Throw it in

I've varied the week's plan slightly, to have chicken tonight, and reheated frittata and salad tomorrow. And I've made a fruit dessert for tonight, just for me. Because some stuff needed using up. Both of these are non-recipe, thrown together kind of things. I'm going to write them up as recipes, but that's not really the spirit.

Recipe 1: Pasta with Chicken and Vegetables
200g chicken strips
1 large onion, sliced in strips
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 tablespoon brandy
1/2 red capsicum, sliced in strips
1/2 green capsicum, sliced in strips
2 small zucchini, sliced in strips
2 tablespoons shredded fresh thai basil
6 roast tomatoes, peeled & chopped
Pasta, cooked
Fry onion, garlic and chicken in olive oil. Deglaze with brandy. Add tomato and vegetables. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add herbs. Serve with pasta.

Notes: Why Thai basil? Because I had half a bunch on hand. The vegetables happened to be in the fridge; I had some chicken that needed using. Throw it in.

Recipe 2: Midnight Black Fruit Compote
2 large fresh black figs
1/2 punnet blackberries
6 prunes, pitted
1/3 cup marsala
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cocoa
Cut fruit to size of the blackberries. Toss in saucepan with the marsala, and bring to boil. Careful of flames! Add honey and cocoa, and simmer for a few minutes, then tip into a bowl and refrigerate. Leave for an hour before serving to chill, and let prunes swell up. Serve with a scoop of chocolate sorbet!

Notes: I felt this deserved a name of its own. It's good. But basically, the fruit was going to go off if I didn't use it soon. And I had some chocolate honey that was a gift - I thought why not, dark fruits, chocolate, a good match. Toss it in.