There's a duck in the fridge...

And I am not sure why. I start to tire of the good old fashioned Sunday lunch as soon as the weather starts to warm up. Easter roast lamb is usually the last I'll eat before the dark Autumn afternoons return, and I'm crying out for comfort food. At a push I might concede to a herby-lemony-garlicky roast chicken, spatchcocked and BBQ'd, but only if it is served with salad and some buttery new potatoes.

So this duck poses a problem. I'll roast it, but there'll be no gravy or a l'orange sauce today. I'm going Chinese, thinking of a variation on the all time Chinese restaurant classic, duck with pancakes. So first off the easy bit, rub the duck generously with Chinese 5-Spice Powder, and bung in the oven for about 2 hours on, 180c/gas mark 4. Keep basting it every so often so it goes really crispy, but otherwise you can leave it alone. The duck can be roasted in advance and left if you prefer.

Next up, the salad dressing. Add 150mls of soy sauce and 2 tbsps soft brown sugar to a pan and heat gently. Add a teaspoon of Chinese 5-Spice and if you have a star anise then pop one in. Chop up about 4 or 5 ripe plums and after the mixture has bubbled away for a bit and become a bit syrupy, add the plums and heat through for about 3 or 4 minutes. The dressing can then be left to cool, just remove the plums so that they don't go all mushy and keep them to one side.

All you need to do now is put the final dish together. Start by shredding the duck. It doesn't have to be neat, the key is shredded, not sliced. So use a fork to steady the bird and then pull away with another fork, just like they do at your local Chinese. The salad base can be whatever you have to hand, I use a spinach/watercress/rocket mix but it really doesn't matter. To add some crunch coarsley grate some carrot, and then on top of this some cucumber matchsticks and julienned spring onions. Place a good portion of the shredded duck on top, drizzle some dressing on top and don't forget to add the plums too.

Now eat.

Thai cold cures

I wouldn't expect to be writing about cures for colds and coughs in mid June, but as I write there is a stiff, and decidedly chilly wind blowing outside, and I have picked up a lovely sniffle thanks to the office air-conditioning. Add to the mix my propensity for hayfever and I am a snot-ridden mess. I'd like ideally to remove my head or soak it in ice cold water, but since neither are particularly practical, not to mention messy, I'm sticking with an old fashioned cure-all recipe to flush out my bunged up head. I've always been an advocate of soup to remedy a cold, but as I have got older, I have found that the spicier they are the better they are at shifting a cold and enabling you to breathe freely again. I'm in need of something more substantial than soup, so tonight's dinner is thai green chicken curry. Fast and simple to prepare, and I'm making it as hot as I can stomach.

The key is to get the paste made well in advance so it can develop a good flavour, and once you have that to hand it's a really easy dish to assemble. I've opted for some skinless chicken thighs instead of prawns, so I simply add those after I have fried off the paste in a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil (or any flavourless oil will do) for a couple of minutes. To prevent the paste from catching and burning I add a couple of tablespoons of coconut milk which then allows the chicken to cook through a bit more, before pouring in the rest, with some chopped french beans. That then simmers with a tablespoon of fish sauce, a good squeeze of lime juice and a teaspoon of sugar to taste. I find that those last three ingredients should be added to your own personal taste. I personally like a zingy lime finish to my thai curries, so I usually add a good bit more. Keep altering the amounts until you get the right taste for your palate.

Know thine enemy

There's an ancient Chinese proverb that says 'if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss. If you only know yourself but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself, nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.' So with this in mind I'm sure Mr Capello has done lots of research on the teams in our qualifying group, but in a bid to carry out some last minute reconnaissance of my own, I thought I would get into the mindset - or stomachs of our forthcoming opponents, and try to recreate a national dish in honour of that team. You know, keep your enemies close and all that...I think that was The Godfather, or maybe he nicked it from the Chinese chap?

First up and I am easing myself in with the USA. Given that our food tastes are broadly similar, I do feel like I'm cheating just a little bit. I've not had to ferret out any strange ingredients or even Google 'American food' for inspiration, I've got a pretty good idea. Let's face it, I could have just had a McDonald's and ticked the box, but as I'm watching tonight's match with company, the good guest that I am, I decided to make that American classic - the cheesecake. Technically I suppose it should be New York cheesecake, and certainly it has to be a baked one. My old faithful Nigella does have a recipe for the NY version, but my tin is too large, so I've opted for the 'London' one instead from 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'. I've baked this probably a dozen times (was feeling just a little bit lazy for inspiration), however it is foolproof and always a crowd pleaser. It's a pretty standard baked cheesecake recipe, crushed digestives and melted butter for the base, whipped up cream cheese, with whole eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar, plus lemon and vanilla to flavour, which you then bake for 50 minutes at 180c/gas mark 4. The 'London' twist is the addition of a thin sour cream layer that has been sweetened with caster sugar and vanilla. I'm not sure what is particularly London-like about this aspect, but it definetely works, so don't be tempted to skip this last bit.

All I have to work out now is how to safely transport it across London on the tube to get to my sisters. Here's hoping it goes down well, and more importantly that we get a good result. People might not want to eat it if we lose!

Next match Algeria.....I will need Google and maybe goat meat for this one.