Starters and snacks

Process butter until soft. Add de-rinded cheese. When creamy add almonds, process to chop up roughly. Add flour, shake of Tabasco and seasonings. Process in bursts. Stir once only.

Form mix into 3cm / 1¼” diameter roll. Wrap in cling film and chill.

When firm, cut thin slices with very sharp knife and lay on greased baking trays.

Bake 10 mins at 180c until crips and golden. Cool on rack. Seal into tubs or poly bags.

Mum note: Makes good Xmas presents.

Brie & Potato Ramekins

4 squares brie or camembert
4 ozs mashed potatoes
4 eggs, size 3 seperated
Seasoning
4 tbs double cream
2 – 3 tbs parmesan
Chives chopped finely

Preheat oven to 400F. Oil 4 small ramekins.

Place a piece of cheese in dish. Mash the potatoes with the egg yolks, seasoning, cream and chives.

Stiffly whisk egg whites. Fold in along with the parmesan. Sprinkle with a little more parmesan.

Bake 15 mins until golden and risen, but still shaky. Serve hot.

Pancakes

6ozs plain flour
Pinch salt
3 eggs
7ozs or 200ml milk mixed with 75 ml water

Sieve flour holding high with salt. Make well, add eggs. Beat & incorporate milk.

Chorizo puffs

Feeds 6 (makes 20). Takes 20 mins.

2 chorizo or spicy sausages
1 cup (250ml) water
3tbsp butter
½ tsp salt
1 cup (130g) plain flour
2 eggs

Skin the sausages, crumble the meat into a non-stick frying pan and fry until the little clumps are brown. Drain off any oil and set the meat aside.

Heat the water, butter and salt in a heavy bottomed saucepan. As soon as the water boils and the butter melts add the flour all at once. Lower the heat and stir strongly with a wooden spoon until the dough leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball.

Keep cooking and stirring for a couple of minutes to gently cook the dough. Transfer the dough to a food processor and whizz for 15 seconds. Add the eggs and whizz for 45 seconds. Stir in the sausage meat into the mixture. You can do up to this point an hour or so beforehand.

Heat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6. Drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture into a lightly oiled or non-stick tray and bake for about 15 minutes until puffy and golden. Serve Warm.

Prawn and avocado rice paper rolls

Feeds 6. Takes 20 mins.

Dried Vietnamese rice paper rounds (bahn trang) are available from Asian food stores and helpful supermarkets. Do not buy sheets of edible rice paper used for baking by mistake.

24 small freshly cooked prawns
2tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2tbsp lime juice
1 ripe avocado
2 limes quartered
12 small round rice-paper wrappers
Sea salt and black pepper
1 bunch fresh mint
1 bunch fresh coriander

Peel the prawns and set aside. Mix the sweet chilli sauce and lime juice and serve in a small pot for communal dipping or in six shallow sauce bowls. Pick a handful of leaves from the coriander and mint. Peel the avocado, cut in half lengthways and remove the stone. Finely slice the flesh, dice it and squeeze a little lime juice over the top to stop it going brown.

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Use tongs to dip a single sheet of rice paper wrapper briefly in the boiling water until soft. Place it on a bench or cloth and arrange two prawns in a single layer. Tuck in a tablespoon or diced avocado, some picked coriander and mint leaves and scatter with sea salt and pepper. Squeeze with lime juice and wrap tightly as for a spring roll tucking in the ends as you go. The rice paper will stick to itself and hold the shape.

Repeat the process for the remaining ingredients. Serve soon after making with the sweet chilli lime sauce for dipping. Cut each roll in half to serve if you like.

Pan con tomate

Feeds 4. Takes 10 min.

This tomato-smeared grilled bread is ubiquitous in Cataloniả where it is known as pa amb tomáquet. It makes a great weekend lunch paired with a chickpea or vegetable soup or topped with a slice of jamon or some lush, roasted red peppers.

4 big soft bread rolls, preferably Spanish/Portuguese
2 tbsp fruity olive oil
1 garlic clove, cut in half
4 ripe juicy tomatoes

Cut the bread rolls in half lengthwise and lightly grill until warm and browned. Brush each half with olive oil and rub with a cut clove of garlic.

Cut each tomato in half and rub the cut side of tomato over each slice, squeezing at the same time, so the juices and seeds are absorbed by the bread.

Return to the grill and heat until crisp and lightly scorched at the edges.

Chorizo and potatoes

Feeds 4 Takes 45 mins

A tapa dish from Rioja that can be served with a salad, some olives, and some crusty bread for a weekend lunch. If you can't find chorizo, use any good spicy sausage and add a teaspoon of paprika with the potatoes. What the hell, add the paprika anyway. It's too good for words.

1 onion or shallot
3 chorizo sausages
2tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed flat
500g waxy potatoes, peeled and cubed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely slice the onion, and slice the chorizo on the diagonal. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the chorizo, onion and garlic. Cook for ten minutes, stirring, until the onion is lightly golden.

Add the cubed potatoes and mix well. Add salt, pepper and enough water to cover, and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes until the water reduces to a sauce, and the potatoes are tender. Serve with crusty bread or pan con tomate.

Moroccan baked eggs

Serves 2

1½ tsp ground cumin
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, grated
1 tsp chopped red chilli
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, cut into 1cm strips
Salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 garlic clove, grated
Toasted pitta bread, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.
Toast the cumin in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 30 sec until it smells nutty. Add the olive oil and sliced onion, and fry until the onion is translucent.
Add the carrot, chilli and peppers. Sauté for 5 min until the peppers have softened. Add 120ml water and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for about 15 min until the peppers and onions have relaxed into a gentle compote. You should end up with 250-350ml compote. Season with salt.
Divide the mixture between two ramekins, making sure there is at least 2cm clear at the top of each ramekin. Create a well in the centre of the compote with the back of a spoon Crack an egg into the well but be careful that the yolk doesn't break. Repeat for the other ramekin.
Spoon a tbsp of yoghurt over each egg yolk. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of grated garlic over the top and bake for about 15 min until the whites are set but the yolk is still runny. Serve with toasted pitta bread and fresh mint tea.

Smoked Salmon Light Lunch

A Rick Stein smoked salmon dish - light lunch, warm salad.

Take Cooked warm new potatoes, mix with salad leaves, chopped fire spring onions + small piece of smoked salmon tossed in a vinaigrette dressing made with mustard.

Goat's cheese, parmesan and chive soufflé

Serves 4 handsomely

This is one to charm the girls. It comes from my friend Alvon (Big Al). He swears it is the best dish for seduction. Although it has all the airy quality of a soufflé, there is none of the stress factor because this one always rises. A never-fail, delicious classic.

110g unsalted butter
110g plain flour
200ml milk
75g grated parmesan
100g goat's cheese
4 egg yolks
bunch chives, finely chopped
salt and black pepper
5 egg whites
juice of half a lemon

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Gently melt the butter, then stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook the roux over a low heat for a couple of minutes, then slowly add the milk, stirring constantly. Once you have a smooth paste, pull the pan off the heat and allow to cool.
Grease the inside of a soufflé dish with a little butter and use a small amount of the grated parmesan to coat lightly (toss in a handful and shake it about so it sticks to the butter, then tip out any excess).
Once the paste is cool, stir in the crumbled goat's cheese, egg yolks, chives and black pepper.
In a separate big bowl, whisk the egg whites with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Keep whisking until you are at the firm-peak stage-this is essential to make your soufflé rise. Fold the whites into the mix gently in three loads, and then put into the prepared dish.
Bake for around 30 minutes, dropping the temperature a little if the top seers to be going too brown. Serve immediately – the middle should still be a bit gooey, but definitely not too liquid. Contrast the soufflé with a few sharply dressed rocket leaves.

Mum note: Really works & is delicious. Superb.

Salmon & watercress roles with lime cream

2 bunches watercress
1tbsp olive oil
Sea salt & fresh black pepper
2 – 3 slices smoked salmon per person
200g crème fraiche
1 tbsp lime zest, 2 tbsp or more lime juice
50 g salmon caviar

Discard any excess stems of watercress. Wash & shake dry. Toss leaves in one tablespoon olive oil whisked with pepper, salt & a dash of water just before serving.

Lay a slice of salmon on a board, top with a thatch of watercress & roll salmon around leaves to form a plump little roll, leaves poling out of each end. Arrange rolls on a platter. Combine lime juice, salt, zest, crème fraiche, pepper. Stir until lightly runny. Use a table spoon to drizzle sauce in thin lines over length of salmon roll. Put teaspoon of salmon caviar on top.

Bramley & Stilton Scones

Makes 10 – 12. Prep time 20 mins. Cook 12 – 15 mins.

500g self-raising flour
115g butter
1 medium Bramley apple
3½ ozs or 100g stilton cheese
100ml milk

Preheat oven 250c. Sift self-raising flour into bowl. Use fingertips to rub in 115g butter until fine breadcrumbs.

Core and coarsely grate 1 medium Bramley apple. Stir into mix with 100g (3½ ozs) Stilton cheese.

Stir in 100ml (3½ fluid ozs) milk to soft dough. Turn to floured surface – roll out to 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick. Cut out scones using 7cm (2¾ inch) cutter. Arrange on lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with milk only the tops very sparingly. Bake 12 to 15 minutes till well risen and golden. Serve warm and buttered.

Marinated Manchego Cheese with Tomato Bread

Feeds 4. Takes 20 minutes plus marinating.

This is a tapas dish which can be a meal with ham, garlic prawns or cold meats.

250g young Manchego cheese or a firm goat cheese.
200 ml olive oil
1 tbsp white wine or sherry vinegar
2 tbsp tarragon leaves
4 garlic cloves bruised
1 tsp black peppercorns
4 soft light bread rolls
8 ripe tomatoes

Cut Manchego into bite size chunks. Combine olive oil, vinegar, tarragon, garlic and peppercorns in a clean lidded jar. Add Manchego. Cover tightly, leave overnight or up to 3 days.

To serve cut bread rolls in half lengthwise and lightly grill until warm.

Brush each slice with some olive oil from the jar. Cut each tomato in half and rub the cut side of the tomato over the slice of bread squeezing at the same time so juices and seeds run out and into bread. Return to grill and heat until crisp at the edges. Serve warm with a platter of marinated Manchego drained of oil.

Mini Lemon Meatballs (picnic food)

Makes 24. Takes 40 minutes.

100 g day old bread torn
500 g minced veal or chicken or both
10g parmesan grated
Sea salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tbsp chopped mint
½ tsp dried mint
2 tbsp lemon juice and zest
2 tbsp olive oil

Toothpicks for serving

Soak bread in milk for 5 minutes. Squeeze dry. Mix with meat, parmesan, seasonings, parsley, mints, lemon juice, zest of lemon. Mx with hands. If seems too heavy add milk to lighten.

Roll mix into balls size of a walnut and brush lightly with olive oil. Pan fry, grill or bake at 180C for 20 mins till firm and browned. Drin off juices.

Cool and stick toothpicks into each with a fresh mint leaf too. Serve with Spiced Yoghurt (see Sauces and dips section).

Chicken Pate with Cranberries & Prunes

Serves about 10

Not the rich pâté you might expect but a light mix of chicken and liver studded with brandy-soaked fruits.

175g (6oz) no-soak, pitted prunes
50g (2oz) fresh cranberries
90ml (6tbsp) brandy
125g (4oz) button mushrooms
225g (8oz) onion
50g (2oz) celery
50g (2oz) smoked streaky bacon, rinded
100g (4oz) butter or polyunsaturated margarine
2 cloves garlic
350g (12oz) skinned and boned chicken leg or breast meat
3 eggs
30ml (2 level tbsp) chopped fresh parsley or spring onion tops
10ml (2 level tsp) dried mixed herbs
700g (1½ lb) belly pork, minced
salt and pepper
200g (7oz) chicken livers, trimmed
bay leaves
15ml (1 level tbsp) powdered gelatine
30ml(2 level tbsp).cranberry jelly

Method:

Place the prunes and cranberries in a medium-sized bowl. Add the brandy, cover and leave to soak overnight.
Finely chop the mushrooms, onion and celery. Roughly chop the bacon. Melt 50g (2oz) fat in a medium-sized sauté pan and sauté the vegetables with the garlic and bacon for 7-10 min, or until softened. Cool.
In a liquidiser or food processor purée together the chopped chicken flesh, eggs and vegetables. Transfer to a large bowl and add the herbs, pork and seasoning. Stir until well blended.
Melt the remaining fat in the sauté pan. Add the chicken livers to the hot fat and cook, stirring, over a high heat for 2 - 3 min until well browned; remove from the heat. Reserving 2-3 of the soaked cranberries for garnish, stir the remainder with the prunes and any remaining liquid into the livers. Add to the chicken mixture, stirring gently.
Spoon into a deep 1.7 litre (3 pint) ovenproof dish. Level the surface and place 2 bay leaves on top. Cover with foil. Stand the dish in a roasting tin half full of water and cook at 170°C (325°F) mark 3 for 1½ hr. Uncover and cook for a further 30 min. Cool for about 2 hr. Note – you can freeze at this point if you like.
Sprinkle the gelatine over 60ml (4tbsp) water. Leave to soak for 5 min, or until sponge-like in texture. Carefully strain the juices from the pâte into a measuring jug. Make up to 300ml (½ pint) with water. Pour into a pan, stir in the cranberry jelly and heat gently to dissolve. Add the gelatine and leave to dissolve over a low heat, stirring occasionally; cool slightly.
Garnish the surface of the pate with the reserved cranberries and 2 new bay leaves. Carefully pour in the gelatine mixture to cover completely. Cool at room temperature then refrigerate to set. Well keep refrigerated for a week.

To freeze: Strain off the juices at the end of stage 5. Cool, pack and freeze separately, making sure he pate is covered. To use, thaw overnight at cool room temperature, complete as above.

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