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. 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. Sift flour and cornflour, add to food processor with beetroot, salt, baking powder, milk & egg yolk. Whizz on a high setting for 30 seconds, until a paste.

2. Whisk egg white until stiff, fold into beetroot paste.

3. Heat a non stick frying pan over a gentle flame, the heat needs to be low or the bilinis will colour to much before they are cooked.

4. Drop teaspoons of the mixture into the pan. When bubbles start to appear, flip over. Cool on a wire rack.

5. Bilinis can be made ahead and frozen until needed

6. Place all ingredients for the paté in food processor, whizz to an even colour and texture.

7. Taste, season with more lime or lemon if needed.  Using 2 teaspoons make quenelles to go on the top of each bilinis, alternatively use a piping bag.

8. Decorate with fresh herbs and chive flowers.

Alternative flavours for the bikinis

Nasturtium / watercress – substitute the same quantity of leaves. Place in a bowl, cover with cling film and cook in a microwave for 2-3 minutes. Whizz in food processor before adding other ingredients.

Peas – substitute the same quantity of peas. Whizz in food processor before adding other ingredients.

Method

1. Give the gooseberries a quick rinse under a running tap, and shake off the excess water. Place in a saucepan with the elderflower cordial and bring to a gentle simmer for 15 mins, until the berries break apart easily. Cool, then pass through a sieve, pressing the pulp through, discarding the seeds and stalks.

2. Prepare the ramekins – cut strips of baking parchment 2 inches wider than the height of the ramakin and with a  3 inch overlap when wrapped around. Using sellotape secure one end of the paper to the ramekin then wrap tightly around, securing the other end also with sellotape.

3. Separate the eggs. Add caster sugar to the yolks, and beat for 10 minutes with an electric mixer, till pale and aerated.

4. Soften the gelatine in water, melt over a very gentle heat with a couple of tablespoons of water. Add a small amount of the puree, then fold in the rest of the cooled pureed gooseberries.

5. Carefully fold the puree mix into the yolks and sugar using a metal spoon, being careful not to beat out all the air that has been incorporated.

6. Whip cream to a soft peak, then add to the puree/egg mix.

7. Whisk egg whites until stiff,  and fold carefully into the mix.

8. Spoon into the ramekins, filling each to about and inch above the top of the dish. Leave to set in the fridge for 6 hours.

9. Before you serve, undo the sellotape, and with a clean knife in one hand in between the paper and souffle, pull the paper with your free hand. The knife will help ease the soufflé from the paper.  Sprinkle with toasted ground almonds.

Method

1. You will need a deep fat fryer or you can use a pan with oil, but make sure the temperature is consistent at 175 – 180 c.  Keep a fire blanket within easy reach.  It may take a few days to gather enough crayfish to make it worthwhile, crayfish are all head and not much tail!

2. Purge each batch of crayfish in freshwater for 24 hours, then put in a container and into the quick freeze compartment of the freezer. When you have gathered sufficient,  remove large claws, these can be kept frozen for another time, then cooked in boiling salted water for 3 minutes.

3. Defrost the crayfish, remove the head, then flatten the tail, underside upwards, on a board. Using a small sharp knife, slide it under the shell and cut open a side. Carefully prize the shell away, then pull the flesh out, holding on to the end of the tail.  The intestinal tract should stay attached to the tail and slip out as the flesh is removed.

4. Make the tempura batter, weigh the dry ingredients into a bowl, make a well in the center and pour in 250mls of the cold water, the water should be from the fridge to give best results. Test the thickness of the batter, it should leave a thin film over the back of a spoon, if its gloopy then add more water.

5. Dip tails in batter then fry in small batches.  Serve with Marie Rose sauce or tartare sauce and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Method

1. You will need a 9” round, springform cake tin, lined with baking parchment.  Preheat the oven to 160 degrees and check that the oven shelf is in the middle.
2. Cream margarine, sugar and lemon zest, using electric whisk, until light in colour.  Gradually add the eggs whilst whisking on high speed.
3. Sieve flour into mixture and gently fold, making sure there are no pockets of flour in the batter.
4. Pour batter into prepared tin and place on the middle shelf in oven.  Do not open the door and bake the cake for around 40-45 minutes. Cake should spring back when touched in the centre and be slightly shrunken away from the edge of the tin.
5. Whilst cake is baking, make the drizzle syrup. Gently heat, lemon juice, sugar and cordial until sugar has dissolved.  10 minutes prior to the cooking time ending for the cake, boil the syrup rapidly for a few minutes.
6. Remove the baked cake from the oven, and whilst still hot, prick the top with a cocktail stick, this will allow the syrup to seep in. Spoon syrup over the top, making sure that it has an even coat.
7. Leave to rest in the tin for 10 minutes to soak up the syrup, and allow to cool completely before serving.

Method

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C Fan.  Heat the milk, cream, vanilla and a small grating of nutmeg in a saucepan until almost boiling point.

2. Whisk the egg yolks together with the caster sugar until they have become pale.
3. Once the cream mixture is ready, gently pour it in to the egg mixture, whisking as you pour.
4. Pour this mixture through a sieve in to a jug and allow to settle for a minute.  This will allow any foam to rise to the top which can then be skimmed off.
5. Pour the remaining mixture in to two ramekins and place on a baking tray.  
6. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the mixture is just set with a slight wobble in the middle!  Allow to cool.
7. To make the preserved rhubarb, it will be prettiest if you use the pinkest parts of the stalk, or use early, forced rhubarb.  Peel the stalks, and place the peelings in a saucepan with the sugar, water and cinnamon stick.
8. Heat the sugar and peel mixture until all the sugar has dissolved.
9. Strain through a sieve and return the pink liquid to the saucepan.
10. Cut the rhubarb stalks in to 4 or 5 pieces lengthways, depending on how big they are.  Add these pieces to the saucepan and heat gently for 3-4 minutes until they are just soft.  Be careful not to overcook as they will disintegrate quickly!
11. Allow the rhubarb to cool, and serve with the baked custard.  Keep any left over rhubarb and syrup in a jar to serve with homemade vanilla ice cream 🙂 

Method

1.  Wash the rhubarb and discard any leaves and bad bits of stalk.  The leaves are poisonous so dispose of them carefully.
2. Cut the rhubarb into small pieces, about 2-3cm in size.  If you want the gin to be pink, use as much of the red stalk as possible.
3. Fill the two jars almost to the top with rhubarb.
4. Put 200g sugar in each jar and shake gently to disperse.
5. Fill the jars to the top with gin and seal carefully.
6. Shake the jars every now and then to help dissolve the sugar and leave for about four weeks to develop.
7. After four weeks, strain the gin and decant in to pretty bottles.

Method

Put the Blackberries in to a stainless steel pan along with the water, on a medium heat.  You can mash the berries gently with the back of a fork as they heat to help release the juice.  Leave on the heat until very soft and most of the berries have broken down.

Pour the juice and berries in to a muslin lined sieve or jelly bag over a jug and leave to drain for a couple of hours.

Measure the strained juice and put back on a gentle heat.  Once warm, add the lemon juice and sugar using the quantities in the ingredients section.  Stir over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved and then turn up the heat and boil rapidly until setting point is reached (104 to 105 degrees centigrade for a jelly).

Pour in to warm, sterilised jars and seal tightly.

Enjoy on warm buttered toast or with cold meats…..or on a spoon from the jar if you just can’t wait!