Sure to be the hot favourites

The celebration of Bonfire Night always seems to bring out the child in all of us – and it’s a great opportunity for families and friends to get together, have a bit of fun, and brave the elements for the simple pleasure of watching rockets whoosh, Catherine wheels spin and Roman candles erupt.

One way to feed a crowd on an occasion like this is to make good use of your slow cooker. Baked jacket potatoes are always popular; bake them in the oven, or just wrap in foil and cook in the bonfire, topped with a knob of butter and a sprinkle of salt.

Just remember to pull on some extra warm socks, lots of layers to trap the warm air, have a blazing bonfire and whit e hot coals on the barbecue, good food and some steaming hot punch – enjoy!

Spicy chicken pitta pockets

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

500g chicken breast mini fillets 4 tbsps lemon juice

2 tbsps soy sauce

½ tsp ground cumin

300ml tomato passata

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp paprika

2 tsps runny honey

2 x Little Gem lettuces 1 medium red onion

125g cucumber or courgette Pitta pockets

Method

Slice the chicken into diagonal strips and put into a non-metallic dish. Combine the lemon juice, soy sauce, and cumin, whisking lightly with a balloon whisk and then pour over the chicken. Cover the dish with cling film and refrigerate for four to six hours. Heat a wok or large frying pan and tip in the chicken and marinade and stir fry for

5-8 minutes. Heat the tomato sauce mixture in the saucepan. Mix together the passata, chilli powder, paprika and honey.

Wash and pat dry the lettuces, chop finely. Thinly slice the red onion. Dice cucumber; warm the pitta pockets in a low oven. To serve: fill the pitta pockets with the lettuce, sliced onion and diced cucumber, then top with the chicken and spoon over the tomato sauce.

Cheese and mustard baked potatoes

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

4 baking potatoes

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

4 tbsps chopped chives

100g grated mature Cheddar cheese 4 tbsps crème fraiche salt and black pepper

Method

Cook the potatoes until tender and remove from the oven. Cut in half, scoop out the potato and mix with the mustard, chives, grated cheese and crème fraiche. Season lightly. Spoon the potato back into the potato skins and return to the oven for about 15 minutes.

Mixed bean chilli

Definitely one for the slow cooker.

Serve with warm crusty bread.

Ingredients

2 tbsps cooking oil

2 medium onions

2 fat cloves garlic

1 red chilli

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander 2 tsps chilli powder

125g dried red kidney beans 125g dried black beans

125g dried pinto beans

1 litre vegetable stock

1 tbsp brown sugar

Salt and black pepper

Method

Put all the beans into a large bowl, cover with water and leave to soak overnight. Drain well, rinse, drain again. Chop the onion and garlic. Remove seeds from chilli and peppers; chop the chilli, dice the peppers.

Sauté the onion, garlic, chilli and peppers until softened. Stir in the spices and cook for one minute. Add the beans and stock and cook at a boil for ten minutes, then transfer to the slow cooker and cook on low for 9-10 hours..

Then transfer about a third of the beans into a food processor with the brown sugar and a good seasoning; process until the beans are a coarse puree, return this to the slow cooker and mix in with the other beans.

Serve with warm pitta or flat breads.

Alternatively if you do not have a slow cooker you can cook this in a conventional oven at 150C (gas mark 2) for about 5-6 hours.