I made them chicken pie because it is something that can be prepared well in advance. Plus, it's pretty easy to put together. Let's get straight to the recipe, shall we?

Ingredients (serves 6-7 people)

The Filling

• 40g butter + 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 6 skinless chicken breast (about 1.5 kg), diced into small cubes
• About 680 ml chicken stock or a mix of chicken stock + milk
• 1 large green onion, diced
• 1 regular-sized can of button mushrooms, sliced
• 227 ml (1 regular size container) double or single or thickened cream
• 2 cups frozen (or fresh) mixed veggies -- carrots, peas, beans, corn
• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 packet of ready made puff pastry (those that needs to be rolled). You can substitute puff pastry with mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes.

1. Chicken filling: Add a little oil to a saucepan. Add in the chicken, diced onion, sliced mushrooms and mixed veggies. Season with some salt and pepper and cook until the chicken is ready. Set aside.
   
   


2. White sauce: Melt butter + olive oil in another saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour. Add the chicken stock or milk a little at a time, mixing to a smooth paste. Stir gently until it starts thickening. Add the cream and carry on cooking for a few more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.


3. You can make the chicken filling and white sauce in advance.


4. When you are ready to bake (the next day or hours later), preheat the oven to 200 C.


5. Mix the chicken mixture to the white sauce and place in a baking dish.


6. Roll out your puff pastry and spread over.


7. Make a few slashes in the pastry for the steam to escape.


8. Dip a pastry brush into some milk and paint to glaze lightly.


9. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until you get a nice gold pastry! Serve warm.

I made some Spicy baked beans and tuna corn patties during the weekend after being inspired by this recipe.

• 1 can (normal size) baked beans or chickpeas or garbanzo beans *
• 1 tbsp of chili powder (add more if you want it more spicy!)
  
• 1 egg-lighted beaten
• 1 -2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp of sesame oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup frozen or canned or fresh corn kernels
• 1 can tuna flakes (in oil or brine)
• Some oil to pan-fry
  

* Chickpeas is recommended.

Step 1: Wash the beans in cold water to get rid of the tomato sauce, then add all the ingredients. I added a good amount of extra hot chilli (x2 of what you see). I am a huge fan of spicy food!

• 2 knobs of butter
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• A large handful of fresh marjoram or oregano, roughly chopped – I used 1 to 1.5 tsp of dried oregano
• ¼ of a nutmeg, grated – I used 1 to 1.5 tsp dried nutmeg
• 8 large handfuls of spinach, thoroughly washed – I used 5 packets of china baby spinach with stalks removed.
• A handful of fresh basil, stalks chopped, leaves ripped
• 2 x 400g tins of good-quality plum tomatoes, chopped – I used Hunts stewed & diced tomatoes. You can also make your favourite tomato sauce!
  
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pinches of sugar
• 400g crumbly ricotta cheese – I used 250g ricotta cheese + 250g low fat cottage cheese
• 2 handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 16 cannelloni tubes (if you end up having extra filling, you could always use lasagna sheets)
  
• 200g mozzarella, broken up
  

• 1 x 500ml tub of crème fraîche
  
• 3 anchovies, finely chopped
• 2 handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a large saucepan, put it on a high heat and add your butter, a drizzle of olive oil, one of the sliced garlic cloves, a handful of marjoram or oregano (or dried oregano) and the grated nutmeg. By the time the pan is hot the garlic should be soft. Put as much spinach as will fit into the pan. Keep turning it over; it will wilt quickly so you will be able to keep adding more spinach until it’s all in. Moisture will cook out of the spinach, which is fine. By cooking it this way you don’t lose any of the nutrients that you would if boiling it in water. After 5 minutes, put the spinach into a large bowl and leave to cool.
   
   
2. Place the pan back on the heat, add a little olive oil, the other clove of sliced garlic, your basil stalks and the tomatoes. Then fill one of the empty tomato tins with cold water and add this too. If using stewed tomatoes, do not add this extra water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down, add a pinch of salt and pepper and the sugar, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until you get a loose tomato sauce consistency. Then take the pan off the heat and add the basil leaves.
   
   
3. By now the spinach will have cooled down, so squeeze any excess liquid out of it and pour this back into the bowl. Finely chop the spinach and put it back into the bowl. Mix it with the liquid, add the ricotta (or ricotta + cottage cheese) and a handful of the Parmesan.
   
   
   
4. Squeeze the mixture into the cannelloni. You can use a piping bag to do that if you want. I used a small spoon.
   
   
   
   
5. Pour the tomato sauce into your ovenproof dish and lay the cannelloni on top.
   
   
   
6. To make the white sauce, mix together the crème fraîche, anchovies and the 2 handfuls of Parmesan with a little salt and pepper, then loosen with a little water.
   
   
   
7. Spoon in the white sauce over the cannelloni. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and the mozzarella pieces, and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden and bubbling.
   
   
   
8. Serve hot!
   

• 200g plain flour
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 40g best-quality cocoa
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 50g unsalted butter + 120g applesauce (or 50g butter + 125g unsalted butter if you are not using applesauce)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 150ml non-fat yoghurt or low-fat sour cream
  

1. Take everything out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C and line muffin tins.
3. Now all you have to do is put all the cake ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarb, cocoa, chocolate chips, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream – into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins and top with toppings of your choice (pecan nut, chocolate chips, kitkat etc.).
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

• Cool muffins completely before wrapping and freezing. To freeze, wrap securely in foil or freezer wrap, or place in freezer bags. Label all packages with the name of the recipe and the date. Use within the recommended storage time for the best flavor and texture. Baked products should be stored at 0°F or lower. Muffins can be stored frozen for up to 3 months.
• Muffins can be thawed completely at room temperature, or heat frozen muffins in the microwave or conventional oven as directed below:
  For microwave oven, place unwrapped muffin on napkin, microwave-safe paper towel or plate. Microwave on HIGH about 30 seconds for each muffin.For conventional oven, heat foil-wrapped muffins at 350°F 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the muffins.