Balsamic Roasted Beetroot with Thyme Oil, Goats Cheese and Horseraddish.

Top and tail some small beets and cut most of the way down the length in a cross, so you can get oil and thyme into the centre to flavour whilst cooking.
Place the beats on a sheet of foil, work chopped thyme and seasoning into the centre, cover in a dash of oil and a glug of balsamic vinegar wrap and place on a baking tray and roast for 30-45 mins depending on size - they are done when a sharp knife slides in with little effort.
Remove from the oven - open the foil slightly to allow to cool and when cool enough rub of the outer skin and continue the existing cuts to quarter the beets.
While the beets are cooking put chopped thyme and a good glug of rape seed oil in a saucepan and warm through.
Leave to cool and infuse the place in a small blender and blitz, then sieve out the chopped thyme.
Serve the beet quarters while still warm on a bed of beet and balsamic puree with a good goats cheese,a drizzle of thyme oil, watercress and a good grating of fresh horse radish.

Cavolo Nero with Bacon and Chestnuts.

Half the chestnuts and take the outer shells off and roast in an oven on a medium heat for five or ten mins - this is to dry out the bitter inner skin to make it easier to peel.
When the are cool enough to handle peel off the inner skins.
Chop the bacon and add to a hot pan, when the bacon is cooking add a glug of rape seed oil and add the peeled chestnuts.
Add the chopped and de stalked cavolo nero, you may need to add a bit more oil at this stage and fry until it is cooked through.

Pickled Beetroot with Watercress and Crottin De Chavignol.

Peel the beetroot and slice thinly.
In a saucepan add two parts water to one part white wine vinegar, a hand full of peppercorns, a bay leaf, salt and sugar to taste.
Bring to the boil and add the beetroot leave to cook on a gentle simmer for five mins and then remove from the heat.
Cover and leave to cool.
Serve with dressed watercress and Goats cheese.

Rib Eye Steak with Raw Chestnuts, Fondant Potatoes, Rainbow Chard, Pickled Mushrooms and Honey & Thyme Roasted Purple Carrot.

In a saucepan add two parts water to one part white wine vinegar, a hand full of peppercorns, a bay leaf, salt and sugar to taste.
Bring to the boil, take of the heat and leave to infuse for half an hour.
Bring back to the boil then pour over chopped mushrooms (wild if you can get them) - cover and leave to pickle for a few hours.
For the fondant potatoes cut the potatoes into barrel shapes, heat a large amount of butter in a saucepan and on a med heat place your potatoes in the pan.
Leave to cook until the potato end is nicely coloured (do not move them around)- usually around 3-5mins - then flip them over and do the other side.
Finely add a bunch of thyme, a crushed garlic clove and veg stock.
Turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and slow cook until the potatoes are soft.
Roll your carrots in a rapeseed oil and runny honey, then in chopped thyme.
Place in a roasting tray and roast in the oven.
Strip the stems from the rainbow chard and chop into 4/5cm lengths, place in a steamer basket over some slightly salted water.
Place the shredded leaves on top and steam for 10 -12mins.
When cooked drain the water from the pan add a knob of butter and return the stalks to the pan and keep warm.
When the leaves are cool enough to handle squeeze out any excess liquid and return to the pan season and roll in the melted butter.
Always allow a steak to come up to room temperature before cooking and oil & season on both sides before cooking.
Fry the steak in a little oil or butter on both sides until medium rare, place a small knob of butter on top, cover with a little foil and leave some where warm to rest.
When plating up pour any resting juices back over the top of the steak.
Peel your chestnuts, remembering to remove the bitter inner skin and using a mandolin or sharp knife slice finely.
Spread the chestnuts over the top of the steak when serving.

Pickled Mushrooms.

In a saucepan add two parts water to one part white wine vinegar, a hand full of peppercorns, a bay leaf, a chopped shallot, salt and sugar to taste.
Bring to the boil, take of the heat and leave to infuse for half an hour.
Bring back to the boil then pour over chopped mushrooms and a chopped clove of garlic - cover and leave to pickle for a few hours.
Make a dressing with extra virgin olive oil a tea spoon of dijon mustard, chopped parsley and a little of the pickling liquor.
Remove the mushrooms from the pickling liquor, dry on a paper towel, plate and dress.

From The Archive : Tomato Ketchup

Roughly chop 1.5 kg of tomatoes, about 500g of apples, and an onion and place in a saucepan.
Add about 1/2 ltr of malt vinegar, salt, sugar to taste and cayenne pepper.
Wrap cloves, pepper corns and all spice in a muslin bag, secure and place in the saucepan.
Bring to a simmer and cook for an hour and a half until all the ingredients are well broken down.
Remove the muslin bag and discard - press the mixture through a sieve into a new saucepan.
Boil for two to three minutes to bring it all back together then decant into sterilized jars.
It will be ready to use in a couple of days or so.

Beetroot Carpaccio with Orange, Roquefort, Hazelnuts and Orange & Chive Dressing.

Peel and finely slice your beetroots.
Place in a container and cover with a mix of orange juice and sherry vinegar.
Leave to marinade for a few hours preferably overnight.
Dry toast a few hazelnuts in a hot pan and crush in a mortar and pestle.
For the dressing reduce down a small amount of orange juice in a pan by a quarter.
When it has cooled add a glug of extra virgin olive oil, finely chopped chives and seasoning, mix together.
Drain the beetroot slices and arrange on a plate with small wedges of sliced orange, cubes of cheese (many good cheeses will work with this dish), a few watercress leaves for garnish, scatter with the chopped nuts, dress with the chive and orange dressing and serve.

Linguine with Watercress, Rocket & Herb Pesto and Roasted Tomatoes.

A quick and easy simple supper with watercress and rocket that need using up.
Roughly chop a bunch of watercress and rocket and place in a blender with a few crushed cloves of garlic, herbs (I used parsley, thyme and basil), some toasted hazel nuts, a squeeze of lemon juice, a glug of walnut oil and a couple of glugs of olive oil. Blitz until you have a smooth paste - you may need to add a bit more oil.
If you are aiming to freeze any place in a saucepan and warm through - this will stop the growing process of the leaves and is essential, it also gives it a longer shelf life in the fridge too.
When its cooled add gated parmesan or pecorino cheese.
Place a few small tomaotes in a baking dish with a crushed garlic clove oil and seasoning, roast in the oven.
When the linguine is cooked drain and add a good dollop of pesto to it. Stir and coat - serve with the cooked tomatoes on top and freshly grated parmesan.

Asparagus Spring Salad with Dijon Dressing.

This salad can be served warm or cold.
First make the dressing by placing a chopped shallot, a couple of teaspoons of Dijon mustard, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil in a blender and whizzing until smooth.
Finely chop a few spring onions and place in a bowl with lemon juice.
Next boil small small new potatoes in salted water. ten minutes or so before they are cooked place the trimmed asparagus in a steamer above the potatoes.
Three or four mins before the potatoes are cooked add some broad beans and peas to the boiling water under the steamer.
When they are all cooked drain, then and add a knob of butter to the pan leaving the butter to melt as the potatoes, beans, peas and asparagus cool slightly.
When cooled enough add finely chopped mint and the lemon juice from the spring onions and roll the veg around in the dressing.
Chop some radishes and add some mixed leaves and ripped mint leaves to the pan and dress.
Plate and drizzle with the Dijon dressing before serving.

Asparagus with Bacon, Capers, Lemon and Mint.

Cut off the woody ends of the asparagus and trim off the tough outer skin towards the bottom of the stems.
Put in a steamer and steam over salted water for 8-12 mins depending on the size and thickness of the stalks.
While the Asparagus in steaming chop a rasher or two of bacon and fry in a pan until crispy, add a couple of tea spoons full of capers and grate some lemon zest into the pan.
when the Asparagus is cooked rolling the pan with the bacon and plate with a good scatering of chopped mint and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Tomato, Cucumber, Red Onion, Caper and Basil Salad.

This salad is best made at least a few hours before serving as it allows all the flavours to merge and mingle.
It goes very well with barbecued meat and white fish.
Finely slice a red onion and place in a bowl.
Add chopped tomatoes and cucumber, season with salt and pepper.
Tear up a small bunch of basil leaves and add with a couple of spoons full of capers.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar and roughly mix.
Cover and refrigerate for a few hours but bring back to room temperature before serving.

Asparagus with Breadcrumbs, Capers, Lemon and Herbs.

For the caper, lemon and herb crust lightly toast some white bread crumbs in a pan.
Place in a mixing bowl and add chopped capers, the zest of a lemon, chopped parsley, grated parmesan and melted butter.
Mix and reserve.
Remove the woody ends of the asparagus, place in a baking tray, roll lightly in rape seed oil, add a dot or two of butter, season and bake at 180 for 10-15 mins, depending on the thickness of the stems until tender.
Plate the asparagus, pour over the melted butter from the baking dish, scatter with the topping and serve.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Basil and Herb Salsa Verde.

For the stuffing tear up some semi stale bead and lightly toast until it colours slightly (you can also use bread crumbs if you keep them in store), place in a mixing bowl with a good bunch of chopped parsley leaves.
Chop a few shallots and fry in good oil until crispy but be careful not to burn and add to the bowl.
Grate in some good cheese, I used pecorino,  but you can use parmesan, comte or any good quality cheese, add to the bowl drizzle in some melted butter, add some ground pepper and mix together.

For the basil salsa verde place a large bunch of basil in a blender. Add some other herbs such as parsley, a little mint, chives etc but nothing to over powering as you the basil to be the dominant flavour, a little dijon mustard, a dash of sherry vinegar and capers.
Blitz while drizzling in extra virgin olive to make a smooth sauce.
this sauce also work very well with tomato and tomato based salads.

Cut the top off your tomatoes, de-seed and cut out the cores and discard but save any flesh for the stuffing.
Lightly season the inside of the hollowed out tomatoes with salt and stuff with the breadcrumb mixture.
Replace the tops and lightly brush the outside with oil. Place on a baking tray and bake for 180 degrees for 20 - 35 mins depending on the size of your tomatoes.
Plate up and drizzle with the basil salsa. Serve.

Griddled Little Gem with Grapes, Shaved Pecorino and Pecorino and Mint Dressing

For the dressing finely grate some pecorino cheese into a container and add a good glug of extra virgin olive oil, some good quality vinegar (I used sherry vinegar), and chopped mint leaves.
Season and leave for the flavours to mingle.
Half or quarter your little gem, depending on size and cut off any tough stem.
Lightly toss in rape seed oil (don't use olive oil as it will go bitter when cooked).
Heat the griddle pan to a very high heat and place the lettuce on to cook.
Once the lettuce has cooked on one side flip to the other, rotate to cook on all sides.
You want griddle lines on the lettuce and for it to be wilted and cooked on the outside but still cold and crisp in the centre.
Place on a plate with halved black grape and pecorino shavings.
Drizzle with the dressing and serve.