Instructions
Put sultanas and alcohol into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave
for about 1 hour or until sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees/gas mark 3.
Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a bowl and mix. In a separate bowl mix
melted butter, and sugar and beat until blended, beat in the eggs one at a time, then the
mashed bananas, followed by the drained sultanas, walnuts and vanilla.
Add the flour mixture, 1/3 at a time, stirring well after each bit.
Into a 23 by 13 by 7 cm loaf buttered and floured (or with a paper insert) pour in the mixture.
Bake for 1-1 ½ hours in the middle of the oven or until a skewer comes out clean.

10-12 strands saffron

1 very large onion

25g/1oz butter

1 tabsp. olive oil

1 teasp. ground cinnamon

4 chicken breasts (on the bone if wished)

100g/4 ozs. chopped dried apricots

25g/1 oz sultanas

50g/2ozs while unskinned almonds

Salt and black pepper

Instructions

Boil the stock and add the saffron. Leave on the side.

Peel and chop the onion. Add to the oil/butter mix until soft then stir in the cinnamon Transfer to a plate

Add the chicken to the pan and fry until brown.

Add the onion/cinnamon mixture followed by the apricots, sultanas and almonds. Sprinkle with pepper and add in the stock. Bring to the boil. 

Simmer or cook in the oven for about 40 minutes. Add more pepper and some salt as liked.

1 tbsp olive oil 

8 chicken thighs 

250ml chicken stock or perhaps a little more

1 x 400g tin chickpeas drained and rinsed

2 tbsp sun dried tomato pesto

100g baby spinach or garden peas

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Sprinkle the skin of the chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan, skin side down. Cook 8-10 minutes or until skin is crispy, remove any excess fat. Turn the chicken thighs and add the stock, chickpeas, pesto and stir together. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the chicken has cooked.
2. Once the sauce has slightly reduced season to taste and stir through the spinach and serve. On its own, or with bread or even boiled potatoes. 

Instructions
Put chicken, chillis, sugar and half oyster sauce into a bowl and leave to marinade
Add chopped garlic, ginger, turmeric and cashews to the hot oil and stir for a few
minutes. Then add the carrots and stir round. Leave to cook for a few minutes.
Remove and put to one side. Add the chicken mixture to the pan and cook until
chicken cooked right through. Combine with the carrot mix and reheat. Pour over the
remaining oyster sauce and add the coriander leaves. Serve immediately with
noodles.

Instructions
Put the breadcrumbs, sugar and lemon rind into a basin. Heat the mild and butter until
lukewarm and the butter is melted. Pour the mild into the crumbs and stand for 10 minutes
to soa. Separate the eggs and put the yolks into the crumb mixture and mix well. Put in the
over heated to 180C (350F or gas 4) for 30 minutes until the crumb mixture is firm. Heat the
jam in a pan so that it pours and put it over the crumb mixture but try not cracking the
surface. Whisk the egg whites and when stiff gently fold in the caster sugar (I don’t bother
with the sugar as it’s too sweet for me). Pile the whites on top of the jam and cook for 10
minutes until lightly browned. Serve with cream.
Serves 4-5

 
Ingredients

  1 tablespoons oyster sauce

  1 tablespoon soy sauce

  1 handful fresh coriander (chopped finely)

  1 teaspoons cornflour (optional)

  1/2 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined, tails left intact optional) or prawns

  1 tablespoon cooking oil (divided)

  1 ½  stalks green onion (chopped, white and light green parts)

  1 ½ -2 garlic cloves (finely minced)

  1 teaspoons fresh ginger (finely minced or grated)

Instructions

1.     In a small bowl, combine oyster sauce, soy sauce and coriander and set aside.

2.     Pat the shrimp very dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl, add shrimp and cornflour and toss to coat.

3.     In a wok or large saute pan over high heat, add half the cooking oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. When the wok is very hot, add the shrimp in a single layer and cook partially until one side is nicely seared, about 1 minute. Flip and sear the other side of each shrimp, about one more minute. They don't need to be cooked all the way through yet. Remove them to a plate and set aside.

4.     Turn the heat down to medium and let wok cool off a bit to prevent the aromatics from burning. Add the remaining cooking oil and add green onion, garlic and ginger and stir fry for a minute until fragrant. [If you are using other vegetables, like snow peas, add them to the wok now and stir fry for a minute or until the vegetables are bright in colour and crisp-crunchy.

5.     Pour in the sauce mixture and add the shrimp back into the pan. Stir fry for another minute or so until shrimp is cooked through. Serve immediately.

Instructions
1. Melt the butter and oil together in a large pan.
2. Brown the chicken pieces all over and remove from the pan.
3. Add the onions and bacon and allow to fry until the onions are soft and translucent
and the bacon has rendered it's fat.
4. Add the garlic and allow to saute for another 30 seconds before removing the mixture
from the pan (leaving the fat behind).
5. Add the mushrooms and allow to fry for 5 minutes.
6. Add the onion and bacon mixture along with the browned chicken back to the pan.
7. Pour in the wine and allow to come up to a boil. Turn down the heat and cover. Allow
to simmer for 15-25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
8. After 15 minutes, uncover, turn up the heat and add the cream. Allow to cook for
another 10 minutes.
9. Add the chopped parsley and season to taste.
10. Serve with rice, pasta or crusty bread.

·        500g minced lamb

·        1 small onion, peeled and very finely chopped

·        2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed or finely grated

·        1 teaspoon ground cumin

·        1 teaspoon ground coriander

·        1 teaspoon ground turmeric

·        ½ teaspoon sumac

·        2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

·        Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

·        2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

·        A few knobs of butter

Salad

·        ¼ of a cucumber

·        12-16 cherry tomatoes

·        2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint, plus extra, to serve

·        A pinch of sugar, optional

·        Olive oil (optional)

·        4-6 pitta breads or flatbreads, warmed slightly

·        A few tablespoons natural yoghurt

·        1 lemon, cut into wedges

1 Add the minced lamb to a large bowl, along with the very finely chopped onion, the crushed or finely grated garlic, whichever you're using, the ground cumin, the ground coriander, the ground turmeric and the sumac.

2 Add in the chopped fresh coriander and season well with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. (To check the seasoning at this stage, see my tip). Using wet hands, shape the rest of the mixture into small sausage shapes (see photo, above). These can be left in the fridge for up to 24 hours or, if the mince hasn't been frozen already, they can be frozen, until you are ready to cook.

3 When you are ready to cook the koftas (see Note at the end of the recipe), add the extra-virgin olive oil and the butter to a large frying pan placed on a medium-to-high heat. Fry the koftas for 10-15 minutes, or until they are brown all over and cooked through. Turn the heat down to low once they're browned to finish the cooking.

4 While the koftas are cooking, cut the cucumber into small chunks, and cut the cherry tomatoes into halves. Mix the cucumber chunks and the halved cherry tomatoes with some chopped fresh mint and a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the pinch of sugar if you are using it.

5 Remove the koftas from the pan and leave them to rest for a few minutes. Arrange some warm koftas on each plate, along with some warmed pitta breads or flatbreads, whichever you're using, the seasoned minty cucumber and tomato mixture, and the natural yoghurt. You can also serve with rice. Scatter with some chopped fresh mint and serve with the lemon wedges.

For 4

1 cut-up chicken 2 ½ lbs or 8 pieces (oysters, legs or breasts) bone-in, skin-on

½ head garlic, peeled and finely puréed or minced

1 ½ tablespoons dried oregano

· 1 teaspoon kosher salt

· ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· ¼ cup* red wine vinegar

· ¼ cup olive oil

· ½ cup pitted prunes

· ¼ cup Spanish green olives

· ¼ cup capers, with a bit of juice

· 3 bay leaves

· ½ cup light brown sugar

· ½ cup white wine

· 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat parsley

*A cup is 250 mls

Method

1. In a large bowl combine garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade (use your hands to rub marinade all over and especially under the skin). Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, overnight ideally.

2. Preheat the oven to 180 C.

3. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a baking dish and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.

4. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting occasionally with the pan juices.

5. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley. Serve remaining sauce in a gravy boat. Alternatively, you can brown the skin and de-fat the gravy before serving. Here's how: When the chicken is done, transfer chicken, prunes, olives and capers to a serving platter, then pour the gravy into a medium bowl and let the fat settle at the top. In the meantime, place the chicken back in baking dishes and broil for a few minutes to brown the skin. While chicken is browning, de-fat the gravy. Transfer chicken pieces back to serving platter and pour some of the gravy over top. Serve remaining sauce in a gravy boat.).

Serve with mashed potatoes, couscous or rice. Simple vegetables, no complex flavours because the dish is very flavoursome.

4oz/100g butter

8oz/225g plain flour

1 egg, beaten

(you can add 1oz icing sugar if you wish)

- Or -

Use 1 sheet of premade supermarket pastry

Tart:

3 eggs

8oz/225g caster sugar

2 lemons, grated rind and juice of

4oz/100g butter, melted

3 large cooking apples (Bramley, or similar), quartered, cored (no need to peel)

2 eating apples, cored and finely sliced (red ones look great unpeeled!) or alternatively grated with the cooking apples

1oz/25g Demerara sugar

Note: Don’t worry of the apples turn brown as they’re being grated, their colour is restored in the custard mix due to the lemon.

Oven: preheat a baking tray in the oven heated to 200deg C

Make the pastry, either by hand or processor, and then chill it for about 20 minutes before putting it into a 11inch flan tin. (If you go slightly over the edge with the pastry, you can then cut it off after cooking, so any over-brown bits disappear.) Put the tin back into the fridge while you are doing the next bit.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, castor sugar, lemon rind and juice. Then stir in the melted butter. Get the dessert apples on standby, and grate the cooking apples straight into the bowl using a coarse grater. Stir in the cooking apples.

Pour the apple mixture into the flan tin, and then put the eating apples around the edge unless you’ve chosen to grate them. Lastly, put the demarata sugar over the mix to make little brown flecks.

Bake on the preheated tray for about 40 minutes. The tart needs to be set in the centre, and slightly brown.

It can be served with cream, pouring or whipped or ice cream but I don’t think it needs anything.

· 2 limes, leaves torn into pieces (or use extra lime zest and juice) (murkat aka kaffir)

· 4 approximately 1-inch thick salmon fillets, preferably organic, skinned (about 1 1/2 pounds or 750 gms in total)

· 3 tablespoon (45 gms) unsalted butter

· 1 teaspoon oil olive, vegetable or sunflower

· 1 onion, finely chopped

· 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

· 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

· 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

· 1 (225 gms) cup basmati or long grain rice

· 3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered (optional)

· 3 tablespoon chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves, plus more, for garnish

· 1 lime, zested and juiced plus lime segments, for garnish

· fish sauce, to taste (recommended -- nam pla)

Instructions

· Preheat the oven to 425°F (220C or 200 fanovens) Pour the water into a roasting pan, add the lime leaves and then the salmon. Cover the pan with foil, put in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes, by which time the salmon should be tender. Remove the pan from the oven and drain the liquid off into a pitcher. Keep the fish warm simply by replacing the foil on the pan.

· Melt the butter in a wide, heavy saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid, and add the oil to stop the butter burning. Soften the onion in the pan and add the spices, then keep cooking till the onion is slightly translucent and suffused with soft perfume of the spices. Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon so that it's all well coated. There's not enough onion to give a heavy coating: just make sure the rice is fragrantly slicked.

· Pour in the reserved liquid from the pitcher, about 2 1/4 cups, and stir before covering with the lid and cooking gently for 15 minutes.

· At the end of the cooking time, when the rice is tender and has lost all chalkiness, turn off the heat, remove the lid, cover the pan with a dish towel and then replace the lid. This will help absorb any extra moisture from the rice. It is also the best way to let the rice stand without getting sticky or cold.

· Just before you want to eat, drain off any extra liquid that's collected in the dish with the salmon, then flake the fish with a fork. Add to it the rice, egg, cilantro, lime juice and a drop or 2 of fish sauce. Stir gently to mix (use a couple of wooden paddles or spatulas) and taste to see if you want any more lime juice or fish sauce. Sprinkle over the zest from the 2 juiced halves of the lime and serve. You can garnish with lime segments and a small handful of freshly chopped cilantro.

Method

1. Cut the steak into slices 1cm/0.5in thick, then cut each slice across the grain into strips 1cm/0.5in wide.

2. Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the paprika and onion and cook slowly until the onion is soft and sweet, but not browned.

3. Add the mushrooms and fry gently for three minutes. Transfer the mixture to a plate and keep warm.

4. Using the same pan you cooked the onion mixture in, heat one and a half tablespoons of sunflower oil until very hot.

5. Add half the fillet steak and fry quickly, seasoning and turning it as you do so, for just over one minute. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the rest of the oil and steak.

6. Return the onion mixture to the pan and pour in the soured cream. Bring to the boil and simmer for a minute or so, until thickened.

7. Return the steak to the pan and heat very gently for one minute - the beef should not be cooked any further.

8. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley and serve with rice or noodles.

9. Gherkins are also a lovely accompaniment along with red cabbage cook with apple or a green vegetable.

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
 ¼ cup (60 ml) butter
 1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced
 4 small, or 2 large, carrots, peeled and diced
 2 celery stalks, diced
 4 garlic cloves, minced
 1 cup (250 ml) diced pancetta (about 4.5 oz/125 g)
 1 tsp (5 ml) kosher salt, or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2.2 lb (1 kg) lean ground meat (beef, veal, or a combination)
1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine (such as Chardonnay)
2 cups (500 ml) whole (3.25%) or partly skimmed (2%) milk
1 can (28 oz/794g) diced tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes
1 cup (250 ml) beef broth

To serve
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Dried pappardelle, tagliatelle, linguine, or spaghetti
Fresh basil leaves (optional)

METHOD

In a large pot set over medium heat, add the butter and the oil and stir until the butter is melted. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and half of the salt (½ tsp/2 ml) and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft.

Add a third of the ground meat, stirring and breaking lumps with a wooden spoon between each addition. Adding the meat gradually allows the excess water and liquid to evaporate, which is key for the meat to caramelize properly. Once the meat is cooked, add a third more of the meat, stirring and breaking lumps as you go. Repeat with the remaining meat. When the meat is cooked and no lumps remain, set a timer to 10 minutes and keep cooking the meat, stirring from time to time. You want the meat to caramelize and even become crispy in spots. Golden bits of meat will stick to the bottom of the pot, which you will deglaze with white wine later. Watch over the pan at all times as you don’t want the meat to burn.

Add the white wine into the saucepan. With a wooden spoon, scrape all the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Push the meat all around to make sure you scrape it all off. By the time you’re finished, the wine will be evaporated (2 to 3 minutes). Be careful not to let the meat stick to the pot again—lower the heat if necessary.

Add the milk, tomatoes, beef broth, remaining salt (1/2 tsp/2 ml) and a generous grinding of black pepper. Bring to a boil and then lower to the lowest heat setting. Half-cover and simmer gently for 2.5 to 3 hours, setting yourself a timer to give the sauce a stir every half hour. Start monitoring the texture of the sauce after 2 hours: the sauce is ready when it’s thick like oatmeal. It should look rich and creamy, and no liquid should separate from the sauce when you push the sauce to one side. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Reheat the sauce, if needed. Add 1 generous tablespoon (15 ml) of finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano per serving straight into the sauce, stirring to melt and incorporate the cheese. For example, if reheating enough sauce to serve 4 people, add 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup/60 ml) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to the sauce. This addition will boost the flavour of the sauce and produce an incredibly creamy result.

Cook the pasta of your choice according to the manufacturer’s instructions, then drain thoroughly and return to the pot. Add the sauce and stir, until tongs, to evenly distribute the sauce and coat the pasta with it. Divide between warm bowls. Garnish with fresh basil leaves, if desired, and more Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste.

Mix all sauce ingredients together and heat until boiling. Put breadcrumb mix on top of browned chops Pour the sauce around the chops and spoon a little on top. Cover and cook in oven, mark 5 for 1 ½ hours. Uncover and cook for a further 20 mins.