The Family Cook Book

This weekend bought together two new purchases the Big Green egg (I know I'm getting boring about it) and the Pitt cue recipe book (Which I bought because I've got the big green Egg.) One of the simplest things I did in two days of serious cooking was Burnt tomatoes and shallots on toast. This slightly macho take on bruschetta was absolutely bloody delicious. Ingredients for 4 4 decent slices of sourdough read 4 ripe medium to large size vine tomatoes 4 banana shallots juice of half a lemon ex virgin Olive oil A few flat leaf parsley leaves A few mint leaves a few chives salt and pepper Method Cut the tomatoes in half. Peel the shallots and cut in half making sure you cut through the root so that they hold together (see pic above) marinade both in the lemon juice and a decent glug or two of olive oil. Get the barbecue going so its nice and hot. Now put the tomatoes and the shallots on cut side down. Do not be tempted to move for three or four m

I cooked these peaches on the green egg but they would probably work just as well on any barbecue as long the heat was relatively low (around 150 degrees c). It couldn't be simpler. Method Put the whole peaches on a piece of buttered greaseproof paper and then put on the barbecue. Leave for 20 minutes or so then peel off the skin, which will be very easy. Thats it, done! Either eat on their own or with a dollop of ice cream, creme fraiche, yoghurt or whatever is your creamy favourite.

I love peaches but how often do you get them in this country when they are really ripe and chin-drippingly luscious? Lets face it, the answer is almost never. Now help is at hand, particularly if, like us, you're partial to a bit of baked fruit.  We have now had this recipe a couple of times and not only does it bring out the best in supermarket peaches it is an absolute walk in the park to make. Serve it with a generous dollop of mascarpone as the recipe suggests, or with my personal preference, Creme fraiche or indeed vanilla ice cream and you will be transported to a little piece of Italian heaven, particularly if the sun is shining. The recipe is from The Telegraph Magazine a couple of weeks ago, is written by Rachel Roddy and features recipes from Rome Recipe Good things happen when peaches are baked with butter and almonds: the fruit shrivels and its flavour is intensified; the butter and juices create a sticky, rose-tinted syrup; and the amaretti or almonds gi

I love a bistecca a la Fiorentina (Florentine T-bone steak) and I thought that it was the perfect challenge with which to test out the Big Green Egg's direct grilling ability. Joe was back for Sunday evening dinner and so, as you can see, instead of getting two small steaks we got quite simply the biggest steak you've ever seen for the four of us. To be fair we just ordered exactly, and I mean exactly,  what the River cafe recipe says which is a t-bone that is three inches wide I rubbed the steak with some garlic smashed together with some rosemary and olive oil and just before cooking gave it a generous sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper. I got the Egg heated to about 300 degrees the put the steak on for about 7 minutes and left it alone. The amazing thing about the way the egg works is that you can do this without fear of a flame up despite the fat in the meat. I then turned it and cooked on the other side for the same amount of time. Then I flipped

It has now been a week since I accepted delivery of my jolly green grenade. I have to confess I was pretty excited about its arrival, it's a substitute for the Pizza oven that I was not allowed to have on the grounds of of 'thats ridiculous' 'you'll never use it' and ' yeah, right, you're going to take a leg of lamb down the bottom of the garden to cook it!' 7 days living with the BGE and I think I might of had a lucky escape and ended up with a far, far better thing. However this does not mean my brief affair has been without its setbacks. So far I have overcooked a leg of lamb, but I blame the fact that it was my first attempt, that the leg was part boned and that I was part sloshed. I have also cooked a Chicken that met its egg standing up and it was absolutely delicious, very moist and just little bit smoky. I wrote off a whole shoulder of pork that I tried to slow roast overnight because I roasted it so slow that the coals went ou