Slow-braised pork shoulder with cider, crème fraîche & mustard

Serves 4

4 pork shoulder steaks, about 750g in total
oil
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
300ml cider
2 bay leaves
4 tbsp crème fraîche
2 tsp Dijon mustard
small bunch parsley, chopped

1.Heat a little oil in an ovenproof pan with a lid. Fry the shoulder steaks on each side until golden brown. Lift out then fry the onions until softened and golden. Add back the pork with the cider and bay. Bring to a simmer then put on a lid and cook in a 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 oven for 1½ hours.

2.Lift out the oven and break up the steaks into chunks. Stir in the crème fraîche, mustard and parsley then cook for another 5 minutes. Serve with mash or green veg.

Nutrition per serving (without mash):
523 kcalories, protein 9.1g, carbohydrate 67.4g, fat 16.5 g, saturated fat 8.5g, fibre 0.4g, salt 0.46 g

(Olive magazine, April 2011)

Navarin d'agneau printanier (spring lamb stew)

Serves 4 - 6

1kg lamb neck, cut into 6 pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of thyme
4 carrots, cut into chunks
100g fresh or frozen peas
100g green beans, chopped
salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3. Brown the meat, garlic and onion with the oilive oil in a large flameproof casserole. Add the bay leaf, thyme and carrots, and enough water to cover the meat by a couple of centimetres.

2. Bring to a simmer and remove any scum that rises to the top. Cover the pan and transfer to the over. Cook for 1½-2 hours or until the meat is tender.

3. Ten minutes before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the peas and beans. Cook for 5mins or until teh vegetables are tender, then drain.

4. Take the casserole out of the oven and remove the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme. Add the peas and beans to the lamb with the salt and pepper to taste, and serve straight away.

(The Little paris Kitchen - Rachel Khoo)

Monkfish chunks cooked with onions, peppers and sherry

Serves 4

25g butter
100ml olive oil
2 large onions, finely sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into 2½cm pieces
1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into 2½cm pieces
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Good pinch saffron strands
400ml dry sherry
750g monkfish, cut into 4cm chunks
200g fresh palourde or venus clams, cleaned and beards removed
Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the butter and olive oil together in a large, heavy based frying pan, add the onions, peppers, garlic and saffron and cook very slowly over a low heat for about 25mins until the onions are soft, light golden and nearly melted.

2. Add the sherry and monkfish, then cover with a lid and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes or until the fish is just cooked. Add the clams five minutes before the end of the cooking time.

3. Add the parsley to the pan and season with salt and pepper then serve.

(Fish - Mitch Tonks)

Panettone Bread & Butter Pudding

Serves 4

50g butter, softened (optional)
250g panettone (about 5 medium slices)
2 eggs
142ml carton double cream
225ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp caster sugar
icing sugar, for sprinkling
softly whipped cream, to serve

1.Preheat the oven to 160C/gas 3/fan 140C and grease a 850ml/1½ pint shallow baking dish with a little butter. Cut the panettone into wedges, leaving the crusts on. Butter the slices lightly with the rest of the butter. Cut the slices in half and arrange them in the dish, buttered side up.

2.In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla extract and sugar and pour evenly over the panettone.

3.Put the dish in a roasting tin and pour hot water around it to a depth of about 2.5cm/1in. Bake for 35 minutes until the pudding is just set - it should be yellow inside and nicely browned on top. Dust with icing sugar and serve with spoonfuls of whipped cream.

(Good Food magazine, January 2003)

Easy leek & pancetta filo tarts

Serves 2

70g pancetta

2 leeks , trimmed and sliced, including green bits

butter

2 eggs

4 sheets filo pastry

1.Heat a non-stick frying pan then cook the pancetta until crisp (you shouldn't need any oil). Add the leeks and keep cooking until softened, about 5-10 minutes. Cool then mix with the eggs and season.

2.Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Cut 10cm squares from the filo (you'll need 16 in all). Butter, then layer up 4 directly on top of each other and gently push each into a 4-hole Yorkshire pudding tin.

3.Spoon in the filling then bake for 15-20 minutes until just set. Serve with salad.

Nutrition per serving:

179 kcalories, protein 8.5g, carbohydrate 14.2g, fat 9.5 g, saturated fat 3.5g, fibre 2g, salt 0.8 g

(Olive magazine, November 2012)

Smoked trout, pea and tarragon tart

Serves 6

Filo pastry 4 sheets
Spray oil
Eggs 3, beaten
Half fat creme fraiche 100g
Taragon ½ a small bunch, chopped
Smoked Trout 125g pack
Frozen Peas 100g, defrosted

1. heat the oven to gas mark 5. Spray the filo lightly with the oil and use it to line a 22cm shallow tart tin. Beat together the eggs and the creme fraiche and season well. Mix in the tarragon, trout and peas then tip into the lined case. Bake for 20-25 mins until the egg is just set and the pastry browned.

Nutrition per serving:
150kcals, protein 10g, carbs 10.2g, fat 7.5g, sat fat 2.9g, fibre 1.6g, salt 0.5g

(Olive Magazine - April 2013)

Lime meringue pie

Serves 8

Gingernuts 300g
Butter 100g, melted
Condensed milk 397g tin
Eggs 3 yolks
Limes 4, juice and zested
Egg whites 3
Golden caster sugar 165g

1. Heat the oven to gas mark 3. Whizz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor.

2. Mix the biscuits with the melted butter and press into the base and up the sides of a 22cm shallow tart tin. Bake in the oven for 10mins then cool.

3. Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk for a minute with electric beaters. Add the condensed milk and whisk for 3 mins then add the zest and juice and whisk again for another 3 mins. Pour the filling into the cooled base then put back in the oven for 15 mins. Cool then chill.

4. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl to firm peaks, then whick in the sugar, a little at a time, until the meringue is thick and glossy. Pile into the middle of the pie then lightly brown the meringue with a blow torch to give a pale golden highlight on the peaks.

Nutrition per serving:
530kcals, protein 8.3g, carbs 74g, fat 22.2g, sat fat 12.5g, fibre 0.5g, salt 0.7g

(Olive Magazine - March 2013)