The Family Cook Book

We had this spin on an Alison Roman dish with smashed cucumbers , and the combination was very good. My only change was to add some charred tenderstem broccoli to the spring onions to give the dish a bit more ‘heft’ I really like the Asian influenced spicy sharp flavours here. I promise I will cook something from another cookbook some time soon btw .... I’m just loving this book  though. Ingredients  spring onions 6 10 stems tenderstem broccoli  skin-on salmon fillet  olive oil 60ml, plus 3 tbsp low-salt soy sauce 60ml lemons or limes 1-2, zest finely grated to make 1 tbsp, plus 4 tbsp of juice orange juice 2 tbsp dried chilli flakes to taste Method Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.  Trim the broccoli and blanch for a couple of minutes or until stalks are tender but not overdone. Now toss the broccoli and spring onions in a little oil and cook in a heavy frying pan or griddle  with some seasoning for 4-6 minutes, tossing ...

The subtitle to Alison Roman’s book Nothing fancy is ‘Unfussy food for having people over’- the simple honesty of that phrase, both describes perfectly the recipes contained in this lovely book but at the same time belies the clever twists contained in many of them. From the recipes that I have tried so far they all seem to have a clever layering of tastes and textures without any laborious or difficult techniques. We had this the other night with the ‘garlicky Broccoli and greens with hazelnut and coriander’ and it was bloody delicious and incredibly unfussy. You can also follow Alison on instagram or at the NYT food site The recipe ingredients 1kg piece of salmon (I always keep skin on) 1 lemon sliced thin 1/2 red onion, sliced thin Maldon salt and pepper 6 tbsp of butter (you could use a little less) 4 tbsp olive oil  2 tbsp capers small bunch of fresh dill toasted sesame seeds (optional) Method Preheat oven to 165C. Lay ...

this recipe is a mash up of Jamie Oliver's beetroot carpaccio, Nigel Slaters beetroot cured salmon and Polpo's horseradish dressing. We have served it as a starter a couple of times and people seem to really enjoy it. The salmon looks absolutely beautiful when cured with beetroot. There are loads of recipes on the web but my favourite is this one from Nigel Slater. The only slight amendment I would make is to lightly rinse the salmon to make sure all the cure comes off making the salt flavour really delicate. For the same reason I advocate curing for a little less time than he does ... I would go for 24 -36 hours. So without wishing to state the bleeding obvious, you need to prepare this dish ahead of time! I have also cheated by using pre cooked beetroot for the carpaccio but you could of course cook from fresh yourself. nb by pre-cooked I do not mean pickled! Serves 8-10 the salmon Ask your fishmonger to scale and bone the salmon, but to leave the skin on. It is...

The new year brings a return to the 5:2 diet ( 5 days normal eating 2 days fasting) I have found it fairly easy to stick to, on the '2'days you need to have a maximum of 650 cals. At lunchtime the distractions of work and the wide choice of low-cal offerings at local delis and restaurants help the process. However come the evening a combination of starvation and the requirement to eat with the rest of the family make it a bit of a struggle. Salvation arrived last night in the rather surprising form of a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's  1992  book'  Far eastern cookery' o ne of our favourite books way-back-when .   Lisa thought that  this blast from the past   would make a perfect evening meal for fasters and non-fasters alike. She was absolutely correct. We had it last night and I can confirm that it is still bloody delicious. it has that great thai-style combination of salty, sweet, sharp, hot, crunchy and soft. The dish also feels way more filli...

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...

I've done this recipe before but I had forgotten how good it is! I also got just the right size piece which   Was substantial enough to cook so that you got that combination of char and pink but was small enough to be able to turn without breaking. I also managed to get the skin off in two pieces to crisp them up on the grill as Jamie recommends 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 pieces of fish on my barbecue, but you must use a medium-hot part of the barbie – if it’s too hot, you’ll crisp the skin before the inside is cooked. Start the fish...