The Family Cook Book

I served these the other night as a pre dinner snack the other night .... they went pretty quick. They are best eaten whilst they are piping hot. Heres Lucy Boyd's recipe from the lovely book ' Kitchen Memories' Serves 4 When I lived in Florence I sometimes used to go and sit and chat to Leo, who was the head barman at Harry’s Bar. He would make me a very sour whiskey sour and then produce a little plate of hot fried sandwiches, made with some sort of melting cheese and ham cut into fingers. This is very quick and easy and a delicious hot bite to have with a cocktail. 1 cup milk 6 slices of white bread such as Pugliese or San Francisco (a bread that is not too crumbly and has some elasticity to its texture), crusts removed 1 medium-size ball of good-quality mozzarella, drained and cut into slices ½cm thick 3-4 slices of prosciutto or speck (ask the deli to slice from near the end of the prosciutto, if possible, where the flavour is more intens

This is a very easy recipe from Polpo that makes a really delicious italian style panino. Perfect for lunch. Ingredients for one panino 1/2 red onion thinly sliced 1/2 garlic clove thinly sliced 1 tbs olive oil 4 tbs peperonata from a jar (or just roast peppers from a jar if you cant get peperonata) 5 stoned black olives sliced 1 small handful capers 2 cherry tomatoes halved 1 small handful flat leaf parsley leaves chopped 1 ciabatta cut in half lengthways mayonnaise a couple of slices of coppa or salami rocket leaves method sweat the sliced red onion and garlic in the olive oil. Then add the peperonata, sliced olives, capers, tomato halves and parsley. Gently saute for 5 minutes and then remove from the heat. The mixture should be glossy, thick and beautifully coloured. Spread the insides of the ciabatta with mayonnaise. Now layer on the soft juicy pepper mixture, followed by your slices of salami. Heat up your griddle or panini press. Drizzle the top and bo

We had this with the barbecued beef and it was delicious. I have left it art directed by Katie Quinn Davies to show just how beautiful her book and blog looks

I first tried this whilst staying with the venerable Peter Price. I did it again recently and thought it worked really well. The trick is to not hold back on any of the ingredients even though it seems like a huge amount of peppercorns and salt ... it works really well. By all means dial down the chilli factor a bit to your personal taste but dont leave them out all together. Ingredients 2 tbs pink peppercorns 2 tbs black peppercorns 2 tbs sea salt olive oil 1 x 1.5 kg piece of beef fillet 2 - 3 limes Chilli and herb gremolata large handful mint leaves finely chopped large handful flat leaf parsley finely chopped 1-2 green chillis de-seeded and finely chopped 1/4 habenero chilli finely chopped finely grated zest of a lemon method grind the peppercorns coarsely using a pestle and mortar. Add the salt and lightly crush, then tip out onto a large dinner plate or board and spread evenly. pour a little olive oil onto your hand and rub all over the beef fillet. Now

This is the second time we have made this recipe from 'What Katie Ate'. In the book it suggests using green papaya ... even Waitrose dont sell that, so I have amended the salad to be a kind of Asian slaw affair. i think it works pretty well. We sat and ate it in the garden ... no builders and a bit of sun ... lovely. Ingredients, serves 4  1kg pork belly Sea salt (I use Maldon) Pepper Olive Oil 5 spring onions 1 long, red chilli 1 large cucumber 1 bulb fennel 3 sticks celery 1 pink lady apple large handful of shredded chinese leaf lettuce large handful coriander leaves large handful mint leaves 75gms roasted, unsalted peanuts 4 tbs rice wine vinegar 6 tsp fish sauce 4 tsp soy sauce 4 tbs lime juice 1 tbs finely grated palm sugar 1 Bird's Eye Chilli (small and strong) Sesame seeds, to garnish method the pork Pre-heat the oven to 240 degree celsius, on a fan oven. It sounds