The Family Cook Book

Ottolenghi at his best! This is one of those recipes where it’s simplicity belies it’s beauty.  The combination of the texture of the grilled grapes, the sweet and sharp sherry vinegar dressing and the creamy Burrata is really delicious.  It also looks fabulous, a perfect easy but impressive starter. If you can’t get hold of burrata, use buffalo mozzarella instead which will hold together a bit more. This is enough to serve six as a generous first course, or as a light lunch with some crusty bread to mop up the dressing. Ingredients 300g seedless red grapes 2 tbsp valdespino (or other top-quality sherry) vinegar 3 tbsp olive oil 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed 1½ tsp soft dark brown sugar 1½ tsp fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed Flaky sea salt and black pepper 12 18cm-long wooden skewers  3 balls burrata (or buffalo mozzarella; 600g net weight) 6 small sprigs red or green basil, to serve Method Put the grapes in a medium...

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 •...

This weekend bought together two new purchases the Big Green egg (I know I'm getting boring about it) and the Pitt cue recipe book (Which I bought because I've got the big green Egg.) One of the simplest things I did in two days of serious cooking was Burnt tomatoes and shallots on toast. This slightly macho take on bruschetta was absolutely bloody delicious. Ingredients for 4 4 decent slices of sourdough read 4 ripe medium to large size vine tomatoes 4 banana shallots juice of half a lemon ex virgin Olive oil A few flat leaf parsley leaves A few mint leaves a few chives salt and pepper Method Cut the tomatoes in half. Peel the shallots and cut in half making sure you cut through the root so that they hold together (see pic above) marinade both in the lemon juice and a decent glug or two of olive oil. Get the barbecue going so its nice and hot. Now put the tomatoes and the shallots on cut side down. Do not be tempted to move for three or four m...

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...

We had a lovely dinner on Saturday. We had decided not to cook anything that involved too much stress or effort ... that meant cooking stuff I had done before. Both of these dishes aren't really recipes they are just a question of putting together some ingredients in a tried and tested but not slavish way. The peppers are based on Piedmontese peppers that you will find in many recipe books and indeed elsewhere on this blog. I 'pimped up' the basic recipe, as Jamie would say, by adding some torn mozarella, rocket and black olives to the basic cooked peppers. Peppers with tomatoes and anchovy   Serves 6 Ingredients 3 red and 3 yellow peppers 5 tablespoons olive oil 36 cherry tomatoes 3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into slivers 1 tin anchovy fillets 1 bunch fresh basil or marjoram 100g/4oz capers buffalo mozzarella black olives, pitted Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper Method Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Halve e...