté pan, then transfer the contents to a roasting tin and cover loosely with tinfoil. I recommend buying a jar of artichokes, because the fresh ones are very tricky to prepare and the idea here is to have an easy, tasty meal. Or you could substitute with courgettes, which works very well. This is a dish which can also work perfectly with pork chops instead of chicken.

I suggest using long-grain rice as brown rice takes that bit longer to cook. We are lucky that we can get excellent chorizo in Ireland these days. The chorizo will impart lots of flavour to the rice as it cooks. Gubeen Smokehouse from Schull, Co Cork, is worth looking out for. I saw John and Sally McKenna in The Irish Food Guide refer to their range as “stellar artisan food”. It’s well-deserved praise.

Salmon with citrus butter en croute is a dish that will impress. Do get the best all-butter, puff pasty for taste and to make the dish flaky.

Sea trout is good value at the moment so you could use that instead of salmon. Your fishmonger will skin and debone the salmon fillets for you.

Happy cooking.

Chicken and chorizo rice bake

Serves four

300g (11oz) jar of artichoke hearts in olive oil

25g (1oz) of butter

4 chicken breast fillets (skin on)

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

100g (4oz) of raw chorizo sausage, peeled and sliced

350g (12oz) of long-grain rice

250ml of dry white wine

600ml (1 pint) of chicken stock

2 tbsp of roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

  • Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark four. Drain the oil from the jar of artichokes and add one tablespoon to a casserole dish with a lid. Add half of the butter and then place on the hob to heat. Season the chicken breasts, add to the dish (skin-side down) then cook for two to three minutes until lightly browned. Turn over and cook for another minute or so until sealed. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

  • Add another tablespoon of the drained artichoke oil to the dish, along with the remaining butter, to the pan and then tip in the onion and garlic. Sauté for two to three minutes until softened, but not coloured. Add the chorizo and rice, and cook for another two minutes, stirring until the chorizo has begun to release its oil and all the rice grains are well coated.

  • Pour the wine into the pan, stirring to combine, then add the stock and fold in the artichokes. Arrange the chicken on top, pushing the breasts down into the rice. Cover and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the chicken and rice are cooked through and tender.

  • To serve, scatter the parsley over the dish and place it directly onto the table to serve.

    • Salmon with citrus butter en croute

    Serves four

    50g (2oz) of unsalted butter, softened

    1 tbsp of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

    2 tsp of chopped fresh tarragon

    2 tsp of chopped fresh dill

    Finely grated rind of ½ a lemon

    Finely grated rind of ½ an orange

    500g (1lb 2oz) of puff pastry, thawed if frozen

    A little plain flour, for dusting

    4 x 175g (6oz) organic salmon fillets (about 2.5cm thick), skinned and deboned

    50g (2oz) of baby spinach leaves

    1 egg yolk, beaten with one tbsp of milk

    Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

    Peas with mint, to serve

  • Place the butter in a small bowl and beat in the parsley, tarragon, dill, lemon and orange rind then season generously. Spoon onto a sheet of clingfilm or non-stick parchment paper and shape into a roll, about 2.5cm (1in) thick, then wrap tightly. Chill in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to firm up (or keep in the fridge for up to 48 hours until required, if time allows).

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark six. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

  • Cut the pastry into eight, even-sized sections and roll each one out on a lightly floured surface into a 12.5cm x 18cm (5in x 7in) rectangle, trimming down the edges if necessary. Arrange four of the rectangles on the lined baking sheets. Place a salmon fillet in the centre of each one and cover with the spinach leaves, then season to taste. Unwrap the citrus butter and cut into 16 x 0.5cm (¼in) thick slices. Arrange four slices in an overlapping layer on each piece of salmon.

  • Brush the edges of the pastry bases with a little of the egg wash and lay a second sheet of pastry on top, pressing down to seal. Crimp the edges by gently pressing the edge of the pastry with a fork. Continue all the way around the edge of the parcel. Repeat until you have four parcels in total. Season each one with a little salt and pepper.

  • Brush the pastry parcels with the remaining egg wash and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and golden brown.

  • To serve, arrange the salmon parcels on warmed serving plates with some buttered peas with mint.