A gorgeous, punchy garlic and lemon dressing for big shell-on prawns – I get mine from the frozen section at Waitrose. Six each makes a main course, or serve three as a starter. It’s heavy on the garlic, so if it’s date night, make sure you both eat it!

I have previously written the recipe for making this dish with a whole side of salmon for a crowd, this a more refined version to be served at room temperature for a starter.

First make the marinade. Remove 12 coriander leaves and reserve for garnish. from the bunch and roughly chop the rest.

Put lemongrass, soy, chopped coriander, ginger and garlic in a small food processor and blitz to a paste. Pour the marinade over the top of the salmon, cover and put in the fridge for at least a couple of hours or overnight.

Preheat the grill to medium high setting.  When you’re ready to cook the salmon, remove it from the marinade and lightly scrape the bits of lemon grass off the fish and lie on a foil covered baking tray. Drizzle or brush honey over the flesh and grill for 7-10 minutes. It might need longer depending on the thickness of your salmon. You can test by inserting a skewer into the fattest part then very gently touching it to your lip. if its still cold, the fish will need longer. 

Put each fillet in the middle of a starter plate. Place three slices each of the spring onions, chilli and few coriander leaves on each fillet. Drizzle with lime and sesame oil and serve either hot or it’s just as delicious at room temperature

Another recipe inspired by travels around New Mexico., specifically a restaurant called Medley in Taos.

A tostada is a fried or toasted soft tortilla (corn or wheat) and topped with whatever you like. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients, apart from frying the tortillas it’s an assembly job. Fried onions and furikake seasoning can be found in most supermarkets

Mix all the guacamole ingredients together and set aside

Peel the cucumber, scoop out the watery seeds and chop into small cubes. Mix with salt and lime juice and set aside for no longer than an hour.

In a pan that will fit the tortilla, pour in vegetable oil to approx 1 cm deep. slide in a tortilla and fry for a couple of minutes until golden brown and crisp, drain on kitchen paper and repeat.

Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, spring onions and ginger. Pour over the tuna. You are now ready to assemble.

Place some rocket leaves on the plate, drizzle with a little of the tuna marinade. Place the tortilla, smother with guacamole, divide the tuna on top of the guacamole, sprinkle with cucumber and finish with furikake or sesame seeds, coriander leaves and friend onions if using

Beautiful moreish almond morsels. I have found that having them with a cup of tea brings out the hint of clove but eat them anytime!

Preheat the oven to 140C fan. Line 2 baking sheets first with foil then with baking paper.

To the sifted almonds, add the ground clove and caster sugar.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Add a spoonful of the egg whites to the almonds and stir through then carefully fold the remaining whisked eggs into the mixture and finish with the amaretto liqueur if using.

Put some icing sugar in a bowl ready to dust the balls. Take a walnut size amount of dough and gently roll into a ball, toss in the icing sugar (you want them to be very generously covered, place on the baking sheet 3 cm apart. Repeat until all the dough is used.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Carefully lift onto a wire rack and store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 2 weeks.

Delicious hearty autumn winter dish

Preheat the oven to 200c fan. Put the sausages on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 20 minutes. Turn the sausages over, add the cherry tomatoes and thyme sprigs to the tray, return to the oven for 15 minutes.

While the sausages are cooking, in a small pan, gently cook the pancetta until it browns and some of the fat has rendered. Stir in the Cavolo Nero and coat in the fat. Cook for a couple of minutes and set aside.

Gently heat the olive oil In a large casserole style pan. Add onions and sauté for 5-7 minutes until soft. Add garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Stir in paprika, chipotle paste and tomato purée, cook for a few minutes. Pour in stock, tin of chopped tomatoes, cannellini beans and season generously with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

Lastly add sausages, half the cherry tomatoes, Cavolo Nero and pancetta to the pan. Give everything a good stir, check seasoning and sprinkle the remaining cherry tomatoes over the top. Serve with plenty of crusty bread.

Furikake seasoning can be found in most supermarkets however, toasted sesame seeds can be used instead with some crumbled nori sheets. Use this recipe to make a Poke Bowl or Sushi.

Place the rice in a fine mesh sieve and rinse under cold running water for a couple of minutes until the water runs clear. Tip the rice into a bowl, cover with plenty of water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Drain. The rice is now ready to use.

Add 250g sushi rice to 350ml of cold water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on. Turn off the heat but leaving the lid on, leave to stand for another 15 minutes. Important: Don’t open the lid during the 15 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, put the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pan, gently heat whilst whisking to dissolve the sugar and salt. Remove from the heat.

Once the rice is cooked, transfer immediately to a large mixing bowl and drizzle the vinegar mixture over the rice. Use a spatula to gently fold the rice using a slicing and lifting motion so you don’t squash the rice, until the vinegar is evenly mixed through. Keep folding to help the cool the rice. Once cooled, cover the bowl with a damp cloth (the cloth should touch the rice as this will help it stop drying out). Let it cool to room temperature. Just before serving the rice, stir through the furikake seasoning.

My chicken curry recipes usually use thighs but this time I wanted something quick and lighter. I soaked the lentles for 30 minutes but it’s not essential if you’re short on time. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients, I am sure you have most of these spices in your cupboard.

Curry leaves are optional, Whenever I see fresh ones in the supermarket I buy them freeze them to use on an occasion like this one

Soak lentils while you prepare everything else.

Place the breast fillets between sheets of baking parchment. Flatten a little so they are an even thickness. Mix all the marinade ingredients together, Cover the fillets with the marinade and set aside.

Pre heat the grill to medium high, line a a baking tray with foil and place a wire rack on the tray.

For the dal, melt the ghee or vegetable oil in a pan, sauté the onion for minutes, add curry leaves, ginger and garlic and continue to cook on a low heat for another 3-5 minutes until fragrant and soft. Turn the heat up to medium, add all the dry spices, cook for a minute. Drain the lentils if you’ve soaked them, stir into pan, pour over coconut milk along with half a tin  of water. Bring to the boil, leave to simmer for 20 minutes stirring every so often until soft. Check seasoning

Meanwhile place the chicken fillets on the wire tray and grill for 3-4 minutes on each side. Make sure they are cooked through.

Serve the chicken sliced onto of the dal and garnish with tomatoes, spring onions and coriander leaves.

Smokey BBQ flavour pulled pork without a BBQ. Serve on flatbread or a tortilla with pickled cucumber, red onion soaked in lime juice, salad and your favourite dressing. I used my green goddess dressing with added green chilli.

Remove the skin from the pork belly. Combine spice rub and rub all over the belly. Cover and leave in the fridge over night.

Preheat the oven to 200C fan. Put the belly in a heavy casserole pan. Roast for 30 minutes uncovered. Lower the oven temperature to 140C fan.

Combine 300ml water with 100 g of the BBQ sauce. Pour over the pork, add 2 bay leaves, put on a tight fitting lid and 4-5 hours depending on the thickness of your pork. Check after 4 hours, the meat should easily pull away with a fork.

Remove the belly to a tray or dish, shred using two fork, discard any bones. If your sauce is very reduced, add a little water and gently heat of the stove. Put the shredded pork back into the sauce along with the remaining BBQ sauce.

Serve on soft tortilla or flatbreads, pickled cucumber, onion pickled in lime juice, salad and green goddess dressing with added green chilli (see the end of the video)