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!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 salmon fillets
• 1 lemon – finely sliced
• 1-2 teaspoons of dried rosemary
• Salt
• 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to around 200 degrees C.  Line a baking tray with tin foil.  Arrange half of the lemon slices in a layer on the foil.  Sprinkle a little of the rosemary onto the lemon.  Lay the salmon fillets on top of the lemon slices.  Sprinkle the rest of the rosemary over the salmon along with a grind of salt.  Layer over the other half of the lemon slices and finally drizzle over some olive oil.  Place into the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the salmon is easily flaked with a fork.  Serve with potatoes and seasonal veg!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

Chicken marinade

• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 3/4 tablespoon of chilli powder
• 1/2 tablespoon of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon of paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 chicken stock cube (crushed)
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
• Grind of pepper
• Dash of chilli flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon of cumin
• 1-2 tablespoon(s) of olive oil

Other items required:

• 2 chicken breasts – sliced into strips
• 2 mixed bell peppers – sliced into strips
• 1 onion – sliced
• Salsa
• Guacamole
• Flour tortillas

Mix together the marinade ingredients and then coat the chicken strips in the mix.  Store in a container for at least a few hours but preferably overnight/24 hours.  When you’re ready to make the fajitas heat up a wok to a high heat, add in a little oil and then the marinated chicken.  Stir around to make sure all the pieces are separated.  Once the chicken is cooked through, add in the peppers and onion.  Keep the heat high and continue to stir around for upto a further five minutes.  You want the peppers to still have a little crunch to them.  Warm the tortillas up and serve them with the salsa and guacamole on the side.  It’s a nice touch to serve the sizzling wok, with the fajita mix in, on a wooden chopping board at the table.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 good quality steaks – sirloin, ribeye etc.
• 250ml of double cream
• 175g of cooked prawns
• 2 cloves of garlic – finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon of plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
• Dash of paprika
• Knob of butter
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start by melting a knob of butter in a pan over a medium heat.  Add in the prawns and garlic and stir for a minute or so.  Next, add in the double cream, parsley and paprika and mix together well.  Bring to a gentle simmer but don’t allow to boil.  If the sauce is a little thin add some flour.  Season the sauce to taste.  Whilst the sauce is simmering away you should cook the steaks to your liking.  A nice hot pan with a little oil in and then 2-5 minutes per side depending how you like them.  Allow the steaks to rest for a few minutes before topping with the prawns and sauce.  Serve with fries, wedges and/or salad.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 1-2):

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2-3 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce
• 2 bread buns – sliced in half
• Small bunch of coriander – chopped
• Fries
• 1 tomato – sliced

It was Friday so I fancied something quick and easy.  I’ll make my own sweet chilli sauce next time I think.

Take the chicken breasts and beat a little bit if they’re too thick to be a burger.  Coat them in the chilli sauce and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Heat up the oven to around 200 degrees C.  Put the fries and the chicken breasts into the oven on baking trays once the oven is up to temperature.  Keep an eye on them while they’re cooking and swap the shelves or reduce the temperature as necessary.  They should only need around ten minutes.  Just before both of them are ready put the bread buns into the oven to crispen them up slightly.

Quickly chop up some fresh coriander and also slice a tomato.

Construct the burgers by layering the chicken breasts, tomato and then coriander.  Serve with the fries on the side and top the burgers with mayonnaise if you like.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

Lentil Stew

• 200g of green lentils
• 2 small carrots – diced
• 2 small red onions – diced
• 2 small onions – diced
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1-2 cloves of garlic – finely sliced
• 1/2 glass of port
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• Water for topping up the stew
• Salt and pepper to taste

Dauphinoise Potatoes

• 3-4 medium to large potatoes
• 200ml of milk
• 200ml of double cream
• 2 cloves of garlic – crushed
• Some grated cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper

We’ll start by preparing the dauphinoise potatoes.  Turn the oven on to 160 degrees C.  Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan along with 2 crushed cloves of garlic and slowly heat up to a gentle simmer for around ten minutes.  While the sauce is simmering you’ll need to peel and slice the potatoes.  Slice them into discs to about the width of a pound coin.  Create a layer of slightly overlapping potatoes in an oven dish and season with salt and pepper.  Once the sauce is ready, allow it to cool for a minute or so before pouring some over the first layer of potatoes.  You don’t want to cover them completely with this first pour.  Carry on layering the potatoes, seasoning as you go between the layers until all of the potatoes are used up.  Pour over the rest of the sauce.  You want the sauce to just come level with the top layer of potatoes.  If you need some more sauce, just pour on some extra cream and milk quickly mixed together.  Grate some cheese all over the top and pop it into the oven for up to 90 minutes.

You should start on the lentil stew after the potatoes have been in for about 20 minutes.  Heat a pan up on a medium to high heat, add some olive oil and then the onions and garlic.  Saute for a couple of minutes before adding in the port.  Saute for a few more minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Add in the carrots and herbs and crumble the stock cube over the pan.  Pour in about a glassful of water and stir for a minute or so.  Next, add the lentils.  I used about half of a small bag.  They will expand during cooking so remember this when you’re adding them.  Bring the mixture to a simmer and reduce the heat so it’s steadily bubbling away.  The lentils will need around 40 minutes to cook properly.  Keep checking it every five or ten minutes and top it up with water if it’s getting dry.  Also keep tasting it and seasoning it with salt and pepper as necessary.

Keep an eye on the potatoes and if they’re cooking a bit too quickly cover them in some tin foil before returning them to the oven.

Once the lentils are cooked to al dente style – they should have a similar texture to well cooked garden peas – remove the potato dauphinoise from the oven, portion it out and serve up with a good helping of the lentil stew.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 1-2):

• 1 rack of pork ribs
• 3 garlic cloves – diced
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
• 2 teaspoons of paprika
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 orange – zested and juiced
• 1 lime – zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons of honey

Mix up the garlic, chilli flakes, paprika and olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.  Either spoon over or rub the mixture in to the rack of ribs. and allow to marinate for 30 minutes or so.  Heat the oven up to around 160 degrees C.  Place the pork ribs into an oven dish and cover it with foil.  Cook for 20-30 minutes and then take it out of the oven.  In a bowl, combine the zest and juice of the lime and orange and stir in the honey.  Use this as a basting sauce.  Drizzle some of it over the pork ribs before returning them to the oven.  Increase the temperature of the oven to 180 degrees.  Continue to baste the ribs every 5-10 minutes until they’re cooked to your liking, which should be around 20-40 minutes.  If you have time you can cook the ribs at a lower temperature to really increase the flavour and make the meat tender.