Blueberry Muffins

Serves : 6-12 Yield: 6.0

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 ounces butter or 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2cups blueberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

• Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
• In another bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk and butter that has been melted and browned slightly.
• Make a well in dry ingredients and pour in liquid ingredients, mixing quickly.
• Fold in the blueberries.
• Spoon batter into greased muffin cups.
• Bake at 400F Gas mark 6 for 20-30 minutes until golden brown

Spaghetti Bolognese

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 6 rashers dry-cured higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
• olive oil
• 500 g minced beef
• 200 ml red wine
• 1 x 280 g jar of sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 x 400 g tins of plum tomatoes
• 500 g dried spaghetti
• Parmesan cheese
• extra virgin olive oil

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
• Peel and finely chop the garlic and onions, pick and finely chop the rosemary, then finely slice the bacon.
• Heat a splash of oil in a casserole pan on a medium heat, add the bacon, rosemary, garlic and onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
• Add the minced beef, breaking it apart with the back of a spoon, then cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until starting to brown, then pour in the wine. Leave to bubble and cook away.
• Meanwhile, drain and tip the sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor, blitz to a paste, then add to the pan with the tomatoes. Stir well, break the plum tomatoes apart a little.
• Cover with a lid then place in the oven for 1 hour, removing the lid and giving it a stir after 30 minutes – if it looks a little dry at this stage, add a splash of water to help it along.
• About 10 minutes before the time is up, cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions.
• Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain, reserving a mugful of cooking water, then return to the pan with a few spoons of Bolognese, a good grating of Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
• Toss to coat the spaghetti, loosening with a splash of cooking water, if needed.
• Divide the spaghetti between plates or bowls, add a good spoonful of Bolognese to each, then serve with a fine grating of Parmesan.

Pear wine by Paul Bloxham

Prep time: 1 hr, plus 3-4 months maturing Serves: Makes 3 litres Difficulty: advanced Dip a toe into the world of wine making with this lovely recipe for a light white pear wine from Paul Bloxham Ingredients • 4.5 litres boiling water • 1.8 kg pears • 2 tsp pectic enzyme • 900 g sugar • 2 lemons, juice only • 1x7 g sachet dried yeast • 3 tsp yeast nutrient • 1 campden tablet Method • 1. You will need a white 9 litre capacity plastic bucket with lid, wooden spoon, 2 x 4.5 litre glass demijohn, rubber bung (with hole), plastic air lock, plastic siphon tubing, sterilising powder, large plastic funnel, 2 x empty 2 litre screw top plastic bottles, 1 x empty 1 litre screw top plastic bottle. • 2. Pour the boiling water over the pears, pressing well to extract the juice. Leave for 4-5 hours. • 3. Add the pectic enzyme. Cover and leave for 4 days to infuse. • 4. Strain the pears through muslin and pour the liquid through a large funnel, into the demijohn. • 5. Add the sugar and lemon juice. • 6. Add the yeast and yeast nutrient and fit the airlock. Keep in a warm room. • 7. After about 7-10 days, when the wine begins to clear and the bubbles have slowed down, siphon the wine off the 'lees' (the debris in the bottom of the demijohn) into a clean demijohn. • 8. After about another 3-4 days, when all fermentation has stopped (no more bubbles through the air-lock), siphon off the 'lees' into clean demijohn. Add a Campden tablet - Campden tablets are used to kill naturally occurring wild yeasts and undesirable bacteria. • 9. Stopper the jar and leave in a cool place for a further 10 days. The wine should be clear. • 10. Siphon the wine into clean empty plastic bottle and store in a cool place. The wine should be ready after about 3 months. From

Vegetable stock

3 medium onions, roughly chopped 5 medium carrots, roughly chopped 3 medium leeks, coarsely sliced 3 medium sticks of celery, roughly chopped 8 cabbage leaves, sliced 1 head of full flavour green lettuce, sliced 6 sprigs of flat leaf parsley with stems, roughly chopped 3 Sprig's of fresh thyme 1 bay leaf A pinch of salt 3.5 llitres (6 pints) of cold water to cover Place all the ingredients in a saucepan or stockpot. Cover and bring slowly to the boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Skim off any scum. Simmer very gently with the lid ajar for one hour, skimming from time to time. Do not disturb the stock or move it in any way. Strain well. Be careful not to force any of the ingredients through the sieve, as this will cloud the stock. Allow to cool. Refrigerate.

Pan Fried Scallops (Jamies)

Serves 4 For the clapshot (turnip mash with finely chopped chives that resemble lead shots from a rifle mixed through it).

• 500g maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 4cm chunks.
• 500g turnips, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks.
• Sea salt and ground pepper.
• A bunch of fresh chives.
• 2 knobs of butter
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

• 12 large or 16 medium scallops, shelled, trimmed and roes removed.
• Olive oil.
• Fennel seeds.
• 12 rashers of quality smoked streaky bacon, cut into thick lardons.
• 8 thick slices of quality black pudding, roughly 150g.
• A knob of butter
• 12 fresh sage leaves
• 1 lemon

• Put the potatoes and turnips into a large pan of boiling water and add a generous pinch of salt. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tender.
• Meanwhile slowly and carefully slice the chives as finely as you can.
• Once the vegetables are cooked, drain and allow to steam dry in a colander.
• Put the pan back on a low heat and add the 2 knobs of butter, a teaspoon of cider vinegar, a good pinch of salt and pepper and your finely chopped chives.
• As the mixture bubbles and foams, add your drained vegetables and mash until you have the consistency you like. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then cover with a lid and leave on a very low heat to keep warm.
• Score each scallop halfway through in a crisscross pattern. Season each one on both sides with salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a few fennel seeds.
• Get a large frying pan on a high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil.
• Add the bacon to the pan and fry for 5 minutes, or until lightly golden, then move the bacon to a plate and add the slices of black pudding.
• Cook until crisp on both sides then divide the clapshot between four hot plates and top with the bacon and black pudding.
• Put the frying pan straight back on the heat and add a lug of fresh olive oil, a small knob of butter and the scallops, scored side down, and turn the heat down to low. Cook for just 2 minutes, then turn them over and give them no more than 1 minute. Add the sage leaves to the pan to crisp up and once ready to serve, squeeze over the juice of half the lemon and shake everything about.
• Divide the scallops and crispy sage leaves between everyone and spoon some of the delicious cooking juices from the pan over each plate. Serve with some steamed greens and a few wedges of lemon for squeezing over, and it’s happy days.

Ginger bread men

Makes about 10

• 115g butter
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 350g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 4-5 teaspoon ground ginger
• 175g soft brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• Teddy bear shaped biscuit cutters
• 2 baking trays, greased
• Icing tubes and smarties to decorate
• Warm the butter and syrup in a saucepan until melted, then set aside to cool.
• Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and sugar in a bowl.
• Make a well in the centre.
• Pour in the butter and syrup,
• add the egg, then mix well to combine.
• Knead lightly to form a soft dough, then wrap it in cling film and chill for about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 190C gas 5.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and stamp out shapes using the biscuit cutters.
• Transfer the shapes to the baking trays and bake for 7-8 minutes until starting to color around the edges.
• Leave to cool on the trays for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Decorate the bears as desired.

Jamies Real Mushroom Soup

' When I first moved to London I worked in the Neal Street Restaurant in Covent Garden. it was famous for its wild mushrooms, and my mate Gennaro used to go out every day during mushroomseason to find them. It was in this restaurant that I tasted a real mushroom soup for the first time. Those awful tins of mushroom soup that we’ve all tasted just became a distant memory! The nice thing about nearly all mushrooms is that, if cooked correctly, they do have wonderful flavour. If you were to use a field of Portabello mushrooms to make a soup, just adding a tiny bit of dried porcini into the base would make the whole thing more luxurious. SERVES 6

• a small handful of dried porcini.
• a handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked.
• olive oil.
• 600g mixed fresh wild mushrooms (chanterelles, girolles, black pepper trompettes de mort, shitake or oyster). cleaned and sliced.
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock.
• a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley,leaves picked and roughly chopped.
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced.
• 1 red onion. peeled and finely chopped.
• 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese.
• 1 lemon.
• a knob of butter.
• optional: truffle oil.

Place the porcini in a small dish, add boiling water just to cover, and leave to soak. Get a large casserole-type pan nice and hot, then add a good couple of lugs of olive oil and your fresh mushrooms. Stir around very quickly for a minute, then add your garlic, onion, butter and thyme and a small amount of seasoning. After about a minute you’ll probably notice moisture cooking out of the mushrooms and at this point add half of your porcini, chopped up, and the rest left whole. Strain the soaking liquid to remove any grit, and add it to the pan. Carry on cooking for about 20 minutes until most of the moisture disappears. Season to taste, and add your stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes. I usually remove half the soup from the pan and whizz it up to a puree at this point. then pour it back in adding the parsley and mascarpone, and seasoning carefully to taste. You can serve this soup as you like, but there are a few things to remember when finishing it off. Mix together a pinch of salt and pepper with the zest of one lemon and the juice of half of it, then spoon a little of this into the middle of the soup. When you go to eat it, stir it in and it gives a wonderful flavour. Other things you can consider are little slices of grilled crostlni put into the bottom of the bowls before the soup is poured over. Or you could even quickly fry some nice looking mushrooms — like girolles, chanterelles or oysters — and sprinkle these on top of the soup. If I was going to use truffle oil, then I would use it on its own - a few drips on the top just before serving. soups pg 149

Tartar Sauce

SERVES 6

• A few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley
• 1 handful of baby capers
• 1 handful of gherkins
• 150g free-range mayonnaise
• 1 lemon

Pick the parsley leaves, then finely chop along with the capers and gherkins (or blitz in food processor). Stir through the mayonnaise, finely grate in the lemon zest and squeeze in the juice, then mix well and season to taste.