The Family Cook Book

We made these on Sunday night for a fairly impromptu dinner for four. I wanted to do some pre dinner snacks but was looking for something non bread based (ie no bruschetta or crostini) It would be fair to say that these incredibly simple wraps went down a storm.  note: This recipe's inclusion has surprised some of my most dedicated followers due to the inclusion of a recipe that features cheese. For those of you who don't know me, this is because for fifty-six years of my life I have followed a cheese free existence (not a religious observation, or allergic intolerance thing, more of a childhood hatred one)  However, I have discovered that there are a couple of cheeses that I can now eat; chiefly mozarella and Parmesan but also Manchego ... for those of you out there that have shared this abstention over the years... I'm sorry, I unreservedly apologise for my turncoat behaviour Ingredients for 20 or more wraps  • 2 aubergines • extra virgin olive oil •...

If you follow my blog you will know how much I love Moro and its little sister Morito. The restaurants are both brilliant and all of the cookbooks are a constant source of inspiration. the recipes not only work really well but there are always surprising new combinations to discover. In this case its prawns with avocado mojo. Prawn and avocado as a combo is obviously as old as the marie rose cocktail sauce hills but this is like a punchy prawn meets guacamole via the Canary Isles. If you don't know what Mojo is heres wikipedia's entry Mojo  ( Spanish pronunciation:  [ˈmoxo] , from  Portuguese   molho   [ˈmoʎu] , meaning "sauce") is the name, or abbreviated name, of several types of  sauces , varying in spiciness, consisting primarily of  olive oil , salt, water, local pepper varieties (called  pimienta  in the Canary Islands),  garlic ,  paprika  (called  pimentón  in Spain),  cumin  or  cor...

We all love tapas or mezze or indeed the lovely cicchetti of Russell Norman's Polpo. If you read my blog you will know that  I have been rather obsessed with cooking Morito recipes over the past few days but there are also some wonderful little bites in Ottolenghi's Jerusalem and indeed the excellent Polpo book. We love lunches and dinners made up of these little dishes and I don't think that's just because the layout of our kitchen makes it look like a tapas bar.Most people seem to love the opportunity to graze on a variety of different flavours from salty to sour, soft to crispy, meaty to veggy not forgetting of course the very,very fishy joys of the oft featured but much maligned anchovy. I have to confess that his beetroot recipe from Ottolenghi should have goat cheese crumbled on top but I'm afraid that just isn't my bag. Serve with some great bread or even better some lovely freshly made flatbreads  Ingredients 6 medium cooked be...

Better than Jamie I hear you chorus, better than Saint Jamie ... impossible! I'm afraid 'tis true. Not only is it better, it's easier too. This has all of the visual impact of Jamie's but for me it has a more refined taste. It is particularly nice, just sliced thickly on a piece of buttered granary bread but would also be delicious with some horseradish sauce and a salad So there you have it, when it comes to beetroot marinated salmon its Nigel 1 Jamie 0 Heres the recipe Ask your fishmonger to scale and bone the salmon, but to leave the skin on. It is worth checking it over for any tiny bones when you get it home. Serves 8-10 ingredients a side of salmon boned, about 800g demerera sugar 100g coarse sea salt 175g black peppercorns 10g vodka 4 tbsp dill a large bunch, about 30g lemons 2 finely grated orange zest 2 tbsp  raw beetroo t  600g Method Check the salmon for any remainin...