Rib Eye Steak with Oven Chips and French Beans.

For the chips par boil a couple of large peeled potatoes for 3/4 mins, drain and allow to cool.
Cut into big wedges, season, roll in oil and place in a hot oven (180 degrees) - give them a shake or two while cooking to stop them sticking to the dish.
Season the steak (bought up to room temp) with salt and pepper, add a little rape seed oil and rub in the seasoning.
Five mins or so before the chips are ready heat an oven proof frying pan to a high heat.
Place the steak in the pan and cook for 3/4 mins depending on the thickness of the steak, turn and place in the oven for 5 mins.
Bring a pan of hot salted water to the boil and add the topped and tailed beans. Cook for 4 mins.
Remove the steak from the oven and rest for 4-5 mins under foil in a warm place.
Return the steak pan to a hot hob and add a knob of butter. when the butter has melted add 1/4 of a cup full of boiling water, deglaze the pan and reduce to a sauce.
Drain the beans and add a teaspoon of mint sauce and some oil, dress.
Plate up the steak, chips and beans, add any resting juices to the sauce and pour over the steak. Serve.

Lamb Tagine with Cous-Cous.

Pre heat your oven to 120/140 degrees.
In an oven proof pan soften a chopped onion or two, add a knob of grated or chopped ginger, a couple of teaspoons of crushed coriander seeds, a teaspoon of cinnamon, half a chopped chilli (optional) and season.
Add diced lamb - I used neck fillet, but any cut is ok especially those cheaper ones that lend themselves to slow cooking - colour and add a good squeeze of tomato puree, half a dozen chopped tomotoes and a teaspoon of honey.
Bring to a simmer place in oven with the lid on for around 1hr 20mins (remove the lid for the last half an hour of cooking).
Place the cous cous in a bowl add the juice of half a lemon and season well.
Add hot chicken stock - leave in a warm place for 5 mins and stir well - add more stock if needed.
Stir in chopped mint or parsley and serve with pomegranate seeds.

Fattoush (Lebanese Salad).

Make the dressing a few hours in advance to let the flavours merge.
Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, a quarter of a chopped chilli (do not over do it as you will be using other chilli's in the salad!) and a little salt & pepper.
Toast some pitta bead.
In a large salad bowl add shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, finely sliced spring onion, sliced radishes and a few chopped pickled chilli's.
Add chopped parsley, mint and the pitta bread ripped into pieces.
Dress and serve.

Braised Duck Leg with Peas, Lettuce and Mint.

The trick with duck is to prick the skin with a sharp knife all over before cooking and then (if not roasting) to pour off the fat as often as possible through out cooking.
Heat some oil and a small knob of butter in a pan.
Add chopped bacon and a chopped onion, cook until onion has softened and the bacon has started to colour.
Add the duck leg skin side down and cook for five mins to colour the skin.
Turn the leg and pour off all the fat.
Add some warm veg or chicken stock, season with pepper only, add a bay leaf and some thyme sprigs.
Cover and braise in the oven gas mark 3 for around 3/4 of an hour depending on the size and amount of duck legs you are cooking.
Pour off most of the stock and reserve.
Remove the skin from the leg bone and cut the bone below the knuckle to give a nice presentation.
Return to the oven - uncovered - to crisp the skin (about 15 mins).
Gently fry a quartered little gem lettuce in a pan. add some of the reserved cooking stock, with the fat skimmed off, and frozen peas and cook through.
Strain off any excess liquid and add chopped mint and serve with the duck leg.

Strawberry and Raspberry Mousse Cake.

To make the base crush enough digestive buscuits to cover the base of your dish.
Add lemon zest and a couple of tablespoons of melted unsalted butter, a few tablespoons of caster sugar (optional), and a few tablespoons of juice from the fruit.
Mix well and press into the base of the dish. Place in the fridge to set.
For the raspberry layer place a punnet or two of raspberries in a saucepan with a tablespoon of lemon juice over a very low heat.
When the raspberries have collapsed and released all their juices add caster sugar to taste (some like it more tart and less sweet) and a some gelatine.
Leave to cool and then spread on to the buscuit base and return to the fridge.
For the mousse hull and chop your strawberries. Place in a pan with a tablespoon of lemmon juice and a dash of water. Put on a low heat until the fruit has collapsed and push through a sieve.
Soften gelatin leaves in water and a little of the strawberry juice for a few mins.
Return to strawberry juices to the pan  and add the gelatine and caster sugar to taste. Heat gently until all the sugar and gelatin has disovled. Place in the fridge to cool.
When cooled mix greek yoghurt, creme fraiche and the strawberry mixture together and spread over the top of the rasperry and buscuit mix.
Return to fridge to set.
Decorate with extra fruit.

Minted Asparagus with Palma Ham and Comte.

Break off the woody ends of the asparagus and place into oven proof dish.
Roll in rapeseed or olive oil, season with salt and pepper and dot with small pieces of butter.
Place in a pre-heatd oven at 180 degrees for 8-12 mins depending on thickness of the stalks.
Place you slices of parma ham on a plate.
When the asparagus is cooked sprinkle it with finely chopped mint and place on top of the ham, drizzling with the cooking oil/butter.
Place cheese shavings on top - I used comte but others such as parmesan work well too.
Serve.

Poule Au Vin (Coq Au Van)

Surely Coq Au Van  should be a cockerel? These days its usually chicken rather than cockerel as its easier to get hold of and easier to cook with, which i guess makes it chicken in (red) wine.
This method is roughly based on Elisabeth David's in French Provincal Cooking and what ever you decide to call it, it's very good and like a lot of slow cooked dishes is even better if cooked the day before.

First empty enough wine to cover your chicken into a sauce pan with a cup full of chicken or veg stock, a couple of crushed garlic cloves, bay leaves and a few sprigs of thyme.
Simmer until reduced by half, add botton mushrooms for the last five minutes, strain and discard the garlic, bay and thyme and reserve the mushrooms.
Fry some chopped bacon in a mix of oil and butter.
Add baby carrots and shallots either whole or halved and colour slightly.
Remove from pan and add to a casserole.
Raise the heat slightly and add seasoned chicken pieces skin side down and colour. Flambe in brandy (optional) and remove to the casserole.
Deglaze the pan with some of the wine mixture and add to the casserole with the rest of the wine reduction, a bay leaf and some fresh sprigs of thyme.
Cook on a medium low heat or in the oven until the chicken is cooked through.
Five minutes before the end of cooking return the mushrooms to the pan.
Traditionaly its served with fried bread, but rice or mash work well too.
Another alternative as suggested by E.D. is to serve a bowl of pasta after the chicken and veg for all the sauce.