The Family Cook Book

On Sunday we had our first Xmas lunch with both grandmas and one great Aunt .... unfortunately we won't see them on the day itself. We cooked a rib of beef for the first time (amazing I know) ... or at least we think its the first time.... anyway we used a Jamie Oliver recipe from his second book. A very hung-over Gus cooked the Yorkshires (Jamie's thirty minute recipe) and we also did green beans and glazed carrots (Jamie's 30 minute recipes) It was pretty damn delicious! Happy Xmas! Ingredients Serves 8 - 10 * 1 (5 1/2 lb/ 2.5 kgs) rib of beef, French trimmed * sea salt & freshly ground black pepper * olive oil * 3 red onions, halved * 2 heads garlic, plus * 4 garlic cloves, peeled * 3 kgs roasting potatoes, peeled and cut into golf ball size pieces * half a bottle of robust red wine method 1. Preheat oven to 230 degrees, and heat a large thick-bottomed roasting tray on the hob. 2. Rub the beef generously with salt, then add a little olive oi

One of the other Tapas style starters that we 'cooked' on Saturday was this very simple recipe for marinading a jar of piquillo peppers .... this is a great thing to do when you are in a rush Ingredients 1 jar of piquillo peppers 1 clove garlic ... very finely sliced ... I use a small mandoline Extra virgin olive oil Sherry vinegar Ciabatta, sourdough bread or home made flatbread method A really quick recipe that tastes great … whip them out of the jar,drain, tear into three, then mix with the garlic, a few tablespoons of olive oil and a dash of sherry vinegar.. leave to marinate for at least an hour. fab

We had eight for dinner on Saturday night and yet again turned to the excellent Moro cookbooks for a bit of middle eastern/Spanish/ Moorish inspiration. This recipe received pretty good reviews from all diners (and the kids when we re-made it the following day!) Ingredients 200 g (7 oz) chickpeas, soaked overnight with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (I used canned chickpeas instead.) 6 tbsp of olive oil 1/2 large Spanish onion, diced finely 1/3 tsp ground cinnamon juice of 1 lemon 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with salt 3-4 tbsp tahini paste 170g (6 oz) lamb, minced 2 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted 1 medium bunch flat leaf parsley a sprinkling of paprika salt & pepper Method Rinse the chickpeas under cold water, then place in a large saucepan. Fill with 2L of cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, skimming off any scum as it builds up. Cook for 1.5-2 hours, or until the skins are tender. Remove from heat, pour off excess liquid until level with the chi

This recipe is from Moro.We were cooking for 12 on Saturday night and had it amongst other Tapas style starters. Beetroot is one of those things that we all agreed that we hated when we were kids and its vinegary purple stain infected our sliced ham and egg in our oh so dull English salad....but when given a little Mediterranean love it is transformed into a wonderful thing. The big cheat was that I bought pre-cooked beetroot (NOT PICKLED THOUGH!!!)from the Waitrose veg section.let them get up to room temperature btw Here's the full recipe from the Moro Cookbook This is a classic dish that adds vibrant colour to any mezze spread. When beetroot are in season you may come across the golden and stripy varieties. While not entirely traditional, a combination of these can make this dish even more startling. Nigella (or black onion seed) is an aromatic, charcoal- black seed similar to black sesame in shape. It is sprinkled on yoghurt and flatbreads, especially in Turkey. For the beet

I caught the tail end of Nigel Slater cooking this last night on telly .... this will remind me to cook it sometime soon Makes 12-16 — enough for 4 or more Ingredients 75g fine or medium cracked wheat 250g raw beetroot 1 small to medium onion 400g minced lamb 2 or 3 large garlic cloves, crushed 2 heaped tbsp chopped dill 1 small handful chopped parsley A little groundnut oil For the dressing Cucumber, about a third of a medium one A handful of capers 4-5 sprigs mint, chopped 200g yoghurt Method 1 Put the cracked wheat in a bowl, pour over enough boiling water to cover, then set aside to swell. 2 Peel the beetroot and onion and grate them coarsely into a large bowl. Add the minced lamb, garlic, dill, parsley and a generous grinding of salt and black pepper. 3 Squeeze any water from the cracked wheat with your hands and add the wheat to the meat. Mix everything together thoroughly, then squish the mince into little patties about the size of a flattened golf ball. Cover with cling film (I

We did this recipe on Saturday night. This is a slightly amended version of it. ingredients 50g unsalted butter 4 large cox apples 50g flaked almonds 2 tbs brandy 1 orange 1 lemon 100g light muscovado sugar 75g raisins and sultanas 1 heaped teaspoon allspice To prepare your apples Take your butter out of the fridge about 15 to 30 minutes before you start making your baked apples so it has time to soften a bit first Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 Use an apple corer to remove the cores from your apples, then carefully score around the middle of each one, using a knife Take a little slice off the bottom so they don't roll over in the pan Place the apples in a baking dish. Put the dried fruit into a large bowl with most of the almonds and grate in the zest of the orange and lemon and the juice of the orange Warm the brandy and add to the mixture ... let it soak for a while Now add the rest of the ingredients Using your hands, mix well, squeezing all the flavours into the butter

Lets face it the weather has officially turned ....... turned to crap that is. This change in the weather is not the harbinger of much that is good, aside that is from a reason to start to cook wintery dishes like this one from the ever smiling Bill. Lamb Chops with Sweet Potatoes & Lemon Ingredients * 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil * 1 pinch Sea Salt * 1 pinch Black Pepper * 6 Lamb chump chops * 2 Red onions, freshly sliced * 2 cm Piece of fresh root ginger, grated * 4 Garlic cloves * 1 Red chilli, finely chopped * 1 tbsp Ras el hanout * 5 Tomatoes * 800g Sweet potatoes * 2 tbsp Lemon juice, or to taste * 1 tbsp Soy sauce * 1 tbsp Honey * 1 Cinnamon stick * 500g Steamed couscous or rice, to serve * 1 handful Coriander leaves, to serve Serves 4 Method Freshen up this slow-cooked dish with a crunchy radish and minted cucumber salad. Instructions Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Heat the olive oil in a flameproof cass

Slow-cooked shoulder of lamb with pumpkin and sprouting broccoli by Skye gyngell I am in a bit of a Skye Gyngell phase at the moment and I saw this online and thought if I blogged about it I might cook it. the recipe When I was a child we often ate lamb accompanied by roasted pumpkin. It is a lovely combination, both warm and sweet. The lamb is slow cooked here until it's almost falling apart – it is the nicest way I know to eat it. Ingredients 1 shoulder of British lamb 6 cloves garlic 1 small bunch marjoram 8 anchovies 3 tbsp good-quality red-wine vinegar (such as Volpaia) Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 ripe pumpkin 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 dried red chilli 1tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 500g/1lb sprouting broccoli 1 litre/13/4 pints water Method Heat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas3. Lay the lamb shoulder on a baking tray. Place the garlic, marjoram and anchovies in a pestle and pound with a mortar until you have a rough paste. Add the vinegar and stir to combine. Rel

at the suggestion of my dear friend Will I am now going to try tweeting when I upload new stuff ... follow me at http://twitter.com/barrycooks

A very easy recipe from Bill Granger's Sydney food Lisa and I had this for dinner on Saturday night. Everyone else was out partying somewhere in the world .. so it was just us, a bottle of wine (not too much for the cab driver) and the telly .... marvellous! NB. Bills said 'drizzle the yoghurt dressing' we went a bit heavier than that, I love the yoghurt and lentils combo, so we left the bowl on the table and kept coming back for more Ingredients 8 oz lentils du Puy 3 finely sliced spring (green) onions 4tbs cup olive oil 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 green chilli, finely chopped sea salt freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground cumin handful of chopped coriander leaves 1 teaspoon turmeric 20 raw prawns, peeled and deveined To serve 1 handful baby spinach leaves 1 handful interesting robust salad leaves (eg rocket) 100g green beans, blanched and refreshed mint yoghurt dressing (below) Place lentils and one-and-a-half cups of water in a sa

I am loving the little video clips from The River Cafe on times online. At the weekend we did the beefsteak Fiorentina ... heres the link to the film http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/food/river-cafe/article2701243.ece ..... you may need to be signed up This recipe involves searing and then finishing in the oven which ends up giving a much better cooked piece of meat than just grilling alone. We had it with a fabulous bottle of Tignanello 2001 that I had promised Gus we would drink to celebrate him getting a first ... it was suitably delicious and the perfect accompaniment to the beef. We just had a rocket salad and some roasted toms and potato wedges a la Tom Kitchin Here's the recipe Bistecca Fiorentina (beefsteak Fiorentina) For 2-4 people 1 T-bone steak, cut 5-7cm thick - either Aberdeen Angus of Longhorn beef. sea salt and freshly ground black pepper extra virgin olive oil Take the T-bones out of the fridge and bring them up to room temperature. This is ver

I saw this in today's Times online .... looks interesting so I will probably try it next time I make pizza. putting it here will remind me to try it .... but if anyone else tries it before me let me know how it works out Heres an extract from the article first The secret to the best Italian pizzas, says Giuseppe Mascoli, is in the sourdough - and the quality of topping If you want to learn how to make pizza, you might as well learn from the best. And make no mistake, Giuseppe Mascoli is without rival. The puffy, charcoal-flecked pizzas that emerge from the wood-fired ovens of his Franco Manca restaurants (just the two, both in London) are regularly voted the best in the country, and he numbers his fellow Italian chefs Giorgio Locatelli and Francesco Mazzei among his many fans. The first and most important is to make a good dough. Mascoli uses a sourdough based on a centuries-old starter, which puffs up within seconds in the 400C heat of his ovens. “But if you are cooking in

We had this recipe on Saturday when we had all of the family over to say goodbye to Joe before he heads for the States. It was great to get all twenty one ( only two absences) of us together something that happens all too rarely. The weather was also kind to us and we whiled away the afternoon and early evening in the garden. This recipe seemed to go down well.It looks complicated but I promise you that it isn't, the trick is that it can all be prepared in advance leaving you to enjoy yourself .... and anyway the taste is well worth the little bit of effort. The meal was finished off with the legendary combination of a classic River Cafe pear and almond tart and a giant bowl ice full of Calippos, Nobbly Bobblies and Twisters ... very very sophisticated. Things to do ahead of time To make the basil oil 15g Basil 1 Unwaxed lemon, zest; juice of half 80ml Extra virgin olive oil remove the leaves and place in a food processor with a pinch of sea salt and half the lemon zest. Pulse unt

Another recipe from Jamie. We had it with the Salmon (see previous blog) Simple but delicious Barbecue-steamed fennel Fold a double piece of tinfoil in half and seal up the two sides to make a little bag. Cut a fennel bulb in half and then into slices and add these to your tinfoil envelope. Squeeze in the juice of ½ a lemon, leaving the lemon half in the bag. Add ½ a sliced fresh red chilli and a good drizzle of olive oil, then season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you want, you could add a few bits of fresh rosemary. Seal the last edge tightly and place on the bars over a medium hot barbie until cooked. This should take about 25 minutes.

crispy barbecued side of salmon with cucumber yoghurt. serves 4 to 6 My only observations on this would be a) I'm not sure I can achieve the 'popadom like skin'with my gas barbecue b) The first time I did it I tried turning the fish with a spatula and it broke. So the next time I did it I put it in one of those hinged grill-things that means you can turn stuff on the grill. I also oiled the bars of that to stop it sticking. c. We had some steamed fennel with it d. it was absolutely delicious By Jamie Oliver ingredients • 1 x 1.5kg side of salmon, scaled and pinboned • zest and juice of 1 lemon a bunch of fresh herby fennel tops or basil, leaves picked and finely chopped • olive oil • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1 cucumber, peeled lengthwise at intervals • 300ml natural yoghurt 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped • a small bunch of fresh mint or oregano, leaves picked and chopped • extra virgin olive oil The original recipe I love cooking big pie

We did this recipe for Sunday lunch maybe a little more successfully than the last time. I think that this is partly down to practice and partly due to a few minor tweaks to the recipe. We love this whichever way you do it but these slight tweaks move it into the legendary status! The key things are 1. Potatoes should be king Edward or Maris Piper ie fluffy not waxy 2. Chorizo should be added 20 - 30 mins from end NOT at the beginning as they get over cooked. 3. Forget the greaseproof paper ... use a good well oiled non stick pan 4. make sure you give pan a good shake every 20 mins or so 5. Use two small 1.3 - 1.5kg chickens rather than one big one 6. Use your judgement on cooking time but an hour and a half might be a bit better 7. sprinkle the gremolata over the potatoes in the pan and mix rather than when on plates, it mixes it up better and has a slightly less harsh effect. Ingredients • 1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5cm dice • 4 lemons • a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley

Though I am the one that blogs, I'm very much not the only one that cooks in our household. Enter the youngest member of the family into the frame; Martha is developing into a pretty good cook and is picking up her mothers legendary ability in the dessert department. A couple of weeks ago she made an amazing version of Jamies key lime pie and this weekend Mark Hix's Blueberry cheesecake. Both were delicious if just slightly calorific, both recipes are below key lime pie Jamie Oliver serves 10 ingredients • 4 egg yolks • 400ml condensed milk • 6 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 5 limes’ worth) • 200ml double cream • Lime zest (optional), to serve Crust • 12 digestive biscuits • 45g caster sugar • 135g melted unsalted butter Method 1. Preheat oven to 175C/gas 3. For the pie crust, lightly grease a 22cm (across the top) metal or glass pie dish with a little of the melted butter. Blend digestive biscuits, caster sugar and remaining melted butter in a food processor until the mixture re

We spent our family holiday in Puglia. Our masseria had a wood fired oven next to the pool and Luigi, the delightful house manager, came over and cooked pizza for us. Gus got stuck into making the pizza and I can tell you that the pizzas, which were fired by olive wood from the surrounding grove, were unbelievably tasty. I think we managed to go through nine small pizzas between us; toppings included peperoni, salami, anchovy and olive, margherita and Tuna ... we were full but incredibly happy!

Its been a while since I last blogged, partially down to work, partially holidays but also because I just haven't cooked anything new. This is a new comfort dish from the canon of Saint Jamie. It's a one tray job which also makes it a good choice for a family meal. note: The second time I did this dish I added a few cloves of crushed garlic to give it a little more punch. I also kept the thighs whole and cooked them in the pan for a little less than the ten minutes Jamie suggests but left the whole dish in the oven for a little longer to brown the potatoes a bit more (more like 50 mins than 40) Ingredients 800g new potatoes, scrubbed sea salt & freshly ground black pepper 12 boned chicken thighs, skin on, preferably free-range or organic olive oil 600g cherry tomatoes, different shapes and colours if you can find them a bunch of fresh oregano, leaves picked extra virgin olive oil red wine vinegar Method Put the potatoes into a large saucepan of salted boiling water and boil

we have just come back from a very quick trip to the lovely Little's villa in Ibiza. No kids, perfect weather and delightful company made the two days seem like a week ... it was a real treat. We did very little but ate and drank a considerable amount. At around 11.30 each morning our parched throats were lubricated by one of Julia's delicious elderflower mojitos (alcoholic or non-alcoholic as desired) The recipe is pretty simple but very delicious; take a load of ice, crush it in a blender,add a good portion of fresh mint leaves, Elderflower cordial to taste (Bottlegreen is our brand of choice), lime juice ...add Bacardi if you're feeling racy ... give it a muddle and top with sparkling water. Serve in a tall glass with a straw..... fab!

Ingredients 2 1/4 sticks Unsalted butter 1 Lemon 1 Vanilla bean 2/3 cup Blanched almonds 3/4 cup Pistachios 1 1/4 cups Superfine sugar 4 Eggs, organic 1/2 cup All-purpose flour Topping 1 Lemon 1/2 cup Pistachios 1/4 cup Superfine sugar Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 12 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pan with 4 tsp of the butter and line with baking parchment. Soften the remaining butter. Finely grate the lemon peel. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Finely grind the almonds and pistachios together. Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon peel and vanilla seeds, then fold in the nuts and sift in the flour. Spoon the batter into the pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan, then turn out. For the topping, grate the lemon peel and squeeze the juice. Halve the pistachios. Mix the lemon juice with the sugar, boil until reduced to a syrup, then add t

We finally made it to the lovely Levys lovely communal picnic. We had to leave early but I still managed to eat an unseemly number of Nushi's amazing Koftas. We took a fabulous plum tart made by Lisa and this salad from the Leon cookbook. This method of cooking gives the lentils a bit more bite which makes them better for a salad and also means that they will keep without turning to mush. As always be generous with the herbs and lemon juice,you want the finished salad to have a bit of zing. Ingredients 200g Puy lentils 1/2 stick celery cut into 1cm dice 1/2 a carrot cut into 1cm dice 1/2 a small onion chopped 1 small clove garlic sliced 1 tbs ex virgin olive oil 2 sprigs thyme 1 bay leaf 2tbs red wine vinegar 100ml chicken stock 1 tbs lemon juice small handful flat leaf parsley salt and pepper method Soak the lentils for an hour or so in water. heat the oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat and add the vegetables, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Cook gently with the lid on the pan for

One of Mrs Cook's birthday presents (from Steve and Neet) was an evening with Yotam Ottolenghi ... not just her and him you understand, that would just be weird! Apparently the evening was fab and each person left with recipes for all the dishes he cooked. The first one we have tried is this delicious beetroot recipe, which Lisa made last night. We were loving the combo of preserved lemon and coriander seeds in the relish and Lisa was particularly impressed with the ease of his pepper skinning methodology. definitely an unusual summer salad worth trying Serves four Ingredients 900g beetroot, thoroughly washed 4 heaped tbsp chopped dill 1 small red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced 160g creamy Greek yogurt For the relish 2 yellow peppers 3 tbsp olive oil 1½ tsp coriander seeds 400g tin chopped plum tomatoes 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tsp sugar Salt and black pepper 3 tbsp preserved lemon skin, chopped 2 tbsp each chopped parsley and coriander leaves First boil the beetroots whole

Martha had a friend over and we weren't sure how 'experimental' she might be with food. We sometimes forget that shaved fennel and Turkish chopped salad aren't on every kids list of favourite things to eat so we wanted to make sure that we weren't labelled as the weird foodie parents ......but given we were going to eat it too we wanted it to be something at least a little bit interesting. It was also a beautiful day so we thought we should barbecue. These Lamb Koftas from Jamie sounded a bit more interesting than burgers and the introduction of pistachios and Sumac just adds a little bit of Middle Eastern magic ... ps after not being able to find Sumac anywhere I can now announce that it is available in Esher Waitrose. Hooray Serves 4 ingredients • 500g trimmed shoulder or neck fillet of lamb, chopped into 2.5cm chunks • 2 heaped tablespoons fresh thyme leaves • 1 level tablespoon ground chilli • 1 level tablespoon ground cumin • 4 level tablespoons sumac, if you c

I was talking about my lack of blogging this morning with one of my very few followers, yes that's you Will. He was remonstrating (well maybe observing rather than remonstrating) that I hadn't been blogging much. Sometimes that's because I am in a bit of a revisiting rather than discovery phase. This recipe from Allegra Macavedy, that I have already written about once, is an absolute breeze to make and is really different and delicious. The salad here is a little spin on the last entry as it has the addition of radish and lemon juice ... definitely an improvement..... and maybe, just maybe, that justifies a second entry. Lisa and I had this with Joe who returned to Uni today and is therefore unlikely to have Monkfish couscous for some time! Ingredients (Serves four) 180g cous-cous ½ teaspoon ground cumin ½ teaspoon cumin seeds 3 spring onions, thinly sliced 1 preserved lemon, golf-ball sized, roughly chopped 10g fresh coriander, washed and roughly chopped 10 cherry tomatoes

I got the new Mark Hix book for my birthday and one of the things I spied was his recipe for picallili. I love picallili, I associate it with my childhood and in particular a ham and picallili sandwich, which is still one of my favourite things in the whole world..... well ok maybe not in the whole world ... but its pretty damn lovely. The recipe is very very easy. I can't tell you what it tastes like yet because I have to let it sit for at least a week ... which is torture. I will report back when I unleash the turmeric hued loveliness from its darkened lair in the cupboard above the pasta. Ingredients * 1 medium cucumber, halved and seeded and then quartered * 1/2 large cauliflower, cut into small florets * 1 medium onion, diced (I had to use a red onion) * 1 tbsp sea salt * 150g caster sugar * 70g english mustard * 1/2 tsp ground turmeric * 1 small red chilli, chopped * 275ml cider vinegar * 125ml white wine vinegar * 1 tbsp cornflour

This is yet another simple gem from Bill Granger. This recipe is in the book 'Holiday'. We had the ingredients to hand and I knocked it up in half an hour, we ate it with his green bean recipe (last blog) and some chicken breasts wrapped in ribbons of courgettes and bunged in the oven for 25 mins. Not bad for a left over knock up Serves 4-6 ingredients 1 Tbspn olive oil 1 red onion, finely diced 2 tspn grated fresh ginger 1 tspn ground cumin 2 tspn ground coriander 1 kg sweet potatoes, peeled and diced sea salt freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbspn chopped fresh coriander 1 golf ball sized preserved lemon, flesh and pith removed, finely diced Method Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the ginger, cumin and coriander and cook, stirring for another minute. Add the sweet potato and 1 cup of water to the pan and stir well. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 12 minutes. Remove the l

Had this yesterday with Jamie's Spanish Chicken (elsewhere on the blog) it is incredibly simple but really rather good.I added a couple of handfuls of rocket to bulk it out. For the dressing you are meant to use pomegranate molasses which I have never even seen, so I added a little honey instead which seemed to work rather well. It was Mothers day and we had one grandmother, two mothers, one father, one son, one daughter and one grandaughter ... but there were only four of us Serves 4 Ingredients 350g small green beans, topped but not tailed 1 small red onion finely sliced Rocket 1 small handful of mint leaves (roughly chopped) 1 small handful flat parsley leaves (roughly chopped) sea salt freshly ground black pepper 4 heaped tbs pomegranate seeds, to garnish For the dressing: 2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil 1 tbs honey 1 tbs lemon juice pinch of caster sugar Method To make the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients and pomegranate seeds. Blanch the beans for a few minutes in a

I saw this recipe on Saturday Kitchen and thought it would be worth a try.It's by Michael Caines and I liked the fact that it used all seasonal ingredients. Whilst it wasn't an unqualified success I liked the novelty of a boned joint and it tasted very good so I will definitely cook it again. However I might make a few tweaks. The two things that didn't work for me were; 1. That the lamb needed more than 45 minutes in my oven .... I would suggest an hour is more realistic. 2. The crust is really difficult to stick on the joint in one move, I think maybe I didn't put enough water in .... or maybe I rolled it out too thin as it took a bit of sticking back together..... or maybe I just lack sufficient culinary talent one other thing The mixture for the crust needs to be seasoned pretty robustly and don't be tempted to cut back on the parsley. ... and another thing I added a potato cut into cubes to the roast veg and four of us easily ate it all, so if you're cookin

This makes a very simple but delicious pre-dinner snack. It's from the ever reliable Jamie's Italy. To make it really easy I usually make crostini by getting a decent loaf of Ciabatta slicing it fairly thinly, drizzle with olive oil and then roast on a flat tray in a high oven for about 10 mins (keep checking!) Ingredients 1/2 a bulb of fennel 1/2 a yellow pepper seeds removed 1 red pepper halved seeds removed 1/2 a courgette halved lengthways and seeds removed 1 teaspoon dried oregano a handful of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped olive oil sea salt and freshly ground black pepper juice of half a lemon red wine vinegar method pre heat oven to 220deg C Chop fennel and peppers into 1 inch chunks and slice the courgette. Toss the vegetables with the oregano, mint and a good glug of olive oil and season with sat and pepper,then place on a roasting tray and place in the oven for about half an hour or until nicely golden. Remove and allow to cool, then pulse in a food processor

Sometimes life can be crap. These flapjacks do not have life changing properties but one of Mrs C's collection of little tins filled to the brim, sent to the right person, at the right time can just put a bit of a smile on their face. Ingredients 175g (6oz) butter 115g (5oz) unrefined brown caster sugar 15ml (1tbsp) runny honey 250g (9oz) rolled oats 6 ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped handful pumpkin seeds Method Preheat the oven to 180°C, (350°F, gas mark 4). Place the butter and sugar in a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the honey, oats, apricots and seeds. Press the mixture into a cake tray (bun tray? You know what I mean the ones with 6/12 separate indentations) Let sit for 15 – 20 mins - the waiting is Mrs Cooks little secret weapon Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown around the edges..... Keep checking so they don’t burn. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out.

I made this yesterday. The recipe comes from Skye Gyngell's 'My Favourite ingredients'... I think that's the name of it. It was just Lisa, my Mum and I as Martha was out in the cold rowing. We had an 800gm piece of pork so I halved the recipe and knocked about 30 mins off of the cooking time. The crackling could have been crispier but the meat was not in the slightest bit fatty and absolutely melt in the mouth gorgeous. The combo of garlic puree and broccoli made a really delicious complement. We had enough to save Martha a piece of pork as it is her absolute favourite thing in the world to eat and she would have gone mad if we hadn't! I will definitely do this one again, maybe when Martha is not out on the river. Serves 6-8 Ingredients 2kg pork belly, with skin on and ribs intact 50ml olive oil Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1tbsp fennel seeds 4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 4 celery sticks, cut into chunks 2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped

I promised I would put this Alice waters recipe (if you can call it a recipe, it's more of an assembly than a recipe) on the blog. Ingredients 70gms pitted black olives 1 clove Garlic 4 Anchovy fillets (preferably salt-packed anchovies that you have washed and drained. If not use tinned, drain off the oil and pat them dry but don't tell Alice!) 1 tablespoon Capers (drained well) extra virgin olive oil a little chopped fresh thyme leaves Directions There are no measures for this, it's about tasting, and trusting what you like. Chop the olives coarsely by hand. Chop the garlic very finely, or pound to a puree in a pestle and mortar and add to the olives. Chop the anchovies and add to the mixture. Chop the capers. Add some to the mix,now the thyme then taste. Do you need more of anything? Add some, taste again. Do you need to balance out the flavour with garlic or anchovies? After all it's your tapenade. When you are satisfied, add a squeeze of lemon juice and taste. A

This is the first outing of one of my culinary Xmas presents. You can never go wrong with Rose and Ruth although you might argue that now having five books from them is verging on overload, slightly obsessional even. Anyway here is a sunday night experimentation with this Sicilian classic ... the interesting twist is the slight cooking of the celery before adding to the mix Caponata There are as many ways to make caponata as there are cooks in Sicily. The basis of caponata is the popular aubergine, and the dish evolves according to what other vegetables you wish to include. All caponatas have wine vinegar as part of the seasoning and most include capers, olives and pine nuts. This recipe has celery as its other strong flavour, which makes a light, refreshing version. Serves 6 1 large round, pale aubergine, about 12cm in diameter, or 2 medium round, pale aubergines Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 whole heads of celery, with leaves 1 large red onion, peeled 2 ripe plum tomatoe

I almost forgot to mention how good Jamie's stuffing recipe was this year. We loved his Xmas programmes despite the ridiculousness of some of it. Why, because there were some banging recipes in there Bruvva! I particularly liked his stuffing, so here it is. ingredients • 2 large onions, peeled and quartered • 50g stale bread • 200g vac-packed chestnuts • 1kg shoulder of pork, the best quality you can afford, trimmed and diced (We actually used Waitroses best minced pork) • a bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked • 3 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, the best quality you can afford, roughly chopped • freshly ground white pepper • sea salt • 1 fresh whole nutmeg, for grating • 1 lemon • 1 orange or clementine method Making your own minced pork like I’ve done here really turns your stuffing into something special. It will give you amazing flavour and texture, and it’s wicked to be able to see everything you’ve got in there. Usually I’d sweat the onions off first (ED. I did sweat mine off)

I 'cooked' this dish for our new years eve dinner. Whilst you have to pay a kings ransom for this much fillet of beef from Mr Dale (or any other good butcher)it really is worth it. Obviously this is a dish for carnivores but don't let its raw-ness put you off, it really is delicious and this spin on it using beetroot and horseradish gives it a seasonal and british twist. Make sure that the beetroot is really cooked as this will bring out the sweetness of this fabulous vegetable ... to test if its done just stick a sharp knife in to the biggest one, if it's done it will slide out easily. Don't worry if you have any left over as it is absolutely delicious the next day, either on its own or in some ciabatta. (Alternative: Jamie does a version where he substitutes Cress for the rocket, Rosemary for the thyme and adds a little shaved parmesan at the end) Ingredients * 700gms beetroot (10 - 12 'balls') * olive oil * 10 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

This rather spectacularly bad year for the world was seen in chez Cook by a small but perfectly formed coterie of close friends; Joel and Nushi, David and Cathy, Jerry and Belle and sons Gus (ours) and Freddie (David and Cathy). With Jools and his Hootenanny in full swing, Lisa's spectacular dessert made the dawn of next decade suddenly look much more inviting. The River Cafe's pear and almond tart or Torta di pere e mandorle as it is more correctly, and let's face it, poetically described, is one of those confections that will charm even the most hardened dessert hater .... and this particular tart was up there amongst the finest of its ilk .... ok, just one more slice. btw a little cheat for the time starved is to buy pre-made sweet pastry ...shhhh don't tell Rose and Ruth Ingredients 350g plain flour a pinch of salt 175g unsalted cold butter cut into cubes 100g icing sugar 3 egg yolks For the filling: 350g unsalted butter softened 350g caster sugar 350g blanched whol