Port and Red Wine Sauce

This rich sauce goes well with almost all meats,

especially red meats like beef, lamb and pork.

Ingredients:
20-30g butter
4 shallots, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 fresh thyme sprigs
50g muscovado sugar
400ml red wine
5ml tomato paste
25ml port

Method:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the shallots, garlic and thyme, and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the brown sugar and continue to cook until it melts and bubbles up around the sides of the pan. This will give a sweet flavour to the sauce.

Reduce the heat and stir in the red wine, tomato purée and port.

Bring the mixture to the boil and cook for 15 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced to a syrup.

Mini Pork Wellingtons

Beef fillet is so expensive and pork fillets are always available

and inexpensive in comparison

so I like to use them for this twist on a British classic.

I'm allergic to mushrooms, so I use corgette,

which has a similar flavour and texture,

but you are welcome to use mushrooms if you choose.

It's nice to make individual wellingtons like this;

they are so impressive when entertaining friends.

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Ingredients:
sunflower oil for frying
1 x 150g pork tenderloin fillets
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
25g butter
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/2 a cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced
half a courgette, peeled and sliced (or thinly sliced mushrooms, about 100g)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
30ml double cream
500g ready-made puff pastry
palin flour for dusting
100g parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 egg, beaten
30ml milk

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Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C.

Heat a little sunflower oil in a large frying pan. Season the pork fillets, then fry for 8-10 minutes, turning regularly, or until browned on all sides. Remove the pork from the pan and set aside to cool.

Add the butter to the frying pan and fry the garlic, shallots and apple for 4-5 minutes, or until softened.

Add the courgettes and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper; then stir in the cream. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, roll the puff pastry out on a lightly floured work surface. Scatter over the parmesan, then fold the pastry in half. Roll the pastry out again and cut into four rectangular pieces.

For the egg wash, beat the egg and milk together in a bowl.

Spoon some apple and courgette mixture into the middle of each piece of pastry and place the pork on top. Brush the edge of the pastry with the egg wash. Form the pastry into a parcel around the pork and seal the edges. Brush the remaining egg wash over each wellington.

Place the pastry parcels on a baking tray with the pastry seam on the bottom. Bake the pork Wellingtons in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is risen and golden-brown.

To serve, carve the Wellingtons into thick slices and place on top of a vegetable serving and pour over a sauce or gravy. These go well with Rosemary Braised Cabbage and Port and Red Wine Sauce.

Tarragon Chicken

This is an all time classic chicken recipe with a French flavour.

Tender poached chicken with aromatically fresh tarragon

accompanied by cream and a generous amount of white wine,

what's not to enjoy about it?

If you can't get fresh tarragon, use dried,

or lacking even the dried herb, use parsley instead,

although this will make quite a different dish

- it won't have the mustard-anise flavour of the tarragon.

Served with a hot salad of green beans, asparagus and buttered baby potatoes;

this makes a marvelous meal to share with friends.

Ingredients:
10ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
10ml chopped fresh tarragon
4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts
125ml white wine
5ml sea salt
250ml double cream
white pepper
15ml chopped fresh tarragon, plus a pinch more to garnish.

Method:
Heat the oil in an oven proof saucepan that has a lid. Add the garlic, spring onions and 10ml chopped tarragon, stirring them as they cook over a medium heat for about a minute.

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Put the chicken breasts into the pan and cook on each side for about 5 minutes. Add the white wine and let the liquid bubble up before adding the salt. Put the lid on the pan, reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Check the chicken is cooked through. (This can be done by inserting the knife in the thickest part of the breast and seeing if the juices run clear - if not, simmer for a few minutes more and check again).

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Remove the chicken breast to a warmed serving plate. Return the cooking liquid to the boil and add the cream, stirring well. Sprinkle on some of the second lot of chopped tarragon and season with white pepper. Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts and garnish with the remaining tarragon.

Chilli Guacamole

There are many combinations for guacamole, a delicious avocado dip,

but this is probably my favourite.

It's really good with corn chips,

potato crisps or with carrot or celery sticks.

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
125ml sour cream
10ml lemon juice
50ml olive oil
a dash of Tabasco sauce
2-5ml chilli powder
Sea salt and white pepper or freshly ground black pepper to season.

Method:
Remove the skin from the avocado and mash the flesh.
Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, oil, Tabasco sauce and chilli powder.
Season to taste with sea salt and white or black pepper as preferred.
(I like to use white pepper as it gives a satin smooth dip with a piquant taste).

Lime and Mint Panna Cotta

Panna cotta comes from the Italian and means 'cooked cream'.

This desert is believed to have originated in the Piemonte region of northern Italy.

Normally cream and milk are simmered together and mixed with gelatine.

The mixture is then put into molds and allowed to set before serving,

topped with fruit, caramel, chocolate or nuts and served chilled.

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Ingredients:
60ml cold water
15ml powdered gelatine
250ml boiling water
125ml sugar
15 fresh mint leaves
grated zest of 1 lime
30ml lime juice
500ml cream
5ml vanilla extract
Fruit compote of your choice

Method:

Combine cold water and gelatine in a small saucepan and allow the gelatine to soak. Add boiling water, sugar, mint, lime zest and juice. Bring just to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar and gelatine. Remove from heat and stand for 10 minutes to allow flavours to infuse.

Strain the liquid into a bowl and discard any solids. Whisk in the cream and vanilla. Divide between 6 serving glasses or cup moulds. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 4 hours until set, or chill overnight until required. Panna cotta can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Serve topped with a fruit compote of your choice.

Beef and Bean Cobbler

I love making cobbler as it's an all in one dish and so easy to prepare.

There might be lots of chopping, but once that is done,

it all comes together so quickly.

The name comes from the topping,

which looks like a cobbled street when cooked.

As this is a winter warmer

and herbs are not as easily obtainable in the winter months,

I make a sneaky substitution for herbs by using pesto.

Even though pesto also contains nuts and cheese,

it just adds extra flavour to the dish.

The pesto I use for this dish is a basil and pinenut green pesto,

but you could use a coriander pesto or my red pepper pesto previously shared.

The slow cooking is so necessary for this dish as it breaks the vegetables down to the most amazing sauce.

Give it a try.

Ingredients:
For the Stew:
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
1/2 a leek, sliced. (use the middle of the leek with white and green for great flavour)
1 large parsnip, cut in small cubes.
1 large carrot, cut into cubes or thin slices
2 inches root ginger, grated
30ml green basil pesto 500ml stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes

50ml flour
10ml steak and chop seasoning
5ml paprika
2 large potatoes, cut into 8ths
1 tin cannellini beans
500ml beef stock
30ml soy sauce

For the Cobbler:
1 cup flour
10ml baking powder
30g butter
1 egg
50g Lancashire cheese, crumbled
50-60 ml milk
pinch of salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 150C

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In a large frying pan over a low heat, sweat the onions, garlic, celery and leek for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are translucent, but not coloured. Add the parsnips, carrots, ginger and pest and stew gently for another five minutes.

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Put the flour, seasoning and paprika into a plastic bag, shake up to mix and add the beef cubes. Shake up to coat the beef cubes well. In a large ovenproof saucepan, brown the beef over a medium to high heat until all the meat is sealed. Add the sweated vegetables, potatoes, drained beans, stock and soy sauce and mix well. Cover and bring to the boil.

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Transfer to the oven with a lid on the pan and cook for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender and the vegetable mixture is well broken down to a rich gravy. If it has become a bit dry, you can add a little water at this stage to reconstitute the gravy.

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Remove from the oven and prepare the topping. Turn the oven up to 180C.

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When the meat is ready, make the topping. Put the flour, baking powder, butter, egg, cheese and salt in a blender and pulse to a dough, adding enough milk to make the dough pliable, not too stiff or too sticky. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut out rounds with a scone cutter. Place these rounds on the top of the stew in the saucepan, one in the middle and the others around the edge, until the meat is covered. There may be gaps between the rounds - that's alright as the dough will swell on cooking. Return to the oven and cook for another 20-30 minutes until the topping is puffed up and browned on top.

Red Pepper Pesto

This flavourful sauce is wonderful with pasta, in soups and stews,

on pizza, toasted sarmies or finger food pastries,

or even serve it as a dipping sauce with chicken gudgeons,

fish sticks or strips of char grilled steak.

I like to use the long pointed Italian peppers,

which have the most amazing flavour with a little heat,

but not too much.

If you prefer, you can use green peppers

or a selection of colours to vary the colour of the sauce,

but red always has such a fabulous look in a dish.

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Ingredients:
6 red peppers
60ml extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves crushed
10ml paprika
60ml toasted almonds or pine nuts
60ml fresh coriander, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Rinse the peppers and pat dry. Place them on a baking tray and roast at 240C for about 15-20 minutes until the skins are black and blistered. Remove from the oven and put in a plastic bag, or a bowl covered in cling film to sweat. This will make removing the skins much easier. Set aside to cool for about 20 minutes.

While the peppers are roasting, heat the oil in a small pan and sizzle the garlic and paprika for a few seconds. This helps bring out their flavour. Place this mixture in a food processor or blender.

When the peppers have cooled, remove the skins and seeds from the peppers, saving the juices if you can. Place the flesh and any reserved juices in the food processor or blender with the garlic and paprika mixture. Add the almonds and coriander. Season with salt and pepper and purée until smooth.

This pesto will keep in a covered container in the fridge for about a week.