Sluttery Exclusive: Thomasina Miers' Mexican Food Made Simple

We're very excited to bring you our latest Sluttery Exclusive - from Thomasina Miers' new book Mexican Food Made Simple!

You probably already know that Thomasina won MasterChef before going on to become chef at Wahaca, where her amazing menus showcase hearty, simple and delicious Mexican food - and now many of those recipes can be found in her new book, which is characteristically exuberant about the joys of Mexican street food and how the humble chilli can make a dish sing. It waxes lyrical about quick grilling, how easy-to-find herbs bring meat alive and wondrous ways with leftovers.

I recommend the Tortilla soup and the Autumn Tacos with Onion Squash and Chorizo (together, if like me your eyes are bigger than your stomach) but for a quick and utterly yummy supper, you can't beat our exclusive recipe: Chorizo, Potato and Thyme Quesadillas.

We made them in minutes, using a mixture of mozzarella and Red Leicester and they were fantastic. I'd recommend you use a good non-stick pan or a griddle. We slightly overfilled them so next time we'll use more tortillas and share out the filling amongst them. You could serve with a green salad in the summer but for these still-cold evenings, just pile your plate high with triangles of cheesy goodness!

Chorizo, potato & thyme quesadillas

Quesadillas [kay-sa-dee-yas], stuffed with melted cheese and anything else you fancy, are good at any time of the day, but particularly in front of a movie or a big match. Hand some tortillas around and let everyone fill their own.

Enough for 4 large quesadillas.
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

350g potatoes
½ onion, finely chopped
200g chorizo cooking sausage, chopped
a small bunch of thyme, chopped
sea salt and black pepper
4 large flour or corn tortillas
400g cheese, grated
olive oil for frying

Cut the potatoes in equal-size chunks and fry until tender. Leave them to cool a little and then cut them into 1cm dice.

Cook the onion until soft, add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes. Mix in the chorizo and potato, turn up the heat and fry for another 5 minutes. Mix in the thyme and season.

Assemble all the rest of the quesadilla ingredients. Spread a quarter of the chorizo mixture on one half of a tortilla and sprinkle with a fistful of cheese.

Fold the tortilla over so that you have a half moon. Brush it with a little olive oil (so the tortilla doesn’t stick to the pan) and place in a hot, dry frying pan or griddle and cook until golden and crisp. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Cut into wedges and serve with your favourite table salsa. I find that a mix of extra mature English Cheddar and a little grated mozzarella makes the perfect cheese mix, with a good flavour and the right gooiness.

Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers is published by Hodder & Stoughton, £20.

Sluttery Exclusive! Canteen's Great British Food

Have you had the chance to try Canteen's cooking at one of their London restaurants? I'm a huge fan of their macaroni cheese - if I'm not having their pie of the day, mmm. Their cakes and biscuits, traditional favourites like Victoria Sponge and Chocolate Chip Cookies are perfect afternoon treats too. It's ultimate comfort food, reassuring and more than a little nostalgic.
If you want to know their secrets and make what they proudly describe as 'affordable honest food' yourself at home, then grab a copy of their new recipe book, Great British Food. It's as well designed as their stylish restaurants, with enticing photographs and no-nonsense easy to follow recipes.
In keeping with their modernised Mrs Beeton sensibility, they make their own fabulous condiments: and here we can exclusively share their recipe for Apple Chutney. Try it with sharp mature cheddar and thickly sliced ham on sourdough bread - delicious!
Apple Chutney
Makes enough to fill three 500g jars
You will need: 

• 1kg Bramley Apples
• 500g onions, diced
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 300ml cider vinegar
• 300ml orange juice
• 150g dried chopped apples
• 2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground mace
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 400g caster sugar

Make it!

• Peel the apples, remove the cores and cut into small chunks
• Place everything except the sugar in a preserving pan or other wide, deep pan. Bring just to the boil, then simmer for 2 hours, stirring frequently
• Add the sugar and stir well. Continue cooking over a low heat for 1 hour, stirring frequently
• Ladle into sterilised jars while still hot. When completely cold, store in a cool, dark place.

The chutney can be kept for up to 6 months, and will improve as it matures. Once a jar is opened, keep it in the fridge. For pear chutney, replace the apples with the same weight of pears that are hard and not too ripe.

Sluttery Exclusive: Nadia Sawalha recipe

Nadia Sawalha was known to most of us as an actor before she wowed John Torode and Gregg Wallace to win Celebrity Masterchef. Her new book, Stuffed Vine Leaves Saved My Life, is both an exuberant family history, explaining her culinary influences from her childhood, and a carefully compiled collection of recipes for meals which are designed to bring people together.

With headings like 'A Thousand And One Arabian Bites', 'Feasts For A Crowd' and 'Showing Off In The Kitchen', this is all about food for sharing: "Good food, cooked with love, feeds the soul as well as the body". Her dishes are Sawalha family classics, that have been perfected over many years, and are influenced by both her English and Arabian heritage.

You'll find most of the spices online or in local Turkish/Middle Eastern shops, as well as in larger supermarkets. We're thrilled to have two exclusive recipes to share with you: Slow-cooked Spicy Lamb in this week's Domestic Sluttery newsletter and this versatile veggie dish - try them together!

My Lentil Dream

"This dish is a dream, not only because of its gorgeous flavours but also because it's a dream come true for any host who has both veggie and non-veggie guests. It's a fantastic accompaniment to lamb, chicken or fish, but also works really well with just rice and salad.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

• 170g brown lentils
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 onions, peeled and sliced
• 1 whole garlic bulb, peeled and crushed
• a very large bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 heaped tsp each ground cumin and ground allspice
• 125ml lemon juice
• 1 tsp pomegranate syrup (from Middle Eastern/Turkish shops or large supermarkets)

Make it!

• In a heavy-based saucepan simmer the lentils in 750ml water for 20 minutes (no salt yet as it will toughen the lentils). Remove from the heat, drain and set aside.
• Heat 2 tsp of the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions until they're really nice and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and put to one side. In the same pan, heat the remaining 2 tsp oil, then throw in the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring the whole time. Then add the coriander and stir until it softens.
• Add half this mixture and half the onions to the lentils. Now throw in the salt, spices, lemon juice and pomegranate syrup and simmer for a further 20 minutes.
• Before you serve this dreamy dish, sprinkle the rest of the coriander and onions over the top."

Stuffed Vine Leaves Saved My Life is published by Doubleday, RRP £20

Sluttery Exclusive: Nadia Sawalha's Stuffed Vine Leaves Saved My Life

We're very excited about this: we were lucky enough to see an early preview copy of Nadia Sawalha's new cook book, Stuffed Vine Leaves Saved My Life a few weeks back. We'll be telling you all about it next week, and if you can't possibly wait that long you can see what readers are saying about it over on Amazon already.

Of course, Domestic Sluttery is all about sharing the good stuff that we find with you lovely people... so we have exclusive recipes to share with you and our gorgeous newsletter readers, coming next week!

So make sure you don't miss out - you can subscribe to the newsletter over on the right-hand sidebar. It's going to be a bumper, cookery themed issue... arriving in your inbox on Monday afternoon!