Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 350g pasta bows
• 300g broccoli – cut into small florets
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2-3 large chicken breasts – cut into bite-sized chunks
• 2 garlic cloves – crushed
• 2 tablespoons of wholegrain mustard
• The juice of 1 large orange

Bring a pan of lightly oiled and salted water to the boil and put the pasta in.  Cook to your preference but put the broccoli in 3 minutes before the pasta is ready.  Whilst that is cooking heat some oil up in a pan and fry the chicken until cooked through.  Add the garlic to the chicken and stir for a minute or so.  In a bowl, mix together the orange juice and mustard and add to the chicken.  Continue to fry and stir for a couple of minutes.  Drain off the pasta and broccoli when cooked and return to the pan.  Pour the chicken mixture over the top of the pasta and shake the pan to make sure the pasta is evenly coated with the chicken and sauce.  Serve up straight away and enjoy this quick and easy pasta dish!

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 4 carrots – sliced
• 6 tomatoes – sliced
• 1 yellow pepper – sliced
• 1 onion – sliced
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• 1/2 pot of double cream
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon of parsley

Put a little oil in a pan and fry off the onions for 30 seconds.  Then add the carrots, tomatoes, yellow pepper, onion, chilli flakes and parsley along with the 2 vegetable stock cubes and 600ml of boiling water.  Bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer for around 30 minutes, stirring ocassionally.  Season to taste throughout.

After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.  Blend the soup by using either a hand blender or a food processor until perfectly smooth.  Return the soup to the pan and bring back to a gentle simmer.  Use a table spoon to remove any of the residue on the top of the soup.  Stir in the double cream and simmer for a further couple of minutes.

Serve up hot in bowls with some crusty bread for dipping!  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 600g potatoes – peeled and chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 heaped teaspoon of dried coriander
• 5 spring onions – sliced
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 75g cheddar cheese – grated
• 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
• 75g of fine dry breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil and add in the potatoes and boil until soft.  Drain off the water, return to the pan and leave for five minutes.  Mash together well the potatoes and add the egg yolk, coriander, spring onions, chilli, lemon zest and cheese.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Pour the breadcrumbs onto a plate.  Take a handful of the mixture and pat into a potato cake shape and turn over in the breadcrumbs until well coated.  Repeat this until all of the mixture is used.

Heat some oil up in a frying pan and brown the potato cakes off on both sides.  Serve straight away with some green salad and mango chutney.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 1 pack of braising beef – sliced into strips
• 2 turnips – sliced
• 3 carrots – sliced
• 1 onion – chopped
• 1 piece of ginger – finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
• 1 beef stock cube
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Pepper to taste

Heat a large pan or wok up and add the oil and the ginger and onion.  Stir for a minute or so before adding the meat and cooking until browned off.  Add the beef stock with a small glass of water and also the dark soy sauce.  Bring to the boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer and leave for around 40 minutes, topping up with water if necessary.

Add the carrots, turnips, ginger, light soy sauce and sugar and leave to simmer for a further 30 minutes, again adding water if necessary so the mixture doesn’t dry out.  Serve with rice or noodles.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 1-2):

Brie with a garlic and paprika stuffing

• Wedge of brie
• 4-6 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of paprika
• 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar
• 1/2 baguette

Fried peppers with garlic

• 1 yellow pepper – sliced into strips
• 1 red pepper – sliced into strips
• 2-3 cloves of garlic – finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Pan con Tomate

• 2 ripe tomatoes – chopped
• 1 clove of garlic – finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Brie with a garlic and paprika stuffing

Start by heating the oven up to about 170 degrees C.  Peel the cloves of garlic and wrap them in tin foil.  Place the foil onto a baking tray and bake for about 20 minutes until soft and tender.  Mash the cloves together in a bowl with the paprika and cider vinegar.  Slice the brie in half and stuff the centre with the garlic and paprika mixture.  Place the top of the brie back on and wrap the whole thing in tin foil.  Cook it in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the brie is nice and soft.  Enjoy with some fresh baguette!

Fried peppers with garlic

Heat a pan up and add the oil and garlic, stirring for a minute or so before adding in the peppers.  Fry for a few minutes until the peppers are nice and soft.  Serve with the brie and some baguette.

Pan con Tomate

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl and then transfer to a food blender and blend until smooth.  Serve alongside the other two tapas on slices of the bread and top with parma ham if you like.

Great with a bottle of red!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 3 carrots – sliced
• 1 stick of celery – sliced
• 1 potato – chopped
• 1 onion – chopped
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon of dried coriander
• A handful of fresh coriander – chopped
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil up in a pan and fry the onions for a minute or so.  Tip in the potatoes and dried coriander and stir for a further minute.  Next, add the carrots, celery and the stock cube (mixed in about 500ml of boiling water) to the pan.  Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for up to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the pan from the heat and use a hand blender or food processor to thoroughly blend the soup along with the fresh coriander until perfectly smooth.  Return to the pan if you used a food processor and heat through again.  Season to taste and add a splash of cream if you prefer.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

Crumble

• 300g plain flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 175g unrefined brown sugar
• 200g unsalted butter – at room temperature and cubed

Filling

• 400-500g of rhubarb – cut into 2 inch lengths
• 100g of caster sugar
• 1/2 glass of port

Heat the oven upto around 180 degrees C.  Pour the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and mix well.  Then you’ll need to rub in the butter a few cubes at a time.  This involves putting the cubes of butter into the flour and then getting your hands into the mixture, lifting some up in your hands and rubbing the butter and flour through your fingers.  Keep repeating this until all the butter is in the bowl and the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Put the rhubarb, sugar and port into a pan and simmer on a low heat for about 15 minutes until the rhubarb is soft.  Check for sweetness and add more sugar if it’s still a little bitter for you.

Pour the rhubarb into an oven dish, making sure not too much liquid goes in otherwise the crumble topping will sink into the filling.  Top the rhubarb mixture with the crumble and spread evenly.  Poke a couple of holes in the crumble with the handle of a knife or fork.  Place the dish into the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the crumble has gone golden brown.

Serve up straight away with custard or ice cream.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

Casserole

• 650g/1lb 7oz boned shoulder of lamb, cut into 2cm/¾ inch cubes
• 2 tbsp plain white flour, seasoned
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 25g/1oz butter
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 300ml/½ pint red wine
• 300ml/½ pint chicken and beef stock
• leaves from 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 carrot, cut into 1cm/½in dice
• 1 onion, cut into 1cm/½in dice
• 2 celery sticks, cut into 1cm/½in dice
• salt freshly ground black pepper

For the potato stacks

• 4 large Maris Piper potatoes
• 75ml/2½fl oz fruity olive oil plus extra for greasing
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh thyme
• salt freshly ground black pepper

Braised red cabbage

• 50g/2oz butter
• 750g/1lb 10oz red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1 orange, finely grated zest and juice
• 250ml/9fl oz ruby port
• salt freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• Pork roasting loin
• 2 carrots – sliced
• 2 sticks of celery – sliced
• 6-10 new potatoes
• 1 onion – sliced
• 2 eating apples – cored and sliced
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Start by pre-heating the oven to 240 degrees C.  Boil some water in a kettle and pour it over the skin of the pork loin (this will help give you great crackling).  Pat the skin dry with some kitchen paper and leave to dry while you pour a little oil into a roasting pan and place it into the oven.  After a few minutes, remove the pan from the oven and place the pork into it.  Cook for around 20 minutes like this, but keep an eye on it to check that the skin doesn’t burn.

Reduce the heat to 190 degrees C and take the pan out of the oven and remove the pork from the pan.  Place the carrots, celery, onion, potatoes and apples into the pan, sprinkle over the thyme and a little more oil if required.  Season very well and place the pork on top and place the whole pan back into the oven.  Continue to cook for a further 30 minutes per 500g of loin or until cooked to your liking.

Remove the pan from the oven and place the pork to one side to rest and cover both the pork and the vegetables with tin foil to keep them warm.  If you want you can remove the vegetables from the pan and use the sauce as a base for some gravy!  Slice the pork and and enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 1 pork loin
• 4 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce
• 4 teaspoons of curry powder
• 4 teaspoons of five spice
• Egg noodles
• Stir fried veg

Mix together the teriyaki sauce, curry powder and chinese five spice.  Rub half of the mixture into the pork loin and allow it to marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Heat the oven up to around 200 degrees and once up to temperature place the pork loin onto some tin foil on a baking tray and put the tray into the oven.  Cook for around 10-12 minutes until cooked but still slightly pink in the middle.  Remove the pork from the oven while you cook the noodles and veg.

Heat some oil up in a hot pan and add the noodles and veg.  Stir around thoroughly to get the noodles and veg mixed together.  Pour the other half of the marinade over the noodles and veg and cook for a couple of minutes until the whole mixture is sizzling.  Slice the pork loin into 5-10mm thick discs and add them in with the noodles and veg.  Continue to stir through and cook until the pork is heated through and the vegetables are cooked to your liking.  Serve up straight away and enjoy!