Recipe of the Month

The funny thing about Donna Hay's brilliant book, "Marie Claire Flavours" is this: Ms Hay has won two major U.K. prizes for this book ­ The Glenfiddich book of the year and the Guild of Food Writers Award ­ and yet her name doesn't even appear on the cover. Is this a first or what! Ms Hay's name deserves to be blazoned across the cover, however, for Marie Claire Flavours is an exceptional work.

True, you might look at it and say; "Huh, lifestyle", and you would be right. The photography, by Petrina Tinslay, is very stylized and moody, the presentation and arrangement of the recipes is very formulaic ­ nothing ever gets described past 3 paragraphs or so.

But the ideas here are smart and right in tune with the way we eat today. The food is simple, the techniques sometimes unusual, but the flavours Donna Hay puts together are knockout. Her theme is to take principal flavours and to extrapolate an entire range of dishes with them. She begins with vanilla, moves onto lemon and lime, then ginger, chilli, garlic and onions get a sniff, chocolate moves in midway before salt and pepper, basil and mint and cinnamon and spice wrap things up. The chicken poached in ginger broth is a beauty; the roast spice lamb and eggplant is fantastic, and whilst there is little here that is original, it's all done in a refreshing and real way. Here's the poached chicken dish, a shot of pure ginger joy.

Chicken Poached in Ginger Broth

4 chicken breast fillets
300g (10oz) green beans

For the ginger broth:
2 tablespoons shredded ginger
4 spring onions, chopped
1 star anise
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cups (32 fl oz) chicken stock

To make the ginger broth, place the shredded ginger, spring onions, star anise, soy sauce and chicken stock in a deep frying pan or wok over medium-high heat and allow to simmer for 3 minutes.

Add the chicken breasts to the frying pan and simmer slowly for 6 minutes each side. Remove the chicken from the broth and cook for 4 minutes or until just tender. To serve, place the broth and beans into shallow bowls. Slice each chicken breast into 3 pieces and place on top of the beans.

Serve immediately. Serves 4.