The Family Cook Book

The New York Times cooking app is a must for any keen cook.Its a mine of great ideas from really good contributors populated with simple recipes covering the widest range of cookery styles and cuisines. This recipe is from Hetty Lui McKinnon and is a really good simple salad with a Mexican vibe. We had it with a quinoa salad and ground meat skewers. Here is the recipe and Hetty’s intro Charred corn is a bankable foundation for a simple and satiating summer meal. Just a few minutes in a hot pan will turn the kernels from starchy to sweet, while delivering smoky notes. A light dusting of ground cumin and smoked paprika reinforces these scorched flavors. In a loose nod to esquites, this salad is dressed with a simplified version of Mexican crema, tangy from the lime and spiked with garlic. If you like, add some heat with some sliced jalapeños or a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.  Serves: 4 persons INGREDIENTS 1 cup sour cream Zest and juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons juice) 1garlic cl

 I made this Skye Gyngell recipe the other day for our great friends Peter and Suzy who are visiting for our son’s wedding. It’s  from her book A year in my kitchen. I had forgotten how stress free it is to put together because many of the elements can be prepped ahead of the game. This is the perfect salad for a hot day/evening where you want to serve something interesting without breaking a sweat. Serves 4 Ingredients 800g piece fillet of beef sea salt and freshly ground pepper 1 tbsp olive oil 600g little new potatoes 300g fine green beans, topped but not tailed grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil handful of mixed salad leaves 1 tbsp freshly grated parmesan Slow roasted tomatoes 6 good quality small plum tomatoes like pomp de mori  10g/2 tsp caster sugar 10g/2 tsp sea salt 10g/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper Roasted red onions 5 medium red onions, peeled 100g caster sugar seal salt and freshly ground black pepper 200g balsamic vinegar 50ml extra virgi

This recipe is a banger. There are tons of versions but this one is yet again by Julius Roberts. Once you have done the onions it is a doddle to make. The combo of the soft sweet onions and the salty anchovy/olive combo make it a perfect pre dinner snack but it also makes a lovely light lunch when paired with a salad.   Ingredients 3tbs olive Oil 50g butter 10 brown or Spanish onions, finely sliced (note: if the onions are large I think you could easily manage with 8) Handful fresh thyme leaves, plus extra to serve 1 sheet ready-rolled all butter puff pastry 3 tins anchovy fillets 160g drained pitted black olives 1 egg  Method Heat the oil and butter in a very large frying pan over a medium heat until bubbling. Add the sliced onions with a generous pinch of salt and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until completely softened and caramelised - do NOT let them burn! You will start off with a humongous pile but fear not they will, with patience, come down to a manageable amou

This recipe is from Skye McAlpine’ s very user friendly book ‘ A table with friends’  It’s  so easy that it almost seems a bit of a liberty calling it a recipe but therein lies its genius. It’s  a brilliantly simple combination that anyone could come up with … but you didn’t and Skye did! This recipe is for six people but just change the number of mozzarellas you use to suit your requirements. In the book Skye says’ You can pair mozzarella successfully with most things, though I find that celery, with its distinctive mineral flavour, works particularly well with the salty black olives here, while the pine nuts add an unexpectedly creamy note.McAlpine notes, adding that the success of the dish hinges on the quality of the cheese.’ ‘Buffalo mozzarella, if you can get your hands on it, is my favourite; it’s lighter and a little tangier than mozzarella made from cow’s milk.’ Ingredients 12 black olives, pitted 6–8 anchovies 25g pine nuts 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1–2 celery sticks 6 mo

Yotam Ottolenghi is one of my favourite cookery book chefs. He’s a great chef but he’s at the very top of the Premier League of recipe creators and cook book producers. He makes interesting dishes that you really want to cook and yet makes them so accessible and easy to do. This is a great starter that is perfect for sharing. In the introduction to this recipe he says ‘one of the beauties of this dish lies in the exciting contrast between the hot, juicy tomatoes and fridge-cold yoghurt, so make sure the tomatoes are straight out of the oven and the yoghurt is straight out of the fridge. The heat of the tomatoes will make the cold yoghurt melt, invitingly, so plenty of crusty sourdough or focaccia to mop it all up with is a must alongside.’ Ingredients 350 g cherry tomatoes 3 tbsp olive oil ¾ tsp cumin seeds ½ tsp light brown sugar 3 garlic cloves , peeled and finely sliced 3 sprigs thyme 3 sprigs fresh oregano 1 lemon – zest of one half shaved off in 3 wide strips, the other half grat

We love a puff pastry tart or galette. The end result is surprisingly impressive, extremely delicious and an absolute doddle to make. With a salad it makes a great summer lunch but it would work equally well as a starter. This courgette, basil and ricotta version comes courtesy, yet again, of Julius Robert’s - The Farm Table Ingredients  2 or 3 courgettes, preferably a mix of yellow and green 1 sheet of ready rolled all butter puff pastry one tub (250g) ricotta  15-20g fresh basil olive oil  20g Parmesan  1 garlic clove finely sliced 1 egg 1 unwaxed lemon Method Preheat the oven to 220 degrees fan Slice the courgettes into thin long slices with a peeler and place in a bowl and mix with a good glug of olive oil & salt Place the ricotta in a separate bowl & season well. Grate in the zest of a whole lemon and the juice of half of it. Whisk together until smooth & creamy. Add most the basil & mix again Roll out the puff pastry on a lined baking tray. With a knife, score th

  We have pretty much stopped using bags of salad (aside from Rocket which we can only really get that way)they go off very quickly and quite often the don't taste great. They also wilt terribly when dressed. We now use the best combination of firm leaves we can get …. little gem, Romaine, chicory, endive, radicchio and occasionally the very lovely looking castelfranco. I love David Tanis’ recipe from his book Market Cooking . Ingredients  mixed chicory leaves, such as radicchio, Castelfranco or Belgian endives, trimmed and washed 2 garlic cloves, grated 4 anchovy fillets, chopped 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons lemon juice Kosher salt and black pepper 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Method Tear radicchio or Castelfranco leaves into rough 2-inch pieces; or leave whole if they are small. slice any other chicories into 2-inch-wide ribbons. Put the leaves in a salad bowl. Make the dressing: smash the garlic to a paste with some salt, now pou

I love a cold soup, particularly gazpacho. On a recent trip to Mallorca we had Ajo Blanco and it inspired me to make some last night. We had it in the garden with some drinks and other tapas style starters. Ingredients   220g blanched almonds 200ml cold water 1/2 large cucumber peeled and roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic 150ml good olive oil Sherry vinegar to taste 1-2 tbs Grapes or Melon Serrano ham Method Toast the almonds at 160C fan, for no longer than 10 minutes, you just want the slightest hint of brown. Leave to cool. Place in a food processor and blitz for longer than seems necessary… about 10 minutes. Keep scraping down the sides. Once the almonds are as smooth as you can get them, start trickling in the water until you have the consistency of double cream. Now add the cucumber, grate in the garlic and blitz again. Finally, with the processor running trickle in the olive oil. This should make the sauce velvety and thick. Then season well with the vinegar and salt, this is a key