One of my favourite things to make for Friday Night Curry is pork vindaloo.

I spent a relaxing holiday in Goa a few years ago - it was very different to lots of the other parts of India I'd visited, a much more easy going than the big cities. The food was also delicious. There's a big cashew industry, so you find a lot of them in dishes. I also got to visit a spice farm and it was really interesting to see things like pepper and nutmeg growing - and made me realise just how little I actually know about where spices come from.

The Portuguese influence is very obvious in Goa and it's said that vindaloo has its roots in a Portuguese dish: Carne de Vinha d' Alhos, pork cooked with wine and garlic. Vindaloo subsitutes wine vinegar for wine, which gives a lovely tang against the sweet pork.

Although pork is more common, it's also traditional to make it with duck, with gives a similar sweetness. If I'm making this with pork shoulder, I would normally marinate the pork in the spice paste for a couple of hours first but there's really no need to do that with duck.

Ingredients:

2 duck legs
1 tsp cumin seeds
5 black peppercorns
Seeds from 2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 tsp corriander seeds
Half tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ginger puree
1 tsp garlic paste
Half tsp chilli flakes
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 finely chopped onion
1 tin chopped tomato
1 tsp muscovado sugar
1 tsp black mustard seeds
A handful of unsalted cashews

How to make it:

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 180c/gas 4

2.  Season the duck legs with salt and pepper, place skin up on a baking tray and roast for 1 hour 30 mins.

3.  Grind the cumin, peppercorns, cardamom, cloves and corriander with a pestle and mortar until fine.

4.  Put half the onion, ground spices, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, chilli and vinegar in a blender and blend to produce a smooth paste.

5.  Fry the other half of the onion until golden brown.

6.  Add the spice paste and fry until the oil starts to come out but don't let it burn.

7.  Add the tomato and sugar, cover and simmer on mimimum heat for 40mins.

8.  Remove the duck from the oven and allow to rest for at least 30mins.

9.  Taste the sauce and adjust the sugar/vinegar/chilli balance as needed.

10.  Remove the duck meat from the bones - try and keep it quite chunky if you can.

11.  Stir the duck into the sauce and let it warm through.

12.  Meanwhile, in a separate pan add a little oil and fry the mustard seeds until they pop.

13.  Add the cashews and fry until they turn golden brown - keep them moving or they will burn.

14.  Add the cashew/mustard seed/oil mix straight into the sauce and stir.

15. Serve immediately with rice or bread.

I love a new ingredient. I like to see something, think 'I have no idea what to do with that' and buy it anyway.

That's exactly what happened with Pomegrante Molasses. Having bought it, I needed to find a recipe to use it in. As luck would have it, there in the Sainsburys magazine was a Bill Granger recipe for duck legs with Pomegrante Molasses and walnuts. I adapted it a little as I preferred to roast the duck to crisp up the skin, rather than cook it in the sauce. The tangy pomegranate molasses is nicely balanced by the sugar and the nuts - adjust the quantities to suit your own taste.

I first tried this after a walk in the park on a cold sunny November Sunday. Well, I say a walk in the park, I walked for a bit then husband and small dog left me on a bench with my Kindle while they did a few more circuits (I think I was holding them back). This was the perfect dish to come back to with rosy cheeks and big appetites.

Ingredients:

2 duck legs

For the sauce:
Half an onion finely sliced
Squeeze of garlic purée
Half a cinnamon stick
Zest of half an orange
100ml of pomegranate juice
100ml chicken stock
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp light muscavado sugar
50g walnuts, toasted and chopped

For the lentils:
Half an onion finely sliced
100g chorizo diced small
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
1 tin chopped tomato
1 tin puy lentils
Salt and pepper

How to make it:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c/gas 4.

2. Season the duck legs and place skin up in a roasting tray. Roast for 1 hour 30mins.

3. In a frying pan fry half a sliced onion for about 8 mins until it's golden.

4. Stir in the cinnamon stick, orange zest, pomegranate juice, stock and garlic. Bring to a simmer.

5. Reduce to a low heat, cover with a lid and cook for about 1 hour.

6. In the meantime, fry the second half of the onion with the chorizo in a separate pan until the onion is soft.

7. Add the thyme, parsley, tomato and lentils. Season to taste and cook on a gentle heat for about 30 mins.

8. Remove the cinnamon stick from the sauce and add the sugar and pomegranate molasses.

9. Turn up the heat and bubble for about 10 mins until it's thick and syrupy. Add the walnuts and stir lightly to coat in the sauce.

10. Serve the duck leg on a bed of the lentils and drizzle liberally with the sauce. You could also serve a jug of extra sauce on the side for those who want it (me).

Recipe adapted from Bill Granger for Sainsburys Magazine.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas food as much as the next girl - mince pies, turkey, Xmas pud, the lot. But if you're looking for a new recipe to try at this time of year it's all a bit samey - there's only so many things you can do with mincemeat.

Husband was off to his Christmas party, so I wanted to find something interesting to make that would taste great but not take too much effort, as there was likely to be some naughty puppy behaviour to contend with.

This certainly hit the spot. I've recently been mesmerised by Yotam Ottolenghi's Mediterranean series. It's impossible not to be engaged by his passion for flavours and the dishes don't rely on time consuming techniques - the ingredients speak for themselves.

I've tweaked it a bit, mainly as I didn't have fresh herbs but I also used roast peppers from a jar to cut down the cooking time. It's quite a simple recipe but the flavours are beautifully intense.

This dish is traditionally for breakfast but I'd be more than happy to have it any time of day. Maybe twice.

Ingredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds
Oil
1 large onion sliced
100g chorizo cut into small pieces
4 large roast peppers cut into 2cm strips
1 tsp muscovado sugar
2 bay leaves
2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tin chopped tomatoes
½ tsp saffron threads

A pinch cayenne pepper
Up to 250ml water
6 free-range eggs
salt and black pepper

How to make it:

1. In a very large pan dry-roast the cumin seeds on a high heat for 2 minutes.

2. Add the oil, chorizo and onions and sauté for 5 minutes.

3. Add the peppers, sugar and herbs and continue cooking on a high heat for a few minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes, garlic, saffron, cayenne and some salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. During the cooking, keep adding water so that the mix has a passata consistency.

5. Taste and adjust the seasoning. It should be potent and flavoursome.

6. Remove the bay leaves, then divide the pepper mix between 2 deep frying pans, each large enough to take a generous individual portion.

7. Place them on a medium heat to warm up, then make three gaps in the pepper mix in each pan and carefully break an egg into each gap.

8. Sprinkle with salt and cover the pans with lids. Cook on a very(!) gentle heat for 10-12 minutes, or until the eggs are just set. Sprinkle with extra parsley and serve.

Recipe from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi