Fish Pie

• 325g mixed fish (I used salmon, haddock and smoked haddock
• 75g raw king prawns
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 pint milk
• 25g butter
• 25g flour
• 1 tub light cream cheese with onion and chives
• Chopped fresh parsley
• 4 baking potatoes
• 4 sweet potatoes
• Cheese for topping

Put the 4 baking potatoes in a hot oven to bake for 60 mins.

Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and put on to boil.

Put the fish in a pan with the prawns, the bay leaves and cover with the milk, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins.

Strain the fish into a sieve keeping the milk you used to poach it in.

Once the sweet potato is cooked, mash and add a tablespoon of the milk used for the fish. Put to one side.

Melt 25g butter in pan and stir in 25g flour, keep on low heat until combined and cook for 1 minute whilst stirring. Then slowly add the poaching milk, stirring constantly until combined and thickened. Add the tub of cream cheese and stir in. Once all combined flake up the cooked fish and add to the pan with the parsley combining the fish and sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste at this point.

Take the baking potatoes out of the oven and slice in half lengthways. Gently scoop the potato out of the middle of the skins leaving the skins in tact as shells. Put the potato in with the sweet potato and combine.

Take each potato shell and fill with the fish and sauce mixture. Then either spoon or pipe the potato mix over the top of each potato skin. Sprinkle the tops with grated cheese and put the potatoes on a baking tray. Cook for 20-25mins and then serve.

Use any leftover fish and mash to make a traditional fish pie in a dish.

Fish in Breadcrumbs

• Pieces of fish loin without skin, either cod or haddock
• 1 egg
• 6 tablespoons plain flour
• tub of breadcrumbs (ASDA do really nice ones on the shelves with the gravy granules)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees

Put the egg in a bowl, the flour on a plate and the breadcrumbs in a shallow roasting dish (lots of space)

Take each piece of fish and dip it in the egg. Then put it on the flour plate and coat both sides in flour. Then place in the breadcrumbs dish and press each side of the fish into the breadcrumbs so it has a good coating. Shake the fish gently to remove excess and lay on a greased baking tray.

Once all pieces are coated with breadcrumbs, cook in oven for 20mins, until starting to brown.

Sparkling Bellini Jellies

Makes 6-8 glasses

• 750ml peach juice (I used dilute peach and white grape cordial from ASDA)
• 750ml champagne
• 14 sheets of gelatine leaves (2 sheets or 1tsp powder per 200ml liquid)
• Raspberries
• Peaches/Nectarines
• Grapes

Leave the gelatine leaves to soak in a bowl of cold water until soft.

Make up the peach juice, and then warm in a pan until just before boiling.

Squeeze out the gelatine leaves and add to pan and stir until dissolved.

Pour peach juice into a bowl and add champagne and then leave in a fridge to chill until it is just starting to set. (Takes 2-4hrs)

Chop the fruit up into managable pieces

Get some large wine glasses (thick glass one are better as less likely to smash with a spoon!), pour in the jelly and then add the fruit, place back into fridge to set.

When eating, leave the jelly on your tongue for a second and it will gently fizz :)

Liver and Bacon Casserole

• 1 packet lambs liver (usually 125g)
• 2 onions
• 1 packet bacon (unsmoked or smoked its your choice, 6 slices of back or 12 slices streaky)
• third of a bottle of bitter
• flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree

Slice the onions and saute them in a little oil in a large shallow pan or a frying pan with deep sides.

Chop up the bacon into pieces 1 cm by 2-3cm and add to onions.

Once all bacon coloured and onions sof, remove from pan and place on one side.

Put some flour ona plate or in a shallow bowl and add some salt and pepper and mix with fingers. Take a slice of liver and coat it both sides in the flour and then fry in the pan you cooked the onions and bacon in. Fry each side for about 2-3mins until it gets a little colour. Do this for every piece of liver in packet, can fry more than one piece at once, set them aside once cooked.

Add bacon and onions back to pan and add the bitter, put on a high heat and use the boiling liquid to remove the caught spots of flour from the pan and gather up all the flavours from the frying liver.

Add the cooked liver again and then sprinkle in the 4 oxo cubes, top up with water until you get a nice amount of gravy in the pan. Add the tomato puree and mix well then leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with mashed potato or root vegetable mash.

Butterbean and bacon soup

• 1 packet 500g dried butterbeans (soak in water overnight)
• 1 unsmoked bacon or gammon joint
• 2 leeks
• 2 onions
• 4 pints vegetable stock (may need more depending on beans)
• some milk

Chop the onions and leek finely and lightly saute in the bottom of a large pan until soft.

Place the uncooked bacon joint into the pan on top of the leeks and onions. Add the soaked beans and then top up with vegetable stock.

Bring the soup to a boil and then simmer on low for as long as possible. Keep an eye on how much liquid the beans are soaking up and if needed, add some more.

After a couple of hours remove the bacon joint and chop up, put back in the soup.

Add around half a pint of milk to the soup and then just before serving use a hand blender to blend half the soup to add thickness.

Chilli Nachos - or Death by Nachos

I love chilli nachos, they are one of my favourite comfort foods of all time. The first time I really remember having them was on holiday with my mum and dad in Canada and we were staying in Banff, we went to a bar for dinner and mum and I ordered chilli nachos to share as a starter. They were presented to us on a dustbin lid! It was the biggest plate of nachos I had ever seen and we had more food to come after that, I just remember handing them round the bar as we made no impression on them!

This recipe was invented by my mum with a few fiddlings in between by me :)

Essential items to have is a very large shallowish salad bowl (ovenproof), mine is around 40cm diameter, and a lazy susan to go underneath so people can get to it easily! Have all the ingredients ready and prepared as this one is the most complicated when putting together.

Pre-heat oven to around 180 degrees

• Packet salted Nachos (I used a large bag of salted Doritos)
• 1 tub mild tomato salsa
• 200g grated cheese
• 1 tin refried beans (optional)
• 1 portion chilli con carne (everyone has their own recipes for this!) or 1 tin Stagg Chilli
• 2 tubs guacamole (or 1 if you are not as keen as I am on it)
• 1 tub/jar soured cream (from mexican aisle at supermarket)
• 1 tub hot tomato salsa (or use mild if you don't like it too spicy)
• Jar of Jalapeno Peppers (again optional if you don't like it hot)

OK, now for the science bit.

Get a pan and put in the tub (or one of the tubs) of mild salsa and about 150g of the cheese. Heat gently until the cheese melts and combines with the salsa. When we first started making this, Doritos used to do a jalapeno cheese dip which was vivid yellow but great, but we haven't been able to find it in ages, if you find it you can use this instead.

Pour the nacho chips into your serving bowl and then slowly pour the cheese/salsa mixture over the chips. Place the bowl in the oven to warm the cheese and toast it slightly. Give it around 10-15 mins.

Whilst the cheese is heating up in the oven, reheat both the refried beans and the chilli in a microwave so both are piping hot.

Take the serving bowl out of the oven and first spread the beans over the chips, then top with the chilli. Each layer should get just slightly smaller so you can see the layer underneath round the edges. The bowl can be put back into the oven whilst you get the next part ready and get everyone sat down.

Once ready to serve the nachos, take the bowl from the oven, and spread the guacamole over the chilli. On top of this put a layer of soured cream, then use the last tub of salsa and add this, sprinkling with the remaining 50g of cheese and a few jalapenos on top for some heat. Serve, either let people just grab from the bowl with their fingers, or give side plates and forks. Warning, it is very filling!

Tiramisu Gateau

• 4oz (110g) butter/margarine
• 4oz (110g) caster sugar
• 2 large eggs (beaten together)
• 4oz (110g) self raising flour
• 200g plain chocolate (grated)
• 150ml very strong black coffee
• 100ml Tia Maria
• 300ml double cream
• 50g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 x 250g cartons marscapone (room temperature)

Pre-heat the oven 170 degrees.

Put the butter in a bowl with the sugar and cream together, mixing them together until they are pale and light. Slowly add the eggs, combining a bit at a time.

Get a sieve for the flour and using a metal dessert spoon, fold the flour into the mixture, sieving the flour into the bowl from as high up as possible to add air. Fold in the flour a quarter at a time.

The mixture should drop off the spoon easily when you tap it on the side of the bowl.

Grease a deep (at least 7" wide) springform cake tin and put greaseproof paper on the bottom. Scoop the mixture into the tin, and place in oven for 25-35 mins until golden brown and the tops are springy to touch. Leave to cool.

Grate up the chocolate. Mix the coffee and Tia Maria together. Cut the cake into 3 layers.

Line the base and sides of the tin with cling film. Then using a whisk mix the cream, vanilla and 50g caster sugar to soft peaks and fold in the marscapone. Remove about 1/4 of mix and 1/4 grated chocolate and set aside.

Place 1 sponge layer in base of cake tin, sprinkle over 1/3 coffee mix, 1/3 marscapone mix and then 1/3 chocolate, repeat with other 2 layers, then chill in fridge. When ready to serve remove from tin and put on serving platter. Carefully spread the remaining marscapone around the edge of the cake and cover with chocolate to finish.

Bannoffee Cheescake

I used to make Bannoffee pie a lot a few years ago, but it was very heavy as a dessert so I thought this would be a lighter variation

• 70g unsalted butter (melted)
• 3 tsp powdered gelatine or 6 sheets leaf gelatine
• 1/2 pkt hobnobs and 1/2 pkt ginger biscuits crushed
• 2 eggs, separated
• 75g caster sugar (used as 50g and 25g)
• 225g marscapone
• dash vanilla extract
• 500ml double cream, whipped (used as 300ml and 200ml)
• 2 bananas sliced
• 1 tin Carnation Caramel (on the shelf with the condensed milk, 397g)
• 1 pkt banana angel delight
• 100g plain chocolate (grated)

Well grease a 20cm springform pan with some of the melted butter. Line the base with greaseproof paper.

Dissolve the gelatine in 2 tablespoons of boiling water, or follow instructions for leaf gelatine and set aside.

Crush the biscuits in a food processor or in a bag with a rolling pin (much more fun!). Add the butter and mix until combined and then press the biscuit mix into the base of the springform tin to form the base. Keep pressing down until it is solid and then leave in a cool place.

Beat the eggs yolks, 50g caster sugar, mascarpone, caramel and the vanilla until pale. Whip 300ml of the double cream and then fold into the mixture with the gelatine.

Beat the egg whites and 25g of the caster sugar in a bowl until stiff (my mum's trick is to tip the bowl upside down over someone's head, the whites are ready when they do not move), then fold into the cheese mixture.

Slice up the bananas and spread over the base, pour the cheesecake mixture over the top and then refrigerate overnight.

Next day, whip up the remaining 200ml of the cream, make up the banana angel delight as directed and mix together. Spread over the top of the cheesecake. Leave in fridge for another couple of hours until serving.

Then remove cheesecake from tin onto serving platter and sprinkle over grated chocolate.