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Ingredients:

For the cake

• 55g of butter
• 115g of plain chocolate – broken into pieces
• 175g of dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of strong coffee
• 85g of plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 55g of walnuts – chopped

and for the icing

• 115g of plain chocolate
• 150ml of soured cream

Start by pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees C.

Grease an 8 inch cake tin with some butter and then line with baking paper.  Put the chocolate chunks into a glass bowl over a pan with about an inch of water in it and bring the water to a gentle simmer.  Don’t allow the water to touch the base of the bowl.  Stir the chocolate until it’s fully melted, then place to one side.

Beat the sugar and eggs together until pale and thick.  Fold the melted chocolate into the sugar and eggs along with the coffee.  Mix it together well.  Sift, or pour straight in, the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixture and once again stir it all together until consistent.  Fold in the chopped walnuts.  Pour the whole mixture into the greased and lined tin and place in the pre-heated oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until set.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

To make the icing, melt the chocolate in the same way as you did before.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before stirring in the soured cream.  Beat until well blended.  Spoon the mixture over the brownie once cooled and allow the whole thing to cool fully.  Cut it into squares and then remove it from the tin and enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 8-10 small mushrooms – halved
• 1-2 teaspoons of dried tarragon
• 2 x cod/haddock fillets
• 150-200g of cooked king prawns
• Dash of white wine
• 150ml of double cream
• Knob of butter
• 3-4 potatoes – cooked and mashed

Start by heating the oven up to around 180 degrees C.

Take the two fillets of fish and overlay them in an oven dish then pour over a dash of white wine and season well with salt and pepper.  Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes then remove and place to one side.

Fry the mushrooms off for a minute or so in a little olive oil, then pour them over the fish fillets.  Scatter the king prawns over the dish.  In the same pan that you did the mushrooms in, pour in the cream and tarragon and gently bring to a simmer then whisk in the knob of butter to make a creamy sauce.  Season well with salt and pepper then pour over the fish and mushrooms.

Put the mashed potato into a piping bag and pipe it over the top of the fish and mushrooms.  Bake it in the oven until the potato has gone golden and crispy and the fish and sauce below is bubbling away nicely.

Serve up straight away!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the topping

• 50g of softened butter
• 50g of light soft brown sugar
• 4 pineapples rings
• 4 glacé cherries

For the cake

• 100g of softened butter
• 100g of golden caster sugar
• 100g of self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

Start by heating to oven to 170 degrees C.

Next, make the topping.  Beat together the butter and sugar until well creamed.  Spread this mixture over the base of an 8″ cake tin and a little bit up the sides all the way around.  Place the pineapple rings into the mixture and put a glace cherry in the centre of each ring.

Pour all of the cake ingredients into a mixing bowl along with a little bit of the leftover pineapple juice.  Whisk together until it reaches a soft consistency.  Spoon out the mixture evenly over the top of the pineapple based tin and smooth it out so that it’s level.

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown on the side.  The syrup underneath may also be slightly bubbling up around the sides.  Allow it to stand for 5 minutes before turning it out of the tray.

Serve up whilst still warm with some cream or ice-cream.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 2 tablespoons of sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 small onion – finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove – crushed
• 400g can chickpeas – washed and drained
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
• 1 egg – beaten

Start by heating up a tablespoon of oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the onions and garlic for around five minutes until softened.  Pour the drained chickpeas into a large bowl along with the cumin, coriander and parsley then add the garlic and onion.  Mash the mixture together with a potato masher or using a handheld food blender.  You don’t want to puree the mixture fully if you’re using the blender.  Once the mixture is mashed and nicely combined, season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the beaten egg and stir the mixture once again.

Divide the mixture into six balls with your hands and then flatten so that they look like patties.  Heat another tablepsoon or so of oil and fry each of the falafels for 3 minutes or so per side until golden brown.

To serve, arrange the falafels in tortilla wraps with some salad, mayonnaise or chilli dipping sauce and some garlic bread on the side.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 400g lean lamb steak – cut into chunks
• 140g shallots – halved
• 2 courgettes – cut into chunks
• ½ teaspoon of ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon of paprika
• ½ teaspoon of dried coriander
• 1 red, 1 orange and 1 green pepper – cut into chunks
• 2 garlic cloves – sliced
• 150ml vegetable stock
• 250g cherry tomatoes
• Handful coriander leaves – roughly chopped

Add some oil to a large pan and place over a medium to high heat.  Add the lamb and shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes until the shallots have softened and the meat has started to brown off.  Add the courgettes and continue to stir for a further 3-5 minutes whilst the mixture cooks.  Add the cumin, paprika and coriander, give it a good stir and then add the garlic and peppers.  Reduce the heat slightly and allow all of the vegetables to reduce down a little bit for a few minutes.  Pour in the vegetable stock (add more if you prefer) and tomatoes, season well and then bring to a gentle simmer and cover for 10-15 minutes.

Stir the mixture every few minutes and continue to taste and season with salt and pepper to your preference.

Once the sauce has reduced and thickened nicely, stir in the coriander and serve up with some new potatoes.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes a deep 8″ or shallow 10″ tart):

• 1 pack of shortcrust pastry
• 450g of golden syrup
• 85g of fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 lemon

Start by pre-heating the oven to around 200 degrees C and preparing the pastry.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to 3-4mm thick and drape it over your tart tray.  Make sure you push the pastry into the corners and ensure it’s a tight fit in the tray.  Prick the base of the pastry lightly with a fork several times.  Use a knife to cut off all the excess pastry from around the edge of the tray; you’ll need this for the lattice.  Line the pastry with baking paper and fill it well with baking or dried butter beans.  Blind bake in the oven for 10 minutes or so, until the edges are starting to brown.  Take it out of the oven and remove baking paper with beans on and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes until the whole pastry is lightly golden.  Once done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool while you make the filling.

To make the filling, gently heat the golden syrup up in a pan being careful not to boil it.  Once hot, add the breadcrumbs, ginger and the juice and zest of the lemon.  Stir thoroughly to ensure the mixture is consistent.  If the mixture is a little too runny, add some more breadcrumbs and if it’s too dry, add some more syrup.

Allow to cool slightly and then pour the mixture into the pastry up to about 1-2mm from the top.  Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into strips.  Take one strip at a time and make a lattice across the top of the tart.  Pinch the ends of the strips into the pastry and give it all a gentle pat down.

Reduce the temperature of the oven to 180 degrees C and bake the tart for 25-30 minutes until the pastry lattice is golden brown and the filling is set.  If the pastry lattice looks like it’s burning, cover the tart with tin foil for the remainder of the cooking time.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes before serving up with some cream or ice-cream.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 1):

• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of red wine
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• Dash of black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ribeye or sirloin steak

Mix together all of the marinade ingredients in a sealable container, making sure that the salt is fully dissolved.  Place the steak into the marinade and turn over a few times.  Put the lid on and refrigerate for 4-6 hours to allow the marinade to work it’s magic.  You should turn the steak over several times in this period.

When you’re ready to cook the steak, heat a griddle pan or the barbeque, remove the steak from the marinade and cook it for 4-6 minutes per side or until cooked to your preference.  Once cooked, remove the steak from the heat and wrap in tin foil for 5-10 minutes to allow it to rest.  Once rested, slice the steak into strips and serve up with rice, chips, mash, new potatoes, vegetables or salad.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 340g of veal or pork steak
• 30g of plain flour
• 1/2 tablespoon of grated Parmesan
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley
• Dash of salt and pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 50g of bread crumbs
• 45g of butter
• 2 slices of lemon

Start by taking each steak of meat and lay it between two layers of cling film.  Use a meat hammer or the palm of your hand the beat the meat until it’s about 1/4″ thick.

In a bowl, mix together the parsley, egg, parmesan, nutmeg, milk and season well with salt and pepper.  Pour the flour onto a plate and the breadcrumbs onto another.  Take a steak at a time and dip it into the flour, then the egg mixture and finally the breadcrumbs.  Repeat the egg mixture and breadcrumbs if required.  Repeat this process for all of your Wienerschnitzels.  You can either refrigerate the Wienerschnitzels for an hour or cook straight away if you’re in a hurry.

To cook, melt a good sized knob of butter in a pan over a medium heat and cook the Wienerschnitzels for 3-5 minutes per side until golden brown on the outside and cooked right the way through.  You can finish them off in the oven if you like them more well done.

Serve them up with a drizzle of the cooking juices along with some potatoes, salad and a wedge of lemon.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 lamb neck fillets – about 200g each
• 2 shallots – finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
• 1 glass of white wine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 25g cold butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bunch of asparagus spears – tough end cut off
• New potatoes

Start by bringing a pan of lightly salted water to the boil and add the potatoes in.

While the potatoes are cooking, season the fillets with salt and pepper, heat up a pan to a medium to high heat, add a little oil and pan fry the lamb fillets until cooked to your liking; rare if you can :).  This should take roughly 4-6 minutes per side dependant on the size of the fillets.  Once cooked, remove them from the pan and cover with tin foil to allow them to rest.

Keep an eye on the potatoes as you don’t need them cooked just yet.

Lower the temperature on the pan that you cooked the lamb in and add the shallots and saute for a couple of minutes.  Next, add the rosemary and garlic and cook for a further minute before adding the white wine.  Bring it to a gentle simmer and use it to deglaze the pan, scraping up any bits of lamb cooked into it.  Simmer until reduced by half then stir in the butter to make the sauce creamy.  Just before the sauce is ready fire up another pan and pan fry the asparagus spears in a little butter and season well.

Drain the potatoes off once cooked and then return to the pan.  Put a knob of butter in with the potatoes and shake them around to coat evenly.

To serve, slice the lamb fillets and top with the sauce then plate up the buttery potatoes and asparagus.  Enjoy with a glass of wine! 🙂

Ingredients (serves 4):

• Dash of olive oil
• 2 onions – chopped
• 280g carrots – grated
• 2-3 teaspoons of chilli powder
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 2 x 400g cans of mixed beans
• 6-10 tortillas
• 200g of low-fat natural yogurt
• 50g of extra-mature cheddar cheese – finely grated

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions and carrots.  Fry over a medium heat for 5-7 minutes until softened.  Sprinkle in the chilli powder and give it a good stir around.  Pour in the tomatoes and mixed beans, give it another stir and then bring to the boil and gently simmer for about 10 minutes.  The sauce should have thickened after this time.  Season it to your taste and set to one side.

Get an oven dish and spoon a little of the mixture over the base of the dish.  Next, take one tortilla at a time, place it onto a board and put a spoonful or so of the spicy bean mixture into the middle.  Wrap up the tortilla and transfer it to the oven dish with the fold facing downwards.  Try to keep the tortillas on one level as otherwise the lower ones won’t cook as well.  Once you’ve filled all of your tortillas and placed them into the oven dish, pour over any excess mixture over the top.

Heat up the grill to high while you make the white sauce.  Mix the yoghurt and cheese together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Pour this over the top of the enchiladas and then stick the dish under the grill for a few minutes until it’s golden and bubbling on top.  Serve up straight away with some salad.  Enjoy!