I started the evening before, making the purest, dark purple beetroot juice by boiling two large beets (about 200g) for half an hour in salted water on a low boil to draw out the juice. I then blended the cooking water with another 100g chopped beetroot and pressed the result through a fine sieve to end up with about 300ml juice to use the next day as stock.

Next up was chopping the now cool cooked beetroot into a small dice and glazing in a pan with some butter, salt, pepper and a good glug of reduced balsamic vinegar. Once shiny and glazed the beetroot cubes could be put in the fridge along with the juice until the next day.

I spent the next day looking forward to my dinner more than usual, pleased with the prep I’d done the night before and knowing it should be a quick job to finish it off when I got home.

To cook the risotto, I softened a shallot in butter for a few minutes whilst reducing 75ml red wine by a third – the rest was for drinking. Adding 2 tbsp red wine vinegar and reducing until nearly completely absorbed and sticky I stirred 125g arborio rice in with the buttery shallots and then adding all but a tiny bit of the beetroot juice, the red wine. I followed Raymond’s tip on this, adding all the liquid at once and simmering as low as possible for 20 minutes whilst I made a Parmesan crisp by grating Parmesan into circles on a baking tray and then cooking in the oven at 220 for 5 or 6 minutes.

Once the 20 were up the tip is to stir vigorously to finish the cooking process until the rice is al dente. I grated in some Parmesan, added the glazed beetroot and reserved juice to finish and gave it 30 seconds to warm through, seasoned with salt, pepper and parsley and served.

Even though I loved cooking this dish, I was surprised how much I enjoyed eating it too. The earthiness of the beetroot juice but the sweet glazed cubes of beetroot were a perfect complement, and even a carnivore like me didn’t miss the meat from a dish like this. The parmesan crisp might seem excessive but actually the saltiness offset everything else brilliantly and gave a nice change of texture. It goes without saying that the colour is fantastic, just see the picture for an idea – it really is that red!

The work preparing the juice takes some time, but otherwise it’s an easy meal and quick to finish off the day after you’ve done the hard part. I even reckon you could freeze the juice to use later in the season when you’ve used up all the fresh stuff. Give it a try, I’m sure you’ll love it.

Chop 2 onions and sweat for 5 minutes in a large casserole. Add in a half teaspoon each of dried thyme and all spice, then tumble in the beef shin, chopped into good sized chunks, frying for a couple of minutes for some colour. Stir in a dessert spoon of flour, coating the beef. Meanwhile, make up the sauce with 350ml beer, 350ml beef stock and a spoonful of wholegrain mustard. Pour into the casserole and bring to the boil. Now, put the lid on and place in a preheated oven at 150 degrees. Leave it for at least 3 hours… Go play golf or something and it’ll be done when you get back. Make sure someone gives it a stir every now and then whilst you’re gone.

You could serve with mash, or chunky bread, but it also works well with pasta – here I boiled up sone tagliatelle just before serving, and spooned the beef over it. After all that time in the oven, what is quite fatty meat to start with will have become meltingly soft and will flake away with your fork. Dig in, and forget about the weather.

The gnocchi roasts couldn’t be easier, simply preheat an oven to about 200 degrees, place the gnocchi on a baking tray and roll them in olive oil. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden, about as long as the rest of the dish takes!

Sweat some sliced onions in a smallish casserole (one with a heavy lid you’ll need the lid later) for a couple of minutes, add a crushed clove of garlic and half a tsp of dried tarragon. Once sweated, place the chicken breasts presentation side down and fry for 5 minutes. If the onions look like they’re burning move them on top of the chicken. Turn the chicken, pour in 80ml of white wine or vermouth and a pinch of salt, then put on the lid and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Cooking the chicken this way will keep it tender and moist.

Near the end of cooking, blanch some green beans until just cooked. Remove the chicken from the casserole and put on a hot plate. Stir in some double cream to the sauce until you get the consistency you want. Bubble for a minute, grind in some white pepper and pour over the chicken, serving with the green beans and roasties. Sprinkle some fresh tarragon on top to garnish and take to the table.

I was pretty excited when i found that sainsburys hav started stocking frozen langoustines, which ive been struggling to find for ages, and was determined to give them a try in this recipe adapted from the Hairy Bikers.

First step was to make the potato cakes, by part boiling two jacket potatoes for 5 minutes, then cooling, peeling and grating them into a large bowl. Adding a beaten egg, about a tablespoon of chopped dill, lemon juice and zest and some seasoning. Mixed together this will form a mixture for four cakes, which can be divided and pan fried for about 5 minutes on each side then kept warm until needed.

For the langoustines, I boiled them for 5 minutes to defrost them, then began the arduous task of shelling them. The big disappointment for me, which i guess i knew, was just how little meat you get for your efforts. Maybe its just the supermarket ones, but my main takeaway from this meal was not to bother and just go with prawns unless I can find bigger ones.

So anyway, once I’d found some prawns in the freezer I addd them to the langoustine meat and sauted for a coupoe of minutes. Then I flambed them in a glug of whiskey (Monkey Shoulder if you’re interested), stirred in a tablespoon of creme fraiche, some chopped parsley and seasoned to taste.

Fnally, i quicky wilted some spinach in a little butter and some grated nutmeg and served with the prawns, langoustines and potato cakes.

Delicious meal, but i think next time I’ll just stick with the prawns and it will be a really quick meal. The langoustines were great but for me just not worth the effort, maybe this is why so many UK langoustines get shipped to Spain and other parts of the world. I anyone can recommend more worthwhile langoustines please let me know!

First off, the prep. Coarsely grate a courgette, and then squeeze the liquid from the gratings – much like you would with wilted spinach – and set aside. Now chop two rashers of bacon, and finely chop a red chilli.

Cook Your tagliatelle according to the pack instructions – I used two nests for me, but I am a bit greedy, so use whatever measure you’d normally use per person. Whilst it’s boiling away in salted water, fry your bacon until crispy, add the chilli for a minute or so, and then whack the heat up high as you add the courgette shavings for a few more minutes. While it all cooks, whisk together a tbsp double cream, one egg yolk, some lemon zest and a good shaving of Parmesan cheese to make the sauce.

By this time the pasta should be nearly done. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the starchy water in case you need to relax the sauce a little. Mix everything up together, serve, and sprinkle some more Parmesan on top.

That’s all there is to it, a quick, easy, delicious pasta dish just in time to use up those spare courgettes. Buon Appetito!

With all that in mind I headed off to the shops to buy my first squid for “Squid with provcal vegetable salad”. Not having prepared squid before, I was pleasantly surprised how easy – if a little messy – it was.  Simply chop off the tentacles just below the eyes, and then gently pull out the intestines. Wash it out, and then for this recipe slide a knife up inside the squid to cut it open. Clean everything out, and cut into the size pieces you want for the meal, scoring the inside of the flesh to make it curl up and caramelise nicely when cooked. Once prepared, the rest of the dish will only take you about 20 minutes (plus a bit of marinating time).

For the marinade, place the squid pieces in a bowl with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, a finely chopped chili, 2 tsp muscovado sugar and a good pinch of salt. Marinade for about 30 minutes (or in my case it was an hour whilst I watched the first episode of Dr Who).

Once Dr Who has finished marinated, you’re ready to go. Prepare the vegetables first. Really you can go with any summer vegetables you want. Raymond lists oven dried tomatoes (cut tomatoes into 8 wedges each, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 100 degrees C for 90 minutes), courgette (take thin slices with a peeler and griddle for 30 seconds each side), and fennel. I’m not a big fennel fan though, so I swapped that for some baby asparagus, likewise griddled for a few minutes and set aside.

Now griddle the squid, making sure the griddle is searingly hot, it will only take about 30 seconds a side – no more or it will overcook – and should curl up if you’ve scored the flesh.

Finally, dress some rocket with 2 tbsp olive oil mixed with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and a pinch of pepper, and you’re ready to plate up.

A great success, learnt a new skill in preparing the squid, and ended up with a lovely summery salad that was simple and quick to cook. Cooking everything so quickly means the flavours are still there, and the veg has that nice fresh crunch to it. Give it a try, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

What really makes this dish is the sauce – another one from Michelle Roux’s book that is my sauce bible. Mornay sauce is basically a tarted up bechamel sauce, so start making a bechamel by melting 30g butter and whisking in 30g flour for a few minutes to create a white roux. Pour in 500ml cold milk, whisking it into the roux, and gradually bring to the boil as you stir. Once boiled it need to simmer for about 10 minutes. If you’re wanting to prepare in advance, this is as far as I’d go for now, leaving it in a pan to cool with cling film on top to stop a skin forming on the top of the sauce. When near to serving, mix 3 egg yolks and 50ml double cream together and add to the sauce with seasoning of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Whisk in the mixture for a minute, then stir in 100g gruyere cheese until melted. Adjust the seasoning if you need and then serve on…

• The haddock fillets – which you’ve pan fried for a few minutes on each side,
• Poached eggs – like the sauce, be smart and prepare these in advance, cracking the eggs into lightly boiling water with a bit of vinegar to help it set, remove from the heat just before they’re completely cooked through (but solid enough to handle gently) and place in a bowl of iced water until ready. When you’re finishing off the sauce, place all the eggs in boiling water for another 30 – 60 seconds to heat and finish the cooking.
• Wilted spinach – wilted in a pan with melted butter, then rapidly stir fried to evaporate the water from the leaves, seasoned with nutmeg, salt and pepper

This is a chocolate cake with a difference. It’s a basic chocolate cake recipe with the addition of rich stout which makes a very deep, rich cake, not only with the flavour of stout but also the colour to go with it. Guinness works very well in this recipe. The combination of the soft brown sugar and stout gives you fuller texture and taste. Also 100-225g (4-8 oz) of plain chocolate can be grated into the mix to give an even stronger taste. I cooked this as part of a charity bake off at work (left in the picture), with donations given for each slice of caketo the value the eater felt it was worth. I don’t know if it was the alcohol or the size of the cake but the Guinness cake was a winner!

MAKES 1 x 20-25 cm (8-10 in) cake

225 9 (8 oz) unsalted butter 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
350 9 (12 oz) soft brown sugar 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
4 eggs, beaten 400 ml (14 fl oz) stout (Guinness)
225 9 (8 oz) plain flour
100g (4 oz) cocoa

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F /gas 4. Butter a 20-25 cm (8-10 in) deep cake tin. Cream together the butter with the soft brown sugar. Gradually add the beaten eggs. Sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix the stout with the cocoa powder. Now add the flour and stout mixes alternately to the butter and eggs until completely and evenly bound. You will find the consistency to be quite soft.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until set. You may need to cover with a piece of brown paper after an hour to prevent it browning too much. Allow to cool before removing from the tin. The stout cake is now ready.

Icing
Pouring a glass of stout always leaves you with a lovely finish on the top. You can do exactly the same with this cake. Melt 100 to 175g ( 4-6 oz) of grated white chocolate with 100-175 g (4-6 oz) of butter and 1-2 measures of Irish whiskey (I used Jamesons) until just softened, then leave to cool. You now have a rich white chocolate icing to spread on top of the cake.

I picked up some pork belly and a ham hock, two cheap cuts of meat that cooked the right way bring bags of flavour and go a long way. From about £6 of meat ended up with several meals worth. Get a slab of pork belly with the bones in if you can, even more flavour, and by the time you’ve slow cooked it the bones will easily pull out with no fuss at all.

Slow roasted pork belly

This one is perfect for cooking on a lazy weekend and then freezing to have a tasty meal only 30 minutes away on a week night. Cover the base of a baking tray with around 300g of chopped onion, carrots, leeks and celery, 4 cloves of garlic, a good bunch of thyme sprigs and a small piece of star anise (don’t use too much – it’s strong and can overpower everything so work on the basis of about 1 petal per litre of water you’ll end up using). Place the pork belly on top and cover with water. Wrap the tray in greaseproof paper (to stop sticking) and then in foil, and bake in the oven at about 150 degrees C for about 5 hours until the pork is virtually falling apart and is completely soft.

Once cooked, take the bones out and let the pork cool on a rack – ideally at this point, it goes back in the fridge skin side down with some cans or something heavy on top to flatten it down and compress it. Any remaining fat (good fat – the flavour!) will hold the pork together and it will harden ready for freezing. Once hard, it’s ready to cut into portion sized pieces (about 2 inches square works for me, but whatever you want), and then into the freezer with it.

If you can’t wait to try it, or when you want to use some one night in the week (take it out of the freezer in the morning to defrost during the day), simply roast for 15-20 minutes in an over at 200 – 220 degrees fat side down… you’ll need some more greaseproof paper to prevent it sticking or try some of the silicone paper which is even better. Serve with some mash, and fresh veg, and enjoy!

Ham hock

Another cheap cut of meat, you can pick up a hock of ham for about £2 or £3. Simple to cook, just drop the hock in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, drain in immediately – this step makes sure a lot of the excess salt from the ham is rendered out of the meat. Re-cover with fresh water, bring to the boil and add an onion studded with a couple of cloves, a bay leaf and some orange. Simmer for 3 hours or until the ham comes away from the bone. Leave the hock in the water to cool, then remove and shred the ham ready for use.

From the ham, and the water (it’s magic ham water now) we’re now set to make some meals:

Ham and pea soup

A favourite of mine, this uses that magic ham water we gained from the cooking process, simply add some chopped celery, carrots and soaked split peas into the cooking water and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the split peas are cooked. Blend, adding some cream to make it smoother if desired, and then add some of the flaked ham. Either serve immediately, or cool and freeze for later.

Ham, cheddar and spring onion tart

With your ham, and a shortcrust pastry case that’s been blind baked (I’ll cover this another time…), grate some strong cheddar into the tart case, wilt some spring onions in a pan and add them, with the cooked ham along with a little seasoning of salt and pepper. Make up a tart filling – by whisking together 750ml double cream, 5 eggs, 8 yolks, and 250ml milk (you’ve done so much work cooking all this, stop worrying about the calories!), strain through a sieve to remove any bits, and pour into the tart case. Bake at 180 degrees for about 25 minutes until the tart is set and lightly golden. Serve with some salad – this recipe should make a big enough tart to have plenty left for lunch tomorrow, or make several small ones if you’re a pastry fiend…

A bit of a marathon post here, and it was a marathon day or so of cooking – but good fun, good food, and I’m set for several good meals in the next few weeks!

Halve the squash, scooping out the seeds and pulp, and score the flesh with a sharp knife – not too deep, just a slight incision in the flesh creating edges that will caramelise nicely in the oven. Place on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and lightly season, and bake in an oven at about 160 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until the flesh is softened and the squash is cooked through.

Whilst cooking, roast a handful of pine nuts in a dry frying pan, just slightly browning them to release their natural oils and flavour.

Once the squash is cooked, fill the cavity of the squash with soft goats cheese and bake it for another 5 minutes – just to slightly melt the cheese and make it slightly golden on top. Remove from the over, sprinkle the pine nuts on the cheese and some rocket on the squash. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.