Avocado Salad Mould

Ingredients:

3 large avocados, peeled, stoned and mashed

125ml celery, finely chopped

1 spring onion, finely sliced

250ml mayonnaise or salad cream

250ml sour cream or Greek yoghurt

10ml gelatine powder

65ml cold water

125ml boiling water

37.5ml vinegar or lemon juice

5ml sugar

2.5ml onion salt

2.5ml pepper

Lettuce

Watercress or parsley sprigs to garnish

Method:

Soften the gelatine in the cold water for 5 minutes, then add the boiling water and sugar and stir until the sugar and gelatine are completely dissolved.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and add the gelatine mixture, stirring until well blended.

Pour the mixture into an oiled mould and chill in the fridge until set.

Turn out on a bed of lettuce leaves and serve garnished with watercress or parsley sprigs.

Cooks Note:

For a richer result add 125g cream cheese to the avocado mixture 

before adding the gelatine mixture.

Tamarind and Miso Onglet Steak

Onglet steak is an inexpensive cut that is full of flavour. In France this is a classic bistro and brasserie steak. In this country, we tend not to use it as a steak cut; sadly, it goes into the stewing and mincing bin, along with other similarly tasty cuts of beef. It is, however, slowly starting to gain recognition over here and some gastro-pubs are using it as their steak of choice.

In the US it is referred to as a hanger steak because it hangs from the diaphragm, which comprises the skirt - a cut we are vaguely familiar with but which we often stew. If butchers got a bit more clever with their knives they would break down some of these muscles like they do in France and sell them as prime cuts instead of stewing steak.

Because you get only about 4-6 onglet steaks per animal it may not be commercially viable, but it's worth it because it has such a unique flavour, being next to the kidney on the beast.

If you have a good butcher, he'll know what you are talking about because this cut is sometimes referred to as butcher's steak - the butcher would traditionally keep it for his family as a bit of a treat. You could ask him for a bavette or flank steak which has similar eating qualities, but they need to be trimmed of all muscles and sinew.

Try it with Asian flavours in this delicious recipe.

Ingredients:
For the den miso:
100ml sake
100ml mirin
600g white miso
300g caster sugar

For the steak:
125g tamarind paste
75ml den miso (see recipe above)
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
5ml chopped fresh thyme
6 x 150-175g onglet steaks, trimmed
50ml olive oil

For the watercress salad:
15ml pomegranate molasses
30ml cider vinegar
75ml extra virgin olive oil
2 bunches watercress

Method:
For the den miso, place all the ingredients into a saucepan and whisk over a medium heat until the sugar and miso have dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

For the steak, mix the tamarind paste, den miso, garlic and thyme in a bowl until well combined. Add the steaks, make sure they are well coated in the marinade and set aside to marinate for at least three hours, preferably overnight.

Heat a griddle or a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat until hot but not smoking - if the pan is too hot, the outside of the meat will burn before it has cooked enough.

Brush the steaks with the oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook for 2-4 minutes on each side, or until cooked to your liking.

Transfer the steaks from the pan to a rack, cover with foil and set aside to rest in a warm place for up to 10 minutes - this helps the meat to ‘relax’ and maximises taste and tenderness.

For the watercress salad, whisk the pomegranate molasses, vinegar and olive oil together in a bowl until well combined, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Coat the watercress with the dressing.

To serve, place the steak onto serving plates with the watercress alongside.

Lite Coronation Chicken Salad

For those of you who are conscientious about eating healthy, here is a variation on the classic British dish, Coronation Chicken, without the masses of mayonnaise. It's even more delicious than the original and far better for you all round. With crunch and sumptuous flavours of the orient and the juicy peppery taste of watercress, it's ever so quick and easy and you are going to love this as much as I do.

If you can't get mango chutney you could make mine - find the recipe HERE, or use fresh mango slices and a chutney of your choice, something like Apricot Chutney or Autumn Chutney.

Ingredients: - Serves 2
2 skinless chicken breasts
5ml mild curry powder
50ml olive oil
30ml mango chutney
zest and juice of half a lemon
half a cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and cut into 2 inch sticks
2 handfuls of watercress
toasted almond flakes to garnish

Method:
Toss the chicken breasts with 10-15ml olive oil and the curry powder to coat evenly, then leave to marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the salad: Reserving 10-15ml olive oil to cook the chicken, mix the remaining oil with the chutney, lemon zest and juice. Put the cucumber sticks and watercress in a salad bowl and dress with the chutney mixture, tossing to distribute the dressing.

Heat a frying pan with the reserved oil and cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes, turning over halfway through the cooking. When done the chicken should be just cooked through but still succulent. Cut the chicken breasts into 1/2 cm slices and allow to cool slightly before tossing through the salad.

Serve, garnished with toasted almond flakes.

Fruit and Vegetables in May

As summer approaches, long warm days tempt us outdoors for braais, barbecues and picnics. May is a good month for veggie-lover. It's the first month to provide new and welcome produce for the year. There are two undisputed May champions: asparagus and new potatoes, particularly Jersey Royals. Both asparagus and new potatoes, which rank among the worlds great delicacies, may be expensive early in the season, but they are worth every penny for their unique flavour. Later in the month as they become more abundant their price comes down.

Asparagus should be bought, if possible, from a good supplier on the day of picking and eaten on the same day for the best results. Their hard, bright spears lose some of their lustre after even a day in the fridge. If you do buy more than you can eat in one day, keep them loosely wrapped in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. any less than perfect asparagus can be used in things like soups. pies and risottos.

When buying asparagus - or 'sparrow grass' as it was originally called - look closely at the individual spears and squeeze them if you can; they should be rock hard, like any good vegetable, with no sign of wrinkles, and a spear, when held by the end and shaken, should not be flexible enough to bend. The root-ends may be white, where sunlight was kept from them as they were hidden in the soil, but if there is too much white you will loose too much when trimming. The green tops of the spears should be really green, with no hints of the yellow or brown that indicates they are less than fresh. When you get the asparagus home, wash it well to remove any sand or grit that may still be attached to it.

Jersey Royals have a creamy texture and complex flavour that are have no equal and range in size from barely more then an olive to larger than an egg. Squeeze them between thumb and forefinger to check for freshness; if they dent at all, they are far from fresh, but don't be alarmed if the skin appears to be falling off; this is normal for this type of potato. Prepare them by washing only; they do not need to be peeled as the skins have flavour and nutrients. If they are gritty, soak them in warm water to clean them. Boil them whole or slice and saute them for delicious hot accompaniments to a main course or for cold salads.

While new potatoes and asparagus are the stars of May, it is also a good month for a lot of other vegetables as it's the beginning of summer where dining is concerned. Look out for the first sweet and tender broad beans that will be appearing now; it's worth the extra work to shell and skin them before serving, but the small fresh baby broad beans may not even need to be skinned.

Other interesting vegetables this month include spring greens, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli, and towards the end of the month the first of the British grown garden peas should appear. Peas should be eaten as soon after picking as possible as their sweetness and succulence begin to wain soon after picking, so don't be persuaded to buy the Spanish imports: they have come so far and it may be days since they were picked before they grace your table. Coming into the stores should be baby leeks, which are great for steaming or stir-frying. British baby spinach will also become available this month, ideal for salads as well as cooking. Watercress will also be available to add crunch to salads and stir-frys. Spring cabbage varieties, will also be gracing the shelves this month. Radishes will begin to appear to grace your salads with bite and heat.

Apart from rhubarb, most fruits available this month are imported. May is a good month for mangoes and pineapples as well as the ubiquitous banana.

New Potatoes with Watercress Dressing

This is a delicious variation on potato salad that can be eaten hot or chilled.

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Ingredients:

500g new potatoes, cooked in their skins and sliced

60g watercress, washed and drained

30ml white wine vinegar

125ml olive oil

15ml honey

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:

Put a couple of slices of cooked potato, skins removed, in a blender with the watercress, vinegar, olive oil, honey and seasoning. Blend until smooth. Pour over the potatoes and serve as a side dish or salad, hot or chilled.

Watercress Soup

Watercress is an amazing vegetable with which to construct a soup. The secret of watercress soup is to keep the brilliant colour, which is so appealing to the eye. To do this, you need to blend the soup as soon as you have added the watercress to the other cooked ingredients. If you cook the watercress for any length of time it will loose its vibrancy.

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Ingredients:

250g watercress, trimmed and course stalks discarded

75g butter

1 onion, finely chopped

700g potatoes, cut into small dice

900ml milk

900ml vegetable or chicken stock

1 small carton of single cream

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:

Roughly chop the watercress, reserving a few sprigs for garnish.

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onion and cook gently over a low heat until soft and translucent. Add the potatoes and cook for one minute. Pour in the milk and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Remove from the heat, stir in the watercress and blend with a hand blender until smooth. Add the cream and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat through and serve garnished with the reserved watercress sprigs.

Prawn, Grapefruit and Watercress Salad

For starters, salads fit the bill, and what could be more refreshing than the tangy taste of watercress to begin a meal with? The addition of grapfruit to the salad, of course.

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Ingredients:

2 pink grapefruit

5ml Dijon mustard

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to season

150ml olive oil

5-6 cooked prawns per person

2 packets of watercress, (75g per pack) washed and drained.

Method:

Using a ribbon zester tool, remove the zest from the grapefruit and put it in a small pan of cold water and bring it to the boil. Drain and leave aside. Holding the grapefruit over a bowl to catch the juice, carefully cut the white pith from the fruit with a sharp serrated edged knife. Cut the flesh into segments, then squeeze the remaining membranes to extract the juice. Put the grapefruit segments and juice to one side.

Put the mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl and add 100ml of the grapefruit juice. Whisk together well. Whisk in the oil. Spoon 60ml of the dressing over the cooked prawns, then cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Toss together the watercress, grapefruit segments, strips of zest, prawns and the remainder of the dressing.

There you have it; you are ready to serve.

Fruit and Vegetables in April

April heralds the blossom of spring. With the daffodils in full bloom, buds bursting on the trees and the days growing longer, it makes for an exciting month of change with longings for the outdoors, alfresco meals and the first braai or barbecue of the year.

Where vegetables are concerned, nothing much changes from the supply situation of March: Broccoli, including the purple sprouting variety, carrots, leeks, new potatoes and sweet potatoes are regularly available. Cauliflower may be available and English spinach will become available as the month progresses. Another vegetable that appears now is Asparagus, but not the local variety, which is only available in May. Imported varieties of asparagus may be available from as far afield as Peru, but the one to look out for is the superior quality Spanish asparagus, which are invariable available from early April. Good courgettes and chicory are also available now, both great components of salads. Another salad vegetable not to be forgotten this month is delicious watercress, which can also be used in cooked dishes.

A dark green leaf with a distinctive peppery, pungent flavour, watercress is an incredibly versatile and healthy vegetable, which can be included in recipes instead of spinach. Look for dark, green leaves and avoid any that are wilting or yellowing. Often eaten raw in salads, watercress can also be cooked. It takes very little cooking and is often used in soups and sauces, in cheese or egg dishes, or served with fish, such as salmon, or as a filler in pies and tarts.

Fruit supplies in April are dominated by imports. Oranges are past their best, although still available, but other citrus fruits are good, for instance you may be able to use grapefruit in place of oranges for some recipes. Lemons and Limes are also still available.

The main UK fruit of the month, although not truly a fruit, but considered as such, is the first of the outdoor rhubarb, which makes a great accompaniment with apple in crumbles and sweet pastries.

Brie, Ham and Watercress Calzone

Calzone are Italian turnovers or pies made with pizza or focaccia dough, filled with tasty ingredients, folded over and shaped into a crescent. Typically they are stuffed with tomato and mozzarella, but they may include other vegetables, meats or cheeses; the choice is endless.

Ingredients:

1 quantity of Focaccia dough.

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

150g Brie, sliced

100g honey cured ham torn into pieces

86g watercress leaves

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:

Preheat the oven to 230C.

Make up the Focaccia dough and allow the first rising. Knock back the dough, divide into four pieces and shape each into a ball. Roll each out on a lightly floured surface to about a 9 inch diameter.

Top one side of each circle with onion, Brie, ham and watercress. Leave about an inch at the edge of the dough circle to allow for sealing. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Wet the edge of the dough with water using a pastry brush or your fingers. Fold and stretch the dough over to enclose the filling, pinch and twist the edges together to seal, making a twisted point at each end of the calzone.

Transfer to a baking tray, shape into a crescent and lightly dust with flour. Bake for 10-15 minutes on the top shelf of the oven until the calzone are pale golden on top.

Serve warm with salad.