Guinea fowl with orange and szechuan pepper

Guinea fowl with orange and Szechuan pepper. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin

Magnificent as the traditional Christmas bird can be, there are several others worth considering at this time of year. As most of them feed much smaller numbers than either goose or turkey, they are perfect for the many smaller but nevertheless celebratory meals held around this time of year. Pheasant, guinea fowl, duck, partridge and quail take surprisingly well to a bit of mild spicing – nothing inappropriately hot, just warm and aromatic. So this year's birds come with hints of cardamom and orange, cayenne and clove. Mild spices for a festive roast.

Hugely underrated, the guinea fowl offers fine, slightly gamey meat that is rarely anything but tender. One bird will feed two people. Schezuan pepper has a curious flavour, both warm and slightly lemony. I tend to toast it lightly before use.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

butter – a thin slice
olive oil – 2 tbs
a large guinea fowl, about 1.5kg
onions – 2 medium
carrots – 2 medium
celery – a stick or two
garlic – 1 clove
Szechuan peppercorns – 1 tsp
flour – 1 heaped tbs
stock – 600ml
orange peel – 4 long strips
a couple of bay leaves
star anise – 3 whole ones

Set the oven at 200˚C/Gas 6.

Melt the butter in the oil in a large, deep casserole. Cut the guinea fowl in half through the backbone, salt and pepper it, then colour it lightly on both sides in the butter and oil. Remove and set aside.

Peel the onions and cut them in half and then into thick segments. Put them in the pan in which you browned the guinea fowl halves and leave to colour over a moderate heat.

Scrub and roughly chop the carrots, trim and roughly chop the celery, then add them to the onions.

Peel the garlic, crush and add it. Toast the peppercorns in a dry frying pan then crush or grind fairly finely and add them together with the flour.

Continue cooking for 3 or 4 minutes then pour in the stock.

Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer. Season with salt, pepper, the orange peel, bay and the star anise, then return the guinea fowl to the pan.

Cover with a lid, then put in the oven and leave to bake for 50 minutes.

Serve, surrounded by its sauce and vegetables.

Gingerbread House

If you have a few hours to spare one weekend between now an Christmas, use them to make a gingerbread house. I had a good time this week creating a template – with Molly, our youngest daughter – for a very English gingerbread house. Lots of the patterns around are Scandinavian (this gingerbread recipe comes from Norway), as they're much keener on making gingerbread houses than we are, so we decided to make a cottage/ramshackle farmhouse instead. We then made the house and stuck it together with toffee and iced the roof with dollops of snow. A final massive dusting of icing sugar did wonders for hiding any cracks and holes.A piping bag is handy for the toffee but not essential, and you need a large tray or cake board. The house here is on a 30cm by 50cm tray, leaving a bit of room for a garden.

Makes a small house

For the gingerbread dough:

450g runny honey
4 eggs
350g caster sugar
1kg plain flour
zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
100g ground almonds
100g ground hazelnuts
8 tsp ground mixed spice
pinch of salt
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the toffee: 225g white caster sugar

For the royal icing:

2 egg whites, beaten until frothy
450g icing sugar
juice of 1 lemon

To make the dough, heat the honey gently. Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy, add the warm honey, and then combine the wet mixture with the remaining dry ingredients. Fold them gently together and knead into a soft dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave it in the fridge for a few hours.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Roll out the dough thinly (approximately 5mm thick) and cut it into the shapes of your pattern.

Put the sections on greaseproof paper rubbed with a trace of sunflower oil, or a silicone mat. Bake each section in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown and leave to cool on a wire rack. The gingerbread will be soft when it comes out of the oven but cools to a crisp biscuit.

(The dough will keep for up to 4 weeks in the fridge. If you have any left over, make biscuits and shapes to hang on your tree.)

When you're ready to construct the house, make the toffee to use as glue. Melt the sugar slowly in a saucepan until it starts to brown. Take care not to let it burn. Pour the toffee into a measuring jug, and from there into the piping bag. Take care not to touch the toffee as it will be exceptionally hot. (To be extra safe, use heat-proof gloves.) Pipe the toffee out of the bag, using it to stick one bit of the house to the next.

Next make the royal icing for the base and snow on the roof. Whisk the beaten egg whites until frothy but not stiff, and mix in 2 tbs of icing sugar and the lemon juice to make a paste. Gradually add the rest of the icing sugar until the icing is soft and holds its shape. If the mix is still sloppy, add more icing sugar.

First spread the icing all over the base board quite thickly – like snow – using it to hold the walls in place. Then pipe it on to the house. For the one on page 15, we iced the tops of the windows and ridge of the roof and then dusted the whole thing with icing sugar.

If you don't eat it straight away, the gingerbread house will keep for months.

Blood orange and pink grapefruit sorbet with limoncello

After a big Christmas meal, there's nothing better than a few mouthfuls of this sharp and sweet blood orange and pink grapefruit sorbet. Fill a glass with a few scoops and pour over the lemon vodka, or limoncello

Ingredients (Serves 4-6)

juice of 5 blood oranges (should give about 500ml juice)
juice of 2 pink grapefruits (should give about 300ml juice)
150g sugar
limoncello, to serve

Scrub and dry the fruit and, using a zester, remove the zest of the oranges. Dissolve the sugar in 200ml water in a small saucepan over a low heat. Add half the orange zest and bring to the boil for 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool and strain.

Squeeze the juice from all the oranges and grapefruits and combine it with the cold syrup and reserved, uncooked zest.

Pour into an ice-cream maker. Freeze/churn for 20-25 minutes and pack into a plastic container. Freeze for at least an hour before serving. If you haven't got a machine, pour into a plastic food container and freeze for 2 hours. Take out of the freezer and stir with a fork. Return to the freezer and repeat this process twice, stirring at two-hourly intervals.

Allow the sorbet 20-25 minutes in the fridge to soften slightly before serving. Put 2 scoops per person into a glass and pour a little limoncello over each one.

Zuppa Inglese

Christmas just isn't Christmas without trifle. This classic Italian version literally takes 10 minutes to put together with bought ingredients from your local supermarket. I do like to add my own chocolate to the custard rather than buying chocolate custard – this ensures a quality chocolate flavour.

Ingredients Serves 4-6

125ml espresso coffee
125ml coffee liqueur
2 tbs cognac, or brandy
1 litre vanilla custard, homemade or shop-bought
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1 x 16cm round sponge cake, cut into 1cm slices
finely grated dark chocolate or unsweetened cocoa powder, to dust

Stir together the espresso, liqueur and cognac. Put half your custard in a pan over a low heat and slowly melt in your chocolate. Once melted, remove from the heat.

Start with a little vanilla custard at the bottom of each dish and top with a layer of cake slices. Moisten the cake generously by spooning over the espresso mixture. Follow this with a layer of chocolate custard. Repeat the cake soaked with espresso mixture, and top with vanilla custard. Repeat until all the cake and custard have been used, finishing with a layer of custard. Chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Dust with dark chocolate or cocoa powder to serve.

Toad In The Hole

The sausage is a relative newcomer to the position of toad, the space having been previously reserved for any small pieces of meat that could be eked out with a bit of batter. Scraps of the Sunday roast, bits of cooked ham or pretty much anything you like have been used in place of the sausages, and never more so than after the war. Nowadays it's bangers or nothing. The recipe stands or falls by the quality of the sausage you use.

The Recipe

Set the oven at 220C/gas mark 7. Whisk together 2 eggs and 300ml of full-fat milk. Add a good pinch of salt, then beat in 125g plain flour. Heat 3 tbsp of lard or dripping in a small roasting tin or baking dish until it starts to smoke. Add 6 fat pork sausages and let them colour on all sides then, while the oil and sausages are smoking hot, pour in the batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes until puffed and golden.

The Trick

Like making Yorkshire pudding, get the fat in the roasting tin (literally) smoking hot before adding the batter. I put the lightly cooked sausages in the pan first then pour in the batter when you can see a blue haze rising. I am a great believer in letting the batter rest before using, though others disagree.

The Twist

Nigella's adorable new book Kitchen (Chatto and Windus, £26) turns the toad on its head by using sausage patties, the meat pressed from its casing and shaped into tiny burgers. Delightful, especially if you season them with thyme. I often wrap my sausages, minus their skins, in very thin bacon or pancetta. Onion gravy is the usual accompaniment, but new thinking involves hot, rough-textured tomato sauce or even a creamy mustard one, such as you might serve with rabbit.

Pot-roast pheasant with chorizo, butter beans and parsley

This recipe comes from River Cottage's head chef, Gill Meller - it's a fantastic winter warmer which tastes even better reheated and eaten the day after you make it. Give the butter beans a full 24-hour soak before cooking - it really helps to make them tender and buttery.

Ingredients (Serves four)

200g dried butter beans
1 knob butter
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 oven-ready pheasants
200-300g cooking chorizo, outer skin removed, flesh chopped into 2-3cm chunks
1 pig's trotter (optional)
300ml white wine
500ml chicken or game stock (or water)
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Cover the beans with plenty of cold water and leave to soak for 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Place a large casserole over a medium heat; add the butter and a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Cook for at least 10 minutes, until soft and golden, stirring regularly to prevent them over-colouring.

Meanwhile, set a large frying pan over a high heat and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Season the pheasants all over, brown on all sides for three to four minutes, then transfer to the casserole.

Add the chorizo to the frying pan, along with the pig's trotter (if using). Fry for three to four minutes to brown, then add to the casserole. Deglaze the frying pan with a little of the wine, then add to the casserole, along with the remaining wine, the stock and the drained beans. Bring the casserole up to a simmer, then cover, move to the oven and cook for two hours.

Remove the birds from the pan and set aside to rest in a warm place. Discard the pig's trotter (or save it for a midnight snack). If the chorizo has released a lot of fat, skim some off. Add the parsley and season to taste. Carve the birds and divide them between warmed plates. Spoon over the chorizo, beans and sauce, and serve with mash and/or lots of bread.

Tzatziki

Excellent with bread, vegetable fritters, meatballs or crudités.

Ingredients (Makes 600ml)

750ml plain yoghurt
1 long, thin cucumber, peeled and
finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ tsp salt
3-4 tbs olive oil
3 tbs finely chopped fresh dill

Line a colander with cheesecloth (muslin) or a double thickness of paper towels and spoon the yoghurt into it. Let drain over a bowl in the refrigerator for about 6 hours. Transfer the strained yoghurt from the strainer to a bowl. Stir in the cucumber, garlic, salt and oil. Cover and chill.

Serve in a shallow bowl, sprinkled with the dill.

Moules A La Creme

"If it ain't, don't fix it" is a pretty good rule to follow in cookery, so it's tempting to stick with mussel, white wine, shallots and not much else - but adding cream makes a dish that is richer and more luxurious.

Ingredients (serves 6 as a starter, 3-4 as a main)

2.5kg mussels
70g butter
3 shallots
1 clove garlic, chopped
250ml white wine
1-2 bay leaves or 2-3 sprigs of thyme
200ml double cream
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Rinse the mussels in several changes of cold water, discard any that don't close when given a firm tap, scrape off any barnacles and pull off the beards.

Melt just over half of the butter in a large, heavy-based pan, add the shallots, garlic (if using), wine and bay leaves or thyme, bring to the boil and boil for 2-3 mins. Add the mussels. Cover and cook on a high heat for 2 minutes. Holding down the lid, shake the pan, then take off the lid and cook until the mussels have opened (about 3 minutes or more). Using a slotted spoon, scoop them into a warmed dish or bowl.

Strain the cooking liquid through a fine sieve into a pan, bring to the boil, then stir in the cream. Bring it back to the boil, then cook to reduce and thicken. While this is cooking, quickly remove the empty half-shells from the mussels and put the mussels in their shells back in the warmed disk or onto individual soup plates. Season the cream sauce with pepper and stir in the remaining butter. As soon as it has melted, pour the sauce over the mussels, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately with plenty of bread.

Minestrone

It's important to cut the vegetables into small pieces, even dice. If you have the rind from a chunk of Parmesan, add it to the broth - it adds a real depth of flavour.

Ingredients (serves six)

3 tbsp olive oil
130g pancetta or streaky bacon, cut into cubes
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1 stick celery, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
200g potatoes, peeled and cubed
40g Savoy cabbage, finely shredded
1-2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1.2 litres good chicken stock
400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
70g small pasta, such as macaroni or tubetti
3-4 tbsp chopped, flat-leaf parsley
Salt and ground black pepper

In a big pot, warm the oil over medium heat, then add the pancetta and sauté until just golden. Add the carrot, onion and celery, lower the heat and sauté, stirring, until soft, about seven minutes. Add the garlic, potatoes, cabbage and thyme, and cook until the cabbage wilts. Add the tomatoes, stock and a pinch of salt, and simmer, partially covered, for 40 minutes. Add the beans and pasta, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add more stock if it looks a bit thick. Taste, season and stir in the parsley. Serve with Parmesan (or hard goat's cheese) shavings.

Pot-roast chicken with potatoes, bacon, garlic and thyme

It’s simple, really. All you need is top-notch, seasonal ingredients and an effortless recipe

Ingredients (serves 4)

50g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 fine-quality, free-range 1.5kg chicken (dressed weight) with giblets, if possible
130g pancetta or other bacon, cubed
12 cloves of garlic, peeled
2-3 generous splashes of vermouth
1kg potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into large chunks
5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
300ml good chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 150C/330F/Gas Mark 2.

Using a deep cast-iron pot with a lid (an oval Le Creuset is ideal), melt the butter with the olive oil. Season the chicken all over and inside, then slowly brown its surfaces in the fat, turning the bird over and around for about 15 minutes. Remove to a plate. Add the pancetta and garlic to the pot and allow both to sizzle and gild slightly, then pour in the vermouth, which will froth and splutter. Introduce the potatoes now and turn with a spoon through the fatty residue until well coated. Stir in the thyme sprigs and stock and return the chicken to the pot, burying it deep among the potatoes. Bring the whole affair up to a bubbling simmer over a low heat, cover and transfer to the oven.

Cook for 1-1½ hours, until the potatoes are very tender indeed; the chicken will also be well cooked, but that is how it is meant to be in this instance.

Serve direct from the pot at the table, carefully lifting the chicken onto a hot serving dish for jointing. Spoon some of the potatoes – together with copious amounts of juice – around each serving.

The Perfect Pizza

I love pizza: with a good, thin, burnt-at-the-edges crust that seductively conspires to be both crisp and chewy at the same time. Spare me from those hefty, overloaded slabs favoured by so many fast food places. I've nothing against Chicago, but I'd rather trust Al Capone to do my taxes than tuck into a slice of the pizza that bears his city's name.

Such heavy concoctions are a million miles away from pizza's humble origins as the simple flatbread favoured by the Greeks. Over the centuries, it acquired more adornment until, in 1889, Queen Margherita's visit to Naples produced possibly the first "modern" pizza. A local chef dressed his dough in red, white and green (in the form of tomato, mozzarella and basil) in a tasty nod to the Italian flag, and the pizza margherita was born.

That clever Neopolitan was on to something. I like pizza with only a few simple toppings (three or four at most), so the dough can shine. When it comes to getting the dough right, I've been encouraged by Daniel Stevens, the River Cottage baker (the recipe is his, from River Cottage Handbook No.3: Bread). And I won't lie – it can be tricky getting that crisp, slightly blistered crust in a domestic oven. The key is to whack the thing up as high as it will go and give it time to get to temperature. If you have one, put in a pizza stone to heat up too. If you haven't, a large, unglazed quarry tile is a good substitute, or at a pinch use a heavy baking sheet, preheated as hot as it will get. While that's heating up, assemble your toppings. If you're cooking for a crowd, set up a selection in bowls – tomato sauce, meats, fish, cheeses, vegetables – so everyone can, well, get a pizza the action. Torn basil or a few rocket leaves are good to sprinkle on top when the pizzas come out of the oven, along with a trickle of good olive or chilli oil if you like a little fire in your belly. Oh, and one final thing: no pineapple. Ever.

Perfect pizza dough

Dan's recipe is foolproof and the dough keeps well, sealed in the fridge, for a couple of weeks. Whenever you feel that pizza craving coming on, simply break off a lime-sized piece of dough and get rolling. Makes eight small pizzas.

Ingredients(Makes eight small pizzas)

250g strong white bread flour
250g plain white flour
5g powdered dried yeast
10g salt
325ml warm water
About 1 tbsp olive oil
1 handful coarse flour (rye, semolina or polenta), for dusting

In a bowl, mix the flours, yeast, salt and water to form a sticky dough. Mix in the oil, then turn out on to a clean work surface and knead until smooth and silky. (Alternatively, if you have a mixer with a dough hook, mix the flours, yeast, salt and water on a low speed, add the oil and knead for 10 minutes). Shape into a round, and leave to rise in a clean bowl, covered with a plastic bag, until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven (and pizza stone or substitute) as high as it will go. Take a lime-sized piece of dough and roll it into a 5mm thick round. Dust a rimless baking sheet with coarse flour, lay the dough on it, add your toppings and slip the pizza from the sheet on to the hot stone. Bake until any cheese is bubbling and the base is taking on some colour, seven to nine minutes. Scatter over any leaves or raw toppings, and tuck in.

Roast tomato sauce

Roasting gives the sauce great depth of flavour. This freezes well, too.

Ingredients

500g tomatoes, halved
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Lay the tomatoes cut side up in a roasting tin, place a slice of garlic on each, pour over the oil, season well and roast for 30-45 minutes, until soft and slightly charred. Rub through a sieve into a bowl.

Garlic oil

Adds a great punch of flavour. It does not keep, so make only as much as you need for a pizza-making session.

Ingredients

6 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Simply combine the garlic and oil.

Chilli oil

This keeps sealed in the fridge for a few weeks. It's good in marinades and salad dressings, too. Makes 250ml.

Ingredients

6 mildish chillies, such as poblano
250ml olive oil
1 tsp thyme leaves
1 garlic clove, unpeeled

Cut open the chillies from tip to tail, remove the seeds and discard. Cut into strips and put in a pan with the oil, thyme and garlic. Heat slowly till the oil is simmering very gently, then cook the chillies until soft, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
My favourite toppings

Pizza bianca: brush the dough with olive oil, sprinkle on some chopped rosemary and sea salt, and bake.
Brush with olive oil and scatter on some slices of finely sliced mackerel fillet. Dot with crème fraîche and sprinkle on finely sliced red onion. Once cooked, scatter over some dill.
Spread with a thin layer of roasted tomato sauce, arrange goat's cheese on top and bake. Before serving, scatter on a handful of basil, chervil, thyme and oregano, and trickle on some olive or seasoned oil.
Break some cooking chorizo into biggish chunks and cook in a frying pan until they give off their tasty red fat. Brush the base with the red oil, smear on some roasted tomato sauce, scatter over the chorizo, some black olives and a bit of grated hard goat's cheese and bake.
Halve and slice thin a couple of onions. Fry in olive oil until they caramelise, then tip on to a pizza base. Crumble over some blue cheese (or some anchovies), sprinkle on some thyme leaves and bake.
Cut an aubergine into thick rounds, brush with oil and roast or fry until golden. Brush tomato sauce on a base, lay the aubergine and a few dollops of ricotta on top, and bake. Scatter basil or rocket on top, trickle over garlic or chilli oil and serve.

Black bottom cupcakes

The black bottom cupcake looks innocent but packs a punch! It's a dark chocolate sponge with a dollop of cheesecake baked into it. Makes twelve.

Ingredients (Makes twelve)

for the chocolate sponge base:
190g plain flour
120g caster sugar
40g cocoa powder, plus extra to decorate
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
40ml sunflower oil
1½ tsp white vinegar
½ tsp vanilla extract
for the cheesecake filling:
140g cream cheese
60g caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
100g milk chocolate chips
a 12-hole cupcake tray, lined with paper cases

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas 3. For the chocolate sponge base, put the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl and mix with a handheld electric whisk on slow speed until all the dry ingredients are well incorporated.

Put the oil, vinegar, vanilla extract and 125ml water in a jug and whisk to combine. While the electric whisk is running in the flour bowl, slowly add the contents of the jug, increasing the speed of the blender as the mixture thickens. Continue to beat until all the ingredients are incorporated. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full. Set aside.

For the cheesecake filling, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla extract and salt in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until smooth and fluffy.

Stir in the chocolate chips by hand until evenly dispersed. Don't overmix, otherwise the cream cheese will start to split.

Scoop about 1 tbs of the cheesecake filling on top of the cupcake mixture in the cases and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cupcakes are firm to the touch and they have an even golden colour on the cheesecake filling. Don't overcook, as the cheesecake will become dry and crumbly. Leave to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the cream cheese frosting on top and decorate with a light sprinkling of cocoa .

Fig and Walnut Cake

A big family cake made in much the same way as carrot cake. Serves 8 (at least).

Ingredients (Serves at least 8)

250g soft dried figs
100g shelled walnuts
3 eggs
65g golden caster sugar65g light muscovado sugar
200ml groundnut oil
250g flour
a gently heaped tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch ground nutmeg
100ml yogurt
vanilla – a couple of drops
For the icing
350g cream cheese
50g softened butter
vanilla – a couple of drops
250g icing sugar


Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Line the base of two 20cm cake tins with lightly buttered or oiled baking parchment. Roughly chop the figs and walnuts. The nuts

should be chopped slightly finer than the fruit.
Mix the eggs, sugars and oil using an electric mixer, and beat till pale and fluffy. Sift the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Add the yogurt to the cake mixture, alternating with the flour and spices. Stir in the vanilla, the f

igs and the walnuts.

Divide the mixture between the two lined baking tins and bake for 40-45 minutes, covering with foil for the last 10 minutes if the top is getting a little dark. Remove from the oven, leave to settle for a few minutes then run a palette knife around the edges and carefully turn on to a cooling rack. Remove the paper from each cake.

Make the icing. Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla till smooth, then beat in the icing sugar. Spread a layer on the base of one of the cakes, place the other cake on top, then move to a cake stand or plate.

Spread the remaining butter cream over the top and sides of the cake

Sticky five-spice Ribs

Ingredients (Serves four)

2kg rack pork back ribs
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp freshly grated root ginger
125ml soy sauce
125ml hoisin sauce
60ml honey
1 tsp five-spice powder
2 tbsp mild-flavoured oil, such as sunflower
For the cabbage salad
¼ cabbage, cored
2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
A few drops sesame oil
Sea salt
½ tsp sugar
To serve
Steamed rice

Put the ribs in a baking dish. Place all the remaining rib ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth (or simply stir together in a bowl). Pour all but a few tablespoons of this marinade over the ribs and rub well in. Turn the ribs meat-side down, ready for cooking.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Bake the ribs for 40 minutes, then turn them over and brush with the reserved marinade. Raise the heat to 220C/425F/gas mark 7, and cook for 10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, shred the cabbage and place in a bowl. Combine the vinegar, sesame oil, salt and sugar to make a dressing, drizzle over the cabbage and toss with your hands.

Lift the ribs on to a board and cut each rib off the rack. Serve with the cabbage salad and steamed rice.

Linguine with tomatoes, lemon, chilli and crab

This recipe (and variations thereof) has graced summer menus all over the place, the best and first at the brilliant River Cafe in London. But oh, it's good, and so moreish, and seems to epitomise summer in every bite. If there is one good summer pasta dish to have in your repertoire, this should be it. Serves two.

Ingredients(Serves two)

75g cherry tomatoes
Sea salt
1 clove garlic, peeled
½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
170g cooked crab meat (white and brown)
180g wholemeal/wholewheat or spelt linguine
Fresh chopped parsley

Cut the tomatoes in half and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Using a pestle and mortar, crush the garlic and chilli to a pulp. Mix in the oil, lemon juice and zest. Add the crab to the mix if your mortar is big enough; if not, transfer everything to a slightly bigger bowl.

Cook the pasta in salted, boiling water until al dente, drain, transfer to a serving bowl, pour over the crab mixture and tomatoes, mix, sprinkle with parsley, and eat.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

This is such a fresh dish that it makes a perfect summer starter or canapé. Other raw veg can be substituted for those listed here. Add cooked chicken or prawns for a more substantial non-vegetarian snack. Makes eight large rolls.

For the dipping sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp water
2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tbsp fish sauce (or, to make the dish vegetarian, light soy sauce)
1 lime, juiced

For the spring rolls

50g vermicelli rice noodles
1 tsp sesame oil
8 good lettuce leaves (little gem or romaine)
24 fresh basil leaves
24 fresh mint leaves
8 sprigs fresh coriander
1 carrot, peeled and cut into very fine strips
½ red pepper, cut into very fine strips
¼ cucumber, cut into very fine strips
6 sugarsnap peas, cut into very fine strips
6 radishes, cut into very fine strips
8 rice paper wrappers

To make the dipping sauce, put the vinegar, sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, leave to cool, then stir in the rest of the ingredients and set aside.

Cook the noodles for three to four minutes (or according to the instructions) until al dente, drain and refresh under cold running water. Cut the noodles into small pieces and toss in the sesame oil.

Lay out one lettuce leaf on a work surface, and top with an eighth of the herbs (ie three leaves each of mint and basil, plus one coriander sprig), an eighth of the vegetable strips and an eighth of the noodles.

Soak one sheet of rice paper in warm water until soft and pliable. Place on a damp cloth and carefully lift the lettuce leaf and lay it on top of the rice paper. Roll the rice paper as tightly as possible over the filling, folding in the sides, to make a neat, tight parcel. Repeat with the remaining rice paper, lettuce and filling.

To serve, cut in half diagonally and serve with dipping sauce

Saffron Chicken and Herb Salad

This refreshing salad was created by the chefs at Ottolenghi in Belgravia and is the biggest summer hit there. If you don't like fennel, use a combination of spring onion and rocket instead. Serves six.

Ingredients(Serves six)

1 orange
50g honey
½ tsp saffron threads
1 tbsp white-wine vinegar
About 300ml water
1kg skinless chicken breast
4 tbsp olive oil
2 small fennel bulbs, sliced thin
15g picked coriander leaves
15g picked basil leaves, torn
15 picked mint leaves, torn
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
Salt and black pepper

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Trim and discard 1cm off the top and tail of the orange and cut it into 12 wedges, keeping the skin on but picking out any pips. Place the wedges in a small saucepan along with the honey, saffron, vinegar and just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for about an hour. At the end, you should be left with soft orange pieces and about three tablespoons of thick syrup; add water during the cooking, if needed. Use a food processor to blitz the orange (skin and all) and syrup into a smooth, runny paste; again, add water if needed.

Rub the chicken breasts with half the olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper, and place on a very hot ridged griddle pan. Sear for about two minutes on each side, to get clear char marks all over. Transfer to a roasting tray and roast for 15-20 minutes, until just cooked.

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, but still warm, break it up with your hands into quite large pieces. Put these in a large bowl, pour over half the orange paste and stir. (The remaining orange syrup will keep in the fridge for a few days, and makes a good addition to a herb salsa to serve with oily fish.)

Add the remaining ingredients to the salad, including the rest of the oil, and toss gently. Taste, add salt and pepper and, if needed, some more olive oil and lemon juice.

Barbecue Temperatures

Once the charcoal has been burning for 20 minutes, or is smoke/free and glowing, hold your hand directly over the grill bars and see how long you can bear to keep it there!

For 1 second Searing - fish such as tuna, which is best seared on the outside and left pink in the centre, should be cooked at this temperature, as should blue steak.
For 3-4 seconds Sizzle - at this temperature, the food will brown. So beep an eye on it, as it will need to be turned regularly.
For 6-7 seconds Cook - start large pieces of meat at sizzle, then transfer to "cook".
Indefinitely, but hand feels warm Holding - for keeping food warm and resting meat.

If the temperature does not fall exactly into one of these categories, but is good and hot, rake the coals around a little.

Lamb shwarma kebab with spinach, red onion, peppers, sweet chilli sauce, garlic sauce and pickled green chillies

Ingredients (Makes six)

700g trimmed neck fillet
For the marinade
3 tsp coriander seeds
3 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp mild paprika
1½ tbs pomegranate molasses
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1½ tbs olive oil
For grilling the lamb
fine sea salt
To assemble the kebabs
150g white cabbage, finely sliced
75g baby spinach leaves
½ red onion, finely sliced
juice of 1 lemon
6 pitta breads
3 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced into rounds
8 pickled green chillies, or to taste
To serve
Garlic sauce
sweet chilli sauce

To marinate the meat

Toast the coriander and cumin seeds over the heat in a dry skillet or frying pan, and grind. Mix in a bowl with the other marinade ingredients. Using disposable gloves, rub the lamb all over with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 3 hours.

To grill the lamb

Before barbecuing, give the lamb enough time out of the fridge to lose its chill. This cut of lamb has a relatively high fat and weak sinew content, so needs slow cooking. Season the lamb well with salt. Before you begin barbecuing, have all your kebab ingredients lined up and ready to go.

Barbecue

Preheat the grill to medium-high or 'sizzle' temperature. Clean and lightly oil the rack. A clean grill is particularly important for this recipe, as the pomegranate molasses can make the lamb stick. Place the lamb on the grill and seal on all sides. This should take about 2-3 minutes. Move to a medium heat and cook for a further 12-15 minutes, or until cooked through, turning every 3 minutes or so. Remove the lamb to a warmed tray. Cover and leave to rest for 3-4 minutes while you organise yourself to assemble the kebabs.

To assemble the kebabs

Toss the cabbage, spinach and red onion with the lemon juice and season to taste. Slice the lamb thinly on the diagonal, across the grain of the meat, to give doner-kebab-like strips. Warm the pitta breads on the barbecue for a minute on each side until they puff up and are easy to split. Don't toast them, as they will become inflexible. Split the bread down one side. Divide the dressed cabbage and spinach mix between the pittas and top with the tomato and chilli, finishing with the garlic sauce and the sweet chilli sauce.

Sweet Chili Sauce

IngredientsMakes 600ml

500g Sugar
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 thumb ginger, peeled
8 large red chillies
3 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
Dried chilli flakes, to taste

Place the sugar and 600ml water in a pan. Dissolve over a low heat. Do not allow the syrup to boil until all the sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Roughly chop the garlic and ginger. Cut off and discard the green part of the chillies, then chop thinly, seeds and all. Pour the syrup into a pan with the fish sauce and tomatoes. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli, then bring to the boil. Simmer on a medium heat for about 30 minutes to reduce the volume by half.

The sauce will thicken to cat the back of a spoon. If you want more kick, add some dried chilli flakes. If you want a smooth sauce, blend it. Pour into sterilised jars and leave to cool.

Watermelon and stem ginger juice

A very, very refreshing alternative to traditional lemonade.

Ingredients

¼ watermelon, rind and seeds removed
Zest and juice of 2 limes
2 pieces stem ginger
Stem ginger syrup, to taste
Vodka (optional)
Ice cubes
Fresh mint, to finish
4 ice-cold glasses

Blend the watermelon, limes and ginger to a liquid, then press through a sieve. Add the syrup from the stem ginger jar to taste (I have a sweet tooth, so used almost all of it). Divide the juice between the glasses, add a splash of vodka, if using, and finish with ice cubes and mint.

Gin and tonic granite

The perfect summer treat – ice-cold, refreshing and mind-numbingly good (quite literally, if you eat too much of it). Makes around a litre.

Ingredients

100ml water
200g caster or granulated sugar
250ml good gin (Bombay Sapphire or Beefeater)
Juice of 2 lemons
500ml tonic water

Heat the water with the sugar until the latter dissolves. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pan, stir, then pour into a freezer container and freeze. After an hour, take it out, give it a quick whisk and return to the freezer. Repeat after the second hour.

Before serving, scrape the granite all over with a fork to break it up – this will give it a softer texture. Serve as a pre-dessert (a few crystallised violet petals scattered on top are a nice touch) or as a grown-up's slushy for a hot day.

Cheesecake in a glass

This is the perfect end to a midweek dinner party, the kind you didn't know you were giving until presented with a guest list mid-afternoon. You simply chop strawberries, crush digestive biscuits and whip cream cheese and cream, then layer up quickly in some waiting glasses. Like this, they can stand for about an hour, so you can make them up just before you sit down for supper. If you want to make this in advance – and it's a versatile recipe that doesn't need to be made last minute – simply leave the glasses in the fridge, layered up with the digestive crumbs and cream cheese mixture and covered with clingfilm. Top with strawberries on serving. Serves four.

IngredientsServes four

200g strawberries(or 1 big punnet)
1 tsp caster sugar
4 digestive biscuits
100g cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp icing sugar
125ml double cream
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp vanilla extract
4 small glasses (of about 150ml capacity; I find a small martini glass looks prettiest)

Quarter the strawberries, then cut in half again, to give pretty small dice. Put into a bowl, sprinkle with caster sugar, cover with clingfilm and shake the bowl once or twice.

Leave the berries to macerate while you put the biscuits into a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have a sandy bag of crumbs.

Measure the cream cheese and icing sugar into a bowl and whisk by hand. Add the cream, lemon juice and vanilla, and whisk gently to combine.

Divide the biscuit crumbs equally between your four glasses, and arrange in the bottom of each one. Spoon the cream cheese mix on top, dividing it equally between the glasses and covering the biscuits.

Divide the sugar-shiny strawberries between the glasses, to give a glossy, red-berried layer on each glass.

Pollack in beer batter

The beer adds lightness and flavour to the batter. Many recipes say to rest batter before using, but we had better, lighter, crispier results using it straight away, before the beer lost its bubbles. This is also a great way to prepare squid rings.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

200g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting the fish
Groundnut oil, including plenty for deep frying (about 2 litres)
About 290ml good beer (anything but cheap lager), very cold
Salt and ground black pepper
About 700g pollack fillets (or mixed white fish of your choice)

Sift the flour into a bowl, add two tablespoons of groundnut oil, then gradually whisk in the beer, stopping when you have the consistency of thick emulsion paint. Beat to get rid of any lumps, then season generously.

In a large, deep, heavy-based pan, heat the oil to 190C, or until a cube of bread dropped in turns golden brown in one and a half to two minutes. Season the fish, then dust lightly with flour, shaking to remove any excess. Immerse a piece of fish in the batter, then lift it out and hold over the bowl for a few seconds to let excess batter drop back in. Lower the fish into the hot oil a piece at a time if using large portions, or in small batches for smaller pieces. Fry large pieces of fish for four to five minutes, smaller ones such as squid rings for two minutes or so, until golden brown and crisp. Scoop out with a wire basket or tongs, and transfer to a warmed dish lined with kitchen paper. Keep warm while you fry the remaining fish, then serve

Thai-style chicken soup with lime

An easy soup that's guaranteed to banish winter sluggishness. Serves four.

Ingredients(serves 4)

100g fine rice noodles
1.25 litres chicken stock
1-2 red chillies, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 small thumb fresh ginger, peeled and cut into very thin slices
Grated zest of 1 small lemon
Grated zest of 1 small lime
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
350g chicken breast or thigh, cut into thin, 5cm x 0.5cm strips (or use leftover meat picked from a roast)
250ml coconut milk
70g finely shredded cabbage or kale
1 large carrot, cut into very fine matchsticks
60ml lemon and/or lime juice
1 small handful shredded coriander leaves, plus sprigs for serving
Salt and pepper
Lime wedges, for serving

Prepare the noodles according to the package instructions; set aside while you get on with everything else.

In a large saucepan, combine the stock, chilli, garlic, ginger, fruit zest and fish sauce, place over medium heat and simmer for five minutes. Add the chicken meat and coconut milk, simmer for five minutes, then add the vegetables and simmer until just tender. Add the noodles, lemon or lime juice, and coriander, and cook until the noodles are warmed through. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more fish sauce if you like. Serve sprinkled with coriander and with lime wedges on the side for squeezing over.

Just add sauce - Lasagne

The secret to a great lasagne is quality of the sauce, and the key to that is coarse ground beef and long, slow cooking.

Ingredients(serves 6-8)

For the meat sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 good knob butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
125g streaky bacon, finely diced
750g coarsely ground beef
100g free-range chicken liver, chopped fine (optional)
Salt and ground black pepper
250ml whole milk
A couple of gratings of nutmeg
250ml dry white wine
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
500ml beef stock
2 bay leaves
For the béchamel:
750ml hot milk, infused with a bay leaf and a slice of onion
50g butter
50g plain flour
A grind or two of nutmeg
Salt and ground black pepper
10-14 lasagne sheets (depending on size of dish), fresh or dried
60g Parmesan grated
About 20g butter

First, make the meat sauce. Warm the oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot, and sweat until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, bacon, beef, liver and a large pinch of salt, and brown the meat. Add the milk and simmer, stirring frequently, until the milk has mostly evaporated. Add the nutmeg and wine, and simmer until the wine evaporates.

Stir in the tomatoes, stock and bay leaves, bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat so it's barely bubbling. Cook, uncovered, for three hours (yes, really), stirring from time to time. Add a little stock or water if it looks as if it's drying out too much - if using dried pasta, keep the sauce a little more liquid.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Make the béchamel as for the macaroni cheese (see next recipe), add half the Parmesan, and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

To assemble, spoon a quarter of the béchamel in the base of an ovenproof dish followed by a layer of bolognese and a layer of pasta. Repeat, finishing with the last quarter of béchamel on top of the third layer of pasta. Sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan and dot with butter. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Five-spice grilled pork belly

Almost any cut will work. As would a small pork steak or chop.

Ingredients (makes 20 skewers)

750g pork belly
For the marinade:
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb-sized lump ginger
2 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp rice wine
1 lightly heaped tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp runny honey
20 flat, strong wooden skewers

Put the pork on a chopping board and slice in half lengthways, then cut each half into thin strips no thicker than 2cm. Put the pieces of meat into a dish or roasting tin.

Peel and finely crush the garlic using a pestle and mortar. Peel and finely grate the ginger into the garlic. Stir in the soy sauce, rice wine, five-spice, salt and honey. Tip this marinade over the pork and toss gently to lightly coat the meat. Set aside for a good hour, though a couple more (or overnight) would be better. Soak the skewers for an hour or more in cold water.

Thread each piece of meat on to a skewer. Get the grill hot. When the charcoal is grey and there are no longer flames or vividly glowing coals, lay the skewers on the bars of the grill. Leave until the underside is golden brown (the timing will depend on the thickness of your pork and the heat of your charcoal, but you should reckon on about 8-10 minutes), then turn and cook the other side.

When the pork is cooked through and the fat deep golden, remove and serve.

How to make the best beef burger

The hamburger may well have European origins, but it took the Americans to see the potential of this "companionable and faintly erotic" chunk of seasoned beef as comfort food extraordinaire: the personification of "the Great Mother herself … the nipple of the Goddess, the bountiful belly-ball of Eve" as Tom Robbins so neatly puts it. Because even if you tuck into seven colours of caviar every weekend, I bet the scent of grilling burgers still gets you all Pavlov's dog around the chops. It's that primal, charred, slightly crunchy exterior, the soft, juiciness within - and of course, that perfect combination of toppings, chosen in childhood and sacred ever after.

Burgers may be fast food, but they're also a craft. There are clubs devoted to the cult of the perfect patty, endless articles devoted to the 20 examples you must "try before you die" (if they don't finish you off first), and every month, a new, and usually outlandish variation on the theme, from 10oz hunks of foie gras to doughnut buns. But I'm interested in taking the burger back to basics, with a classic beef number suitable for cooking on the barbecue, or a hot griddle pan.

The beef

After a little experimentation, I realised that there is no place for lean, or finely ground beef in a burger - both produce a dry, crumbly patty unworthy of the name. "Top chef" John Torode, who's so keen on beef that he's written a book about it, reckons that the "best formula will be something like 40 per cent fat – yes, truly that much! – otherwise it will not be moist."

Although you'll probably struggle to find that high a fat content, avoid anything marked as lean, prime steak cuts like rump; Heston recommends a 2:1:1 combination of chuck, short-rib and brisket, but in my experience, plain old chuck will do nicely. Ideally of course, you would mince your beef yourself, but, if you have neither the time, nor the appropriate food processor attachment, then ask your butcher to do it for you - a coarse mince gives the best texture.

The pure burger

In its simplest form, the burger is nothing but minced beef and seasoning. Leiths Meat Bible, a book devoted to the cult of the carnivore, is of this school, although it does allow for some optional chopped onion and herbs. I mix 675g of chuck mince with a finely chopped onion, a little thyme and some salt and pepper, shape them into burgers, and chill before popping them on a hot barbecue.

As someone who habitually adds egg as a binding ingredient, I'm surprised at how well these hold together on the grill. Although cooked medium rare, however, the interior is still a little chewy. A solid effort, with a nice beefy flavour, but there's room for improvement.

Egg

The next recipe I try comes from Larousse Gastronomique. Their entry on one of the world's finest foodstuffs is snottily Gallic in its brevity, but they do condescend to share their formula, which includes 400g minced beef, 50g chopped onion, 1 tsp chopped parsley, and 2 eggs. They make the mixture a bit sloppy, but once the burgers have chilled, they hold together nicely. Cooked, however, they're a definite disappointment: the egg has made them dry and fibrous, although, as one of my crack burger tasting panel notes generously, it has given them a deliciously crunchy exterior.

Egg and breadcrumbs

My own recipe contains less egg (1 medium example to 500g minced beef) but does include about 60g breadcrumbs - brown for preference - along with a small onion, softened in butter, a sprinkling of chopped thyme, and salt and pepper. More loosely packed than the first two, these are more difficult to keep together on the grill, but once cooked, they seem less dense, and juicier, with the bread adding an extra layer of malty flavour. The cooked onion gives them a hint of sweetness as well.

Cream

After the disaster with Larousse recipe, I'm beginning to wonder whether egg is necessary after all. In his excellent barbecue book, Food from Fire, Charles Campion gives a recipe for hamburgers which contain 1 tbsp double cream for every 500g meat, which, he says, will make burgers "juicy and delicious". The results are indeed tasty, but also rather rich, even with this infinitesimal amount of cream - "they need pickles to cut through the fattiness", opines one sage, reaching for the gherkin jar.

Guinness

Campion also gives an "implausible" recipe for Guinness hamburgers, which contains 50ml Irish stout to every 500g beef. "There is something about the chemical interactions of fizzy liquid and the protein in lean meat that helps bind everything together," he says. "The faint bitterness of the stout also helps tenderise the meat and balance the flavours." After an hour maturing in the fridge, these oddly brown burgers go on the grill. They prove slightly crumbly when cooking, but they're well worth it - the meat is meltingly tender, and the malty flavour of the Guinness really brings out its savoury beefiness.

Water

Adam Perry Lang, a former Grand Champion at the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Tennessee, has plainer tastes. He mixes 225ml of cold water into 1.1kg minced beef, seasons, and cooks. (Fried onions, apparently, are strictly for toppings.) Massaging water into meat feels distinctly bizarre, and I have to resist the temptation to wring the patties out like a sponge. The results are undeniably juicy, but the water has neither the tenderising, nor the flavour-enhancing qualities of the Guinness.

Technique

Leiths Meat Bible suggests I make a dimple in my burgers to keep them flat during cooking - it certainly helps to avoid the slightly unappetising cannon-ball effect I usually end up with. Most recipes caution against overworking the mixture, which can make the meat tough: shape it into patties firm enough to hold together, but don't be tempted to squeeze them, or squash them against the grill like you're in an American diner - you'll just end up with a dry burger.

The perfect burger is a very personal matter - the herbs, the seasoning and the garnish are all down to you, but for tender meat, and an intensely savoury flavour, you can't beat a slug of stout in your mixture.

The perfect burger

Ingregients (serves 6)

1 tbsp oil or butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1kg roughly minced chuck steak (or any non-lean mince)
100ml stout
2 tbsp brown breadcrumbs
2 tsp chopped herbs (parsley or thyme work well)
1 tsp salt
Black pepper
Garnishes, sauces and rolls, as desired

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat, and cook the onion until soft and slightly browned. Leave to cool.
2. Spread the beef out and sprinkle over the onion. Add the stout, breadcrumbs, herbs and seasoning and mix together with a fork, being careful not to overwork it.
3. Divide the meat into 12 flattish burgers, putting a dimple in the centre of each. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
4. Cook the burgers on a medium to hot barbecue or griddle pan: leave them undisturbed for the first 3 minutes so they build up a good seal on the bottom, then carefully turn them over, adding a slice of cheese on top if desired. Cook for a further 4 minutes for rare, and 7 for well done, and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving. (You can toast buns, cut-side down, on the barbecue at this point.)

What goes into your perfect hamburger – and what goes on top? Is beef still best for burgers, and where serves the finest in the world?

Salad of green beans with caper berries and parmesan

Ingredients (serves 4)

300g fine green beans, stalk ends trimmed
200g mangetouts, stalk ends trimmed
4 medium eggs
4 purple (or green) spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced diagonally
6 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt, black pepper
75g caper berries, stalks removed
50g finely shaved parmesan

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the green beans and cook for 4 minutes, adding the mangetouts after 2 minutes.

Drain the vegetables into a colander, briefly run cold water through them to halt the cooking process, and set aside to cool.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the eggs for 6 minutes. Drain, run cold water into the pan and leave to cool completely.

Toss the beans, mangetouts and spring onions with the olive oil in a bowl. (You can prepare the salad to this point in advance.) Shortly before serving, season and toss in the caper berries.

Divide the salad among four plates. Shell and halve the eggs, then scatter over the parmesan.

Broad bean and feta salad

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

500g frozen baby broad beans
extra-virgin olive oil
juice of ½ lemon
sea salt and black pepper
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced diagonally
6 tbs coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
200g feta, crumbled
50g rocket leaves (optional)

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the broad beans according to the packet instructions. Drain into a colander and leave for a few minutes for the water to evaporate. Toss the hot beans in a bowl with the 6 tbs of olive oil, the lemon juice and some seasoning and leave to cool.

Toss in the spring onions and two-thirds of the parsley. Scatter the feta and remaining parsley over the top and splash over a little more oil. The salad is good to eat for some time, but it will absorb the dressing after several hours, so you may want to add a little more oil just before serving.

You can also toss a few rocket leaves into the salad or serve it scattered over a few dressed leaves.

Srawberry Frozen Yoghurt

This is one of the easiest ice creams to make: simply a matter of adding lightly puréed fruit to yoghurt, which means you can get away with not having to churn it. If you#re making this in a ice cream machine, you can spped up the churning time by partially freezing the purée before combining it with the yoghurt. This should be eaten within a week of making.

Ingredients (serves 4)

400g Strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
Juice of a lime
300g Full fat plain yoghurt
4tbs icing sugar, sifted

Purée the strawberries and lime juice in a blender until smooth. Whisk together the yoghurt and sugar un a mixing bowl until loght and fluffy. Stir in the fruit purée and mix until smooth. Taste and add extra lime juice or sugar if needed.
Freeze in a ice cream machine if you have one, otherwise power the mixure into a lidded container and freeze until firm. Reember to soften the yoghurt before serving.

Really useful stuff
Add 1tbs balsamic vinegar to the masic recipe - it works beautifully.
Try a raspberry ripple version - make a plain frozen yoghurt by combining 500g plain yoghurt, 125g icing sugar and 2 tsp vanilla extract and churn until just frozen.
Combind 200g raspberries with 3 tbs icing sugar then swirl the purée through the yoghurt. Freeze until firm.

Braised Partridge with Puy lentils

This method of cooking partridge brings out the best of all the different ingredient flavours. Puy lentils are famous in France; they are a beautiful colour with a slightly sweet taste. They keep their shape and don't disintegrate with cooking.

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 tbs olive oil
1 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves
125g smoked lardons or streaky bacon
500g puy lentils
200ml red wine
1 bouquet garni
4 partridges
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
25g butter
2 carrots, sliced
100 ml water
4 celery sticks, halved lengthways
4 spring onions, trimmed
bunch of fresh parsley, chopped, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Heat the oil in a large, low-sided ovenproof casserole, add the onion, garlic and lardons or bacon and gently sauté until soft. Add the lentils, wine and bouquet garni, then add enough water to cover the lentils. Place the partridges on top, season and cover with a lid. Cook in the oven for 1 hour, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a pan, add the carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the water, celery and spring onions and bring to the boil.

Remove the partridge from the oven, increase the temperature to 220C/Gas 7 and add the sautéed vegetables and juices to the casserole, around the birds. Return the uncovered casserole to the oven for 10 minutes.

Serve the partridge on top of the lentils and vegetables, spoon over any cooking juices and garnish with chopped parsley.

Lamb shanks with broad beans

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 tbs olive oil
4 lamb shanks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 fresh bouquet garni (sprig each of parsley and thyme, and a bay leaf)
400ml white wine
400g new potatoes
400g shelled broad beans, individually skinned (see below)
2 tbs chopped fresh mint
3 tbs crème fraîche

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Lightly oil a roasting tin, add the lamb shanks and season, then place in the oven to roast for 20 minutes.

Add the onions, garlic and bouquet garni to the roasting tin and roast for a further 20 minutes.

Add the wine and new potatoes to the lamb, mix well with the juices and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes.

Add the prepared beans and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

When the lamb is cooked through, remove from the roasting tin and keep warm.

Place the tin directly on the stove top and bring the juices to a simmer. Stir in the chopped mint and crème fraîche.

Serve the lamb shanks in wide bowls and ladle in the vegetables and juice.

Note: to skin fresh broad beans, plunge them into a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes, then drain and peel off the skins. If using frozen beans they can be peeled once defrosted.

Lemon Tart

Think sweet, crumbling pastry filled with rich, creamy citrus custard. The two marry together like heaven in the delicious, classic dessert, which is served all over France.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

For the pastry:
150g plain flour
75g cold butter, cut into small pieces
25g caster sugar
1 large egg
For the filling:
2 eggs
50g caster sugar
175ml double cream
juice and grated zest of 2 lemons
sifted icing sugar, for dusting

For the pastry, place the flour and butter in a bowl and rub together quickly using your finger tips until the mixture resembles the texture of breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix through. Whisk the egg, then stir into the pastry mix using a round-bladed knife to form a dough ball. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Place the chilled pastry on a work surface, press out with the heel of your hand, then roll out to fit a 23cm loose-based flan tin. Do not stretch the pastry to fit. Trim away the excess from around the edge, then prick the base with a fork. Line the pastry case with baking parchment and fill with baking beans, then cook for 20 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/Gas 3. Remove the beans and baking parchment and return the flan case to the oven to bake for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Whisk the eggs and caster sugar, then add all but 2 tablespoons of the cream, and the lemon juice and zest, and mix together. Pour into the prepared pastry case and cook for 10 minutes. Swirl in the remaining cream to create a marbled effect, then continue to cook for a further 20 minutes until the filling is just set.

Leave to cool and dust with sifted icing sugar before serving.

Mariner's Mussels

Ingredients (serves 4)

50g butter
2 tbs olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 shallots, diced
2kg mussels, cleaned and washed
1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
200ml white wine
1 bay leaf
sprig of fresh thyme
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
large bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
fresh bread, to serve

Heat the butter and oil in a large pan, add the garlic and shallots and saute for 5 minutes without colouring. Discard any mussels that are even slightly open or damaged, and do not close when tapped against the side of the sink.

Add the chilli, mussels, wine, bay leaf, thyme and seasoning to the pan, cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes, tossing the mussels from time to time to ensure even cooking. The mussels are cooked when they have opened. Discard any that have not opened.

Spoon the mussels out into a large pot using a draining spoon, and keep them warm.

Return the pan with the cooking liquor to a high heat, boil rapidly for 5 minutes to reduce, then add the lemon zest and juice and chopped parsley. Pour over the mussels and serve with large quantities of bread

Japanese store cupboard

The brands to buy

• Miso Marukome, MOko, Hanamaruki (n.b. Some miso paste already has dashi in it. If that is the case, simple add water to cook instead of dashi).
• Dashi powder Hodashi, Shimaya, Ajimoto
• Mirin Mitsukan, Takara, Yutaka
• Sake Kikkoman (cooking), Nobu (premium)
• Wakame seaweed Yonezawa Riken

Salad of green beans and tomatoes

This is a delicious midsummer salad that works brilliantly on its own as a starter with some fresh, crusty bread. The secret is to make sure that your infredients are perfectly fresh and the tomatoes are full of flavour.

Ingredients (servers 6-8)

For the salad
6 best-quality ripe tomatoes
3 Sallots, finely chopped and blanched (plunge them into boiling water for 30 seconds, remove and immediately refresh un ice-cold water, then dry with a clean tea towel)
600g haricots verts, cooked al dente
10-15 basil leaves, roughly chopped
Salt & Pepper
Parmisan Shavings

For the dressing
1sdp sherry vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 dsp soy sauce
1 dsp oriental fish sauce
1 dsp sesame oil
2 dsp olive oil

If the tomatoes are top quality and ripe, they should not need peeling. Cut them into eighths, then chop each of these segments across in half. Put into a bowl with the blanched chopped shallots.

Mix all the dressing ingredients together and pour over the tomatoes and shallots. Finish by adding the beans, chopped basil leaves and Parmesan shavings. Season and serve.

Monster Mash

Creating perfect, light and fluffy mash is easy. Put peeled potatoes (see Source It overleaf for good varieties) in a pan with enough cold water to cover them by about 4cm, throw in some salt, cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook, partially covered, at a good simmer until a knife pierces them without resistance. Drain, leave them to steam off in the colander for a couple of minutes, and return to the warm pan. Now mash them, or pass them through a mouli or potato ricer, if you have the equipment and the patience. (And, whatever you do, don't put them in a food processor, unless you're planning on a spot of light wallpapering after lunch.) Next, for a kilo of potatoes, beat in about 100g of butter and 200ml of hot milk (or 100ml each of cream and milk). Finally, season well with salt, pepper and perhaps a grind of nutmeg.

It's important that the milk is hot, and not just because you don't want to eat tepid mash. Cold milk reacts with the starch in potatoes and makes the mash gluey, and that's not what we're after at all. We want fluffy perfection. Proper mash. So good it could bring a tear to a robot's eye, and make him redesign his left forcep as a potato peeler.

11 things to add to mash

• Try a mixture of two-thirds potatoes and one-third swede, to go with any good roast - particularly venison and game - and a nice rich gravy.
• Cheddar, chopped chives and spring onion, to go with sausages or to layer on top of a shepherd's pie.
• Add a few unpeeled cloves of garlic to the potatoes' boiling water, then peel, crush and beat into the potatoes, to go with almost anything.
• A couple of tablespoons of freshly grated horseradish, and perhaps some cooked turnip, to go with roast beef.
• A handful of sliced and gently caramelised shallots and a large peeled, cored and cooked Bramley apple, to go with roast pork.Some well-cooked Jerusalem artichokes and a few grinds of nutmeg, to go with roast lamb.
• While warming the milk, infuse it with a bay leaf and the finely grated zest of a lemon before adding to the mashed potatoes, to go with fried or grilled lemon sole, flounder or plaice.
• Some finely chopped spring onion and soft goat's cheese, to go with roast chicken.
• Some finely chopped and gently sautéed leek and fennel, to go with lamb, chicken or a pot roast.
• A spoonful or two of wholegrain mustard and lots of chopped parsley, to go with gammon.
• Some grated Cheddar cheese and roasted, chopped poblano chillies, to go with steak.

Celeriac and apple mash

This earthy mash has a touch of sweetness from the Bramley apples, which makes it great with roast pheasant or duck.

Ingredients (serves six)

500g floury potatoes, peeled and halved or quartered, depending on size
600g celeriac, peeled and cut into largeish chunks
3 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3 tbsp sour cream or mascarpone
Salt and ground black pepper

Put the potatoes in a pan of salted water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the celeriac. In a separate pan, cook the Bramleys with a splash of water, covered, over a medium heat until fluffy and broken down. When the potatoes and celeriac are tender, drain and mash, then beat in the sour cream or mascarpone, the apple purée and some ground black pepper. Add salt to taste and serve.

Parsnip, leek and potato mash

A hearty, flavoursome mash: the perfect thing to serve with beef stew or herby pork sausages.

Ingredients (serves six)

70g unsalted butter
750g leeks, white and pale green parts only, washed and sliced
500g floury potatoes, scrubbed and, if large, halved
1kg parsnips, peeled and cut into big chunks
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
Salt and ground black pepper
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

In a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium-low heat, melt all the butter bar a tablespoon. Add the leeks and cook until really soft and beginning to take on some colour, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

While the leeks are cooking, put the spuds, parsnips and garlic into a large saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover by 4cm and a rounded teaspoon of salt. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce the heat so they're simmering nicely, partially cover and cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain and return to the pan. Leave to steam for a minute or two, then lift out the garlic cloves and slip from their skins. Mash the garlic with a little salt and the remaining butter, return to the pan with the leeks, mustard and a few grinds of pepper, and mash roughly. Taste, add more salt and pepper as necessary, then serve immediately.

Sweet potato mash

Serve this cheerful, orange mash with spicy merguez sausages or pork chops.

Ingredients (serves four to six)

750g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
Salt and ground black pepper
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp chopped, fresh sage
1 tsp honey
1 small handful walnuts, toasted and chopped (optional)

Put the sweet potatoes in a pan, add water to cover and a big pinch of salt, bring to a boil, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cream the butter and sage, and season. When the sweet potatoes are done, drain them, saving a glass of cooking liquid. Return to the pan, add the liquid and honey, mash, and beat in half the butter. Serve topped with the rest of the butter and walnuts.

Aubergine Croquettes

Ever since I lived in Amsterdam way back when, I've had a love-hate relationship with croquettes. I have fuzzy memories of a time when the most delicious things on earth were warm, crusty balls of cheese. This is a grown-up, sober version. Makes four starter portions.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

2 medium aubergines
3 tbsp olive oil
100g cooked floury potato, peeled
1 large free-range egg, beaten
60g grated Parmesan
60g grated Gruyère
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 tbsp white breadcrumbs, plus plenty to coat
Salt and pepper
Light olive oil, for frying
4 lemon wedges, to serve

For the salsa (optional)

4 small ripe tomatoes, diced
½ small red onion, peeled and diced
Small handful fresh oregano leaves
2 tsp red-wine vinegar
1½ tbsp olive oil
½ tsp sugar

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Start with the salsa. Mix together all the ingredients and season. Set aside so the onion softens and the flavours develop. Before serving, give it a stir, drain off most of the liquids and transfer to a bowl.

Cut the aubergines into four long wedges and place them, skin side down, in an oven tray. Brush with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and golden-brown.

Use a sharp knife to shave the aubergine flesh away from the skin. Discard the skin, chop the flesh finely and place in a bowl - you should have about 280g of aubergine flesh.

Roughly mash the potato with a fork and add to the aubergine, then add the egg, cheese, garlic, four tablespoons of breadcrumbs and some salt and pepper. The mix should be quite wet and sticky.

Before cooking the croquettes, scatter some breadcrumbs on a plate and heat the frying oil in a medium saucepan - it should be about 1.5cm deep and not too hot (if the oil is too hot, the croquettes will brown before they are cooked through).

Use a spoon to drop about a tablespoon's worth of croquette mix on the breadcrumb plate, then turn around to cover. Use your fingers to shape into barrels (or any shape you like). Fry for a minute a side, until golden brown all over. Transfer to kitchen towel. Serve warm, with the salsa or just a wedge of lemon on the side.