Mackerel with Fennel, Celery and Orange.

Finely slice a bulb of fennel and refresh in ice cold water.

Slice a couple of celery sticks and add to the fennel.

Cut the skin and pith off an orange and cut out the segments - do this over a bowl to reserve the juice.

In a mortar and pestle pound a garlic clove with a little salt and pepper and a small dash of sherry vinegar until it turns to pulp.

Then slowly add extra virgin olive oil and half the reserved orange juice while continuing to pound so the dressing emulsifies.

In a pan heat some oil and a lillte butter and when hot place the mackerel fillet in skin side down - let the fillet cook 3/4 of the way through and for the skin to become crispy, before turning to finish off the other side.

While the fish is cooking drain, spin and dress the salad of celery and fennel and add the orange segments and any fennel fronds.

Plate up and place the mackerel fillet on top - return the pan to the hob and on a high heat pour in the remaining orange juice and quickly reduce to a syrup.

Drizzle over the fish and serve.

King Prawn and Samphire Bisque.

Remove the heads and shells from the prawns - leave the shell on one prawn per portion you are making.

De-vein the prawns and put to one side.

In a sauce pan fry the prawn heads and shells in a glug of olive oil with the stalks and 3/4 of the leaves from a small bunch of parsley, a bay leaf, a sprinkle of crushed fennel seeds, a stick of chopped celery, a couple of chopped spring onions, a chopped clove or two of garlic and a good grind of sea salt until they are coloured on both sides.

Add a glug of white wine and burn off the alcohol then add water and bring to a boil - turn to a simmer and cook for 5-10mins.

Pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender and blitz - then blitz again!

Pour into a sieve over the cleaned saucepan and allow the liquid to drain through. 

Press the contents of the sieve with the back of a wooden spoon to get as much liquid and flavour into the bisque as possible and then warm through to reconstitute.

In a separate saucepan warm a little oil and add a little finely chopped celery, a finely chopped spring onion - when softened add the prawns, season and cook on both sides until turned pink then sprinkle with a little paprika.

Add the samphire cook on for a minute or so then add the bisque and warm through.

Serve with a sprinkling of the reserved chopped parsley leaves.

Squid and Samphire Linguine.

 While your linguine is cooking slice your squid into rings.

Add a good glug of olive oil to a pan and add some chilli flakes (you can use fresh too).

Heat the oil and when hot add the squid rings (you need to do this a couple of mins before the pasta is ready) and season generously with salt and pepper.

After a minute or two turn the rings and add the tentacles - they take a shorter time to cook.

When the squid has turned white add a knob of butter and the samphire and give it a good squeeze of lemon - give it a minute to warm the samphire through being careful not too over cook the squid.

Drain the pasta and add the squid and samphire - mix and serve immediately.

Chicken, Fennel, Olives and Citrus.

 

In a mortar and pestle pound some fennel seeds, a few peppercorns, rock salt  and a clove of garlic into a paste.

Make a marinade by adding the juice and zest of a lemon and half an orange, olive oil and chopped oregano (dried if possible).

Chop fennel bulbs into quarters and marinade for a day with your chicken pieces.

Place all the ingredients in an open casserole (no lid) along with a few handfuls of large green olives and cook in a moderate oven until the chicken has coloured and cook through.

Remove the chicken, olives and fennel and keep warm while you reduce the liquid by half to a sauce on the hob.

Serve with a little more chopped  fresh oregano.

One Pot Chicken with Lemon and Beans.

Place the chicken skin side down in a casserole dish  and cook in butter and oil until the skin is coloured.

Remove from the pot and reserve.

Add chopped onion, carrot and celery to the pot (you may need a little more oil), a chopped garlic clove and cook until softened then season with salt and pepper.

Add a tin of white beans the juice and zest from a lemon and place the chicken back on top and cook with a lid on until the chicken is cooked through.

Before serving add a few good handfuls of spinach (or chard) to the pan and cook for 5 mins or so until wilted down.

Clams, Cannellini Beans, Tomato and Wild Garlic Sauce.

This is a delicious tomato and garlic sauce and can also be made when wild garlic is out season with traditional garlic cloves.

Soak the beans overnight in cold water - add a splash of vinegar to the water as the acidicy softens the skins.

Drain the soaking water from the pan and refill with fresh water - do not add salt.

Add some halved and de-seeded tomatoes, a large hand full of wild garlic leaves (if using traditional garlic add a few cloves with the skin on), a small peeled potato, and cook the beans on a low simmer until tender -  this is a long slow process.

When the beans are cooked remove the potato and add to a dish, remove the tomatoes too and slide off the skins, discarding them, (if using traditional garlic squeeze the pulp from the skins into the dish and discard the skins).

Drain a little cooking water into the dish and mash into a paste.

Drain the beans, but leaving enough cooking water in the pan to form a sauce when added to the tomato and potato paste, but discard the wild garlic leaves.

You should now have a bowl of beans in a wild garlic and tomato sauce - season with salt and pepper and mix together.

In a pan heat half a small glass of white wine and when boiling add the clams - cook for a few minutes, shaking occasionally until the clams open, then spoon the clams over the beans.

Carefully drain the cooking liquor from the pan leaving any sand at the bottom - and drizzle over the clams and beans.

Garnish with a few finely chopped wild garlic leaves (and flowers if you can get them) and serve.

Marinated Artichokes with Serrono Ham and Parsley Dressing.

 

When preparing the chokes have a pan of water and lemon juice to hand to dip them in after cutting them - this stops them discolouring - you can then use this to cook them in.

Start by pulling off the very tough outer leaves. 

Then cut off the top third and trim the tough flesh from the outside and base of the choke (if using younger chokes you can leave the stem on but peel off the tough outer skin too.
Place in the saucepan with salt and bring to the boil, then simmer until a sharp knife can slide in with little resistance - this will vary depending on age and size of the choke.

Leave to cool until you can handle them and halve or quarter depending on size  - you can now easily remove the hearts if they have formed.

While the chokes are cooking pummel chopped parsley, salt & pepper, a little chopped garlic and a glug of good oil in a mortar and pestle until you have a smooth paste.

Place the cooled chokes in a bowl or container with the oil and parsley paste and leave to marinade.

Serve with salad leaves (using the marinade as a dressing), slices of Serrano or other good cured ham, and some roughly chopped parsley leaves.