The Family Cook Book

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...