gluten free

pear slaw

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Hurrah…it’s pear season. I think pears are fairly underrated, partly because they sit rock hard in fruit bowls and no one knows if and when they will ripen, and when they do ripen they start to become over ripe really quickly. Well now here’s an answer, so they don’t go to waste, I use them raw while they are still hard in salads or I roast them with vanilla, spices and honey and serve them as a dessert.
Most people opt for apples over pears but I kind of prefer pears. Like my pear salad, I sometimes like to use them as I would a vegetable and pay homage to the humble pear.
You can use soft or hard pears for this salad, either will do. Apart from tasting delicious, it also looks beautiful with the colour of the red cabbage.

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burrata salad with peas

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I don’t eat a lot of cheese but when I do it is usually pecorino, Parmesan or on spesh occasions, burrata. Once you try burrata you wonder why you have never ever had it before because its one of the most delicious things in the world on every level. It’s a soft pillow of creamy, delicately flavoured gorgeousness, a mozzarella which has stepped up its game and become the beautiful twin. It has double cream in the centre of it, so when you break it open with your fingers the middle flows out of it like the sauce escaping from a hot chocolate fondant pudding. Peas are great too, so I married them off to each other and added a simple dressing with lemon. This salad should take minutes to make and makes a great starter or snack…or as a side dish with my midnight spaghetti.

Recipe

Serves 2 or one as a main course.

Ingredients: 

1 lemon juiced
1 or 2 burrata or mozzarella balls
A sprig of mint very finely chopped
A cup of thawed frozen peas (no need to cook)
Crunchy salad leaves (I use red chicory or treviso radicchio)
Salt and pepper to taste
½- 1 teaspoon of maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil


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pear salad

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I wanted to create a recipe that uses hard pears for salads as they are perfect in the same way as carrots and celeriac are. So I created this healthy, tasty salad and tested it on friends at dinner and they really loved it and wanted the recipe, and they are still talking about how delicious it is. The dressing is an unusual combination of flavours, like mustard and lime juice, but trust me, it works. You can use ripe pears if your pears are ripe, it’s still delicious, and it’s also amazing with shavings of pecorino. Pecorino and lime, who’d have thought? Perfect, too, if you want to try new flavours salad-wise.

Recipe

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Poppy seeds
3 firm pears cored and very thinly sliced (I leave the skin on but its up to you) they can be sliced lengthways or in discs 
A round radicchio roughly shredded or chopped chicory
A sprig of parsley finely chopped
A sprig of chives finely chopped
1 teaspoon of maple syrup
¼ teaspoon of English mustard
1 lime, zest and juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

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the perfect roast potatoes

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Roast potatoes are one of the best inventions in the food world along with chips, in my humble opinion. Heston Blumenthal and most of the top cooks recommend Maris Piper potatoes. The reason for this is they are very starchy which means you get a fluffy inside and a crispy outside. If Maris Pipers are not available get a floury potato like a Desiree or a King Edward, the varieties and names of potatoes vary from country to country, so if in doubt just make sure it’s a floury type as opposed to waxy. Roast potatoes are always best served straight away while they are still hot and crisp.

Recipe

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:
1 kg of potatoes, peeled and halved
3 tablespoons of olive oil (or goose fat or duck fat)
Salt and pepper to taste

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poussin

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Poussin (Cornish hens) make a great and very easy alternative to turkey on Christmas Day or Thanksgiving. Instead of cooking a turkey for hours and hours they take about 45 minutes to an hour. The meat is much more delicate and juicy than turkey, which can be dry and tough, and the bay leaves give them an amazing flavour. The ancient Romans always flavoured their meat simply with bay leaves and I can see why, it’s the perfect flavour and the meat will be subtly perfumed by the bay. Also if you are new to cooking, this recipe is far less daunting and more manageable than a turkey which requires a lot more time and attending to. I really love this recipe and it’s great with my cranberry sauce, roast potatoes, maple roasted root vegetables, brussel sprouts, red cabbage and all the trimmings.

Recipe

Ingredients:
Poussin (1 per person)
A glug of olive oil
Fresh bay leaves (a few per bird)

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maple roasted root vegetables

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You can use other root vegetables for this recipe like sweet potato, but I use carrots and parsnips because I love them. The maple syrup makes them sweet and sticky which work really well with the flavours of the carrots and parsnips. They also become soft on the inside and sticky and crunchy-ish on the outside,  which as you know is always a great combo in my book. I don’t peel the parsnips and carrots as I think all the flavour and fibre are in the skin, and life’s too short.

Recipe

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:
1 kg of assorted root vegetables
3 tablespoons of olive oil
5 tablespoons of maple syrup
Salt and pepper to taste

mapleroasted
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brussels sprouts with chestnuts

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Boiled brussels sprouts are a bit boring and are a hundred times nicer fried or roasted. I have served these to people who don’t even like brussels and they were converted into sprout fans. This might be a good way to get kids to eat them too. They are a really healthy part of any meal, as they contain astonishing levels of Vitamin C. Perfect with Thanksgiving or Christmas fare, but also really delish as a side dish to dinner anytime and of course they are an essential ingredient to the Boxing Day bubble and squeak.

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the perfect cranberry sauce

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Trust me on this one, this is one of the best recipes for cranberry sauce ever, shop bought cranberry sauce doesn’t even compare to it. I think it’s the star of the show on the Christmas dinner plate and is perfect with cold cuts and sandwiches after Christmas day. For me it kind of makes Christmas food far more delicious. A friend of mine and her children so look forward to my yearly Christmas batch, not only for their Christmas meal but they love it enough to even put it on their toast.
And jars of your own cranberry sauce tied with a red ribbon make great home made Christmas presents for loved ones.

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pumpkin risotto

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Perfect for a vegetarian dinner party, this risotto can be made with any squash instead, so if pumpkins are not in season you can use what it’s available. It’s not only perfect for a Halloween dinner, but it’s delicious all year round too. It’s baked, so there is no need to stand over a hot stove stirring for half an hour unless you want to make it the traditional way (which is fine too). The crispy sage leaves and the caramelised pumpkin taste amazing together and I like it with a little dribble of aged balsamic over the top as well.

Recipe

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
12 sage leaves, chopped
12 sage leaves, fried till crispy
400g risotto rice
800g pumpkin peeled, cored and cubed
1 litre hot chicken or vegetable stock
30g butter
40g of finely grated Parmesan (or plant based parmesan)
More Parmesan to grate on top

pumpkinsagerisotto_ingredients

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mujaddara

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This is my super easy version of mujaddara which is a delicious spicy dish of lentils, rice and caramelised onions with parsley which dates all the way back to a recipe book written in 1226 from Iraq. It is served in restaurants from Egypt to Isreal and is delicious served with a salad, chopped cucumbers and with plain yogurt or labneh. It is served at room temperature so it’s perfect for preparing in advance for a dinner or picnic. You can serve it with a green salad and or with meat or fish. It’s a staple round mine.

Recipe

Serves 4-6 depending on what you serve it with.

Ingredients:
2 x 250g bags of cooked brown basmati rice (supermarket)
1 x 400g tin or carton of green or brown lentils(I use Puy lentils too)
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground coriander
¼ -½ teaspoon of chilli powder
2 minced garlic cloves
2-3 finely sliced large red onions
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 lemons zested and cut into wedges for squeezing
big bunch of roughly chopped parsley
Salt to taste

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