Greek Salad

I substitited grapes for the olives

½ small red onion, thinly sliced

2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

½ cucumber, deseeded and roughly chopped

100g/3½oz reduced fat feta cheese, drained and cut into cubes

50g/1¾oz black olives, pitted and drained (in brine not oil and preferably Kalamata olives)

small handful fresh mint leaves

½ tsp dried oregano

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the onion, tomatoes and cucumber in a bowl and season to taste.
2. Scatter the feta, olives and mint leaves on top. Sprinkle over the oregano and toss lightly. Drizzle over the oil and lemon juice 

Somerset Pomona Apple Cake

A very nice dessert

3 medium dessert apples

knob of butter, plus extra for greasing

4oz butter, softened

4oz golden caster sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

4oz self-raising flour

1oz ground almond

2 tbsp Somerset Pomona, plus extra to drizzle

For the glaze

2 tbsp apricot jam

1 tbsp Somerset Pomona

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the base and sides of a 20cm round cake tin. Peel, core and slice the apples to about the thickness of a £1 coin. Melt the knob of butter in a large frying pan then tip in the apples. Cook over a medium heat, stirring every so often till softened, but not soggy, about 5 mins. Splash in the Pomona and leave to cool. Tip onto a plate to cool more quickly if you like.

Using an electric whisk or wooden spoon, beat the softened butter and sugar until creamy and light. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating after each addition, then fold in the flour and almonds. Finally, fold in half of the cooled apples. Spoon the mix into the prepared tin, smooth the top and scatter with the rest of the apples, pressing down lightly into the batter.

Bake for 1 hr, until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Check the cake after 45 mins, cover with foil if it’s browning too quickly. To make the glaze, warm the jam and Pomona in a small pan until the jam melts.

Once the cake is out of the oven, prick it all over with a skewer and drizzle over a little more Pomona. Cool for 10 mins, then turn out of the tin and transfer to a wire rack. Brush the glaze over the apples and serve sliced, with dollops of Pomona cream. Best eaten on the day it’s made, or warmed through the next

Slow Cooked Roast Beef

This is tender and tasty

·         2 - 4 lb beef roasting joint 

·         Salt and pepper

·         2 tbsp olive oil

·         1 onion (large, diced)

·         2 garlic cloves, smashed

·         4 carrots, 1 inch pieces

·         2 celery stalks, 1 inch pieces

·         1 cup / 250 ml dry red wine 

·         3 cups / 750 ml beef broth 

·         1/3 cup / 50g plain flour 

·         1 tsp dried rosemary

·         1 1/2 tsp dried thyme 

Instructions

1.    Pat beef dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper all over.

2.    Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Brown all over - a deep dark brown crust is essential for flavour base! Should take about 7 minutes.

3.    Transfer beef to slow cooker.

4.    In the same skillet, add onion and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes until onion is browned.

5.    Add wine, reduce by half. Transfer to slow cooker.

6.    Mix together flour and about 1 cup of the broth. Lumps is fine. Pour into slow cooker.

7.    Add remaining broth, carrots, celery, rosemary and thyme into slow cooker.

8.    Cover and slow cook on LOW for 8 hours.

9.    Remove beef. Rest for 5 minutes, then slice thickly.

10.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve beef with vegetables and plenty of sauce!

Spinach & Mushroom Pasta

I also added some cooked chicken for the meat eater - turned out well.

100g cooked pasta shells or spirals

1 tbsp. olive oil with garlic

8 mushrooms sliced

1/2 onion chopped

100g spinach sliced

150g light soft cheese

parmesan

milk

1. Heat oil and gently fry onion and mushrooms, set aside

2. Place spinach in pan and heat until the leaves wilt

3. Remove from heat and add soft cheese, parmesan and milk to form a sauce

4. Add back cooked pasta, mushrooms and onion

5. Heat gently till warmed through

Scalloped Potato Loaf

Quite a nice change for a mince meal.

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 large white onion, chopped

200g lean ground beef

pepper

salt

1 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoons paprika

4 oz diced tomato,

2 cups fresh spinach

Philadelphia cheese

grated mozzarella cheese

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the ground beef and break apart, then cook for 3 minutes until the meat is no longer pink. Add the pepper, salt, garlic powder, paprika, and tomatoes. Mix thoroughly and remove from pan.
3. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Add enough Philadelphia to make a soft mixture.Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and set aside until ready to use.
4. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C).
5. Peel the potatoes and cut into thin slices; boil for about 10 minutes.
6. In a  dish, arrange overlapping potato slices on the bottom of the pan so the entire bottom is covered. 
7. Spread 1/2 of the beef mixture on top of the potatoes. Arrange another layer of overlapping potato slices over the beef mixture. Spread the spinach mixture on top.
8. Spread the other 1/2 of the beef mixture over the spinach, then add another layer of potatoes. Top with the grated cheese.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crisp. Let cool a bit.

Seafood Linguine

Very good especially with the mussels. This amount serves 2.

100g linguine

8oz of cooked large shrimp or prawns

1/4 tsp paprika, or to taste

Salt and black pepper to taste

2 tbsp Butter

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Tin of crab 

Handful of cooked mussels

⅓ cup white wine

1 cups heavy whipping cream

Milk to thin the sauce if required

2 T. fresh parsley or 1 t. dried parsley

1.    Add pasta to a pot of boiling water with pinch salt and cook according to package instructions until al-dente. Drain without rinsing and set aside.

2.    While pasta is cooking, prepare the shrimp and sauce. Season shrimp with ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper and ¼ tsp paprika. Please a large, non-stick pan over medium/high heat and add 1 Tbsp oil. Once oil is hot, add shrimp in a single layer and warm through. Remove to a separate dish to prevent overcooking.

3.    In the same hot pan, add 2 Tbsp butter with finely chopped onion and sauté until soft and golden (3-5 mins), stirring often. Add minced garlic and sauté another minute until fragrant. Stir in white wine, crab and mussels and boil for 3 minutes.

4.    Stir in cream and milk, bring to a light boil then simmer 2 min. Let it come just to a simmer without boiling then turn off the heat and season sauce with more salt, pepper and paprika to taste.

5.     Stir in the drained pasta and cooked shrimp, tossing until noodles are well coated in sauce. Serve in warm pasta bowls with a generous sprinkle of finely chopped parsley, parmesan cheese and some freshly cracked black pepper.

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Nice and tasty especially with the cinnamon. This amount serves 4.

·         Olive oil

·         knob butter

·         700 grams diced butternut squash and sweet potato

·         1 onion chopped

·         1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon ground mace

·         500 ml semi-skimmed milk

·         1 litre vegetable stock

·         sea salt

·         freshly ground black pepper

1.     Heat a splash of olive oil and the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, squash and sweet potato. Gently fry for around 10 minutes.

2.     Add the spices and stir together so that everything gets coated in the oil and flavours. Pour in the milk and stock, season well and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

3.     Check that the vegetables are cooked by sticking a knife in. If you’re happy, remove them from the heat and carefully whiz up using a hand blender or liquidizer. Taste the soup to see if it needs a little more salt or pepper.

4.     For a thicker soup omit the milk and add cream later.

Based on recipe from Nigella Lawson