apple and gingerbread crumble

heston blumenthal

use any fruit for compote; and any spiced cake as long as it doesn't include dried fruit

APPLE CRUMBLE

Serves 8

For the crumble topping
225g unsalted butter
175g plain flour
140g unrefined caster sugar
100g ground almonds
125g gingerbread
Pinch of salt

For the apple compote
2 vanilla pods
6 braeburn or cox’s apples
150g unsalted butter
100g sultanas
A little ground cinnamon, to taste

To make the crumble, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a gentle heat for a couple of minutes, until slightly brown. Place all the ingredients along with the melted butter into a food processor and reduce to crumbs. Cover a large baking tray with parchment paper, add the crumb mixture and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes until golden brown and crunchy, turning the mixture halfway through cooking. Keep an eye on it, as you don’t want it to get too crunchy.

In the meantime, make the compote.

Halve the vanilla pods, scrape out the seeds and reserve. Peel, halve and core the apples, then cut them into 1cm cubes. Heat the butter in a large pan (such as a sauté pan) over a medium-low heat until golden. Sauté the apple cubes for about 2 minutes, in batches, stirring frequently. Add the sultanas and cook for a further 3 minutes or so, then stir in the vanilla seeds and cinnamon and remove from the heat.

Place the apple compote in an ovenproof dish (about 23cm sq) and bake at 200C/400F/ Gas Mark 6 for 10-15 minutes. Once the compote is cooked, sprinkle the crumble mixture over the top and serve

banana and lime eton mess

ETON MESS

Serves 4

For the meringue
100g egg whites
100g caster sugar
100g icing sugar

For the mess
4 bananas
2 tbsp lime juice
200ml double cream
Seeds of 2 vanilla pods
1 tbsp kirsch
Grated zest of 4 limes

Preheat the oven to its lowest setting (110C/ 225F/Gas Mark ) and line a baking tray with parchment. Beat the egg whites until very stiff — this is important as they must stay stiff when the sugar is added. Beat in the caster sugar, then the icing sugar. Spoon the meringue mix onto a baking tray, in 12 even shapes. Cook for 4 hours, or overnight. They should be crisp all the way through, with no colour. Turn the oven off, open the door and leave the meringues inside so they cool down slowly.

Peel the bananas. Purée 2 of them with half the lime juice. Cut the other 2 bananas into 3mm-thick slices and mix with the remaining lime juice to prevent them browning. Whisk the cream until stiff — being careful not to overwhip it — and stir into the crushed or puréed banana. Then fold in the vanilla seeds and kirsch.

Break the cool meringue into large pieces, mix with the banana cream and the sliced bananas. Spoon into a bowl and grate over the lime zest before serving.

pears poached in red wine

from Heston Blumenthal
PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE


I did this christmas 2006. An advantage was I could calmly prepare it before the hoards arrived. The added marinating time (it will hang in in the fridge for up to a week) was really useful. Because when it came to eat it - I could really appreciate it as it was ready and waiting to serve.


Serves 4

1 bottle good-quality red wine
200ml crème de cassis or blackcurrant syrup
200g sugar (or 300g if not using crème de cassis)
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
1 star anise
20g ginger root, peeled
25g liquorice root
Zest of 1 orange, peeled in one piece (using a sharp peeler)
Zest of 1 lemon, peeled in one piece
8-10 ripe, unblemished pears

Bring the wine to the boil in a casserole big enough to hold the pears and boil for 10 minutes to drive off the acidity. Remove from the heat, then add all the other ingredients, except the pears.

Prepare the pears. Peel them, leaving the stem intact. If you are keeping them whole, remove the core so that they cook evenly all the way through. To core them, insert the tip of a peeler into the base of the pear just on the edge of the core, push into the fruit and turn the peeler around the core, cutting it out. If halving the pears, do so lengthways. Neatly cut out the root and core.

The liquid will have cooled down a little by now. Place the prepared pears side by side in the pan and top with a disc of greaseproof paper cut to the same size as the pan. Pierce a few holes in the paper and press it down slightly so that some of the poaching liquid comes through the holes: this will keep the pears submerged during cooking. If the liquid does not cover the pears, add a little water until it does.

Place the casserole back on the heat and bring to a simmer. As soon as this happens, turn down the heat and cook at a gentle simmer — just enough to form the odd bubble on the surface of the water — for 30 minutes, or until the pears are done. Test by inserting a small pointed knife into the flesh. If it goes in with little resistance, they are ready.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool. When cold, carefully transfer the fruit to a sealable container. If you have added extra water, reduce the liquid to the required consistency and taste. If it is still too thin, thicken with a little cornflour. Reserve the zest and spices for decoration, if required. Pour the liquid over the pears in their container and store in the fridge for at least a day. The pears will keep for a week in the poaching liquid. Serve hot or cold.

fennel soup

FENNEL VELOUTE

Serves 6

2 tsp fennel seeds
1 star anise
50g butter
1kg fennel, finely sliced
2 medium onions, finely sliced
1 small potato, finely sliced
2 tbsp Pernod
750ml warm chicken stock (ideally fresh)
100ml double cream
Salt and cayenne pepper, to taste

Place the fennel seeds and star anise in a muslin bag and tie it up to make a bouquet garni. Set a large pan over a medium heat, melt the butter and cook the sliced fennel, onion and potato with the bouquet garni, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the Pernod and bring to the boil for a couple of minutes to reduce it. Now add the warm stock to the vegetables, then simmer for 10minutes. Remove the bouquet garni. Blitz the soup using either a hand blender, a mouli-légumes or by putting batches in a food processor, then pass through a sieve. Return the soup to the pan, add the cream and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste, and serve.

from Heston Blumenthal

chilled yoghurt and cucumber soup

YOGHURT AND CUCUMBER SOUP

Prep: 10 min plus chilling

Serves 4

1 litre natural low-fat yoghurt, well chilled
500g long ridged cucumber
500ml iced water or vegetable stock
1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Half tsp finely chopped mint
2 tbsp finely chopped dill
1 garlic clove, crushed
Fresh mint sprigs for serving

Method: Peel the cucumber and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard. Finely chop the flesh. Combine the yoghurt, iced water or stock, sea salt and pepper in a liquidiser or blender (more successful than a food processor, which leaves it slightly bitty). Add the dried mint, dill, garlic and all but 1 tbsp of the diced cucumber, and whiz until pale green, smooth and frothy. Chill for at least an hour and serve in small, chilled bowls.

Add the reserved cucumber and top with a sprig of fresh mint.

butternut squash and ginger soup

Butternut squash and ginger soup

Serves 4
Prep 15mins
Cook 30mins

1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 small leek, roughly chopped
30g root ginger, peeled and grated
Good knob of butter
1kg butternut squash
500ml vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted

METHOD

Gently cook the onion, leek and ginger in the butter until soft. Peel, seed and chop the squash and add to the pan with the stock. Bring to the boil, add salt and pepper and simmer for 20min. Blend in a liquidiser, then strain through a sieve. Reheat the soup and adjust the consistency with stock or water. Serve immediately with pumpkin seeds.

# The Simple Art of Marrying Food & Wine, Mitchell Beazley, £20.

baked endive with thyme, orange juice, garlic and butter

from Jamie Oliver, return of the naked chef

4 endive, quartered
3 knobs butter
clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
handful fresh thyme
salt and black pepper
300 ml orange juice

Oven 230 c. Fry endive in butter, garlic and thyme and seasoning for 4 - 5 minutes. Add orange juice and allow to sizzle. Pour into baking dish, cover with foil, bake covered 10 minutes; remove foil and bake further 10 mins.

baked fennel with garlic butter and vermouth

from Jamie Oliver, return of the naked chef.

3 large heads of fennel, quartered, or sliced finely
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 large knobs butter
2 wine glasses vermouth or white wine
salt and black pepper

Oven 220 c. Put all ingredients in baking dish. Scrunch piece of wetted greaseproof paper over fennel (so it will bake and steam). Cook 20 mins

gratin of celeriac

can also use Jerusalem artichokes. Adapated from a Jamie Oliver recipe in return of the naked chef.

285 ml cream or creme fraiche
juice 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
handful of fresh thyme
3 handfuls grated parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper
1kg celeriace or jerusalem artichokes, peeled and sliced (pencil thickness)
2 handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs
olive oil

Oven 220 c. Mix cream, lemon juice, garlic, half thyme, most of parmesan, season. Add veg and mix; place in ovenproof baking dish.

Mix breadcrumbs with rest of thyme and parmesan and salt and pepper. Sprinkle over veg and drizzle with olive oil. Bake 30 mins

baked beetroot with balsamic vinegar, marjoram and garlic

This is a great veggie dish - goes well with white fish, also as a starter.

From Jamie Oliver, return of the naked chef

1lb small fresh raw beetroot
10 cloves garlic, unpeeled and squashed
handful of fresh marjoram or sweet oregano
salt and pepper
10 tbsps balsamic vinegar
6 tbsps olive oil

Oven at 200 C. Place beetroots on double thickness foil; add all the ingredients; seal; cook for 1 hour

baked carrots with cumin, thyme and butter

carrots baked with cumin, thyme, butter and chardonnay

from Jamie Oliver the return of the naked chef

1lb carrots (preferably baby ones left whole)
1/2 tsp crushed cumin seeds
handful fresh thyme leaves
4 knobs butter
glass chardonnay
salt and black pepper

Oven at 220 C; place all ingredients in a foil parcel; seal; bake 45 mins

horseradish sauce

mix fresh peeled and grated, or preserved from a jar, horseradish with creme fraiche, white wine vinegar, and salt and black pepper.

serve with trout (yes, it's great), beef, roasted beetroot or carrot.

tomato salsa

good with tuna or swordfish. From Jamie Oliver the naked chef

2 handfuls plum tomatoes, de-seeded and finely chopped
handful of small capers, soaked and drained
2 small shallots or 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped
handful parsley, finely chopped
couple of swigs of balsamic vinegar
6 - lugs olive oil
dried chili flakes (or fresh, finely chopped) to taste
1/2 cucumeber, peeled, deseeded and finely diced
salt and black pepper

mix and season to taste

chilli and fennel salsa

to serve with grilled fish or shellfish. Good with baked or grilled salmon or cod; pour sauce over cooked fish and allow to cool. serve as with boiled potatoes and salad.

from Jamie Oliver the naked chef

4 med chillies
1 bulb fennel
juice 1 - 2 lemons
handful fennel tops
8 tbsps olive oil
salt and pepper

finely chop chillies. gtrim and finely dice fennel. mix all ingredients

sweet chilli and pepper salsa

from Jamie Oliver the naked chef

2 red peppers - oven roasted and skins removed, then finely chopped
1/2 red onion - finally chopped
4 medium red chillies - deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 clove garlic - finely chopped
8 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 handful parsley - finely chopped
1 handful basil - finely chopped
salt and black pepper

Mix all ingredients well. Allow to stand for 1 hour to let flavours develop

salsa verde

an essential for serving with fish, also good with boiled meats and vegetables. Lots of variations - this one is from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef

Here in Le Colombier most of the herbs are growing just outside the kitchen door And I make my own vinegar.

Make this sauce fresh as it doesn't really keep. Useful to put it into one of those little plastic pots with a nozzle so you can do pretty patterns on the plate.

serves 8

2 cloves garlic, peeled
small handful capers
small handful small pickled gherkins/cornichons
6 anchovy fillets
2 large handfuls flat leaved parsely
bunch fresh basil
bunch fresh mint
tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbsps red wine vinegar
8 tbsps olive oil
salt and black pepper

finely chop all the ingredients; add mustard and red wine vinegar. stir in olive oil, season (or else put it all into a blender and blitz.

endive salad with anchovy and caper dressing

from Jamie Oliver's the naked chef.

Cut 4 medium endives into eighths. Wash and drain and dry well. Blitz or finely chop (or pestle and mortar) 6 anchovy fillets with 1 tbsp capers. Add 5 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp lemon juice, black pepper.

poached figs

There's little to beat a freshly picked fig, still warm from the summer sun. But it's also good to have a few ways of turning them into a stylish dessert.

Lots of variations on a theme - I'll add variations as I come across them.
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Figs in sweet Beaume de Venise muscat wine

8 fresh figs
1/2 bottle of beaumes de venise
strip of lemon zest
1 vanilla pod

stab the figs 2 or 3 times, and gently poach covered 5 - 10 mins in the simmering wine, lemon zest and vanilla pod. Use a wide frying pan that will take them in a single layer. Drain, remove lemon and vanilla, reduce liquid, pour over figs, cool.

Alternatively, cut them through into quarters, but not right the way through the core; put into baking dish with montbazillac (sweet desset wine); or rasteau, or even cassis; bake ... and I serve at room temperature.

Serve with creme fraiche, creme anglaise (vanilla custart), or vanilla icecream.

Or vanilla fromage frais, or any of the varieties of not quite yoghurt/not quite cream/not quite cheese stuff that fill the dairy of shelves of french supermarkets (and range from 0% through to 33% fat content). Just add sugar and the vanilla seeds from a vanilla pod

chicken with sherry vinegar and tarragon sauce

Delia's adaptation of the classic French dish Poulet au Vinaigre. I'll do a proper comparision some day. But in the meantime, I know that this one works well as I've been cooking it for years.

It's easy to buy sherry vinegar here - but I can't find sherry! Have to do a little trip into Spain sometime ....

Ingredients

1 x 3½ lb (1.75 kg) chicken, jointed into 8 pieces, or you could use 4 bone-in chicken breast portions
5 fl oz (150 ml) sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 shallots, peeled and left whole
4 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
15 fl oz (425 ml) medium-dry Amontillado sherry
1 heaped tablespoon crème fraîche
salt and freshly milled black pepper

To garnish:

8 small sprigs of fresh tarragon

You will also need a large, roomy frying pan, 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter.

First of all, heat the oil in the frying pan and season the chicken joints with salt and pepper. Then, when the oil begins to shimmer, fry the chicken (in two batches) to brown well: remove the first batch to a plate while you tackle the second. Each joint needs to be a lovely golden-brown colour. When the second batch is ready, remove it to the plate to join the rest. Then add the shallots to the pan, brown these a little, and finally add the garlic cloves to colour slightly.

Now turn the heat down, return the chicken pieces to the pan, scatter the tarragon leaves all over, then pour in the vinegar and sherry. Let it all simmer for a bit, then turn the heat to a very low setting, so that the whole thing barely bubbles, for 45 minutes. Halfway through, turn the chicken pieces over to allow the other sides to sit in the sauce.

When they're ready, remove them to a warm serving dish (right side up) along with the shallots and garlic. The sauce will by now have reduced and concentrated, so all you do is whisk the crème fraîche into it, taste it and season as required, then pour the sauce all over the chicken and scatter with the sprigs of tarragon. This is lovely served with tiny new potatoes tossed in herbs and some fresh shelled peas.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection and The Delia Collection: Chicken.

caramelised fennel

Works with fish or roast chicken.

To make it more provencal, I'd probably substitute white wine vinegar for the cider vinegar, and might even give it a slosh of pastis. Or perhaps use some quince juice if I had some open. Although we mainly use olive oil for cooking, using butter here helps the caramelisation

From Delia again

Ingredients

4 medium-sized heads fennel
1 oz (25 g) butter
1 rounded teaspoon granulated sugar
10 fl oz (275 ml) medium cider
2 fl oz (55 ml) cider vinegar
pinch salt

You will need a wide saucepan with a lid, of about 9-10 inches (23-25.5 cm) in diameter, into which the trimmed fennel will fit snugly.

To prepare the fennel bulbs, first cut off the leafy fronds and reserve them for a garnish. Now trim off the green shoot by cutting diagonally to make a V-shape. Then slice off the root part at the other end, keeping the bulb intact, and remove any tough or brown outer layers, then slice across each bulb to cut it in half.

Then place the fennel in a fan steamer set in the saucepan with 1 inch (2.5 cm) of boiling water under it. Cover and steam for 10 minutes, then remove them from the steamer, throw out the water, wipe the inside of the pan with kitchen paper and return it to the heat.

Next melt the butter and sugar in the saucepan and when it starts to foam, stir it around the pan until the sugar dissolves, then add the fennel, cut side down. Keeping the heat fairly high, brown it for 5 minutes, then turn the pieces over and brown them on the other side for another 3 minutes.

Now combine the cider, cider vinegar and a little salt, and pour this into the pan; then, keeping the cut side of the fennel facing upwards, cover with a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes. After that turn the fennel over again. Then continue to cook for a further 20-25 minutes (this time uncovered). Watch carefully during the last 10 minutes and test to see if it is cooked by inserting a skewer.

When the fennel is tender enough, raise the heat so that the remaining juices reduce to a glaze. Shake the pan carefully to give an even covering of the caramel glaze. Now transfer the whole lot to a warm serving dish with the cut surfaces upwards and scatter with the chopped fennel fronds as a garnish.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Winter Collection.

roasted red peppers with fennel

Another way to fill a red pepper! One of the important thing to watch when cooking with seasonal and local ingredients is to make sure that you can get the ingredients for a recipe at the same time of year. As we get a lot ingredients brought up from Spain, this should be good from early summer through to the end of the year. (It's 2nd December today, and both peppers and fennel are available in the local greengrocers. There are fresh plum tomatoes as well, so need to use tinned ones).

Ingredients

4 large red peppers
2 small bulbs fennel
1 x 14 oz (400 g) tin Italian plum tomatoes
8 dessertspoons extra virgin olive oil1 rounded teaspoon mixed pepper berries
¾ level teaspoon whole coriander seeds
½ level teaspoon fennel seeds
juice ½ lemon
finely chopped spring onion for garnish (optional)
sea salt

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).

You will also need a shallow baking sheet (I use a Swiss-roll tin).

Slice each pepper in half lengthways, cutting right through the green stalk end and leaving it intact; though it won't be eaten, it adds much to the look of the thing. Remove all the seeds. Place the pepper halves on the baking sheet, then drain the tomatoes (you don't need the juice), and divide them into eight equal portions, placing each portion inside a pepper half.

Now pare off any brownish bits of fennel with your sharpest knife and cut the bulbs first into quarters and then again into eighths, carefully keeping the layers attached to the root ends. Now put them in a saucepan with a little salt, pour boiling water on them and blanch them for 5 minutes. Then drain them in a colander and, as soon as they're cool enough to handle, arrange two slices in each pepper half. Sprinkle 1 dessertspoon of olive oil over each one, using a brush to brush the oil round the edges and sides of the peppers.

Next, lightly crush the pepper berries, coriander and fennel seeds with a pestle and mortar or rolling pin and bowl, sprinkle these evenly all over the fennel and peppers, and finish off with a grinding of sea salt. Then bake the peppers for about 1 hour on a high shelf in the oven until they are soft and the skin wrinkled and nicely tinged with brown. After removing them from the oven, sprinkle the lemon juice all over, cool and serve garnished with a little finely chopped spring onion or as they are.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Christmas.

roasted tomato salad

Again on the theme of roasted vegetable salads, this is very similar in execution to the piedmont roasted peppers.

It's another from Delia's summer cooking. Personally, I don't bother by skinning the tomatoes; too much effort, and leaving them on helps hold them together. If people don't want to eat the skins, they can just eat the innards.

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Ingredients

12 large tomatoes
2 large or 4 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
12 large fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly milled black pepper

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

To garnish: fresh basil leaves24 black olives

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C).

You will also need a shallow roasting tin 16 x 12 inches (40 x 30 cm), oiled.

Skin the tomatoes first of all by pouring boiling water over them and leaving for 1 minute, then drain and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins. (Protect your hands with a cloth if necessary.) Now cut each tomato in half, around the middle rather than vertically, and place the halves in the roasting tin (cut side uppermost) and season with salt and freshly milled pepper. After that, sprinkle on the chopped garlic, distributing it evenly between the tomatoes. Follow this with a few droplets of olive oil on each one, then top each one with half a basil leaf, turning each piece of leaf over to get a coating of oil.

Now place the roasting tin in the top half of the oven and roast the tomatoes for 50-60 minutes or until the edges are slightly blackened. Then remove the tin from the oven and allow the tomatoes to cool. All this can be done several hours ahead.

To serve the tomatoes, transfer them to individual serving plates, then whisk the oil and balsamic vinegar together and drizzle this over the tomatoes. Finally top each one with an olive and garnish with basil leaves. Lots of crusty bread is an essential accompaniment to this.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection and Delia's Vegetarian Collection.

piedmont roasted peppers

My variation on a recipe originally published by Elizabeth David in Italian Food, then Delia Smith in her Summer Cooking.

Where the original recipe calls for anchovy, I use a teaspoon of tapenade (black olive paste) per pepper. As tapenade often contains capers, this seems to substitute well for the saltiness of the anchovies. And it makes the whole dish fine for veggies.

I took a whole tray of these to Jo's garden party in les Pilles last September, and they went down a storm.

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Ingredients

4 large red peppers (green are not suitable)
4 medium tomatoes
8 tinned anchovy fillets, drained
2 cloves garlic
8 dessertspoons Italian extra virgin olive oil
freshly milled black pepper
To serve: small bunch fresh basil leaves

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).

For this it is essential to use a good, solid, shallow roasting tray, 16 x 12 inches (40 x 30 cm). If the sides are too deep, the roasted vegetables won't get those lovely, nutty, toasted edges.

Begin by cutting the peppers in half and removing the seeds but leaving the stalks intact (they're not edible but they do look attractive and they help the pepper halves to keep their shape). Lay the pepper halves in the lightly oiled roasting tray. Now put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave them for 1 minute, then drain them and slip the skins off, using a cloth to protect your hands. Then cut the tomatoes into quarters and place two quarters in each pepper half.

After that, snip one anchovy fillet per pepper half into rough pieces and add to the tomatoes. Peel the garlic cloves, slice them thinly and divide the slices equally among the tomatoes and anchovies. Now spoon 1 dessertspoon of olive oil into each pepper, season with freshly milled pepper (but no salt because of the anchovies) and place the tray on a high shelf in the oven for the peppers to roast for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Then transfer the cooked peppers to a serving dish, with all the precious juices poured over, and garnish with a few scattered basil leaves. These do need good bread to go with them as the juices are sublime – focaccia would be perfect.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection.

goats cheese and tapenade toasts

either serve as a starter on a bed of leaves with a balsamic vinegar dressing; or as they are to go with aperitifs out on the terrace ...

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sliced baguette, lightly toasted; spread with tapenade (the paste made with olives) and top with a slice of goats cheese cut from a goats cheese log.

put under grill or into hot oven to slightly melt the cheese

pears in almond sponge

Having had this as a great dessert the other night at the Charette Bleue, I thought I'd hunt down a recipe to use as a starting point.

I found this one on the BBC web site - by Rachel Allen

I'll come back and give some news on how it works. This is for a large "tart", whereas the one I ate was an individual sponge with a whole poached pear inside.

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Ingredients
175g/6oz icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
50g/2oz plain flour
100g/4oz ground almonds
1 lemon, zest only
5 free-range egg whites
175g/6oz butter, melted, plus extra butter for greasing
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored and quartered, then cut into long slices about 5mm/¼in thick
25g/1oz flaked almonds

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Lightly grease the sides of a 23cm/9in tart tin with a removable bottom and place a disc of greaseproof paper on the base. If you prefer, you can serve this tart on the tart tin base,
in which case do not use a disc of paper.
3. Sieve the icing sugar and flour into a clean bowl and stir in the ground almonds and
lemon zest.
4. Place the free-range egg whites into another clean bowl. Whisk the egg whites for 30 seconds, until just frothy.
5. Add the whisked egg whites and warm melted butter to the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Mix the ingredients until the Ingredients combine and become smooth. Then pour the mixture into the prepared tart tin.
6. Arrange the pieces of pear on the top of the mixture and sprinkle the flaked almonds onto the top of the pears.
7. Transfer the tin to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the heat of the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and cook for a further ten minutes or until the mixture has risen and has a pale golden colour. The filling should feel firm to the touch in the centre when cooked through. Remove the tin from the oven and allow it to sit in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack.
8. To serve, place the tart on a clean plate and dust with icing sugar.

VARIATIONS
Instead of pears I sometimes use 100g/4oz raspberries or blackberries (either fresh or frozen) for the topping. Alternatively, I use 50g/2oz pine nuts instead of fruit. You can also make this with 100g/4oz peach or nectarine slices, which is particularly nice in the summer!

chicken basque

This recipe is originally from Delia Smith's summer cooking. I use epautre (a local grain, sometimes called smelt in English) that was an ancient ancester of wheat instead of Delia's rice.

I often use epautre instead of rice or pearl barley. A great advantage is that it always keeps a bit of bite.

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Ingredients
1 x 3½ lb (1.75 kg) chicken, jointed into 8 pieces
2 large red peppers
1 very large or 2 medium onions
2 oz (50 g) sun-dried tomatoes in oil (or tin of good cherry tomatoes)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
5 oz (150 g) chorizo sausage, skinned and cut into ½ inch (1 cm) slices
brown basmati rice or epautre measured to the 8 fl oz (225 ml) level in a glass measuring jug
10 fl oz (275 ml) chicken stock
6 fl oz (170 ml) dry white wine
1 level tablespoon tomato purée
½ level teaspoon hot paprika
1 level teaspoon chopped fresh herbs
2 oz (50 g) pitted black olives, halved
½ large orange, peeled and cut into wedges
salt and freshly milled black pepper

You will also need a wide, shallow, flameproof casserole with a domed lid, measuring about 9½ inches (24 cm) at the base; or, failing that, any wide flameproof casserole of 8 pint (4½ litre) capacity.

Start by seasoning the chicken joints well with salt and pepper. Next, slice the red peppers in half and remove the seeds and pith, then slice each half into six strips. Likewise, peel the onion and slice into strips of approximately the same size. The dried tomatoes should be drained, wiped dry with kitchen paper and then cut into ½ inch (1 cm) pieces.

Now heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in the casserole and, when it is fairly hot, add the chicken pieces – two or three at a time – and brown them to a nutty golden colour on both sides. As they brown remove them to a plate lined with kitchen paper, using a draining spoon. Next add a little more oil to the casserole, with the heat slightly higher than medium. As soon as the oil is hot, add the onion and peppers and allow them to brown a little at the edges, moving them around from time to time, for about 5 minutes.

After that, add the garlic, chorizo and dried tomatoes and toss these around for a minute or two until the garlic is pale golden and the chorizo has taken on some colour. Next, stir in the rice and, when the grains have a good coating of oil, add the stock, wine, tomato purée and paprika. As soon as everything has reached simmering point, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Add a little more seasoning, then place the chicken gently on top of everything (it's important to keep the rice down in the liquid). Finally, sprinkle the herbs over the chicken pieces and scatter the olives and wedges of orange in among them.

Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over the gentlest possible heat for about 50 minutes-1 hour or until the rice is cooked but still retains a little bite. Alternatively cook in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C), for 1 hour.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection and The Delia Collection: Chicken.

beef stew with cinnamon and bay

Cooked this last year at Christmas - great for the hordes. For 12 people I used 1.5 kg of beef and .5 kg of pork (no pancetta) and I scaled up the other quantities. I used local cotes de baronnies for the wine. Served with potatoes dauphinois.

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This is one of those recipes that can be made for two, as here, or scaled up (each time you double the recipe, add 20 minutes cooking time). For the cooking, choose a silky Burgundy, light enough to let the cinnamon to shine through.

Serves 2

Preparation time: 35 minutes, plus marinating
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

500g rump or braising steak, in 3-4cm pieces
300ml red wine
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cinnamon sticks
6 bay leaves
70g cubed pancetta
30g salted butter
6 small shallots, peeled but left whole
12 baby carrots, or 3 large carrots cut into batons
8 prunes
1 tbsp plain flour
300ml beef stock

Instructions

Put the meat, wine, garlic, cinnamon and bay in a large bowl, cover and leave in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 150°C, gas mark 2. Drain the meat, reserving the marinade, cinnamon and bay. Dry the meat on paper towels.

Fry the pancetta in a casserole over a medium heat until it starts to brown. Add half the butter, the shallots, carrots, prunes and reserved bay and cinnamon. Sauté until the carrots and shallots start to brown.

In a separate pan, melt the remaining butter, brown the meat (in batches, if necessary) and add to the casserole. Add the flour, stir well then add the reserved marinade. Bring to the boil. Add the stock. Return to the boil, cover and put in the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes or until the meat is tender and the sauce thickened. Remove from the oven and stand, covered, for 20 minutes, then serve with buttery mashed potato. Alternatively, cool, refrigerate for up to 2 days and reheat.

This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in December 2005.

This recipe is from Waitrose Food Illustrated

swede and orange puree

25g/1oz butter
150g/5½oz swede, peeled, chopped
1 orange,½ segmented,½ juiced
salt and freshly ground black pepper

cook swede in hot water; drain, mash with butter and orange juice, mix in segmented orange; season

would also work with pumpkin - but need to make sure that excess water in the pumpkin is well drained out.

basic couscous recipes

• add olive oil to dry couscous and rub through
• add juice of one lemon
• add hot stock
• stir through and leave to stand

add whatever flavourings required

cooking from ingredients

Since I've had my house in the Drome Provencal, in France - Chateau Colombier - (see the blog here), I've noticed a change in how I cook, and how I decide what to cook.

Back in the south of England I shopped in Waitrose. You could get any ingredient you wanted, more of less any time of the year. So cooking tended to be driven by a recipe that I wanted to try out.

Here, the local produce is fantastic, and very seasonal. So I'm more likely to go shopping, come back laden with ingredients, and then try to work out what to cook.

Typically I will go through my many recipe books, look for inspiration on the web, try things out, enjoy the results, but never properly remember what I did, or which recipe I used.

So in this blog I intend to keep track of what I cook when and build up my own cooking year book.

Well, that's the plan ...