Method

1. Wash sorrel, spin dry, and remove all thick stalks. Place in a food processor and blitz for a few seconds, add butter and continue to blitz until a puree.

2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan, add onion, and cook until translucent; then add potato. Cook over a gentle heat until golden, but not burnt.

3. Add stock and continue to simmer until potato is soft. Turn off heat, leave for a moment, then blitz until smooth.

4. Return to a clean pan, and add the cream. Season well.

5. If serving the soup hot, reheat gently, then add sorrel prior to serving. Sorrel will turn a brownish colour when cooked, so add at the last moment.

6. If serving cold, leave the mix to cool, add the puree and chill for an hour prior to serving.

Method

1. Rinse the lentils in cold water, and put in a pan with a good thumb nail of water, a bay leaf, and half a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder. Bring to the boil, then leave to simmer gently for 20 mins until the lentils are soft and the liquid is absorbed. Once cooked, remove the bayleaf, and leave to cool.  Turn oven on to 170 degrees.

2. Remove the seeds from the pepper and cut each half into 2 or 3.

3. Peel the onion, cut in half, then slice lengthways into wedges. Lightly toss peppers and onion in a splash of olive oil, season. Spread out on a non stick baking sheet and bake for 20 mins-remove when the peppers and onions are soft and caramelised, and leave to cool.

4. Lightly flour the kitchen surface and roll the pastry slightly thinner than a £1 coin.  Have a bit of beaten egg and a pastry brush ready. If you don’t have a ring mould, use a ramekin to layer the filling, then turn it over in the centre of the pastry sheet.

5. Lightly press the lentils in the mould, then a layer of onion and pepper, then slices of goat’s cheese and topped with a few more lentils and fresh herbs.

6. Measure the amount of pastry needed to cover the filling, then neatly cut the excess. Brush the edges with egg glaze, then bring together and squeeze gently until the pastry seals the filling and you’ve no gaps. Using a palette knife carefully slide the parcel onto baking parchment and then on to a baking sheet.

7. Chill for 15 – 20 mins.

   Bake at 190/200 degrees for 25 minutes, and remove when golden.

   Serve hot or at room temperature.

    

Method

1. Make sure the leaves are free of any debris, wipe clean rather than wash. If they do need to be washed, leave to dry before using.
2. Heat cream in saucepan and when simmering, put in garlic leaves.  Stir until the leaves have wilted and the cream is boiling, then turn off the heat, place a lid on the pan and leave to steep for 5 minutes.
3. Soak the gelatine in cold water to soften.
4. Select 6-8 ramekins or moulds, and place on a stable tray and lightly grease.
5. Tip the contents of the sauce pan into the food processor and leave to run for several minutes.
6. Pour the garlic mixture through a sieve and back into the saucepan, some garlic bits can be left, but remove the majority, pushing the liquid through with a spatula or wooden spoon.
7. Add pre soaked gelatine to the warm mixture and heat gently until dissolved.
8. Leave to cool slightly.  Whisk in crème fraiche or yoghurt, and pour into moulds.  Set in the fridge for a minimum of 5 hours.

Remove from moulds onto serving plate.  Excellent accompaniment to fish or seafood or serve as a starter with tomato salsa.

Cheese Tuilles

1. Use a good quality mature cheddar or parmesan, and finely grate the cheese.
2. Cover a baking sheet with baking parchment. Place a biscuit cutter on the parchment and sprinkle a thin layer of cheese inside the cutter-make as many rounds as are needed.
3. Bake at 170 degrees, for 5 – 7 minutes, until the cheese has melted and a golden colour.
4. Remove and leave to cool.
5. Preferably use that day.

Method

1. Make the hazelnut praline.  Line a baking sheet  with greaseproof paper.

2. Measure nuts into a bowl.  Put the sugar in a heavy based pan and place over a medium heat, leave to melt, do not be tempted to stir with a spoon, shake pan if necessary. As the caramel colours, swirl pan to get an even colour. Using a thermometer heat to 165 c.

3. Shoot the nuts in quickly, then pour straight onto baking sheet.  Once cooled, break up with your hands then blitz in a food processor, the mixture should become a thick paste, add a little warm water to make the paste pliable.

   Alternatively, praline paste can be bought in a good delicatessen

4. Line a 18cm springform tin with greaseproof paper.  Put the cornflakes in a bowl with the hazelnut praline and mix with a fork, it takes a while to coat the cornflakes, it ends up a crispy, gooey lump which you can tip into your lined tin and press with the back of a spoon, to form a layer in the base. Set aside whilst you make the topping.

5. Measure chocolate into a heatproof bowl with 200mls of cream, and melt either over a pan of simmering water or on a low setting in the microwave.

6. Put egg yolks, sugar and syrup in a bowl and whisk with an electric beater till very pale. Add the cool melted chocolate and grated ginger.

7. Whip remaining 300mls of cream to soft peaks, gently fold into mixture. Pour onto cornflake base.

8. Leave in fridge to set. This cake will develop a better flavor if made a day ahead.

   To serve, remove tin, unwrap the greaseproof paper, using a large palette knife slide the cake off the tin base onto a serving plate. Using a warm rounded knife smooth the sides if necessary.

   Dust with cocoa or icing sugar and serve with cream.

    

Method

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees centigrade.

2. Line a 9 inch flan tin with the rolled pastry, trim the edge and line with baking parchment. Fill the case with baking beans and place in the hot oven.  Cook for 20 minutes, until golden, remove the baking beans and check that the base has cooked.  If the base is still opaque, return to the oven without beans or paper for a few minutes.

3. Turn the oven down to 160 degrees.

4. With an electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar to a smooth paste, and gradually add  the eggs.  Add the ground almonds and mix again.

5. Spread half the mixture over the base of the pastry, then sprinkle on the blackberries in an even layer.

6. Spoon the other half of the mixture over the blackberries, gently spreading to cover.

7. Scatter the top with a few almonds.  Bake for 45 – 50 minutes at 160 degrees.

   Serve with lashings of cream.

    

Method

1. Peel the tomatoes – make a shallow cross cut on the top of each tomato and put in a pan. Pour over boiling water and leave for a minute. Drain. The skins should fall away easily.

2. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, and spoon the seeds and any juice into a sieve set over a bowl.

3. Peel the cucumber, cut in half lengthways, and using a teaspoon remove the seeds and discard.

4. Cut the chilli in half and remove the seeds.

5. Put the tomato quarters, cucumber, capers, chilli, garlic, 1 tbsp vinegar and a large pinch of salt in to a bowl, and blend to a smooth liquid using a blender.

6. Add any of the juice from the sieved seeds. Leave to chill in a fridge for 2 hours to allow the flavours to develop.

7. Before serving, taste, and add more salt and vinegar if needed.

8. Divide between soup bowls and drizzle with a little olive oil.

    

Method

1. Melt the butter in a pan, and when foaming add the onion. Soften the onion over a gentle heat without colouring.
2. Once the onion is soft, add the nettles, and wilt in the pan over the same gentle heat.
3. Add the stock powder and water and stir well.  Alternatively you can use 1 litre of home made vegetable stock here.
4. Simmer the soup for 20 mins.
5. Pour the mixture into a magi mix or blender and blend until smooth.
6. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Method

1. Put milk and salt in a pan, over a gentle heat, and heat to a temperature of 93 degrees centigrade.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice; keep stirring until the curds have separated.
3. Pour the contents of the pan into a sieve lined with muslin, and leave in a fridge overnight to drip and set.
4. If using the cheese for a ravioli filling, allow it time to become quite solid as too much moisture will make the pasta soft, splitting when its cooked.

Method

1. Select the flowers and leaves that you will use in the pasta, remove any coarse or hard stems, and keep in the fridge until needed.

2. To make dough, sieve the flour on to a smooth work surface, make a well in the centre and break in the eggs.

3. With a fork, whisk the eggs and gradually incorporate the flour; as the batter gets thicker, use your fingers to bring it together. Knead the dough for a few minutes, it should be soft but have some resistance. If the dough is sticky, knead in a little more flour.  Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, to give the gluten in the flour time to relax.

4. Remove dough from the cling film and cut into 3 even bits. Keep the dough that you are not using wrapped in cling film to stop it drying out.  If you don’t have a pasta machine, use a rolling pin, and plenty of flour.  If you have a pasta machine, dust liberally with flour then pass the dough through the widest setting a couple of times, then start to move the setting to a thinner size each time until setting  3 or 4.

5. Lay the sheet of pasta on the surface and arrange the flowers and leaves on one half of the sheet, then fold the other half on top to make a sandwich. Gently press together.

6. Set the machine back to setting 1 and pass the sheet through the setting again until you reach the desired thickness. Making the pasta thin will distort the flowers and leaves – for the best result stop after setting 4/5.

7. Either cut rounds for ravioli or cut into strips for fettuccine.

8. Cook in plenty of salted boiling water with a dash of olive oil for 2 – 3 minutes.