Goats cheese and red onion tartlets

I make these tarts using my proper Yorkshire pudding tin (4 shallow cups in the tin) so it makes perfect shallow little tarts.

• 4 slices of bread
• Splash of olive oil
• 2 large red onions cut in half and very thinly sliced
• 50ml red wine
• 50ml balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 small round of goats cheese (from the chiller aisle, not the cheese counter, there's one in a white packet with a goat on the top for 99p), sliced into 4 circles.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Heat the oil in a shallow based frying pan, add the onion and saute for 5-10 minutes until soft.

Add the red wine, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and simmer on a low heat for around 20mins until the liquid goes thick and sticky.

Grease the Yorkshire Pudding tins.  Get a cookie cutter or a saucer a little bigger than the size of the yorkshire pudding cup and cut out circles of bread.  Put them into the cups and gently push them into the edges to form a little case.

Divide the onion mixture equally between the cases and lay a slice of goats cheese on the top of each tart.  Put in the oven for 10-15 mins until the cheese goes golden brown on top.

Drunken Mushrooms

Really easy to make for a nice dinner :)  Make just before you want to serve.  Makes enough for around 6 people.

• 500g value mushrooms(stalks removed) chopped chunky (so each mushroom into 6 or 8 pieces)
• 1 packet wild mushrooms (oyster, chanterelle or any others)
• 10 garlic cloves chopped finely or crushed
• small bunch fresh parsley chopped
• 75ml double cream
• 375ml white wine
• 50g salted butter
• Nice crusty bread like granary or mediterranean cut into 12 slices

Put the butter in a large saute pan over a low heat until it melts.  Add the garlic and parsley and let it cook gently.

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.  Place the bread slices on a baking trays and brush both sides of the bread with oil.  Place in oven for 10 mins until become crispy.

Add mushrooms to butter and garlic in the pan and toss so they are all coated.  Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Add the white wine and then the double cream, turn down to a fierce simmer and cook for another 5 minutes until the sauce starts to reduce.  

Serve 2 slices of bread on a plate with mushrooms poured over the top.

Bloody Mary Sorbet

From the Lea and Perrins cookbook which has so many great recipes in it!!

• 1 carton tomato juice
• juice of two lemons
• 1 tablespoon Lea & Perrins (use less if you want it more tomatoey)
• Few drops tabasco sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• Lots of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 150ml vodka (or tequila for a Bloody Maria)
• 2 egg whites
• few sprigs of fresh mint

Put the tomato juice, lemon juice, L&P, tabasco, celery salt, black pepper, sugar and vodka in a food processor or blender and blitz until mixed and smooth.

Whisk up the egg white in another bowl until stiff and then fold the egg whites into the tomato mixture until combined (do not over fold).

Put the mixture into an ice cream maker for 30 minutes then transfer to a freezable container and freezer overnight.

OR put the mixture in a suitable plastic container and put in freezer, remove every hour or so and give the mix a good stir, do this three or four times to prevent the ice crystals forming.

Serve in martini glasses with sprigs of fresh mint.

Beef Carpaccio

Don't be put off by the fact that this is raw steak, if you like you steak medium rare you will love this, it is very very thinly sliced and the acidic quality of the dressing helps as well! It looks very impressive for a dinner party and is really easy to make.

• 1 very good quality fillet steak per 4 people (remember you are eating it raw, so the leaner the meat the better)
• 1 tsp dried rosemary or oregano
• pinch dried chilli
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 1 tsp rock salt
• 1 bag rocket leaves or spinach, watercress and rocket
• fresh parmesan block
• salad dressing of choice (see later in instructions)

Crush in a pestle and mortar the rosemary/oregano, chilli, salt and pepper. Sprinkle it onto a plate and roll the sides of the fillet steak in it so it is encrusted and the top and bottom.

Heat up a heavy based frying pan so it is smoking, and very carefully press the encrusted sides of the steak onto the pan for 30 seconds each until it is seared all round. You just need to quickly colour the outside, do not cook the steak for long.

Wrap the steak tightly in cling film and place in freezer for 30 mins to an hour until it is firm (makes it easier to slice thinly) but not frozen.

Spread the salad leaves onto a plate and prepare your dressing. On the pic above we made a dressing by boiling 2 parts red wine vinegar and shaking it up with 1 part oil and 1 part lemon juice. But other dressing which go well are mustard or horseradish based e.g. 2 egg yolks in a blender or with a hand whisk, slowly add 100ml olive oil, then juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 tsp english mustard.

Take the steak out of the freezer, sit it on a chopping board and starting at one end and using a long very sharp knife, cut slices as thinly as possible (like parma ham).

Mum tip :) Once sliced, lay the steak on a piece of cling film and cover with another piece and then roll over the top with a rolling pin to make the slices even thinner.

Peel back the cling film and lay them on top of the salad leaves.

Drizzle with dressing and shave parmesan over the top to serve.

Chicken Liver Pate and Chicken Liver Parfait

OK, this is a recipe which can go one of two ways, a coarse tasty everyday use pate or a silky, creamy, rich decadent parfait for special occassions.

The pate is my mum's amazing recipe, the parfait is my little additions ;)

For the pate and parfait

• 1kg chicken livers
• 2 onions (white for pate, red for parfait), chopped fine
• 2-4 cloves of garlic dependent on taste
• Fresh thyme, or fresh tarragon whichever you wish
• 125ml brandy
• 1 250g packet of butter
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the parfait only

• 1 250g packet of butter
• Small bunch of sage leaves or other large leaf herb
• 50ml double cream

Melba Toast to serve

• 1 loaf medium sliced bread

Parfait only

First need to clarify the butter to make a clear liquid and remove the milk solids. Put one pack of butter in a pan over a very low heat and allow to melt.

Parfait and Pate

Heat oil in a large saute pan, using a high heat cook the onion, garlic and chosen herbs until soft.

Add the chicken livers and cook until coloured on the outside but still pink/red in the middle.

Add the brandy to the pan and allow to bubble to cook the alcohol off. Season with salt and pepper.

Pate only

Put the ingredients into a food processor and using the normal chopping blade, whizz the ingredients up. Chop up the pack of butter and slowly add it to the pate in the processor. Once all added, taste the mix to see whether more salt or pepper needs adding, then pour out into a suitable container or a few containers and chill to set (can be frozen then).

Parfait only

Once the brandy has been cooked through, pour in the double cream and mix well.

Put the ingredients into a food processor with a blender attachment or into a liquidiser. whizz it all up and chop up the packet of butter and slowly add it piece by piece until the mixture is shiny. Taste and season again if you need to.

Once happy with the taste, push the parfait through a sieve to smooth it even more into your chosen container, can use individual ramekins, or a loaf tin, or a bowl. Put into the fridge to chill and set.

Get the pan of clarified butter from the start. Skim the clear oil off the surface using a spoon and put it into another pan on a high heat. Add one of the herb leaves and watch until it starts to bubble and frazzle. Add the rest of the herb leaves and this will make them crispy and snappy.

Decorate the top of the parfait with these leaves and then pour on the clear butter oil to just cover the surface of the pate. Put this back in the fridge to set.

Serve with rocket, a good chutney (pear and ginger, yum yum) and melba toast.

To make the melba toast, cut the crusts off the sliced bread, then put the crustless slices into a toaster just to lightly toast them. Once toasted, carefully using a sharp bread knife, slice them lengthways through the still untoasted dough part in the middle, creating two slices. Do this to all pieces of toast and lay them on trays in the oven (dough side up) at around 160 to 170 degrees for 20-30mins until they start to brown on the dough side and curl up at the edges. Can be kept in an airtight container until needed.