Cooking recipe books

Another recipe from  Nicolle Meyer and Amanda Smith's ' Paris in a basket: markets, the food and the people '. Good, filling, tasty, not as difficult as I was expecting. Serves: 2 persons. Ingredients: 40g raisins 125ml Port wine 2 breasts of duck 1 Golden apple Salt & pepper to taste Method: Soak the raisins in the Port Wine for 10 minutes. Or leave them in the Port like I did, until they are needed! Dry the breasts and make diagonal incisions on the skin. Heat up a frying pan and dry fry the duck breasts, skin side down first for 8 min and then the other side for another 1 min. Remove the excess of fat from the frying pan to a small recipient. I actually left it for longer as I was worried it may not be cooked enough. I left both sides until they were golden, which I think was a bit longer than the recipe called for. In the end the breasts were perfectly pink in the middle. Place the breasts on a plate, salt & pepper to taste and re...

UPDATE JULY 2021: I have re-done this recipe and did not forget to sprinkle paprika on the top this time. When I made this we had run out of bread and cream crackers so I improvised by having it on lettuce leaves. It was such and amazing idea! It's fresh, tasty and gluten-free! 🔄 🔄 🔄 A Riverford recipe, this hummus has a lighter taste than the traditional hummus but packs the same vitamin goodness and makes for a great snack or starter. Serves:  1000ml Ingredients: 700g carrots, peeled and diced 400g chickpeas, cooked 3 garlic cloves 7 tbsp tahini 8 tbsp lemon juice 1.5 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp paprika 5 tbsp olive oil salt & pepper to taste pumpkin seeds or toasted pine nuts Method: Boil the carrots in salted water until tender, approx. 10 min, and drain. Place in a food processor all ingredients but the pumpkins seeds/pine nuts and blitz. Add salt & pepper, taste and correct seasoning or add any more of any of the ingredients...

Foraging diaries # 5: Wild garlic. I am really enjoying the wild garlic. It's very tasty and Darina Allen's recipe's are really easy and quick to do. Serves: 6 portions. Ingredients: 90g butter 300g potatoes, peeled and chopped 220g onion, peeled and chopped 1 litre vegetable stock 300ml milk 300g wild garlic leaves, chopped Salt and pepper to taste Method: Melt the butter and add the onions and potatoes. Turn them until coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and sweat over a gentle heat for 10 min until the vegetables are almost soft but not coloured. Add the stock and milk. Bring back to the boil and cook until the potatoes and onions are fully cooked. Add the wild garlic and simmer for 4-5 min with the lid off until the wild garlic is cooked. Do not overcook or the soup will loose its fresh green colour. Blitz the soup, taste and correct seasoning. Serve hot.

Foraging diaries # 4: Wild garlic. Such a versatile plant! Mix with butter and freeze in slices. Defrost when needed and voilà! I used it on top of a pan-grilled steak but it will also go well with pan-grilled fish. Serves: 110g. Ingredients: 110g butter 25g finely chopped wild garlic a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice Method: Cream the butter. Add the wild garlic and a few drops of lemon juice at a time. Form into a roll and wrap in greaseproof paper, screwing each end so that it looks like a Christmas cracker. Refrigerate to harden. If not using all, cut into slices, freeze them individually and then keep them in a bag in the freezer until needed. Defrost an hour before using.

Saltimbocca is originally made with veal  but Delia Smith decided to cook with pork and I see nothing wrong with that. It's an easy and tasty recipe and I served it with white rice and a salad. Serves: 3 persons. Ingredients: 450g pork fillet, cut into 6 medallions 6 slices of Parma ham 6 large sage leaves 170ml Marsala wine (Marsala is a fortified wine like Port wine, I had Port wine at home and not Marsala so I used Port wine) olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Method: Lay the pieces out on a chopping board and cover with clingfilm, then using a rolling pin, batter them out to make them a little thinner. I did not do this. If you bash it too much, you'll break the meat. I bought the fillet whole and cut the medallions myself, this way you can control the thickness. My medallions weren't particularly thin but they ended up alright. Season the medallions and lay the slices of Parma ham on top of each one (because they won't be precisely the...

Foraging diaries # 3: Wild garlic. Wild garlic or Ramsons ( Allium ursinum) can be found in shady areas of woods and it's impossible to miss it as it exudes an intense smell of garlic.  When it flowers wild garlic embellish the woods. When picked, it makes a very beautiful jar of flowers. Unwillingly, we picked ½ kg of wild garlic!! There will be more recipes with wild garlic coming in the next few days as I struggled not to throw any away. Wild garlic pesto is deliciously strong. If you don't like the strong taste of garlic, leave now! Another one of Darina Allen's recipes. Serves: 100ml. Ingredients: 50g wild garlic leaves 25g pine nuts 1 garlic clove, peeled 40g parmesan or pecorino cheese, sliced 60ml olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Method: Add all the ingredients to the food processor and blitz. I used my usual food processor (Control grip all in one - Sage by Heston Blumenthal) but then I remembered I had a new toy! The control gr...