The Family Cook Book

It was lovely to have everyone home for Xmas. Whilst we were preparing for the big event we also managed to spend a bit of family time in the kitchen, watching the telly, catching up and snacking at the bar. Here are some great canape recipes from Sybil Kapoor that we found in House and Garden. Roast tomato relish ingredients 750g baby plum tomatoes 1 medium red onion, finely diced 1 fat clove garlic, finely chopped 4 tbs ex virgin olive oil method heat oven to 180c mix rest of ingredients in a roasting tray. Roast for 45 mins until everything is soft. Leave to cool roughly mash together and season to taste. Spiced Lamb burgers ingredients 4tbs olive oil 1 medium onion finely chopped 1 clove garlic finely chopped 1 thai red chilli seeds removed and finely chopped 2 tsp ras al hanout or garam masala 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander, finely chopped 1 small bunch fresh coriander 500g lean minced lamb finely grated zest of two lemons salt and gr

The 27th was pretty full on day of entertaining with the Sweeneys plus Sam, Bob and Bobs new wife, tomiko (sp?) arriving for lunch and the Bryant family coming for tea. We needed something easy to make and we were also in need of a bit of healthy food after two days of absolutely stuffing ourselves. This recipe (which I have blogged about before) was absolutely on the money. Serves 4 Thai Chicken burgers Ingredients * 600 g minced (ground) chicken * 1 onion, finely grated * 85 g fresh white breadcrumbs * 1 garlic clove * 1 lemongrass stalk white part only, finely chopped * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) * 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest * 1 tablespoon fish sauce * 2 teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar * Fresh mint and coriander (cilantro) leaves * sweet Chilli sauce (bottled) Method Put the chicken mince, onion, breadcrumbs, garlic, lemongrass, coriander, lime zest, fish sauce and sugar in a large bowl and mix together well with your h

We had the whole Cook family over for lunch on December 28th. We had overdosed on turkey by this time so were in need of some good old red meat. This deceptively simple recipe for cooking fillet of beef is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. Although I should warn those who don't like their meat on the rare side of pink that this is not for them, you could of course cook it for longer but it would be a crime to cook fillet until it was grey! We had it with one of our favourite standby dishes from the same River Cafe Classic cook book, Roast potatoes from Lucca. Roast Beef with Rosemary Ingredients For 6 1kg - 1.5kg Piece of beef from the thick end of the fillet sea salt and ground black pepper 10 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or more if they are short. You need to cover the whole length of the meat) extra virgin olive oil 1 glass red wine, preferably Chianti. Method Pre heat oven to 225c season fillet all over with s and p Make a layer of rosemary on a board us

It was Xmas at home this year and we did more than our fair share of entertaining. Seven for Xmas day, twenty three over two shifts on the 27th and twelve on the 28th. It meant that we took out shares in Waitrose and Vinoteca but had a lovely time. Xmas day was Turkey and all the trimmings a la Jamie, his failsafe two day programme combined with our new kitchen made easy work of Turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roasted vegetable megamix, roasties, red cabbage, sprouts with chesnuts and bacon, bread sauce, cranberry sauce and gravy. The twenty-seventh brought some respite from the carbs courtesey of Bill Granger's asian slaw and chicken burgers and the twenty-eighth was a combo of the River cafe fillet of beef in rosemary and roast potatoes from Lucca.  Santa also bought me the usual cookery book haul as the photograph above bears witness to, I cant wait to get at them. Both the Locatelli and Elizabeth David have great articles interspersed amongst the recipes which I have a

Joe back from uni so we had bought a boned loin of pork to cook for sunday lunch. My mum couldn't make it so we also invited good friends the Levy's over for an impromptu sunday lunch. It was the first time I had cooked pork in the new oven. Firstly I pre-heated the oven to 250 degrees then I rubbed smashed garlic, fennel seeds, rosemary salt and pepper into the meat (not the skin!) then tied it, sat it on a bed made up of the bones, a stick of celery, a carrot and a parsnip roughly chopped. Just before popping it in the oven I rubbed the skin side all over with a generous helping of sea salt but no oil. I also used the brilliant meat probe that comes with the Gaggenau and set it to an internal temperature of 75 degrees. Here's the genius bit, as if on cue the skin puffed up in the first 20 mins at the higher temperature. My old oven just can't have got hot enough because that never used to happen consistently. After the 20 mins was up I turned the oven down to 2

Sunday was a lads and Dad day. Martha and lisa are away in Wittering and the boys and I were going to see Bon Iver in the evening, so we decided to have lunch together and watch Man City v's Man utd and the mighty super-hoops v's Chelsea. I went for the comfort food option and got out two of my trusty Le Creuset dishes to cook two tagine style dishes from Jamie does.... Morrocco. Whilst I would love to own some tagines, I think Mrs Cook would kill me for buying even more kitchen ephemera. I used my oval casserole for the chicken and the shallow casserole for the beef ... both as always worked really well but on reflection I think the beef may have benefited from a bit more depth to allow it to cook really slowly. regardless of this the end result was received very well by my two hung over sons. For me the chicken shaded it but only just ... a bit like QPR did! Chicken Tagine   Ingredients 1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg), preferably free range or organic, skin-on

I said I would try this .... and I did not spectacular but a very nice and pretty healthy combination Tabbouleh A proper tabbouleh is a parsley salad with a little bulgur wheat, not the other way around, as many people know it. SERVES 4-6 bulgur wheat 100g salt and pepper lemons juice of 2, or to taste spring onions 4, finely minced mint leaves a small bunch, finely chopped olive oil 60ml, or to taste parsley leaves 2 large bunches, coarsely chopped cherry tomatoes 450g, halved (I quartered mine because I thought they looked too big) Method Soak the bulgur in cold water for 30 minutes. Dump the grains in a colander and give it a good shake to drain. Put the bulgur in a bowl, and begin to assemble the tabbouleh: season the grains generously with salt and pepper, then stir in the lemon juice and toss well. Add the spring onions and mint and toss. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of the oil, and then taste and adjust the seasoning. Add half the parsley and mix well. Spo

Waitsfield. We have now returned from our home in Vermont. The day after we left Irene bashed the hell out of this beautiful state. It seemed that once New York had been spared nobody seemed to really notice the devastation wreaked on the towns and villages of the Green Mountain State. Hard to think that only days before we were having dinner at the excellent Green Cup restaurant sitting outside on a balmy evening next to what can best be described as a bubbling brook that ended up being a raging torrent that wreaked havoc on the Green cup, Mint, the rest of the businesses in Bridge Street and the area in general. Hope you all get back on your feet just as soon as possible

something I saw today and thought I might cook. David Tanis is/was head Chef at the legendary Chez Panisse. Tabbouleh A proper tabbouleh is a parsley salad with a little bulgur wheat, not the other way around, as many people know it. SERVES 4-6 bulgur wheat 100g salt and pepper lemons juice of 2, or to taste spring onions 4, finely minced mint leaves a small bunch, finely chopped olive oil 60ml, or to taste parsley leaves 2 large bunches, coarsely chopped cherry tomatoes 450g, halved Method Soak the bulgur in cold water for 30 minutes. Dump the grains in a colander and give it a good shake to drain. Put a clean tea towel in a salad bowl and gather up the drained bulgur to further dry it. Gently remove the towel, put the bulgur in the bowl, and begin to assemble the tabbouleh: season the grains generously with salt and pepper, then stir in the lemon juice and toss well. Add the spring onions and mint and toss. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of the oil, and then taste and a

We made this a couple of times when we were up in Vermont. the first time we used some delicious fingerling potatoes from the farmers Market. This is a pretty forgiving recipe but you must dress the potatoes whilst they are warm. Ingredients 1.8kg/4lb new potatoes 700g/1½ lb fine green beans salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1tbs Dijon mustard 175ml/6fl oz extra virgin olive oil 1 tbs red wine vinegar 2 tbs capers (optional) Method Place the potatoes into a pan of boiling well-salted water (one teaspoon salt per 600ml/1 pint water) and cook until just tender. Drain and leave to cool slightly, then cut lengthways into quarters and place into a salad bowl. Whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, dijon mustard and red wine vinegar. Add to the warm potatoes and toss together while warm then leave to cool.Now add the capers if you are using them. In a clean pan, cook the fine green beans in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes, or until just tender. Drain an

We are now back home having neatly avoided any chaos created by hurricane Irene. The same cannot be said for our friends the Priceys journey home which took about a day longer than it should have done and included unwished for visits to Niagra falls, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas before eventually getting back to LA. We made this fennel by Skye Gyngell for the 'Last supper' Here's the recipe If you're not serving this with the pork, it's also a perfect marriage with any white fish, chicken, or – because it's at its best at room temperature – simply chopped and tossed in a salad with olives and tomatoes. And I'd be just as happy to eat it on its own. Ingredients 4 fennel bulbs 1 dried red chilli, finely sliced 1/2tsp fennel seeds The zest and juice of one unwaxed lemon 60ml/21/2fl oz extra-virgin olive oil Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas6. Remove the tough outer layers of the fennel and cut into quarters len

For some reason the American staple of guacamole is something we rarely make. However, during this summer of cooking the US cookbooks it seemed like that needed to change, particularly as Martha is a bit of an avocado fanatic.  During the Pricey's sojourn with us we had it several times and Martha ended up being in charge of making it. Our recipe is a bit of a combination of two that I found in my Silver palate recipe book. When it comes to scooping implements this is of course a very personal decision. Ours was Tostito scoops but you could of course choose other 'chips' or vegetable shaped scooping paraphernalia. I can recommend this as an excellent accompaniment to an aggressive game of wii golf. Here's to more happy times in glorious Vermont with the Priceys, hurricane or no hurricane. Guacamole ingredients 2 ripe avocados 1 cloves garlic 2 tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice 2 tbsp. finely chopped red onion 2 tbsp. chopped coriander few

The redoubtable Jane and Bob Kaufmann joined us for dinner last night and alongside the giant vat of red wine we had a few old favourites ( butterflied leg of lamb in a Moro marinade, chopped Turkish salad, grilled asparagus)and a new middle eastern inspired salad of fennel,chickpea and tomatoes from the shelburne farms cookery book that Stuart and Saskia Smith bought us. The fact that the barbecue ran out of gas one minute after I put the lamb on threw a bit of a curve ball but we managed to heat the griddle pan and the oven up pretty quickly and the meat still seemed to taste ok. As for the asparagus it ended up being seared in a dry non stick frying pan rather than grilled, but again it was fairly edible. We finished off with a Hero island sour cherry oatmeal crumble from the kingsbury Market garden- a farmer foodbank fellowship in the mad river valley, if you please. (www.kingsburymarketgarden.com) Here's the fennel recipe Ingredients 1 larrge fennel or 2 small o

Five days after arriving in the good old US of A we were in need of fish ... We have had wings, we have had burgers, we have had steak, we have had sausages, for this is the land of meat. But our European constitution demands that we have fish (well not Martha but definitely the rest of us) so tonight we had fish, we had some beautiful tuna steaks from mehurons which meant I could try this recipe that has been on my must cook list The verdict was that it was good Ingredients For the salad 600g/14oz baby tomatoes, cut in half horizontally 4 tbsp olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper 200g/7oz ciabatta, torn into small pieces 1 large banana shallot, finely chopped 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed 175g/6oz w piquillo peppers, chopped 2 handfuls basil, leaves only For the tuna 4 x 200g/7oz tuna steaks 1 lemon, zest only 1 garlic clove, grated 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Method For the salad, pre

In love stories you have to kiss a few frogs before you meet your prince. I suppose the same can be said to be true of cooking, you have to fail on occasion in order to succeed in the long run. Last night was a frog night. I attempted a bit of a twist on a recipe in the Shelbourne farms cookery book and that twist failed miserably. It should of been simple it was a dish involving lentils and sausages which let's face it are both pretty forgiving ingredients. however I managed to bring the dish to the table with sausages that weren't cooked through and bland bland bland lentils. Tonight will be better.

one of the highlights of the farmers Market is a trip to the gizmos pickles stand. All the pickles are great but we particularly like the unusual, and I understand native, pickled fiddlehead fern. the dilly beans, hot mamas and horsey kraut are also all worth a try, so if you a ever at the waitsfield farmers Market the give them a try you won't be disappointed.

We were making a salad for lunch and I grilled an enormous misty Knoll chicken breast on the barbecue which fed all four of us. God knows what they feed them on up at Misty Knoll but I would hate to be attacked by one of these. The marinade came from the Hay Day country market cookbook. Ingredients 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp dried thyme 2 tsp ground black pepper 2 tsp hot paprika 2 tsp chili powder salt to taste 2 tbs olive oil 2 tbs lemon juice method mix all the ingredients together and marinade chicken, preferably for a good 30 mins or so. pre heat barbecue, then turn to low and grill slowly (this is the key to getting moist but cooked chicken)it will take 20 mins or so.

made this from the Hay Day Cookbook to have with the steaks last night. Our verdict was that this was a good idea but that the recipe was a bit too sweet for us (maybe thats an American palate thing) The jam is really easy to make, once you have got past the chopping of a large amount of onions. We bought our onions at the rather wonderful East Warren community market ... yes we are definitely in Vermont. Heres a revised version of the recipe that I will try later in the hols Caramelised onion Jam 2 tbs unsalted butter 2-3 spanish onions, thinly sliced 2 tbs red wine vinegar 1 tbs honey 2 tbs dark brown sugar sea salt and fresh cracked pepper method Melt butter in a covered pan over medium heat. Add the onion slices and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to caramelize – about 10 minutes. uncover and add vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. raise hear and cook until vinegars reduce and mixture has a thick, jam-like consistency –

We are back in Vermont for our summer holidays.We have already been treated to the usual mountain mixture of sunshine and pounding, pounding rain, but it's great to be back. After a long journey up on Friday night we went to the farmers Market on Saturday morning and picked up some fabulous local produce. I have decided that whilst we are up here I am going to try to cook from the American cookbooks I have on the bookshelf. First up is a grilled vegetable salad from Mario Batali ..... Ok he's Italian, but it's an American book.....and this recipe made great use of the beautiful vegetables from the market We had this with some very nice t-bone steaks from mehurons supermarket. This recipe was adapted from Mario Batali's recipe for Capri-style grilled vegetables in his book Italian Grill.     Serves 6.     For the Sicilian Vinaigrette:   • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar • 3 garlic cloves, minced • 1 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled • 1 teaspoon ground cumin •

Project kitchen is coming to an end. The steel guys finished off today and I can't wait to see it. Clearly this post isn't of any use if you are looking to cook anything, but if you love cooking you will appreciate just how exciting the prospect of getting behind a new hob is. Shame that work has to interfere with my cookery....oh well!

The whole cook massive (minus Gus) descended on northern Spain for grandma Betty's 80th birthday.Despite some teething problems with the villa and a bonkers weather system that involved rainstorms of biblical proportions, we all had a great time. We didn't find any fabulous markets to buy gorgeous produce but we did find a big supermarket that provided most of the essentials although precious few fresh herbs. top tip: I had downloaded a few favourite Spanish recipes to the notes pages of my iPad which is a he'll of alot easier to carry than a load of bits of paper and significantly lighter than dragging the Moro cookbook with you. We cooked very small lamb chops mechoui style over charcoal and had it with chickpea salad made with very nice jarred chickpeas and served with plain yoghurt.We bulked it out a bit with some cooking chorizo and aubergine caviar or baba ganoush ...... Delicious! We also cooked paella with a special twist courtesey of Charlie Cook mistaking

this is excellent stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=IfeyUGZt8nk

Lisa home from Ibiza and we had one of our favourites, chopped Turkish salad (elsewhere on the blog) but instead of the usual chicken and flatbread we had this delicious mechoui lamb and a loaf of Gails sourdough from waitrose. I had been meaning to do this classic moroccan recipe for some time. It's right up my strasse, its very simple, but i love the way that it elevates fairly ordinary barbecued lamb chops to something rather special....... It also goes perfectly with the Turkish salad btw. Lamb Mechoui with Cumin and Paprika Salt from Casa Moro cookbook Serves 4 Ingredients 2 tbsp. whole cumin seeds, freshly ground 1 tsp. sweet paprika 1/2 tsp. hot paprika 1 tbsp. sea salt, roughly crumbled 12-16 lamb chops, depending on size 40 g. butter, melted Mix the spices and the salt together in a bowl. Just before you are ready to grill the chops, brush them with the melted butter, sprinkle liberally with half the cumin mixture and grill 5-8 minutes either side for pink. Serve immediate

Having just finished stuffing ourselves I can now confrm that the verdict on the aioli was that it was delicious and goes perfectly with barbecued chicken.

lisa is still in Ibiza and having a well deserved fine old time. weather here amazing too, so martha, Joe and I are eating in the garden. I have barbecued a chicken and we are having it with some left over potato salad ( see last entry) a tomato and red onion salad and I have made some aioli by hand with a bit of help from Joe on the oil dribbling front .... I hope it tastes good because I made a bit of a mess of the book at the same time... The recipe comes from Alice waters again In the book she mentions a number of optional 'spins' on each recipe ... In this case we added a handful of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley ... It won't take away the garlic breath but hey ho! Alice Waters AIoli Peel: 2 or 3 small garlic cloves Separate into a mixing bowl: 1 egg yolk 1/2 teaspoon water Mix well with a whisk. Into a cup with a pour spout, measure about: 1 cup olive oil Slowly dribble the oil into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. As the egg yolk absorbs the oil, the sauce

This went with the steak Simon Hopkinson’s simple new potato salad is simple but lovely. Simmer 700g of new potatoes for 9 or 10 minutes,when just cool enough to handle, slice them into a bowl. Make a dressing by mixing 2 tablespoons each of smooth Dijon mustard, 2 tbs red wine vinegar and 6 tbs ex virgin olive oil along with salt and pepper. Sprinkle 3 or 4 chopped spring onions over the chopped potatoes and gently turn them in the dressing We then added some chopped grilled asparagus and turned again Serve while warm

Ok so now it's Saturday, it's just Martha and I again and she has already eaten. So steak for me, but how to give it a little lift? It was sirloin, from Tesco .... Oh yes! And it twas their finest. I did a little bit of searching for inspiration and turned to Alice waters book 'The art of simple food'...... The recipe that follows is hardly really a recipe but it really did make a difference ..... The lovely thing was that i also got all the herbs from the pots outside my back door Serves 4 Ingredients 3 tablespoons mixed chopped herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, or marjoram 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 grass-fed top sirloin steak (20 ounces and 1 1/2 inches thick), trimmed leaving 1/4 inch of fat (or your tesco version of course) Directions In a small bowl, mix together herbs, salt, and pepper. Rub herb mixture onto steak and place in a shallow dish. Drizzle steak with olive oil and let

Lisa in Ibiza, Joe up in Warwick, so it's just Martha and I. We had the ingredients in the fridge for Jamies best tomato and chorizo salad in the world and it seemed to fit the current criteria for cooking ie not much required in this case all we needed was the camping cooker to cook the chorizo. We ate it in front of the telly with lots of bread for supping ... our verdict? not half bad Here's the recipe Best chorizo and tomato salad in the world ‘So many people live their lives eating the most boring tomato salads and there's no need to! Using really ripe sweet tomatoes and a hero ingredient like chorizo means you'll end up with something ridiculously good.’ Serves 4 as a light meal 1 raw chorizo sausage (approx 225g), roughly sliced olive oil 3 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped 3 handfuls (270g) of cherry tomatoes, quartered, smaller ones halved 3 spring onions or 1 shallot, trimmed or peeled and finely sliced sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Spanish extra

Son number two arrived back from LA today after a year studying there. We had the whole family together (only a flying visit by number one son) and we were joined by cousin Barney who is doing work experience with me.However despite the desire to celebrate we are still without a kitchen so we had to use a bit of ingenuity plus the BBQ and camping gaz cooker again. We had lovely italian sausages from the local deli (Jamie says you can use cumberland for this but frankly I take issue with this ... not often I disagree with his bruvva-ness but on this occasion I say NO to anything other than the proper Italian salsiccia. The lentils tasted good and the addition of the crispy prosciutto was an interesting little spin. We added a little had chopped Salsa Verde to give it a bit of a lift. We polished off a bottle of nytimber to toast his return in one piece and had a nice bottle of Il Bruciato with the sausages. all in all it was a lovely evening ingredients • 200g good small green or brown

With no kitchen the gas barbecue has become our other vital piece of equipment alongside the camping gaz cooker I mentioned in the last blog. To add to the general chaos we also have my nephew barney staying with us ....... Poor him! For his first meal we barbecued a spatchcocked chicken that I had marinaded in oregano, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil which I cooked for about 45 mins on a low setting. Alongside it we had Jamies jacket potatoes in foil (see below) and some corn on the cob. ingredients • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed • 4 tablespoons butter, softened • freshly ground black pepper • sea sal • 8 baking potatoes • 8 anchovies, or 4 rashers of bacon (the best quality you can afford) if you’re not an anchovy fan a handful of fresh thyme sprigs method Everyone loves a baked potato and this is one of the tastiest ways to make them. Slice, fill, then fit them back together. Pound the garlic and butter in a pestle and mortar until smooth. Season the garlic butter well with

So what if we haven't got a kitchen. We have got a single ring camping gaz cooker ... and we're gonna use it! So last night I was home early and decided to see what we could put together. this is what we came up with Ingredients 2 Tuna steaks 500g new potatoes 1 red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped) 3 tbs capers 8 anchovy fillets split in half lengthways Juice of one lemon 4 tbs ex virgin olive oil large handful of roughly chopped rocket leaves method Put anchovies and chillies in a bowl with half the lemon juice. Turn on camping gaz ... you could use a traditional hob if you insist. Now get new potatoes on the boil in well salted water and cook until tender. Drain potatoes and cut in half lengthways (if they are a little big cut them in half crossways too. Pour over the olive oil and lemon juice whilst they are still warm and season... go easy on the salt as you will be adding anchovies and capers that are both pretty salty. Leave for ten minutes to take up the flavours an

At eight o clock this morning the men came to remove our kitchen. As I left the house, lisa was removing various bits and pieces to try and flog them on ebay. When I come home tonight I suspect most of it will be gone. Whilst I am excited about the arrival of a spanking new kitchen (and a little nervous) I am sad to see the old one go as it has served us well for the last decade. On Saturday night Gus came home and my Mum came up and I cooked this Jamie Oliver dish, it was delicious ..... unless you're Martha of course, who, I only discovered later, HATES preserved lemon. It is very easy to make ... the only thing I would question on the recipe is if you really need an hour and a half... I think an hour would probably be sufficient. Here's the recipe in full Chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine Serves 4-6 Ingredients 
1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg), preferably free-range or organic, skin-on, jointed 
into 4 (get your butcher 
to do this for you or you could just u

I remember seeing this on Saturday kitchen and wanting to cook it. I forgot to. I have now come across the recipe again, so this is a reminder to myself to try it. If anyone else does let me know how it works out. Ingredients For the salad 600g/14oz baby tomatoes, cut in half horizontally 4 tbsp olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper 200g/7oz ciabatta, torn into small pieces 1 large banana shallot, finely chopped 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed 175g/6oz w piquillo peppers, chopped 2 handfuls basil, leaves only For the tuna 4 x 200g/7oz tuna steaks 1 lemon, zest only 1 garlic clove, grated 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Method For the salad, preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 1. Place the tomatoes onto a baking tray, cut-side facing upwards. Drizzle over one tablespoon of the olive oil and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer the tomatoes to the oven and cook for one hour, or until softened an

I have just had a couple of implants .. that's dental implants, I haven't had my moobs adjusted. Whilst there are many upsides to this, the downside is that in this first stage I am not allowed to drink for two weeks and I also have to eat 'soft food' for a while. This led me to making these old family favourite lamb burgers with secret hidden veg. The addition of the carrot and or courgette not only gets some veg into a burger it also adds taste and keeps them beautifully moist. I have chosen an Indian-ish vibe with the spicing and accompaniments but it could just as easily be Greek-y or Turkish-ish. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the burger, your interpretation of 'nicely browned' and whether you like your burgers well done or are happy with a bit of pink ... personally we are a bit of a pink family. Ingredients For the burgers 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 large garlic cloves bunch of fresh coriander, stalks and leaves finely grated carrot and

I cooked this recipe from The River Cafe Classic Cookbook at the Pricey's house when we were in LA seeing Joe earlier this year. We had it with some amazing Fiorentina steaks ... and a few flagons of delicious red wine! It takes a bit of trial and error to get it right ... the key thing is to get the depth of potatoes in the pan thin enough to really brown nicely but thick enough that they don't burn to a crisp and still have a bit of fluffiness to them. When you do get it right though you will find that everybody both young and old will love this recipe and hoover up every last morsel of it. ingredients 1.5kg waxy potatoes 1 medium red onion peeled 6 garlic clove, peeled and kept whole 4 sprigs fresh rosemary 6 sprigs fresh sage 120ml dry white wine 100ml ex virgin olive oil sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon fennel seeds crushed method Pre heat oven to 200c peel potatoes and slice into very fine slices (5mm) use a mandoline if you can. Put them in cold water

It struck me that I normally write about a dish rather than a meal. However sometimes it's the combination of things that really works, not just the individual recipes. Last Sunday was one of those occasions when it all just seemed to come together. It also did so with very little fuss We had our good friends David and Cathy over with their 'adopted' son Krishna and we just had Martha out of our brood. We started with little crostini: a couple of dips from Skye Gyngell, a Jamie Oliver courgette spread 'Zucchini in padella' and some torn buffalo mozarella and baby tomatoes drizzled with olive oil. To Start Skye's mezze dips btw this recipe makes tons ... you could easily halve it and still have loads left over Roasted spice mix All of the recipes use this blend of strong, vibrant flavours. 1-2 cinnamon sticks 50g/2oz coriander seeds 50g/2oz cumin seeds 50g/2oz fennel seeds 50g/2oz mustard seeds 50g/2oz fenugreek seeds 5 cardamom pods 2-3 star anise (or cloves) Pl

This recipe is the most famous in Sicily and comes from Trapani. We first tried it when we visited the beautiful island for a fabulous family holiday. Up until now we have been cooking an excellent version from one of Rick Stein's books but Since Gus bought this lovely book and we tried this I think it's shaded it and become my favourite version. The thing that, for me, makes this one interesting is the idea of pounding the almonds, garlic and parsley into a paste. ingredients 250gms cous cous 350gms fish fillet (could include uncooked prawns) 1 small onion, finely chopped 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus a little extra if you like 1 small dried chili 1 bay leaf 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley 3 tablespoons blanched almonds 1 garlic clove 350ml light fish stock 1 tin chopped tomatoes Method Fry the onion in 4 ½ tablespoons of the oil with the chili and bay leaf over a medium heat until soft and golden – about 10 minutes. Chop the parsle

Its been a while, not sure how I managed to let work get in the way of blogging ... anyway here's a little simple supper dish from Rick Stein that I was reminded of by Saturday Kitchen yesterday. It also meant that I visited a local Italian deli for the first time where I had a nice chat with the Sicilian owner and his mother. They sell the perfect sausages for this dish which are called luganega, which normally come in one long length. If you are using ordinary sausages, add a teaspoon of fennel seeds to the onions when frying. Ingredients 450g/1lb luganega sausages 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 750g/1½lb small waxy potatoes, peeled and each cut into quarters ½ lemon, pared zest (I did mine on a microplane) and juice only 4 fresh bay leaves 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper 120ml/4fl oz water method Preheat the oven to 180C/350F Twist the sausa