Sharon Griffiths speaks to an author who’s come up with some ‘idiotproof’ recipes.

IT’S great food shopping in Turkey as each village has a market day when all the local farmers turn up at daybreak to lay out a stall. Here is the place to buy a chicken, as free range as could be. Have it live or select one and call back in ten minutes when it’s killed, drawn and portioned.

■ Eating Out by Staying In by Keith Taylor, £22.99, from eationgoutbystayingin.com or from 43 King Street, Seahouses, Northumberland, NE68 7XW

SERVES TWO
Assemble:
Large saucepan with lid
Medium-sized mixing bowl
Electric coffee grinder
Small frying pan
Ingredients:
2 large chicken joints, with yellow fat if possible
1 small carrot, sliced
1 small peeled potato
2 small onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
water
For the sauce:
Half a pound of shelled walnuts or hazelnuts
2 slices of stale white bread, crusts removed 2 tsp paprika
2 cloves garlic peeled and creamed with a little salt

METHOD
Wash the chicken pieces in salted water, pat dry and place in the large saucepan with the onion, potato, carrot and a little salt and bring to the boil.

When the chicken is about half cooked, add a little more salt, skim the surface to remove the gunge, reduce heat and cook until chicken is tender, then remove from heat and allow to cool.

When the chicken has cooled, remove the skin and discard. Take all the meat off the bone and cut into small pieces. Keep the cooking liquid as stock for later.

Grind the walnuts until they are as fine as possible.

Then transfer to a mixing bowl.

Soak the slices of stale bread in some of the reserved chicken stock, squeeze and crumble onto the ground walnuts. Now add the paprika as you knead the mixture by hand and then add the garlic and a little salt, kneading the mixture as you go.

Now beat into the mixture a cup of the warm chicken stock and whisk until you have a thick pouring consistency.

Allow the sauce to stand for ten minutes and then lightly fold in the chicken pieces. Divide into portions, dust with paprika and drizzle over a small amount of olive oil.

Stick a ruby in your navel, don your clean wrestler’s loin cloth and serve with feta salad.

VERDICT

THE recipe worked very well. We didn’t bother with the electric grinder, just chopped a lot. We didn’t bother with the ruby in the navel either. And as for the wrestler’s loin cloth...

But this was all very simple, tasted good and was definitely different. The leftovers next day were even more delicious with rice and a green salad.

We liked the huge variety of recipes in this book.

Any book that includes both Pan Hagglety and tapas, plus coconut vegetables, has to be good. It also had one of the simplest and best ever recipes for French onion soup.

And they are all explained very simply. “I have tried to make these recipes idiot proof and have had them tasted by many of my favourite idiots who are still speaking to me.”

The men will like the jokes and the chattiness and the chance to show off. Buy them this book, point them into the kitchen and wait.