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INGREDIENTS serves 4

4 fillets of salmon weighing about 100-125g each

4 tbsp of light soy sauce

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, crushed

250g puy lentils

1pt/half a litre of chicken stock

2 tbs light olive oil

1 med onion, finely chopped

2 small red chillies, de-seeded and chopped fine

salt + black pepper

20g dill, roughly chopped

METHOD

1. Put the soy sauce, garlic and vinegar in a shallow dish and turn the fillets in the marinade so they are well coated. Cover with a plate and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours.
2. Wash the lentils well. Saute the onions and chillies in a saucepan with the oil. Add the lentils and stir well, allowing them to absorb the oil, onion and chilli.
3. Pour in most of the chicken stock. Put the lid on the pan and cook until tender over a low heat, adding more stock if necessary.
4. When the lentils have become soft and absorbed most of the liquid, season well and remove from the heat but keep warm.
5. Grill the salmon briefly on both sides, about 2 minutes. Put a spoonful of lentils on each plate and place the salmon on top.
6. Sprinkle with chopped dill and enjoy!

Squash are one of the most dynamic seasonal vegetables in Britain. Being the holidays, they contribute to a huge range of varieties, colours and sizes and yet we do little more than make pumpkin soup. Despite the fact they are easy to grow, we mostly seem to produce the ubiquitous orange-skinned pumpkin but there are in fact many different types.

Acorn, Banana, Butternut, Calabaza and Kabocha are just a few of the many colourful and exotic types used in cooking. Their marvellous tough shells protect them from perishing too quickly, which means they can be stored for long periods through winter. The slightly sweet, dense flesh can be used in savoury and sweet dishes and its versatility has made the humble squash a staple ingredient in traditional American cooking.

Although the Irish have been credited with introducing pumpkins to America, they were actually already cultivated and used by Native Americans. Long winters required food which could be stored until the snows thawed and pumpkin and squashes were ideal. Consequently they have a long tradition of cooking with pumpkins and have developed an amazing range of recipes.

Pumpkins are part of many American celebrations – Halloween, of course, but also Thanksgiving, representing the first successful harvest of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621. They made a spicy pumpkin custard flavoured with maple syrup, a truly innovative creation which is still popular today.

Butternut Squash Filled with Peanut and Parsnips

2 small butternut squash

1 tbsp light olive oil

400g parsnips

2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

50g unsalted butter

salt and black pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

half tsp ground cumin

half tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Preheat the oven to 180ºC, 350ºF or gas 4. Wipe and dry the squash and halve length-ways, leaving the stalk in place. I use a rolling pin on the top of the knife to drive it through the tough skin. Scoop out the seeds and fibres and place on a baking tray, sprinkle the insides with with olive oil and roast in the oven for an hour. While the squash are in the oven, peel and roughly chop the parsnip and boil until soft. Drain the parsnip, place a tea towel towel over the pan, secure with a lid and set to one side.

Fry the onions in the olive oil until soft, add the cumin and cayenne and cook for another minute. Mash the parsnips with butter, salt and black pepper. Stir in the peanut butter and onion mixture. When the squash are cooked, remove as much of the flesh as possible without damaging the skin. Mix the pulp into the mashed parsnips and stir well. Adjust seasoning and add the fresh coriander. Pile the stuffing back into the shells and return the oven for another 10-15 minutes to warm through. Serve hot.

Happy Holidays!

Aubergines are still in season, which means they are cheap to buy and at their best. When buying aubergines you should look for an unblemished skin and a bright green calyx (the stalk), this will ensure flavour and freshness. Aubergines have often mistakenly been considered bland or even bitter but this would have been the result of incorrect preparation. Nowadays, the newer varieties of aubergines don’t need salting to draw out the bitter juices. However, there is a definite advantage in doing so because pre-salted aubergines will absorb less oil during cooking, giving a less greasy finished dish. This just requires sprinkling a little salt evenly all over the sliced aubergine and leaving it for about ten to 20 minutes to allow the juices to come to the surface. Don’t rinse, just wipe with absorbent kitchen roll.

To extract the best flavours from the aubergines, they should be fried, grilled or roasted with a little olive oil. Fennel also remains in season until the end of October. With its subtle liquorice flavour, fennel makes a perfect accompaniment to fish. It is grown here in Britain now but the best fennel, I have to admit, comes from France and Italy. All the parts of the fennel plant can be eaten – the bulb, the leaves and the seeds from the flowers. Its culinary desirability is matched by its health benefits – fennel is a strong antioxidant with high levels of vitamin C. This menu is inspired by Italian food but given a British slant. All recipes serve 4.

Pasta-Filled Aubergine

4 small aubergines

3 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

400g tin tomatoes

4 large spoonfuls of cooked pasta

150g mozzarella

large handful fresh basil

large handful curly parsley

salt and black pepper

If you want to find a way to use up yesterday’s  pasta, this is your answer. I like to use a short pasta for this recipe, such as maccheroncini, tubetti or gnocchetti sardi. Preheat the oven 200C, 400F or Gas 6. Bake the aubergines whole for 20-30 minutes or until they are completely tender all the way through. While they are cooking, fry the onion in the oil until soft and then add the garlic, tomatoes and seasoning. Cook the sauce for about 20 minutes. When the aubergines are ready, slit them two thirds of the way round, leaving the stalk in place. Scoop out the flesh on to a plate and roughly mash with a fork. Tip into the pan with the sauce and stir well. Add the cooked pasta, roughly diced mozzarella and the herbs. Adjust the seasoning and then fill the aubergine shells with the pasta mixture. Serve straight away.

Baked Fennel

3 bulbs of fennel

50g unsalted butter

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp freshly-grated Parmesan

salt and black pepper

pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven 240C, 475F or Gas 9. Cut each head of fennel in half through the length of the bulb. Remove any tough or damaged outer leaves and cut out the core. Trim the leaves and stalks of the bulb and put into a saucepan with enough water to just cover the fennel. Salt the water and simmer gently until the bulbs begin to soften but retain an al dente texture. Carefully drain the water from the pan and place each half in a shallow, ovenproof dish. Season well with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Melt the butter and distribute evenly over the fennel. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

There is nothing more satisfying than spending an afternoon baking in the kitchen, unless the weather is gorgeous! The house is filled with the comforting smell of freshly – baked cakes and, as a throwback to days gone by, it’s so civilised to invite friends round for afternoon tea. Why not create an occasion, what would be nicer than to invite a few friends round over the weekend and spoil them with your baking?

This simple cake always adds grace and taste to the tea table. However, take note: The strawberry jam has to be absolutely first class. If you don’t have any homemade jam from last summer, try Duchy Originals Organic or the Co-op’s own brand. Don’t skimp on the cream either. I use Coombe Farm double cream because of its richness and colour. Lastly, use good quality unsalted butter and free-range eggs.

Strawberry Victoria Sponge

100g self-raising flour

100g caster sugar

100g unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla essence

half a jar of strawberry jam

half a pint (300ml) double cream

Turn the oven on to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Grease and line two 20cm sandwich cake tins. Cream the sugar and butter until pale. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of sieved flour and beat well. Sieve the remainder of the flour into the mixture and add the vanilla essence, folding in carefully. Divide the mixture between the two tins and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. To test the cakes are ready, lightly press the surface with your finger tips. It should spring back and be evenly browned. Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack. Beat the cream with a little extra sugar if desired. When the cakes are cool, sandwich together with the jam and cream and dust with icing sugar. Serve with a cup of Earl Grey tea, or a glass of fizz if you fancy!

Enjoy!

The pine nut looks beautiful when toasted and scattered over salads, giving off a buttery & mildly resinous taste which is very appealing. Like the almond, these small, tear-shaped seeds are now cultivated around the world. Pine nuts are the seeds found in pine cones of the Pinaceae family of trees and are widely used in Mediterranean cooking, most notably in Italy. Italy began to cultivate pine forests during Roman times by order of the Pope. Pine nuts were used to make wine, preserved in honey and made into sausages. Evidence of their use was also found in the excavations of Pompei. Their use today continues to be as widespread and popular and there is never any difficulty in sourcing recipes. This is good news for people with high cholesterol or diabetes and also for children who need food packed with energy. One of my favourite things to make is pesto, usually homemade pesto is made according to personal taste. It’s not always wise to be too precise with the proportions of each ingredient – some people prefer more oil for a slacker result, others may like more garlic. Therefore, use this recipe as a platform for creating your own personalised pesto sauce!

Pesto Recipe

75g basil leaves (a large handful)

2 cloves garlic

50g pine nuts

150ml of the best olive oil you can afford

Put into a food processor bowl and grind on high for about one minute until smooth paste develops. You may like to leave a few lumps for a more rustic-style pesto.

Enjoy!!

Food is always an important element of any holiday for me and this post was inspired by my last visit to France when my husband and I cycled to Paris with a couple of our good friends. I particularly like the regional dishes of the French Alps, which is why our skiing trip during the Christmas holidays was so perfect.

We stayed with some friends in St. Jean D’Aulps and they introduced us to their favourite eateries, one of which was a small village called Londarais. The specialty of Londarais is a wonderfully sharp goat’s cheese used to make Salad Chèvre Chaud, my friend Jane’s favourite lunch.

Back home in Brighton, I discovered some really good cheese in Infinity Foods, made just half an hour away in Horsted Keynes at the Sussex High Weald Dairy. This is a small gem in the heart of the countryside where the Hardy family has been making cheese for 25 years! Most of their cheese is made from sheep’s milk which has a higher protein content than dairy and is more easily digested. Obviously this is good news for those suffering from a milk allergy but another reason it is preferable to cow’s milk is because it contains 100 percent more calcium and 33 percent more vitamins, amino acids and minerals. So why not consider locally produced cheese when a recipe specifies a European cheese next time?

Sheep’s Cheese Salad

Serves 4

4 Organic Slipcote cheeses cheeses, each sliced into 2 rounds

8 slices of a large French baguette

1/4 pint of good olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 lettuce torn into pieces, use a strong tasting lettuce

1 fennel bulb, tough stalk removed and finely sliced

4 spring onions

small bunch of flat leaf parsley, shredded

20 walnuts halved

4 stalks of cherry tomatoes, each vine holding at least five tomatoes

For the Dressing:

3 tbs of olive oil

juice of half lemon and salt and black pepper

Heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6 and turn on the grill. Place the tomato vines in the oven until evenly browned, this will take about ten minutes if your oven is already hot. Crush the garlic and mix with the oil, then pour on to a plate and dip in the bread so it is oiled on both sides. Lay the slices on the grill pan and toast on one side. Meanwhile, put the oil, lemon juice and seasoning into a large bowl, mix together and add all the salad ingredients. Toss until everything is evenly coated. Turn the toasts over, place one round of cheese on each and spread to reach the edges of the crust. Replace under the grill until golden and bubbling. Make a pile of the salad on the plate, place two toasts on top and finish with the stalk of roasted tomatoes.

Enjoy!

What I love most about Easter is the fact that I can gather all my family for an indulgent meal without going through the frenzy one experiences at Christmas. Easter, with its promise of better weather, manages to inspire a sense of celebration sprinkled with spring flowers. The giving and receiving of chocolate eggs lends a simplicity to the day leaving everyone relaxed and appreciative of each others company. This is surely worth celebrating, even for the most sceptical non-believers.

Lamb is traditionally served at Easter because of its symbolic relation to the Easter story, but also coincides with the natural breeding cycle of sheep producing spring lamb during the Easter period. We are more fortunate than many parts of Britain, except of course Wales, to have such excellent lamb reared here in Sussex! South Downs lamb has a sweet, succulent flavour, very similar to that of Welsh lamb. Here is a recipe from one of my traditional Easter menu’s that is not only a joy to make but also a luxury to eat.

Rosemary & Dijon Rack of Lamb with Aubergine Relish

Serves 4

2 medium-size best ends of lamb, eight chops per piece and Frenched (ie. the rib ends cleaned and trimmed)

1 large stalk of rosemary

2 tsp Dijon mustard

light olive oil for searing the lamb.

For the Relish:

2 large aubergines, diced large and salted

4 medium red onions

4 red peppers, diced small

2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tbsp light olive oil

250ml red wine vinegar

400g granulated sugar

1 tbsp smoked paprika

salt & pepper

2 tbsp finely chopped mint

To prepare the lamb, rub a tsp of mustard into the fat side of each best end and coat the whole area evenly. Press the chopped rosemary into the mustard and place the meat in the fridge until you are ready to cook it.

Now to make the relish: Peel and chop the onions into large dice. Fry the onion with the ginger and garlic  in 2 tbsp of olive oil until the onion turns transparent. Add the diced pepper and cook for two minutes. Now add the vinegar, sugar and paprika and cook until the mixture becomes caramelised. Put the aubergine pieces in a clean tea towel and squeeze out all the juices, using a firm grip. Fry them in the remaining oil until evenly browned all over. Mix the aubergine in with the onion mixture, season and stir well. Leave to cool. When cool, stir in the chopped mint.

Preheat the oven to 220C, 425F. Place the lamb in a roasting tin and roast for 10-20 minutes, depending on hoe you like your lamb. Remove the lamb from the oven and leave to rest fr five minutes. Put a spoonful of the aubergine relish on each plate and cut each rack of lamb in half, sit each piece on top of the relish and serve with homemade mint jelly.

Enjoy and Happy Easter!