You Need

12 cod fillets or another white fish less in danger like perhaps Pollack

300ml coconut milk

300ml cream

10 strands of saffron

Zest of 2 lemons and 2 limes

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

5 crushed juniper berries

2 freshly made chorizo saucisson, not sausages, but the saucisson before it starts to dry out – cut on the diagonal into 1cm slices

4tsp freshly grated ginger

3 shallots finely diced

Knob of butter

200g pearl barley

100ml vegetable stock

500g fresh young spinach

50ml white wine

Smoked paprika

2 tbsp coriander oil – 5tbsp fresh coriander leaves blended with 4tbsp olive oil, pinch of salt and squeeze of lemon – sieved and kept in a plastic bottle with a nozzle

How to

In a deep sauté pan or earthen ware tagine dish, melt a knob of butter and sweat the shallots, do not color them but they should be soft and translucent.

Add the spices, lemon zest, ginger and saffron, then the wine.

Pour in the cream and milk then add the pearl barley, cover and cook for 20mins until the barley is soft and creamy

In a sauté pan fry the chorizo until it starts to crisp up, remove and drain off the juice, but reserve it for later

Slide the fish into the cream and cook gently for 6 mins turning half way through.

Then add the chorizo for 1 min.

In a large pan wilt the spinach down and drain

Return to a pan with a knob of butter, and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of smoked paprika
To serve

Spoon a tower of spinach into the centre of each shallow bowl and place a fillet of fish on top

Spoon round the sauce from the tagine making sure there are a few slices of chorizo on each plate

Swirl round a little reserved chorizo juice and coriander oil

You Need

One fillet portion per person of both smoked haddock, the dyed type and cod

30 green young asparagus, peeled and trimmed to 8cm

splash of mandarin oil

pea coulis

300g petit pois fresh or frozen

1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped

1tsp butter

200ml veg or chicken stock hot

50ml cream

pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

1tbsp fresh mint leaves

plastic squeezy bottle (if you don’t have one use a small teaspoon)

How to

Preheat oven to 220° C

Bring a large pan of salt water to a boil.

Plunge the green asparagus in and cook for 2 mins.

Drain and immediately plunge into ice cold water for a further 5 mins to keep them green

drain and pat dry

Lay a large sheet of foil on the first baking tray, brush lightly with oil and lay the pieces of cod on it – season sparingly with salt and

pepper, cover with 2nd sheet of foil and fold the edges together to form a tight seal all the way round.

Repeat on the 2nd baking tray with the haddock, but do not season with salt!

Cook the haddock for no more than5 mins and the cod for 8/10 depending on its thickness, less rather than more.

In a small pan sweat shallots in the teaspoon of butter until transparent

Pour in the peas and veg stock, cook for 1 mins

Blend with the mint leaves and seasoning until smooth

Sieve and stir in the cream, it should not be completely liquid but like a coating sauce

Pour into a plastic squeezy bottle
To serve

On a serving dish of your choice lay out 5 asparagus in the middle of the plate place a piece of cod on a slant on top of the ends of the asparagus and place the haddock on an opposite slant on top of the cod.

Brush the haddock with a thin film of oil to make it shiny

Decorate the plate with the petit pois coulis either in swirls or dots

Serve immediately

You Need

8 apples, cooking or cox’s

1tbsp lemon juice

rind of 2 limes plus juice

grated ginger approx 5cm

140g butter

250g sugar

300g sweet pastry

How to

Preheat the oven to 220°C, 425°F

Peel, core and half the apples and put in a bowl with the lemon juice and lime juice, toss gently to coat.

In a large shallow oven proof pan melt the sugar with a little water, when it has caramelized add the butter and slowly stirring like crazy to homogenize the caramel

Add the lime rind and the ginger. Stir

Take the apples halves and pack tightly together sideways up, brush with a little melted butter and bake in the oven for 20 mins until they start to soften

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface approx 3mm thick

Place over the apples allowing an overlap of 4cm

Make a thicker border around the dish using this over lap of pastry, place the whole dish back in the oven for 20 mins until the pastry is golden

Take the tart out, leave to rest for 10 mins before inverting onto the serving plate, be very careful it will be very, very hot!

Serve with a creamy home made ice cream or fromage blanc ice cream or just thick cream!

You Need

30 mini leeks

8 free range eggs

200g puff pastry

100ml olive oil

100ml mandarin oil

100ml white balsamic vinegar

2tsp smooth dijon mustard

salt and freshly ground white pepper

a knob of butter and some fresh chervil to decorate or small edible flowers

preheat oven to 200°C

How to

Trim, and cut into equal 4cm pieces all the leeks and blanch in boiling salted water for 4mins

Drain and refresh in iced cold water

Line a baking tray with baking parchment

Roll out the puff pastry to 3mm and cut out 10 rectangles approx 4cm by 8cm with a pastry cutter

prick the circles with a fork, place on baking tray and cover with a 2nd sheet of baking parchment. Cover with a 2nd baking tray and weigh down with weights so that the puff pastry does not rise

Bake in the oven for 20 mins, checking from time to time.

The pastry discs should be golden brown and flat

Take out and set to one side

reduce the oven to 150°C

Roll the leeks in a little melted butter and warm on a baking tray in the oven for 10 mins

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and poach the eggs for 4 mins until they are softly poached, remove and drain. Set aside carefully on a plate

Mix all the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small pan and warm gently
To assemble

Prepare 8 medium sized plates

*Pro-Tip think about how restaurants often use much larger plates than necessary for the entrée – purely for presentation! It makes a big difference than a crowded entrée plate.

Place 1 pastry rectangle in the middle of the plate, arrange the leeks on top, then carefully place the poached egg on top of the leeks and
then gently spoon over the warm vinaigrette,

decorate with the chervil or even some little edible flowers

You Need

24 fresh Scallops, coral removed and trimmed

1 lemon and 1 lime

50ml cream

50ml vegetable stock

36 young green asparagus, trimmed and delicately peeled, reserve 12 for decoration

300g fresh garden peas

A small bunch of fresh dill, stalks removed

1tsp grated ginger

1 shallot finely sliced

salt and freshly ground white pepper

1tsp lemon salt

30g butter

How to

In a saucepan of salted boiling water cook the peas for 5 mins until tender, drain and refresh in iced water to seal their colour.

In a small pan melt 1tsp butter and sweat the shallots until they are soft but not coloured.

In a food processor add the peas, shallots, ginger, cream and vegetable stock salt and pepper.

Blend until smooth and strain to remove any bits.

Blanch 24 of the asparagus in boiling salt water for 2 mins, drain and refresh in iced water.

Using a mandolin thinly slice lengthways the raw asparagus and set asaide.

Just before serving, warm through the petit pois coulis whisking to a froth

Pan fry the blanched asparagus in a little butter.

Pan fry the scallops for 1min each side.
To serve

On a plate place to asparagus, tips facing the same way, top with 2 scallops and decorate with a pinch of lemon salt and a twist of the raw asparagus

Swirl with a spoon or using a plastic bottle the coulis of petit pois

You Need

makes 12 x 250g kilner preserving jars of pâté

3.5kg coarsely minced belly free range pork

700g liver, heart & kidneys, coarsely chopped – from the pig

1kg coarsely chopped free range veal, or turkey

5 large onions, roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

300g roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

4 free range eggs

50ml cognac

50ml port

30ml madera

4 whole cloves

10g juniper berries

10g red baie

15g thyme – dried or 30g fresh (no stalks)

30g coarse sea salt

12 bay leaves

12 sage leaves

12 twigs fresh thyme

12 squares pig skin or 6 rashers of bacon cut in half

3 tsp mixed spice

How to

Using a blender on pulse, chop roughly the onions and garlic, holding 2 onions back.

Pulse quickly the remaining 2 onions with the parsley but do not blend for long or the parsley will become a purée.

In a pestle and mortar crush the cloves, juniper berries and the red baies until moist.

In a very large mixing bowl or clean washing up bowl mix all the ingredients together with your hands until the herbs and spices are evenly mixed through the meats.

Divide the mixture between the clean, dry kilner jars.

Top with a leaf of sage, bay, thyme and a square of pig fat or bacon.

Put the rubber seals on the lids of the kilner jars and place into the large saucepan.

Fill up pan with water until all the jars are submerged.

You may have to cover jars with a tea towel and add heavy weights or stones to stop the jars floating.

Put on the gas and bring the pan to a boil – leave to slowly boil for 3 hrs and then turn off.

You will have to top up with boiling water once or twice as the kilner jars must remain submerged.

Leave to cool in the pan.

Remove wash the jars on the outside, label and store in a dry place for up to 2 years.

Serve with home pickled gherkins and crunchy farmhouse bread.

Alternatively you can use your normal pâté dish.

Pack the raw mixture in the dish, then scope it out and weigh it.

Pack into a freezer bag and repeat until you have several packets, label the weight and mix then freeze until you require them.

Take out and defrost a packet overnight in the fridge then cook in the oven in a bain-marie for approx 3hrs.

Oven baked pate will have a more caramelised flavour than the kilner jars. Both are delicious, but really do have a totally different flavour.

The Kilnar jars are brilliant for an impromptu supper or summer lunch

You Need

600ml double cream

135g sugar

4 lemons, juice and rind

1 jar of home made lemon curd

1 quantity of shortbread dough

1 tub mascarpone cheese

Small punnet of blackberries

3tsp sugar

1 vanilla pod scraped out

Mint leaves to decorate (optional)

How to

Pour cream and sugar into a large saucepan and boil for 3 mins

Whisk in the lemons and strain

Put 1/2tsp of lemon curd in the base of each serving pot and gently pour the cream in, Chill until they have set, approx 4hrs

Roll out the shortbread dough to 3mm. Using a fluted pastry cutter cut out small circles approx 3cm diameters

Carefully place on a lined baking sheet and baking in a moderate oven until they just start to colour.

Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack

In a bowl turn out the mascarpone, add the vanilla seeds and sugar. Mix well

Pipe a small amount onto half the shortbread discs.

Sit 4/5 blueberries ontop and place a 2nd shortbread disc on top

Dust with icing sugar
To serve

On your chosen plate place a pot of lemon cream and next to it a shortbread biscuit with mascarpone and blueberries

You Need

10 fresh No.3 oysters or 5 pp, served on a bed of coarse sea salt to steady the shells

250ml of champagne, leaving enough for a couple of glasses in the bottle

4 egg yolks

250ml cream

2 shallots very finely chopped

White pepper

8 tarragon leaves

1/2 lemon

How to

Chuck the oysters

Over a bowl and a strainer, strain the oysters and pick out any shell – reserve the juice

Scrub the deepest half of the oyster shells and set 5 on each plate in the sea salt

In a large shallow pan pour in the champagne, oyster juice and then the oysters

Gently warm the oysters through, do not let the liquid boil or even, come to a simmer – you should be able to pick then up with your fingers

In a separate pan heat the cream, egg yolks tarragon and shallots

Season with white pepper and a squeeze of lemon

Warm through, constantly turning until the sauce starts to thicken – immediately take of the heat

Spoon the oysters back into their shell and spoon the sauce over and serve

You Need

3 whole trimmed beef cheeks cut into big pieces. Each cheek will do approx 4 people or approx 300g per person of collar which is delicious and it’s always good to have a little fat

(I always ask my butcher to cut really chunky bits of steak as the UK butchers tend to cut them too small for a french bourguignon)

a couple of bone marrow chunks, (ask your butcher for a few he shouldn’t charge you!)

500g little onions, peeled and quartered or shallots

5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 tsp juniper berries slightly smashed in a pestle and mortar to release the flavour and 2/3 cloves (optional)

400g smoked lardons or smoky bacon rashers cut into chunks

500g mushrooms, peeled if necessary, and thickly sliced

butter and oil for cooking

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

splash cognac

2 bottles (burgundy if you can) red wine

500ml rich beef stock

6tbsp plain flour

handful of fresh thyme

5 fresh bay leaves

2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

How to

In a large pan big enough to put in the oven melt a little butter and fry off the shallots/onions and bacon – set aside

Mix the flour, salt and pepper together with the thyme and meat

In the same pan, add some more butter and oil and seal the meat

You will have to do this in batches so that it doesn’t start to stew rather than sizzle and colour the meat

Don’t worry if the pan sticks at the bottom, it will be fine when the liquids are added.

with all the meat sealed, set aside the meat add cognac – flambé.

TOP TIP – if you have an extractor fan turn off before you light the cognac as the fan draws the flames up and creates a large hole in your filter!

Scrape down the sides and bottom of the pan to get all the meat juices and caramelised bits off the bottom and into the sauce. Ad the red wine and beef stock

Return the beef to the pan with the onion/shallots, bacon and garlic.

Throw in the cloves, juniper berries, bay leaves and bone marrow if using any

Cover and leave to cook gently for 2/3 hrs in a low oven

Take out and taste

Cover and leave to rest overnight

Before serving melt some butter in a pan and fry the mushrooms

Add to the meat with half the chopped parsley

Return the meat to the oven for 45mins

Stir through the remaining chopped parsley before serving

Serve it simple with crunchy french bread and steamed buttered potatoes

You Need

200g cooked crayfish tails, chopped finely – but not mashed!

3 avocado’s, peeled, de-stoned and mashed with the juice of 1 lemon

salt and freshly ground black pepper

80g home made or good quality lemon and mustard mayonnaise

zest of 1 lemon

small bunch of fresh dill – reserve some fronds for decorating and chop the rest

pinch of paprika

2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed to a pulp with the back of a sharp knife

1/2 red chilli, deseeded and finely diced, not mashed

juice of one lemon

20 small olive oil biscuits, rosemary and parmesan biscuits or Kim’s blue cheese biscuits

How to

In a bowl mash up the avocado, add a pinch of paprika, the garlic pulp, half the lemon juice, the red chilli and a good twist of freshly ground black pepper and salt, taste and chill, add more lemon juice if necessary

In another bowl, put the crayfish meat, mayonnaise, chopped dill, lemon zest, salt and freshly ground black pepper, taste and chill

Set out the biscuits on a flat surface, top with a spoon of avocado, then crayfish, a twist of salt and pepper and then a delicate frond of dill and a few slithers of lemon zest

You Need

500g dried chic peas, soaked over night in a twice their volume of cold water with 80g bicarbonate of soda (bicarb is optional, it just makes them softer) for at least 12 hours

5 cloves garlic

2tsp salt

3tsp ground cumin

juice of 4 lemons

1000 ml olive oil ( you might need some more)

100ml tahini (optional with this recipe)

to garnish

60ml olive oil

3 smashed cloves garlic

80g whole chic peas

50g pine nuts

juice of 1 lemon maybe more

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1tsp cumin seeds

How to

Cook the chic peas in salted water for 2 hours until tender at a low temperature.

They don’t want to be mush, but soft when you press the.

When cool enough to handle pick out the husky skins that you will see floating on the top of the water, then drain and set 80g of whole chic peas to one side

In a food processor add all the other ingredients and razz to a paste, add a little water if it’s too think or more lemon juice, but taste before hand

Taste and add more garlic, salt, lemon or pepper if you think it needs it. I think it’s more about taste and texture then following the recipe to the letter!

for the garnish

Heat up a the remaining olive oil in frying pan and and add the reserved chic peas, pine nuts, garlic and cumin seeds, fry until coloured but not so that the garlic is bitter.

Squeeze in the lemon juice and pour over the hummus

You need

2kg carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 medium sized pumpkin, cut in half, deseeded, peeled and roughly chopped OR you can use butternut squash instead

4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed with the back of a heavy knife

2 onions, peeled and roughly sliced

Handful of fresh marjoram or cilantro/coriander

1tsp freshly ground coriander seeds

2.5l chicken stock (or veg)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1soup spoon aromatic salt

Knob of butter

Splash of olive oil

3 fresh bayleaves

To decorate

Slices of smoked bacon, cooked until crispy

spoonful of crème frâiche

puff pastry cheese straws

drizzle of olive oil

How to

In a large saucepan, melt a knob of butter with the splash of olive oil.

When it is starting to bubble add the onion, carrots and pumpkin, toss in the oil and butter and reduce heat so that it sweats the veggie’s without coluring them – approx 5mins

Add the aromatic salt mix, fresh herbs ground coriander seeds, bay leaves, salt and pepper

Coat all the veggie’s and continue to sweat – approx 3 mins

Add the stock and the garlic

Cover and simmer until the veggie’s are tender when you test with a knife

Remove the bay leaves and blend the soup until thick and creamy with no lumps

Add extra stock or water if the soup is too thick

Serve in heavy bowls with a spoon of crème fraiche in the middle a drizzle of oil, and a slice of crispy bacon and a giant cheese straw