STEAMED FISH CURRY WITH COCONUT

Serves 4, Rick Stein

450g white fish, such as haddock, plaice, sand whiting or john dory, skinned
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp palm sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
4 small star anise
2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
400ml coconut milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 lemon verbena leaves, chopped

For the amok curry paste:
4 fat lemongrass stalks, core roughly chopped
20g garlic, roughly chopped
2 shallots, roughly chopped
25g peeled fresh turmeric or 1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp crushed dried chillies
25g peeled galangal or ginger, chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
50g roasted peanuts

For the amok curry paste, put the lemongrass, garlic, shallots, turmeric, crushed dried chillies, galangal or ginger, kaffir lime leaves, peanuts and 6 tablespoons of the coconut milk into a mini food processor and blend into a very smooth paste.

Cut the fish across into 2.5cm-wide strips and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan over a medium heat, add the curry paste and fry gently, stirring, for 2 minutes until it starts to smell aromatic. Add the sugar, fish sauce, 1 teaspoon

salt, star anise, kaffir lime leaves and the rest of the coconut milk. Remove from the heat and leave to cool and then stir in the beaten eggs, the fish and the herb of your choice.

Spoon the amok into four 350ml heatproof bowls or one shallow heatproof dish that will fit into a steamer, making sure, if using individual dishes, that a piece of star anise goes into each.

Bring 2.5cm water to the boil in a large shallow pan and then place some sort of trivet in the base: a petal steamer, a criss-cross mat of wooden chopsticks or a stackable steamer.

Put the dishes into the steamer, cover the pan with a lid and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes until the custard is just set and the fish is cooked. Pierce one piece with a skewer: if you meet no resistance, it's done.

Chargrilled broccoli with chilli and garlic

Serves 2-4, from Ottolenghi

500 g / 2 heads of Broccoli

4 Tbsp olive oil

4 to 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 mild red chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced

sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish:

toasted almond slices or thinly sliced lemon

Separate the broccoli into florets and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes and not longer! Immediately refresh under cold running water to stop further cooking, then drain and leave to dry completely.

Once the broccoli is dry, toss with 3 Tbsp of the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place a griddle pan on high heat and leave for 4 to 5 minutes until smoking hot. Grill the broccoli in batches on the hot pan, turning to get lovely charmarks on all sides. When ready, transfer into a heatproof bowl.

While the broccoli is cooking, place the remaining Tbsp of oil in a small saucepan together with sliced garlic and chillies and cook on a medium heat until the garlic begins to turn golden brown. Be careful not to let the garlic and chilli burn – they will continue cooking in the hot oil even when off heat. Pour the garlic and chilli oil over the hot broccoli florets and toss well. 

Season to taste, sprinkle with almond slices or lemon slices and serve immediately or at room temperature.

Meatballs in tomato sauce with chilli flakes

Serves 2, 264kcal

For the meatballs:

200g lean pork mince (or turkey mince)

1⁄2 medium red onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 small carrot, grated

pinch of oregano

1 egg, beaten

salt and pepper

oil for spraying

For the tomato sauce:

1⁄2 medium red onion, chopped

1⁄2 garlic clove, peeled and chopped

400g tin chopped tomatoes

50g fresh tomatoes, skinned and deseeded,

roughly chopped

1 tsp tomato purée

pinch of sugar

200ml water

chilli flakes to taste

dash of Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dried oregano

For the cavolo nero:

200g cavolo nero, steamed

squeeze of lemon

sea salt

Place the mince in a bowl with the onion, garlic, carrot, oregano, egg and salt and pepper. Mix well and shape

into 12 small meatballs. Spray a large pan with oil and fry over a medium heat until gently browned – about 4 minutes – and set aside.

For the sauce, spray the same pan with oil and fry the onion until softened; add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tinned and fresh, purée, sugar and water, plus the chilli flakes and Worcestershire sauce to taste. Simmer till reduced and glossy. Add the meatballs and oregano, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with plenty of steamed cavolo nero, dressed with a light squeeze of lemon and a scatter of flaked sea salt.

Mazarin with fruit and berries

Shortcrust: 

4 cups flour 

1 cup sugar 

125g butter, unsalted 

1 egg 

Mazarin filling:

300 g 'almond paste' (not as sweet as marzipan)  or use marzipan 

150 g butter, unsalted 

2 eggs 

1 egg yolk 

2 tablespoons sugar 

1.5 lemon, finely grated peel 

fruit and berries, nectarines are really nice to use

Icing:

1.5 cups powdered sugar 

1 egg white or water 

Sift the flour into a bowl. Add sugar, butter and egg and pinch together to form a dough. Allow to cool at least one hour. Roll out and line a standard sized pie dish or several smaller ones. 

Preheat oven to 175 degrees 

Grate the 'almond paste' or marzipan coarsely and mix with the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Add the eggs, one at a time, and egg yolk. Stir until smooth and pour into pie shell. Cut the fruit into pieces and press into the batter. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes (depending on the size), or until the cake is golden. 

Whisk icing together and drizzle it over the cooled cake, works well without this too.

Lotta Lundgren, from the cookbook If I was your housewife.

Apple Crumble with almonds and syrup

This is so yummie, like caramel and marzipan.

Pumpkin and potato gratin

Serves 6, 1 hour & 15 min

3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 large onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 large red chilli, seeded and chopped

700g pumpkin or butternut squash, cut into wedges and peeled, then cut into chunks

450g potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

6-8 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped

140g dolcelatte cheese, cubed

50g parmesan, finely grated

150ml vegetable stock

284ml carton double cream

For the topping

50g butter

140g fresh white breadcrumbs

25g walnuts, chopped

a handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until starting to soften (about 5 minutes). Lift the onions out with a slotted spoon and place in an ovenproof dish.

Heat the remaining oil in the pan, then tip in the garlic, chilli, pumpkin chunks, chopped potatoes and sage and toss them together in the hot oil until lightly browned all over. (This takes 5-6 minutes.) Add to the dish containing the onion.

Scatter the two sorts of cheese over the vegetables, season and toss together until well mixed. Combine the stock and cream and pour over the vegetables.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the breadcrumbs and walnuts together until lightly browned. Stir in the parsley and scatter the crumbly mixture over the top of the vegetables. Put in the oven for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and golden brown. Serve hot, with a salad.

Mince meat soup

Children love this.
Serve with french bread for dipping.